Page 148 of Haze

“I was supposed to ask Lena last week if she wanted to be part of our costume.” Nikki winces when she looks at me. “I’m guessing you’ll say she can’t go.”

“Is that how she paints me? That I won’t let her have any fun?” I ask earnestly.

“Uhhhh.” Nikki’s eyes widen. “Lena doesn’t say jack shit about you. But you’re kinda uptight for ex-Mafia.”

I turn away from the door. “I’m headed back to my office. If Lena wants to go to Halloween, and I can find a way to make it safe for her to go, then she can go out. But you absolutely have to be there.”

“I will.” Nikki nods.

An hour later, I’ve done everything I can with the data I collected on usages and head back out toward Lena’s lab to see if I can’t catch Lena alone. Passing by one of the windows, I see Brayden getting into his ridiculous little sedan and driving off.

Nikki and Lena are where I left them, and Lena looks over at me with a heavy eye roll upon my approach in her doorway. “It isn’t even five o’clock. We’re not done yet. Come back later.”

Looking between the two of us, Nikki closes her mouth and bites her lips together.

“Faolan, you best mind your tone when talking to me like that.” I encourage her to behave.

Lena scoffs and rolls her eyes. “I’m not ready to leave yet. We drove separately anyway. If you’re in a hurry, go. I’m fine to figure out how to get home without you. I’ve done it plenty of times before.”

Nikki audibly gasps. She slides her chair out to escape the tension growing in the room.

“No, Nikki, you can stay.” I stop her.

“He’s not the boss of you, Nikki. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” Lena says flatly.

“I’m more dominant than she is, and I’d be willing to bet that Cade will take my side on this.” I logic away the objection.

Nikki stays frozen in the chair.

Lena turns her eyes from Nikki to me. She holds my eyes with a glare. But even when I push my wolf forward, Lena keeps hers under control. She’s feeling well today.

“You’re headed to the pack property tonight, correct?” I ask, not delving further into her attitude.

She nods. “Yeah. Why?”

It kills me not to put her in her place for that sort of language, but now isn’t the time.

I draw my attention back to Nikki and ask her, “Where are you headed tonight?”

“Oh, I commute every day. Had a place, but long story short, my roommate was a disaster who kept buying crickets and letting them loose in the apartment.” Nikki shudders.

I’m very confused but don’t question her story.

“Go together at the same time. Ride together or follow each other but don’t leave the other behind anywhere,” I order Nikki rather than Lena.

With a nod in response, she answers, “Yes, Finn.”

I turn to Lena. I lower my voice and tilt my head toward her, emphasizing my point. “We will talk when I get out there tomorrow, Kathleen. And you better start thinking of all the ways your smart mouth will make up for how you spoke to me.”

Lena huffs, “Whatever.”

But behind the eye roll, shrug, and defiant tone, I catch a glimpse of Lena’s excitement. It’s time my little masochist learns that the pain I have given her previously is nothing like real punishment.

Leaving the two of them in the office together wasn’t ideal. But with Brayden not being there and him thinking he’s won by getting me to back off, I’ve got to move quickly. It won’t be long before he realizes there’s no way in hell I’m handing my mate over to him, and by that point, the wheels need to be in motion.

* * *

“Hello?” I answer my phone.

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