Page 68 of Seduced By the Werewolves

“Um, hello?” I answer.

“Talk quietly,” he whispers through the phone. “The office is bugged.”

So Leon was right. A prickle of fear raises the hair on my neck.

“Why?” I whisper back into the receiver. “Who would do that?”

“I think I’ve made a mistake, Ms. Dockett.” His voice goes even quieter, and cold dread fills my veins.

“What did you do, Mr. Bosley?”

He inhales sharply, then says, “I kicked the hornet’s nest.”

I hold the phone very still, wondering what he’s done now.

“Are the hornets coming for you?” I finally ask in a hushed voice, covering the receiver with one hand.

Through the glass window into his office, I can see him shaking his head.

“No, Ms. Dockett. They’re coming for us.”

Oh, fuck.

I slam the phone down and get out of my chair, throwing my purse on. I am not going to get pulled into whatever hurricane Mr. Bosley has set into motion. However he managed to piss off Beatrice, I don’t want to be here when she comes for him.

“Ms. Dockett!” He throws open his office door as I head for the exit. “Where are you going?”

“I’m not going to stay here and wait for them to show up,” I say over my shoulder.

“You can’t go.” His voice drops lower. “You’re just as involved in this as I am now. Your name’s all over the files.”

“Because of you!” I spin around, my fear and rage twining together into something even bigger and uglier than either of them. “You’re the one who sucked me into this! What, you had me sign those orders so you’d have someone to blame?”

Mr. Bosley splutters weak objections, but I know I’ve caught him. He set me up. He wanted to pin it on me should this exact thing happen.

“Those three big guys of yours,” he says quickly. “That’s where you’re going, right? For protection?”

I hadn’t thought about it yet, but that’s exactly where my instinct is driving me. The landscapers’ den out in the countryside is the only place I could possibly feel safe from the storm that my idiot boss has brought down on top of us.

“Yes.” I pull out my phone and start typing out a quick text message to warn Leon I’m coming. They’re probably at the work site this time of day, and I hope they’re willing to meet me.

“Take me with you!” Mr. Bosley claps a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. I wrench away from him at the sudden contact, feeling as if I have slime all over me where he touched me. “Please, Ms. Dockett. That woman is dangerous, and she’s going to be after my skin now.”

I freeze. Mr. Bosley might be the biggest asshole I’ve ever met, but that doesn’t mean I should leave him to the wolves, so to speak. I don’t want his blood on my hands should Beatrice decide to take severe action.

But he’s the one who painted a target on himself. If she’s after him, taking him with me could mean leading her straight to the brothers, and I can’t do that to them.

I turn to my boss, clenching my phone tight to steel myself for what I have to say.

“Go to the cops, Orland. It’s not my job to help you get out of this giant hole you’ve dug for yourself.” I head for the door, clutching my purse to still my hands. “None of this was ever my fucking job. You took advantage of me, you used me, and now you’re going to pay for what you’ve done—by yourself.”

Mr. Bosley stares at me, open-mouthed. “Ms. Dockett,” he says in a warning tone. “If you leave me here, you’re fired.”

I expected it would sting, that it would unleash another wave of panic to know I’d be losing my job.

Instead, I feel nothing. Eli was right. He doesn’t deserve a second of my pity. This man has only ever done damage to my life, treating me worse than an object, abusing my better nature. Now he’s pinning his idiotic crimes on me, when I’ve never done anything but try my best at this job.

Now, I am fierce and clawed. I tamed a werewolf yesterday. I have people in my corner, my friends and my lovers both, who will help me if I fall. I’ve been hiding myself for too long, making myself smaller so other people will be happy, when the truth is that they’ll always be impossible to please.

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