Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Like last time, there wasn’t any discussion about what happened between them. They cleaned up, Isaac dealt with the smoke, and they went back to work. Part of that bugged Isaac. He didn’t like the guesswork. Would they pretend it never happened? Or would they do it again the next time Maverick’s control snapped? If it became a thing, which he was kind of hoping it would, would they stick to blowjobs or would he get a chance to experience that knot again? Too many damn unanswered questions. Isaac wasn’t sure how to bring it up without looking needy. He didn’t need a relationship, he was too busy right now anyway. But some clarification would be nice.
They hadn’t been working long before a knock came to the door. Isaac frowned, glancing at his computer calendar. There wasn’t a scheduled meeting for this time, was there?
“Maverick?”
Isaac stiffened, his head whipping up to look at Maverick. The last person either of them wanted in this office after they’d just sucked each other off was Ozen Hawksley. He’d be able to tell in an instant.
Reacting without thinking, Isaac sent a heavy wind through the room in an attempt to dissipate the scent of sex. Maverick had just enough warning to slap his hand over the pile of papers on his desk that they’d just cleaned up moments before. Papers fluttered and drawers rattled, but once it passed, the room was filled with cold air and Isaac was pretty sure the scent of sex was gone. Maybe. Oh, who was he kidding? He couldn’t tell. He was a mage, not an incubus or a shifter. He shot a questioning look at Maverick as he stood, but Maverick just shook his head. What the hell did that mean? Was it fine? Was it a wasted endeavor? What?
Because Maverick couldn’t read minds, he couldn’t answer any of Isaac’s questions. He opened the door to his office, his demeanor calm and relaxed. That alone might tip Mr. Hawksley off about what they did. Maverick was never that relaxed.
“Ozen. Is something wrong?”
From his desk, he couldn’t see Mr. Hawksley standing in the hall. He wanted to lean and get a good look, but that would be suspicious, so he kept his focus on his work, even though he wasn’t actually reading any of it.
“Can I come in?”
Maverick grunted, stepping aside to allow Mr. Hawksley to join them. Mr. Hawksley nodded in greeting as he passed, but didn’t speak directly to Isaac, instead sitting in one of the chairs on the other side of Maverick’s desk. He was so close to where they’d been sucking each other off. Could he tell? Would he have a problem with it? Technically, he slept with his temporary assistant, but Isaac wasn’t sure it would count, considering Avery was his feeder and turned out to be his mate. He didn’t know the full story on how all that happened.
Mr. Hawksley didn’t speak until Maverick was once again sitting behind his desk. Isaac felt a little like an interloper, but no one asked him to leave or gave him any hints that he wasn’t welcome. It might be more suspicious if he snuck off.
“What is it?” Maverick lacked any subtly and got straight to the point.
“Avery told me he overheard some worrying gossip about you. Care to explain?”
Maverick gave him a flat look. “You know I don’t listen to that nonsense.”
Mr. Hawksley didn’t back down, frowning at his friend. “They said you were shouting at the staff and people felt unsafe. I also received a call from Robert Sutton saying the deal was off. What happened?”
Isaac hadn’t known that part. He figured part of Maverick’s mood had to be about his meeting, since he’d come back from it in a foul mood, but they never got around to discussing it.
“Sutton had no interest in taking the deal. He was stringing us along. He leveraged the deal we offered him with another company.”
He bit back a growl. That bastard. They’d been bending over backwards to make Sutton happy. He patented a formula the research team needed for one of their devices, and Spellbound had been trying to woo him into giving them access to it. He seemed interested, but apparently it was all a game to him.
Isaac could only see the side of Mr. Hawksley’s face, but he could hear the annoyance in his voice. “Well, that’s unfortunate, but no reason to lose your temper or take it out on the staff. You’ve been volatile lately, Maverick. I care about you and want to help you, but I can’t have you abusing the staff. Avery said Jade was crying in the cafe.”
She hadn’t been when Isaac left. She looked petulant to him. He had to wonder how much of that was an act once she realized the CEO’s mate was in the same restaurant.
“Jade was reprimanded for using her personal device on company time. She didn’t even notice my arrival or my attempts to get her attention to speak with her about it. She is the first point of contact for this office, and she represents my staff. She was unprofessional and I will not allow that in my office.”
A smug feeling washed over him for a second. He had nothing against Mr. Hawksley, but he enjoyed watching Maverick cut through every argument put in front of him. He was the chief legal officer for a reason. And as his assistant, Isaac was on his side. It was also a little hot watching him. Isaac had to think of some really gross stuff to get his mind off of it. The last person he needed to get turned on around was Ozen Hawksley. He’d know right away.
“She said you were unnecessarily cruel, and I happen to know just how difficult some people find it to work with you. You very rarely keep an assistant longer than a few weeks.”
Mr. Hawksley glanced over his shoulder at Isaac, who straightened with a frown. This had to do with their disagreement last week, didn’t it? No matter how many times he explained to people that he wasn’t upset by the event, no one seemed to believe him. It shouldn’t matter what they thought, anyway.
“I don’t have a problem working with Mr. Van Buren,” Isaac said with probably a little more force in his voice than necessary, especially when talking to the CEO.
“And yet, just last week, SR was called to this office,” Mr. Hawksley argued.
“That was a disagreement!” Isaac hissed.
“Isaac, enough,” Maverick interrupted. Isaac whipped to face him, but Maverick shook his head minutely and Isaac had no choice but to back down. He was seriously getting sick of this being brought up. He got the feeling that if it were someone else, maybe someone taller with more muscles, they wouldn’t have held on to the issue for so long.
Once he knew he wouldn’t be interrupted again, Maverick turned to Mr. Hawksley. “What are you saying?”
Mr. Hawksley sighed, and maybe if he wasn’t threatening his boss, he’d have a little more sympathy for the incubus. He looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and what little of his face that Isaac could see showed just how little he wanted to have this discussion.
“I’m saying that things need to change. You’ve always been short-tempered, Maverick, but you knew how to handle your staff without terrifying them. You’re getting worse. If you can’t learn to deal with the employees better, I’m afraid we will have to reevaluate your position here.”
It sounded like it pained his friend to say it, but as the CEO, Ozen couldn’t prioritize their friendship over the wellbeing of his staff. That kind of favoritism could lead to lawsuits down the road. And Maverick could admit he was struggling lately to rein in his temper.
Isaac looked indignant, and Maverick could see him rising to his feet to say something, but a look from Maverick stopped him. He’d only be making things worse for himself if he started yelling at Ozen. He could get away with it with Maverick because that was their relationship, and Maverick actually enjoyed the push back. No one else was brave enough to face him like that. But arguing with Ozen could cause him to lose his job, and Maverick couldn’t allow that. He wasn’t losing the best assistant he’d ever had because the mage wanted to defend him.
Resigned, Maverick felt a muscle twitch in his jaw when he asked, “What do you suggest?”
Ozen pressed his lips together, his face a mask of determination. “I need to see you make an effort to make things right. Staff shouldn’t be afraid to come to work. There will be regular checks from SR to monitor your progress. I’m also going to suggest a vacation–”
“No.” There was too much to do. Maverick never took vacations. He didn’t take days off. He never even called out sick. On weekends, he worked from his home office. Working made him happy. It made him feel useful. He wasn’t going to sit around and be lazy because some people didn’t like dealing with him.
Ozen looked annoyed, but he wouldn’t budge on this. It was bad enough that he was going to be monitored by SR. He might not even make it that long. He’d always struggled to control his temper. He wasn’t going to waste what little time he might have left skipping out on work.
“Fine. I can’t force you. Someone from SR will monitor things throughout the week. Once we see a happier staff, we’ll consider slowing the observations down to once a week. This isn’t forever, Maverick. Just until you can get a handle on things. This isn’t you. My friend doesn’t lose control like this.”
Maverick didn’t reply outside of a grunt. He didn’t have anything to say. The staff weren’t well treated because they were incompetent and lazy. They complained if they had to work late, and half assed their work. Maverick wouldn’t lose his temper so often if he didn’t have to do it all himself or end up chasing down his staff to get things done. But Maverick couldn’t say that without sounding like he was making excuses. Ozen had decided that he was the one to blame, and that was that.
With another heavy sigh, Ozen pushed to his feet. “Okay. I’m going to leave you alone to process things. I’ll check in later.”
He headed for the door, giving a polite nod to Isaac on his way out. Before he shut the door behind him, he paused, looking over his shoulder at Maverick with a deep frown. “I hope you know I’m on your side. You’re my friend. You’ve been struggling for a while. I want things to get better for you.”
Isaac only waited for a moment after Ozen left before leaping to his feet, his scowl indignant. “This isn’t right. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
As much as he enjoyed someone standing up for him, he knew that wasn’t true. He’d been short with his staff lately. He was overwhelmed with work and his dragon protested the constant stress. He was quicker to anger than he used to be. The evidence was plain to see in how he responded to Isaac the week prior. He’d never resorted to violence like that with his staff before. Incidents like that made him dangerous. It was a slippery slope to more dangerous reactions.
“What are we going to do?”
“Work,” Maverick grunted out. “We have a job to do.”
“But–”
Maverick growled out a warning. It was weaker than normal, the dejection heavy in his chest. He didn’t notice it had gotten that bad until Ozen pointed it out. He never wanted to be this way. And he had no idea if he could truly fix it.
Pushing aside his turbulent thoughts, he tried to focus on the work in front of him. If he was on his way out, he might as well get as much done as he could. He didn’t want to leave his friends floundering in his absence.
“What if I help you?” Isaac suggested.
Frowning, Maverick looked up at him. Isaac was still standing in front of his desk, his chin lifted and his eyes filled with determination. He was fired up about this, though Maverick couldn’t even begin to guess why. They weren’t friendly with each other. Aside from a few angry fucks, they kept things entirely professional. Still, he was curious.
“How?”
“Mages have to learn to control our emotions to avoid accidents with our magic. I can teach you what I learned, so you don’t lash out as often. And you know I’m not afraid to say something if you’re acting like an ass.”
Maverick huffed a small laugh, shaking his head. “You’d be incorrigible if I gave you that kind of control.”
Isaac shrugged one shoulder, a smug grin on his face. “Is it any different than I am now? I know how to help you, Maverick. You deserve at least one person in your corner. Let me help.”
“Your contract ends at the end of the month,” he pointed out.
“So extend it. I’m not attached to switching jobs every few weeks. I’m fine where I am. Stop making excuses. You know you need my help.”
He considered it. It wouldn’t hurt to try. And he respected Isaac’s work ethic enough to take his advice seriously. But if he was going down, he didn’t want to drag Isaac with him.
“What if it doesn’t work?”
“If all else fails, whenever you’re close to losing your temper, I’ll blow you.”