Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The Snack Pack remained my discreet guardians throughout the day as I openly wore the bracelet I’d received.
When people noticed and asked where I’d gotten it, I said it was a gift, without saying who had given it.
However, I always smiled and touched it in a way any intelligent person would read into.
I knew that stirring office gossip about my newly acquired tennis bracelet wouldn’t be enough to bait Lianna, though.
So I also used every excuse to be in Konni’s office.
Once he realized what I was doing, he started calling me in for random reasons, and I spent more of my day straightening his tie and delivering printed files that could have been emailed than I spent at my desk.
Unfortunately, Lianna didn’t appear at the end of the day with some off-site, after-hours meeting that needed Konni’s presence. I wasn’t worried, though. I knew she wouldn’t stay away for long.
The next morning, during her favorite “barge in and ruin his day” time, I did more than straighten Konni’s tie. I “accidentally” spilled his morning coffee on him.
He didn’t even flinch from the surprise or the heat—I’d put some ice cubes in it to make sure it wasn’t too hot.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Steele,” I said, urgently pushing his jacket off his shoulders. “Let me help you.”
I started tugging his tie loose.
“Are you testing me, Sophia?” he asked softly.
“Shh. Just stand there and let me have my way with you.”
Konni’s eyes were glittering with gold and amusement as I started unbuttoning his shirt.
Right on time, I heard, “What are you doing?”
Without looking up, I said, “Helping Mr. Steele with his shirt. He spilled coffee on himself.”
He coughed on his laugh.
“Is there something you need, Lianna?” he asked.
After freeing the last button, I seductively ran my hands up his abs and over his chest to “help him” remove the coffee-soaked shirt.
“Would you like to shower before I get you a new shirt?” I asked.
“No need. Just a wet cloth to wipe off the syrup and a new shirt is fine.”
“Right away,” I said, loving that he was ignoring our audience as much as I was.
Lianna didn’t say anything until I was in the bedroom. I’d purposely left the panel partially open so I could listen.
“What are you thinking? She’s an employee, Drake. What if she sues for sexual harassment? Do you have any idea how that will impact you, your family, and the company? You haven’t been thinking straight since she showed up.”
I was surprised she’d checked her emotions enough to use logical persuasion instead of saying something that would tip her hand. Obviously, I’d need to try harder.
However, she was gone when I reappeared with the washcloth and shirt.
Konni was where I’d left him, deliciously shirtless and waiting, but scowling at the open door.
“Mad at who interrupted or the open door?” I asked.
“Both.”
His frown quickly faded as I wiped his chest off.
“Your shirt,” I said, holding it out when I finished.
He let out a slow breath. “You’re definitely testing me.”
I leaned in to give his exposed nipple a quick kiss then hurried away before he decided to break boundaries like me.
Thursday morning, Konni had a pair of earrings waiting for me in his desk drawer. The diamonds weren’t over the top, but set in a way that was meant to be noticed.
“They’re perfect,” I said, immediately putting them in.
He kissed my forehead. “You’re perfect. What do you have planned for today? More coffee.”
I shook my head. “I like keeping things fresh. My guess is she’ll try to schedule a meeting with you soon. Probably something out of the office. You should grudgingly agree to give up half of your lunch hour. I’ll take care of the rest.” I patted his chest and left him.
The Snack Pack quickly helped me fill in the gaps in his schedule with actual meetings.
Half an hour before lunch, Whitney called Edi to schedule a meeting. I listened to Edi say Konni was booked solid except for his lunch hour, which he’d asked us to keep open.
“She’s finally learning,” Bomir said softly, peering around his monitor at me.
I shook my head. “She’s just changing things up.”
“I’ll check with him and call you back,” Edi said.
When he hung up, he turned to look at me.
“Leave it to me,” I said.
Konni looked at me when I peeked into his office, interrupting his meeting with the VP of Operations.
“I’m so sorry to interrupt, Mr. Steele,” I said. “Ms. Stonestock is insisting she meet with you today, and the only opening you have is your lunch hour, which you said to leave open.”
He sighed and looked at his watch, then at the VP.
“I don’t want to rush this. We’ve put off this meeting for too long.”
The man looked at the open notebook on his lap. “I have another two pages to go through.”
Konni nodded and looked at me. “Tell her today won’t work.”
I nodded and hurried out, leaving the door open.
Edi saw my grin, shook his head, and picked up the phone. We listened as he declined the meeting. Less than a minute after he hung up, Konni’s phone started to ring.
“Does anyone else feel like making popcorn?” Bomir asked.
Marius shushed him so we could listen to Konni.
“I’m in an operations meeting, Lianna. What do you need?” His chair creaked. “I have an engineering meeting at one I need to prepare for. Fine. I’ll give you thirty minutes.”
He used force to hang up the phone.
“Everything okay?” the VP asked.
“It usually is. I apologize for the interruption, and I appreciate your patience. You said the Southside build has a problem?”
I turned toward Edi. “Let’s order in for lunch.”
A minute before noon, I stood. “I’ll go grab lunch.”
Marius stood too. “I’ll help you carry it. Bomir got the soup combo.”
Lianna turned the corner as we were walking out. The look in her eyes was triumphant until she saw my earrings. I smiled politely and continued past her, keeping my glee in check all the way down to the cafe.
“Did you see the look in her eyes?” I asked Marius. “She was positively livid.”
He laughed. “Yeah. She’s turning inside out with jealousy. They’re show-stoppers and look great on you, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
We carried our order back upstairs and heard Lianna’s raised voice.
“What is the point of having a door?”
“I opened it and set her off,” Edi said softly when we reached him.
I nodded and set down the orders I’d carried.
“I thought you had a problem with it being closed,” I heard Konni say.
“When it’s not warranted, yes.”
I took Konni’s order, winked at Edi, mouthed, “watch this,” and headed toward the door in question.
“And what warrants it being closed now?”
“I want to have a private conversation with you.”
“About what?” he asked, shifting his attention from her to me as I walked in.
She turned to look, too.
I ignored her and held up his lunch. He nodded. She didn’t say anything as I unpacked his order and set everything out on his desk.
When I turned toward him, I “accidentally” tripped and fell on top of him. Our mouths connected. I licked him subtly then bolted upright.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Steele. Are you okay?”
His eyes were burning gold as he brought his thumb to his mouth to rub where I’d licked him.
“I’m fine, Ms. Elmantas. Are you all right?”
Lianna snorted. “Are you serious right now? She did that on purpose, Drake.”
“I’m fine,” I said, ignoring her. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
My expression shifted to sultry just before I turned away, and her hands fisted in response.
Satisfied that I’d pushed her to the edge, I continued walking toward the door, where the Snack Pack was spectating.
“Actually, I want to talk about us,” I heard her say. “It’s been forever since I spent the night.”
Bomir made an “oh no she didn’t” face, and I waved away his anger. Her attempts to get a reaction from me wouldn’t work. I knew their story and trusted Konni.
“I’ll just close this for you,” I said when I reached the door.
Bomir waited until it was closed to ask why.
I grinned. “She’s not the one he wants to be behind closed doors with, and he’s going to make that very obvious.”
She came storming out ten minutes later. I didn’t turn to look but took another bite of my sandwich.
“Ms. Elmantas,” Konni called before she was too far to hear. “Could I have a moment, please?”
I stood and turned at the same time she glanced back at me. The hate in her eyes was real. I smirked, went in, and closed the door.
The sound of the turning lock could be heard outside. I knew because I’d checked this morning before anyone arrived.
Konni’s arms wrapped around me from behind.
“I don’t like you pushing her like this.” He kissed the side of my neck.
“You really need to shift into a dragon for me soon so I know what might happen if I push too hard.”
“She wouldn’t go that far, but I’d be happy to shift for you tonight.”
I nodded, turned in his arms, and ran my hands down his suit.
“How much time do you have before your next meeting?” I asked.
“I can be late.”
He was. By fifteen minutes.
The fire inspector’s call Konni was waiting for finally came in just after two.
Edi interrupted his meeting in the conference room.
When Konni headed into his office, the rest of us followed him in and closed the door.
We listened to the inspector confirm it was arson and that they had unclear footage from a neighbor’s bird camera of someone entering through Mom’s window.
I texted Mom since the inspector said he’d notified her first.
Me: We’ll make whoever did this pay.
Mom: Safety is more important than revenge. Don’t do anything reckless.
Me: I won’t.
Konni hung up and started delegating.
“Tell the investigators checking the cameras in the area that I want to know who it is by this time tomorrow.”
Before dinner, I stood on the lawn with Mom and Kaya and watched Konni walk thirty feet away before facing us.
“Wait,” I said. “What happens to your clothes?”
Mom snorted, and Kaya laughed.
“Dragon shifters are a little different from wolf shifters,” Kaya said. “Watch.”