Page 53 of Chev's Mate

His lust fills the room. Why is he doing this? The man stumbles over his next question, and I bite the inside of my cheek as he glances at Echo. He’s giving her eyes. Why? Echo smiles, and I fight not to react when she presses her elbows together and leans forward.

That whore.

They’ve planned this.

“My mate is Vanessa Byrne,” I repeat. “And I would like to clear up some things.”

The interviewer is too distracted by Echo to lead our conversation, and I happily take advantage of this as I talk about my mate.

“Several rumors are going around about us, most of which are untrue. Echo hired Vanessa several months ago as a facility manager, and we didn’t discover we were mates until her second week here. She was hired on her own merit, and she’s madeseveral improvements within the Wrath facility. I will tell you them all now.”

I discuss the classes she’s encouraged the women inside the facility to partake in and the impressive successes they’ve been. I’m practically beaming with pride while I talk, and I have to pause several times to calm before continuing.

“Vanessa is passionate about her work,” I continue, “and her resilience is something I greatly admire.”

Her history with the ogres remains private, and the information is safely stored in our protected files. I will never share her personal business with others.

My heart pounds, and I clear my throat before beginning to discuss my next topic. This will ruin my career.

I share my wrongdoings. I admit to the mistakes I made when we met, going into detail so people understand why she ran from me. I’m not the good man they think I am, and I want them to know that. They once defended Vanessa, but enough time has passed that they’ve forgotten what I did to her. I make sure they remember.

The small man interviewing me continues to stare at my sister. He does this for the entire hour, hardly getting a question in. I don’t mind. I have a lot to say.

“We are finished now,” I say when the hour ends.

The man puts the camera down, and the lights blinding me are turned off.

Gray’s lust gradually dissipates, and he shivers before grabbing Silas and Charlie and disappearing from the room. I’m hardly paying them any attention, though. My sister is still pushing her breasts out, and I glare at the side of her head as she stands and saunters out of the room. She’s proud of herself. I’m going to smack her with a stick later, and then I’m going to tell Dad what she did.

I don’t need her fighting my battles.

My interviewer turns back to me, and he puffs up his cheeks as he shifts his attention to his notes. I’m sure there were plenty of questions he wanted to get to, but he was too distracted by Echo to ask them. I did a lot of speaking, but not a lot of answering.

He’ll likely be fired for this. I never give interviews, and this was a good opportunity.

Aziel approaches my desk.

“Would you like me to take you to Vanessa’s?” he asks.

Of course. I stand and hold out my arm, waving it in his direction. He snorts, and I’m staring at my mate’s front door a second later.

Chapter Twenty-One

CHEV

I WAIT OUTSIDE, sitting on Vanessa’s porch.

She should be awake any minute now. I broke her phone so she can’t use the alarm, but the sun should be shining through her bedroom window by now. I want her to wake up, and I tap my fingers against the ground while I wait.

Eventually, I hear stomping inside, and I stand just as Vanessa storms out of her front door. She must have changed into a nightgown sometime during the night, and she looks at me with crazy eyes and messy hair. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her move so fast this early in the morning, and I try not to panic.

Is she angry?

She storms toward me, and I hold my breath as she throws her arms around my waist. I want to enjoy it, but I find I’m too nervous to. I didn’t tell her about my interview, and maybe that was a mistake. I don’t think she knows about it, though. I broke her phone, so there’s no way for her to have seen anything.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

It doesn’t appear she’s been crying. She buries her face against my neck and breathes me in. Despite my panic, I enjoy feeling our bodies pressed firmly together. Vanessa is tiny in myarms, and she smells good. I wrap my arms back around her. I will hold her for as long as she wants me to.

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