Page 13 of Furever Loyal
He frowned. Clearly, she wasn’t very good at the whole espionage thing. “It gives me a place to start looking. To find out who was involved. To see why they might have done this. Anything, really.”
She nodded. “Okay. Hold on a moment then.”
He followed her into a private office and took a seat without being invited. Haley shot him a glare but didn’t say anything. The look had said enough. She didn’t like that he was in her personal space, in her sanctuary.
Well, too bad. You shouldn’t have come into mine and called me a traitor to my own House.
Tapping fingers against the back of his head as she started working on her computer, he looked around the office. It was nice, but…plain. The wood finishes on the wall were all high quality, dark stained and richly colored. Same with her desk, which was large, but not so huge that it gave off the impression she was trying to compensate or look aloof from the rest of her employees. A single bookshelf stood against the wall, to the left. It was packed with books.
The desk itself was clean, devoid of just about anything. A stapler, pen holder, calculator, and a mailbox tray were all that adorned it besides her monitor. No pictures, no personal belongings or knick-knacks of any sort. It was so sterile and impersonal, he felt awkward even being there like he didn’t belong in the office.
“Did you recently move into the building?” he asked casually. Maybe she hadn’t had time to unpack any of her belongings.
“No, we’ve been here the better part of twenty years, since my predecessor moved us here. Now let me work.”
He rolled his eyes and lounged back, crossing one foot up onto his knee casually. He could see her mouth tighten, flattening into a line as he gave his best fake relaxed sigh to go along with it. Burying his grin, he looked away. Egging her on was just too easy sometimes.
“Okay, I have the name. But it’s probably nothing,” she said, sitting back. “Just a shell company. You guys have hundreds of them, you know. It’s a nightmare to look after.”
“Uh uh,” he said, standing up to come around to the other side.
“What are you doing?”
“Reading the name?” He made it sound like she should feel silly for asking something like that.
“I can tell you it, you don’t need to come hover over my shoulder,” she said coolly, but he ignored it. This way was more fun.
“I know.” His eyes found the line on the screen, reading the word aloud. “Granted Holding Company. I know that name,” he said thoughtfully. “You must have a list of known corporations operated by House Canis, right?”
Haley eyed him. “I do. Though why I’m supposed to watch out for things by your rivals still doesn’t make sense.”
“Just check it,” he said, though he knew he was right.
She did so. “Granted Holding Company. Associated with one Laurent Canis. Whoever that is.”
Kincaid was silent. He knewexactlywho Laurent Canis was. He was the bloody Reaver of House Canis. Their businessman, he oversaw all the business interests of House Canis. Wasn’t that just an interesting coincidence?
Kincaid needed to know more before he brought it to his Queen. Right now, it would just make it look like he was a traitor, working with the wolves. He needed proof he’d been framed by them.
“Here, can I just…” He bumped her chair aside with his hip, tapping on the computer even as Haley sputtered and tried to recover her composure as he calmly took control of her device.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for them. And what do you know,” he said. “They have an office here in Plymouth Falls. How convenient.”
He stood up and walked around the edge of the desk, heading for the door.
“Where are you going?”
Kincaid looked at her over his shoulder, pulling open the door. He held it open with his foot, now facing back into the office. “To pay them a visit of course.”
“What for? Anything they did would have happened at a bank.”
This time, he couldn’t stop the grin. She was so clueless as to the world he lived in that it was almost adorable. Almost, if it wasn’t for the fact she had fingered him as a traitor.
“To see what can be seen. To get a clue as to who really runs it, and why they had ten million dollars they could just drop into my account. Someone put me up to this Haley, and I intend to find out who. This is about more than just bank accounts and money transfers. Someone is out toget me, understand?”
“This isn’t some sort of spy movie,” she said, standing firm.
