Page 54 of An Uncertain Claim

“I’m right here,” I sighed. My eyes bounced to the other occupants of the room. “You see me, right? I’m not invisible?” They nodded and I looked up at Nathan, who’d moved to stand at my side, forcing me to drop my head back to see directly into his face. “Seems everyone can see me. So how about you clear up what part of my life you’re dictating without my input?Again.” I spit the last word, angry and tired of him being so high-handed, always taking total control. How could we be a team if he couldn’t share some of the responsibility?

“Put your claws away, kitty cat,” he ordered in an exasperated tone. Then he nodded to Kellan. “Great work. We’ll discuss everything once I’ve run it by Peyton.”

“Great. Thanks.” Kellan replied with a joyful smile. “Thanks again, Peyton. I hope you’ll consider taking a more substantial role in our future projects.”

I waited until we were on the elevator to confront Nathan, but he cut me off before I could get a word out. He pulled the knob that stopped the elevator and crossed his arms over his chest. “Kellan was seeking the approval of his—and your, I might add—boss before approaching you with an invitation. Then we would bring it to you for your consideration.”

I still wasn’t sure I appreciated him making any decisions for me and he’d obviously picked up on it. “Working for an organization isn’t like being a freelancer, baby. There is a chain of command, not a single relationship between you and the person who hired you. Kellan asked if I would give him permission to offer you a full-time position in his lab. You’ve already accepted a position with a great deal of responsibilities, and it’s a position I desperately need you in. So I denied his request to approach you with that particular offer but gave him permission to invite you to be a permanent member of the team, meaning you would receive all the same perks and accolades, but you would be paid as a consultant, rather than with a salary. As the head of the company, there are certain requests that must be run by me first. Particularly when it involves personnel above a certain level.”

“But isn’t it my choice if I want to work for him full-time?” I ranted, my hands planted firmly on my hips.

“Not in this case.”

“Pardon?” I asked, sputtering because I hadn’t expected him to say no flat out.

“When it concerns your work at KBO, you are an employee, baby. This isn’t an Alpha and his mate situation or even consulting on Council issues with me. This is a place of business, with a structure that keeps things running smoothly. It’s the way it has to be to avoid chaos. Even Tanner, who helped me build the company from the very beginning, answers to me in the end. And before you ask, yes, I would treat my mother and father the same way if they came to work for KBO.”

“That is really annoying sometimes,” I sighed, dropping my arms.

“Maybe so, but it’s the way it is.”

“That’s not what I meant. I mean, when you use logic to take the wind out of my sails before I can get the boat in the water.”

Nathan laughed and pulled me into his arms. “I’ll work on it.” Then he kissed the hell out of me before pushing the knob back in so the elevator began to ascend once more.

“Sure you will,” I teased in a dry tone, making him chuckle.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Nathan

Iled Peyton to my office where I had lunch waiting. I was going to kill two birds with one stone—make sure she ate and force the conversation I’d been trying to have for days.

Poppy looked up from her desk as we passed by it. She was filling in for Willa while she stayed in the city to handle Council issues. Once things calmed down a bit, she’d train someone to do that stuff and return to Silver Lake.

“No interruptions until I say otherwise,” I told Poppy.

“Yes, sir.”

Peyton snorted, startling Poppy and causing me to herd her into my office a little faster. “Don’t ever expect to hear me call you that,” she announced with a snicker after I shut the door.

“Now isn’t the time, but don’t think I’m going to forget you said that,” I warned her, my voice heavily weighted with sexual tension. “I like a challenge.”

“Noted,” she said sassily, using my words against me and making me laugh.

“Sit, kitty cat,” I commanded, pointing to the small sitting area with a low table holding several takeout bags.

She took a seat on one of the leather and polished wood chairs and I sat directly across from her so I would have an unobstructed view of her face. I passed her the containers holding her odd assortment of food, then unpacked my meal.

“Oh!” Peyton’s head had been down while she mixed ketchup and mayonnaise in a little cup to dip something in. But it flew up when she made her exclamation. “I forgot. I was going to find you after I left Kellan’s lab. I found something!”

I mentally grumbled at yet another thing stepping in the way of the conversation I was determined to have with Peyton. However, if she’d found something that would finally move us closer to catching the psycho she called “B,” then I needed to hear it so we could jump on whatever we needed to do next.

My office. Now. I sent the thought to Tanner.

Sure thing.

“Hold on, baby. I’d like Tanner to be here so you don’t have to keep repeating it and I don’t mess up when relaying it.”

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