Page 60 of His Captor

“Too attached to you?” Hayden’s voice rose an octave and gained enough volume to make me wince.

And then the floodgates opened, spilling everything all over the office.

“Too attached to you?” Hayden repeated, his tone sassier, one hand on his belly. “Is having your baby too attached to you? Is moving in with you too attached? Is having wild, freaky pregnancy sex with you all weekendtoo attached?”

Lincoln made an explosive, snorting sound and clapped a hand over his face, murmuring, “Oh my God.”

I closed my eyes and forced myself to breathe for a second. I loved Hayden. There didn’t seem to be any point in fighting off those feelings anymore. I’d known he was special from the moment I’d stuffed him in the trunk of my car—how many people could say that—and those feelings had only grown in the last couple weeks, since we’d been reunited. Hayden made be believe in fated mates and love that was meant to be.

But, good God, the man was going to drive me up a wall. He had zero sense of discretion, or the fact that corporate battles weren’t fought with paper and ink. Men like Colin had a way of making them very real, as his attack on my apartment showed. I couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t turn to real, physical violence, and Hayden would be target number one once our relationship was made public.

But by the way everyone was standing up in their cubes, grins on their faces, murmurs riding through the air like a chorus of crickets in summer, that ship had sailed.

I stood, pushing my chair back and stepping out from behind my desk. Lincoln moved back as I approached Hayden. I hooked my arm around Hayden’s waist and escorted him out of my office.

“I’m going to have to tie you to the bed to keep you out of trouble, aren’t I,” I muttered to him.

“Yes, please,” he whispered in return with a shit-eating grin.

Once I stood outside my office with Hayden at my side, the entire staff looking on curiously, I cleared my throat and said, “Stop speculating. Yes, Hayden and I are together. Yes, I’m the sire of his baby. It’s a long, complicated, wildly unlikely story which neither of us will be sharing with you.”

Hayden opened his mouth.

“Which we will not be sharing with you,” I repeated, frowning at him.

Hayden shut his mouth again. “Yeah, I guess that’s probably for the best.”

“But how—” one of the admins started.

“No,” I said, holding up one hand. “Don’t. Trust me, you really don’t want to know. The only thing that matters to everyone in this office right now is that Hayden is my omega, I’m his alpha, and we’ve got a fledgling company to support with a lot of shit being thrown at us from people who want to seeus fail right now. I need everyone to focus and work on what’s important, the research, the development, and fostering a stellar reputation for Canton Enterprises so that we can take our place as one of the top security tech firms in the industry.”

I hadn’t set out to do it, but by the shining faces and excited expressions of everyone in the office, I’d just delivered a locker room pep talk for the ages.

Hayden even called out, “Go team!” once I was finished.

I frowned at him. “You. Back in my office. Now.”

The rest of the office took the hint and went back to work, though I could feel the change in the air and the buzzing undercurrent of excitement.

I shifted Hayden back into my office, then shut the door behind us.

“Sorry,” he said right away. “Can I blame pregnancy hormones? I’m just feeling so good after this weekend, and I wanted everyone to know it.”

“Hayden,” I said, shaking my head and rubbing a hand over my face.

I then did something I never would have done under usual circumstances. I pulled Hayden into my arms and hugged him. It was inappropriate and the entire office could see us through the window, but I just really needed to hold my omega for a second.

“I know this feels like it’s all fun and games,” I told him while he was still in my arms, “but I am genuinely worried about you. I’m not sure if you realize what Colin is capable of.”

“I’m okay, Mace,” Hayden said, hugging me back. “I swear, I’m okay. I know I’m too much?—”

“You’re not too much, sweetheart,” I said, giving him a final squeeze, then stepping back. “The situation is too much. I don’t know what I’d do if Colin lashed out at you as a way to get to me.”

“He won’t though, right?” Hayden said, having the good sense to at least look concerned. “Det. Shirley is going to prove he was responsible for the break-in, Simon’s lawyers are going to help you defeat Victory Holdings, and you’re going to dazzle Mr. Harvey so much at this supper tomorrow that everyone in the industry will come flocking to your door, right?”

I drew in a breath, the love I felt for him was so powerful. Hayden might have been a handful, but he was one of the most positive and hopeful people I’d ever met.

“Sure,” I told him, holding the side of his face and brushing my thumb over his cheek. “That’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

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