Page 131 of Possession

Lena narrows her eyes. “What’s your problem?”

“Hunt, you ready?” Christian ignores her completely, which only pisses her off more.

“I’m ready,” I answer.

“You two want some dinner brought up?” Lena offers. “Oliver makes a delicious?—”

“We already ate,” Christian snaps.

Fuck me.

He’s further gone than I thought.

How the hell did I let this happen?

By the time we’re behind the closed doors of my office, Christian is already on edge, pacing.

“I know what you’re going to say,” he mutters, his voice low, frustrated.

I exhale sharply. “Then why put us in the position where I have to say it?”

“Nothing inappropriate has happened between us.”

“And nothing ever will.”

His fists clench. “I know that.”

“So fix that attitude of yours and stop being shitty toward her just because she laughed at one of her coworker’s jokes.”

Christian runs a frustrated hand through his hair.

“Just because? You think I’m an idiot? I fucking know why you brought his overqualified ass here.”

I fold my arms. “I hired Oliver so that my sister has the space to live out her dreams. He can run the kitchen while she experiments, creating new recipes or whatever her heart desires. The first twenty years of her life were hell. She deserves to live a soft life now.”

“I realize that!”

I tilt my head. “Do you?”

He lets out a sharp breath, sinking onto the leather sofa. His posture shifts—less angry, more defeated.

“Yes, I know,” he admits.

“And if this was the other way around?”

His eyes flick to mine. “I’d be saying the same thing to you.”

We sit in tense silence.

Until the tension finally dissipates.

“So we’re good?” I ask. “Do we understand each other?”

Christian nods once, firmly. “Perfectly.”

I’ve known Christian for most of my adult life.

And there’s a tone to his voice that lets me know that he hears me now.

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