Chapter 25
Ethan
I grind my teeth as I watch Fiona try to help Ms. Phillips clean the coffee mess. There shouldn’t have been anyone up here to spill her drink. I bought her the drink because I was a bit worried that she was upset..
She was gone Saturday morning when I returned from my meeting. The meeting went longer than I thought it would, so I had left with the intention of being back before she woke. That didn’t happen.
Then, she looked exhausted this morning when she got in the car, making me wonder what she was up to all weekend. Who was the with? What did she do?
I shake the thought away and watch as she throws away the last of the dirty towels. She didn’t complain when I told her we would have to redo some of the papers, and then she’d helped clean when she didn’t need to.
Something about her determination and kindness set off a sense of pride in my chest.
“She would be a good Luna” my wolf tells me, to which I growl. I’d told him to stop bringing that up after he howled in my ear all week last week.
There is a difference, though, from last week and today. The feeling of comfort between us had disappeared. I sensed it, even through her tiredness, the moment she’d gotten into the car this morning.
“Ryan, check the cameras on my floor and see who wrecked Fiona’s desk,” I order through the mind link.
“On it, Alpha,” he responds.
“Thank you, Ms. Philips, for your help,” Fiona calls as the older woman makes her way into the elevator.
I watch as Fiona follows Ms. Philips into the elevator and disappears.
“Alpha, there was a young man from accounting who came up to your floor. It looks like he was on the phone, maybe getting instructions from someone, as he picked up the coffee cup and poured it all over Fiona’s desk,” Ryan mind links me..
“There was no one with him?” I ask, leaning against the doorframe.
“No one, but before he does anything, he pauses and listens to whoever he’s talking to,” he tells me
“Can you tell who he’s talking with?”
“He never says their name, but they’re clearly the true culprit because right before he leaves, he asks when he’ll get paid.”
Whoever did this has messed with the wrong company.
Who the hell do they t
think they are to mess with my business?
“Find out who he was talking to. Ryan, and inform ΠΕ the moment you know.”
“Yes, Alpha, and…” He trails off, leaving me hanging for a minute before he says, “There’s a group of women near the third- floor bathrooms harassing Fiona.”
First the debacle in the lobby on Friday, then the coffee incident, and now this? Whoever has it out for Fiona isn’t wasting any lime.
“Protect her!” My wolf growls, pushing me to move faster.
“If she needs me, I will
When I reach the third floor, I follow the sounds of angry, screeching women and find Fiona backed up against a wall with
1/3
12:12 Sun, 13 Apr M.
Chapter 25
three women around her.
“We know you’ve been sleeping with the boss” One woman sneers.
“Is that the only way you can get a job?” The second woman asks.
“You know she’s not even divorced yet,” the last woman says, “And she’s cheating on her husband.”
“Piece of trash.” the second woman says.
54%
“You’re just a filthy seductress, is what I heard,” woman one says with a laugh. “You stole your husband from his girlfriend and now you’re sleeping around on him.”
“Can’t keep your legs closed long enough to get a job on your own,” the third woman says, lifting her hand. Before it can fly and hit Fiona, I move forward and grab her by the wrist.
All four women turn, wide eyed and stare at me. The only pair of eyes I care about, though, are watching me with built up
tears.
“What is going on here?” I ask
*M–Mr. Montgomery,” the first woman stammers, stepping back. The other two take her lead and move behind her. “We were just. Fiona here..”
I til may
head and raise a brow at her. “Can’t even come up with a believable
She stammers again, looking to
to her friends for help, but they offer none, so I turn to Fiona.
“Are you okay?”
Shaking her head, Fiona straightens herself and looks at the women.
“As of today, you’re taking a weeklong leave of unpaid absence,” I tell the three women. “You will also be repeating the company’s ten–hour course on harassment. If that doesn’t straighten out your behavior, I’m afraid you will no longer be working at my company.
I feel a hand grip the back of my jacket, and I step to the side a bit, hiding Fiona from the angry women’s gazes.
We may only be in a contract relationship, but she shouldn’t have to deal with treatment like this. Not while I’m around to stop it.
If there’s something I hate, it’s when people hurt others. We have enough danger and pain in the world without creating more. Fiona, for example, is dealing with divorce and inheritance issues. She doesn’t need workplace harassment added to her list of worries.
My wolf snarls, itching to come out and teach these women a thing or two about respect, but I pull him back. Shifting in front of the entire company wouldn’t benefit anyone.
-ves sir, the women stutter in sync.
“Get out of here.”
+
They scurry away, and if they were wolves, their tails would be tucked between their legs as they retreated.
Silently, with a hand softly leading Fiona, I guide her to the elevator. She doesn’t say anything during the ride, but when I look at her, she no longer has tears in her eyes.
“Stupid women,” my wolf huffs, longing to curl up with Fiona and comfort her.
JUI, 13
Chapter 25
Exiting the elevator, Fiona turns to go to her desk, but I want her here for now,
“Fiona”
She tenses at my voice before turning
“Yes!
“Bring the files to my office, and we’ll get started, I tell her. She nods stiffly, and I hold back a growl when she shuffles to do as I said. This standoff–ish behavior and tension pull at the irritated thread in my chest, fraying it.
Friday, we were fine, so why is she acting so distant now?
She enters my office silently and takes a seat on the other side of my desk instead of in the chair I’d moved beside mine.
While we sort through papers, Fiona makes a stack of the ones damaged by coffee, and before long, she stands and announces, “I need to go make copies of these.”
Without waiting for my response, she rushes from the room. Is she deliberately trying to piss me off with these mixed signals? I thought we were fine, but now she acts all distant. Which is her true emotion?
Is she trying to manipulate my feelings?
Groaning, I shake off the confusion. Why do I even care? This isn’t a lasting or even real relationship.
“She’s ours,” my wolf protests. “Ours to love and protect.”
“No, she isn’t,” I argue back. “This is a mutual agreement that will temporarily benefit us both. Nothing more.“.
He growls again before tucking himself back into the corner of my mind like he does when he wants to ignore me.
After ten more minutes of sorting through papers, I glance at the door. She isn’t back yet, and the stack of papers she took wasn’t that large. There are plenty of copiers in this building that it shouldn’t take her this long to come back.
“Check on her.”
“Not ignoring me anymore?” I ask my wolf.
He huffs and pushes at my senses.
Closing my eyes, I focus and listen for Fiona
I move past the mundane sounds of papers shuffling, keyboards clacking, pens scratching, and workers talking until I find the fast thump of someone’s heart two floors down.
Then she gasps and whimpers.
“Get away from me.”
Ө
AD
Comment
Send gift
No Ads
