Page 9 of Grimm

A yawn caught her unaware. His breathing evened out beside her into a calm, soothing pattern. The bed was warm and soft.

Her eyelids weighed down on her.

She didn’t last twenty minutes before she fell right to sleep, her back snuggled up to his side.

Chapter 4

“Iwant two guys to go over to Daniella’s apartment and box up her bedroom and bring it all back here. She can go through it later.” William stood at his desk with a small group of his men, waiting to hear what he wanted from each of them. “Tony and Johnny. You two deal with the apartment. And get the landlord to waive her rent for the next three months. Just in case her roommate comes home. She can make the payment then.”

“You got it, boss.” Johnny stretched his shoulders. With all his bulk, he looked more like an ape in a suit than a man.

“Duncan will take the collections while I deal with some personal projects, so get with him this week.” William nodded toward Duncan, who stood near the door. Duncan was his oldest friend. He’d known him since they met while playing hockey at the rec center as kids. Too many concussions had left Duncan unable to work at full capacity, but he had a loyalty like no one else. One job at a time, he could handle. William’s father had been skeptical about Duncan being William’s right hand, but they’d made it work.

“The rest of you. Understand that Daniella is off limits to everyone and anyone. If one fucking finger that doesn’t belong to me touches her, it’s getting cut off.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

“No one fucks with her. She’s got free rein of the house and the property, but she is not to leave without my express permission. Unless I tell you she has permission, she doesn’t.” He paused a moment. “Understood?”

“Yeah, boss. No problem.”

“Good. Tommy, that shipment you picked up yesterday, how close are we ready for distribution?” William checked his watch. Daniella had been dead to the world when he’d gotten out of bed that morning, nearly four hours ago. She had to be up by now.

“Two more days, William, and it’s ready to hit the streets,” Tommy promised.

“That’s good. Okay, you all have your orders. Get on it.” William waved off his men. One by one, they filed out of his office. Duncan lingered behind.

“She’s not up yet.” He smiled from the door. “Want me to send up a maid to get her up?”

William frowned. “No. I’ll handle it.”

“You got it.”

William followed Duncan out of the office and headed upstairs. There was no real reason for her to not sleep the day away. It wasn’t like he had a laundry list of things for her to do. His well-staffed home didn’t have a need for anything else, so, he could just let her keep sleeping quietly in his bed.

But he wanted to see her. He couldn’t get his mind wrapped around her. Other than being a schoolteacher, who the hell was she?

He softly opened his bedroom door and sauntered inside. The bed was empty. He turned to the bathroom. Empty.

Duncan had said she hadn’t gone downstairs yet, so where was she?

He backtracked out of the bedroom and checked the other rooms on the floor. All empty. When he made it back to the staircase, he looked up. She may have gone to the third floor. All empty rooms he had given no purpose to yet.

Just as he stepped on the first stair, he heard her voice from below.

“I just needed the computer.”

“Boss said nothing about you using the computer.” Johnny’s deep voice trailed behind her.

“Well, Boss hasn’t made anything clear about anything,” she snapped back.

William changed gears and jogged down the stairs to the foyer where Daniella was glaring up at Johnny with her arms folded over her chest. The man could snap her in three pieces with his pinky, but she held her glower.

“Johnny, it’s okay. I got it. Thanks.” William patted his shoulder.

“She was going into your office. Wasn’t sure how you’d feel about that,” Johnny explained.

“Not a problem.”

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