Page 35 of Of Blood and Smoke

“Micha needs you in the office.” She smirked at me.

“Fine,” I replied, circling the edge of my desk to check my email before leaving. Christina still stood there. “I’m going, you don’t have to wait for me, you can go back to whatever you were doing.”

Giving me side-eye, she stalked away, and my shoulders relaxed. There was nothing pressing in my inbox and after double-checking my screen lock was working, I headed down the hallway.

After double-knocking—it seemed to be the thing to do, here, I grabbed the door handle and walked in. Josiah was nowhere to be seen, and Micha stood leaning against the desk, dressed impeccably, his hands in his pockets.

“You wanted to see me, Sir?” I waited, my hands clasped in front of me and gaze focused on his chest. My thoughts kept straying, wondering where the other man was.

“I did, thank you.”

Waiting, I shifted my feet a few times, nearly rolling my ankle in my heels on my final fidget. Micha remained quiet, although I felt his perusal.

“Sir?”

Watching his chest rise and fall, I tried again. “Sir? Did you need something?”

“That will be all Miss Dubois, thank you.”

Wait, what? “Okay...” Unsure what to do with myself I turned to leave, swiveled my head to glance back, and then started across the carpet. I kept expecting him to say something else, so I tried not to run away, even though that was precisely what I wanted to do.

What the fuck...

I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or cry. Once outside the door, I shoved my back to the wall and stared at the ceiling, pausing while my heart decelerated. I shook my hands and took what I hoped was a stabilizing breath before making my way back to my desk.

Christina didn’t bother me for the rest of the day, and the universe must’ve known I needed that short break because Brett and his swarmy smile were waiting for me when I got home.

NINETEEN

Della

“Hey love,” he greeted me.

I shoved my key into my door and unlocked it. “Don’t call me that.”

He ignored me. “What do you want for dinner—my treat.”

Brett walked into the kitchen and opened the junk drawer where the take-out menus were stored. “Chinese? Mexican? Thai?”

“I’ve got things to do, don’t you?” I tossed my purse on the coffee table and yanked off my high heels, instantly losing three inches of height but gaining yards of comfort.

Brett came over to me, wrapping his chest around my back. “Should’ve kept those on, I’d bend you over the couch,” he said, voice low.

As sexually frustrated as I’d been lately, I wasn’t in the mood. “I’ve got too much to do, and you know it.” I shoved a box out of my way. “Order whatever, I’ll eat it.”

Leaving him to make a command decision I grabbed my shoes and went to get changed. It was a shame really, that Brett was such an ass. If you took away the blackmailing, he could be a decent guy. We had plenty of fun together and I was sure hereally did have feelings for me, I just had a strong aversion to extortion.

Burning those drugs was an accident and I’d never asked for help with my dad—that was all a decision he’d made entirely on his own.

To be fair, millionaire drug dealers weren’t known for leniency when it came to losing vast amounts of their products and I had no idea what Brett had done to get me out of that situation. I’d probably have had an epitaph carved in marble right now if he hadn’t worked some kind of magic.

“Brett,” I called out, walking into the kitchen. He put his phone down. “What was that dealer’s name? The one you covered me for?”

Brett pursed his mouth and then stared at me. “Why are you asking?”

“Because you never told me. I don’t know whose house we were at. Did you order?” I went to the living room and flopped down onto the couch, comfy in leggings and a tank top. I’d splurged and set the air conditioner ten degrees lower since I could afford to now and was happy to wear something other than shorts or a skirt.

He followed and stopped beside the couch. “Vincent. I ordered Chinese, hope you don’t mind.”

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