Page 72 of Surrender (Angels Halo MC Next Gen)

“See you tomorrow?” she asked, seeming hopeful.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow. Later, Abi.”

After grabbing my coffees, I made it to work just a few minutes late. I walked in to find Nishia already handling the phones like a pro.

“Happy first day!” I greeted, placing the extra cup of coffee on the desk in front of her. “I hope you like white chocolate mocha. Wasn’t sure what you prefer, but I don’t know another woman who doesn’t like chocolate.”

Pleasure filled her eyes. “Thank you. This is perfect. You’re the best.”

“Just a little something to hopefully make you feel welcome. If it means you don’t leave us, I’ll bring you goodies every morning. Jos spent an entire day figuring out what the last temp had screwed up. Clueless idiot. I really want you to stick around. So, if there’s anything you need, or if I can help in any way, just let me know.”

My phone buzzed, and I had to shift a few plans around before I could pull it from my bag. Seeing it was Mom, I groaned. “Ugh, sorry. My mom is already blowing up my phone. It’s like she expects me to be up to no good.”

Which was kind of fair, but still. I was a good girl at work. Mostly.

“Elias is in the conference room,” Nishia told me, taking a sip of her coffee. “He asked me to tell you to join him and your client as soon as you got here.”

My finger stilled before I could answer my cell. I hadn’t allowed myself to think about the meeting I was supposed to have that morning with Lynn Berkeley. Not after the amazing day Elias and I had had. But now I was reminded that not everything was sunshine and rainbows with us.

Turning my head toward the conference room, I swallowed and tried to rein in my crazy. I was not going to choose violence. That would only scare Nishia, and I didn’t want her ever to be afraid of me.

“She’s here already?” I was proud of myself for keeping my voice calm.

“She arrived about ten or fifteen minutes ago,” Nishia confirmed.

It was fifteen minutes too long that she got to share the same air as Elias. I wasn’t going to allow myself to think of what that thirsty cunt-bag might do while alone with him.

Reminding myself not to frighten the fairy, I smiled. “Well, I guess I should hurry. Don’t want to get fired before I complete my internship.” Sending my mom’s call to voice mail, I dropped the phone back into my bag. “Thanks, Nishia.”

“I should be thanking you. This coffee was definitely needed since I already finished what I brought from home.”

My smile brightened as I turned away. She was so damn sweet. Despite the nightmare she had been thrown into, she’d come out of it still kind.

But as I neared the conference room, I heard Berkeley’s flirty laugh, and all the warmth I’d felt from Nishia’s goodness froze over. Why I hadn’t killed Berkeley yet was a mystery to me.

Maybe I hadn’t wanted Elias to see how dark and twisted I was. But now that he’d made it clear he was aware of how depraved I could be, and miraculously wanted me anyway, I wasn’t so sure I could contain the darkness in my mind that needed to watch her bleed out.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-EIGHT

elias

For the second time,Berkeley touched my hand, and for the second time, I pulled away. She didn’t use to be so damn annoying. When I first met her, she was fun, easy to be around, uncomplicated.

We were casual back then. Now, we were nothing. That was how it had been for close to three years. After spotting Samara at the club that night, I hadn’t gone back with Berkeley. Every time she tried to tempt me into going with her, I politely declined and told her to have a good time, hoping she would take the hint. As time went on, the texts had been spread out further and further, giving me the illusion that she wasn’t a clinger.

I should have just told her I didn’t want to be friends anymore.

Every day the previous week, she’d called under the pretense that she had a few more notes to incorporate into her mock-up. But instead of actually telling me what she wanted included, she would ask how I was and if I had plans for the weekend. When I told her point-blank each time that I would be spending the weekend with Samara, she quickly came up with an excuse and wouldhave to call me backabout the added details.

She did it every damn day, annoying the fuck out of me. Her flirting and touching me like she had the right were pushing me closer to telling her she should just find someone else to handle her remodel.

It would have been the safer option, considering how volatile Samara could be where this woman was concerned.

When she touched my hand for the third time, I couldn’t remain silent. “Listen, Berkeley, I think this is a bad idea. You obviously have more than just a professional relationship in mind here, and I’m not interested. I told you before that I’m with Samara.”

She pressed her lips into a hard line before giggling. “Don’t be silly. I want the best working on this project. That means you and your team, Elias. That’s all.” Her fingers skimmed over the back of my hand. “But if you are reading more into this, then perhaps it’s you who is thinking about us having more than a professional rapport.”

I watched her fingers move across my skin, and I wondered how long it would take to get a session with Lyric to have Samara’s name tattooed there. She would definitely like having me branded. Lyric was so booked up, though, that it had taken two months to get in for the new piece he’d done on my chest.

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