Page 7 of My Orc (Secret) Boss

Sakkara was ourD’malk, our chief. He’d led us through the veil to the human’s world—whatever good that had done—and had kept us connected since then. When the opportunity arose to move to Eastshore Isle, he’d reached out to each of us and gathered us here.

And now he’d been elected mayor, which meant even the humans could see his leadership potential.

I had to admit, sitting there in that tailored suit, scrolling on his phone, he looked far more urbane than someone like me would ever want to be. I saw him finish typing something, then he stood, his attention split between the phone and me.

“Sorry,” he said a little distractedly, waggling the phone. “Just finishing up some—I’ve almost finished negotiations with another group. It’ll be good to have more of us here on Eastshore.”

More orcs were coming?

I wanted to ask, but then I remembered that I was supposed to be irritated at him.

Sakkara didn’t notice my rudeness, or didn’t care. He slid his phone into the pocket of his jacket, then turned his full attention to me with a bright, expectant smile.

As if this were a social meeting and I hadn’t kept him waiting out of spite.

Grow up, you idiot.

Sighing, I stomped—maybe a little less forcefully—toward the kitchen. “Want a beer?” I growled, as politely as I could manage.

Sakkara seemed surprised when he responded, “Thank you, no. I have a dinner date with my daughter and Mate.”

I hesitated at the door to the fridge, staring at the bright light. “How is…is Emmy okay? No…nightmares?”

I didn’t know a damn thing about little kids. But I knew a lot about the dark side of humanity. I’d spent the last decade fishing bodies out of the East River and trunks of SUVs and everything in between.

And I knew about nightmares.

Behind me, I heard Sakkara move quietly to stand in the kitchen doorway. “She’s fine,” he said softly. “We haven’t seen any evidence that she remembers what happened at all or really understood it.”

At Christmas, Simbel and I came to Eastshore. The excuse we gave was Sakkara’s invite, which was handy, but really, we were there following an asshole who’d skipped parole. He was one of the worst—an evil man who thought he was charming—and we knew he was coming after Nikki, Sakkara’s Mate.

Simbel kept Emmy safe while I did my best to distract the perp until Sakkara could show up and nearly rip him a new one.

Unfortunately, I got myself shot for my troubles.

All in a day’s work, huh? At least Emmy and Nikki were safe.

“Good,” I said roughly, and grabbed a beer.

I closed the fridge with my hip as I turned to glare. “Why are you here?”

“Does your downstairs neighbor mind you stomping around up here?”

The question—and reference to Maya—was so unexpected, I reared back, beer bottle halfway to my lips. “What?”

“Maya Locklear.” Sakkara tipped his head to one side, as if I didn’t know wheredownstairswas, and crossed his arms. “Does she ever complain about you stomping? Just wondering.”

From the way his eyes were crinkling, he was trying to hide a smirk as he leaned against the door jamb.

Trying to hide how flustered I was by the mention ofher, I sipped my beer.

“Do you have a lot of contact with her?” Sakkara asked, obviously trying some kind of conversation gambit. “You’re her landlord, right?”

“She doesn’t know my LLC bought the building,” I snapped. “Get to the point, Sakkara.”

He studied me for a moment, then exhaled and nodded. “Maya needs you.”

Wellthatreached right past my throat and down to my chest and wrapped hard around my heart andpulled. I forced myself to settle back against the counter, then tried to convince my cock to stay out of the conversation.

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