Page 47 of Surrender (Angels Halo MC Next Gen)

“I trust your judgment, Mom.” I checked the time on my phone. “You and Sammy have a meeting?”

“Yes.” With a groan, she stood and stretched her neck left and right. “We should be done by lunch. Then you can steal my favorite girl away. I’ll get Crystal’s exit package together while you’re out.”

“I’ll bring you back a slice of cake from Aggie’s,” I promised.

Her eyes brightened. “I knew I had the best son in the world.”

When the door closed behind her, it opened again almost immediately. Samara had her phone in one hand and our fur baby in the other. I couldn’t have stopped the happy grin that split my face at the sight of them even if I’d wanted to.

“The survey team has the specs for the Magnus project. Can we take an hour this afternoon to review it?”

I pulled up my email and saw the team hadn’t sent me any information yet. Those assholes seemed to communicate with Samara first these days. Trying to impress her or some shit.

She walked around my desk and saw I was searching for the email. “I’ll forward it to you,” she promised.

I snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. She gave a pleased little sigh, kissing me back. But Daisy meowed a warning, reminding us both she was there and not to squish her.

Lifting her head, Samara smiled. “Can Daisy hang out with you for the morning?”

“Why are you asking?” I gently scooped my fur baby into my arms. “I’m her dad. Of course she’s gonna hang with me while Mommy is working.”

Blue gems darkened for a moment, but then she dropped another kiss on my lips. “See you both soon.”

I waited until the door closed behind her before I picked Daisy up. “You think she trusts me yet?”

A tiny meow was my fur-daughter’s response. I kissed her head and laid her back on my lap. “Yeah, I don’t think she’s quite there either.”

But I was getting closer. Every day I saw a small change in my baby girl. It didn’t matter if it took a hundred years, though. Giving up wasn’t an option.

Even if all I ever got was an hour of Samara having complete faith in me, I’d take it in a heartbeat.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

samara

I stoodat the end of the couch, stuck between wanting to scream and cry. I blamed Elias. He’d already left for the office because of an early meeting on-site with a client, leaving me there to have to deal with this emotional shit.

Our new receptionist, Gina, was allergic to cats. And not just a few sneezes allergic. On Friday, her eyes had swollen up, and she’d been making a scary wheezing sound by lunch. I kind of felt bad for her. But did I care enough to leave my sweet little Daisy home alone for the first time?

In the six weeks since she had become ours, Elias and I had taken her everywhere. Even to MC barbecues and dinner at his parents’ house. I’d found these cute cat-sling pet-carrier bags, so we could tuck her in and she would poke her head out to people watch. Daisy was always a hit with the kids at the cookouts.

Elias spent most of the time crouched down so the smaller kids could pet the kitten’s head. Jos, Tanner, and Reid all claimed that Daisy was an official member of the family. Raven had even made her a little leather cut that said Property of Angel’s Halo MC Elias on the back. Dr. Beamer hadn’t been able to stop giggling the entire time during Daisy’s latest vet visit.

I wasn’t even sure why I needed to be so accommodating to Gina. It wasn’t like she could do much of anything except fuck up. Gina was the second new hire in three weeks. The first receptionist who had replaced Crystal had only lasted a week. She had experience, but I wasn’t sure what that experience was in. Answering phones was a given, sure. But the way she answered them caused me to wonder if her last job was as a sex phone operator.

Miss Sexy Voice had been a better fit than Crystal, but Elias had fired her by the Thursday of the same week she’d started. I still wasn’t sure why, except he’d been increasingly growly as the days had passed. Then one day, I’d come back from lunch with Delaney and discovered that she’d been fired. Elias had been pissed, and Jos had been scrambling to find a replacement.

Gina had been there for the last week and a half. So far, she had transferred three calls to the wrong person off-site. Scheduled two new client appointments for the same time with the same architect, somehow rearranged all of Jos’s personal schedule, which included meetings with at least two suppliers and a safety inspector.

Would it be so bad if I took Daisy and Gina went into anaphylaxis?

Would Ben arrest me for murder if I knowingly sent someone into an allergic reaction that ended in death? But more importantly…would it be considered premeditated?

Daisy looked up at me expectantly, as if asking why I was still standing there staring at her instead of tucking her into her sling so we could go to work.

Crouching, I scratched her head and then under her chin, earning me the pretty little purr I loved so much. “I’m sorry, precious baby,” I explained softly. “Mommy can’t take you with her today. Maybe when we get a new receptionist. Grandma Jos is already looking for Gina’s replacement. Which is good, because I don’t think either Daddy or I could talk her out of murder if Gina messes up even bigger than she did last week.”

Daisy gave me soulful eyes that I had to fight to resist and her prissy little meow that meant I needed to pick her up already.

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