Chapter 10 - Flynn
My alpha's eyes seemed to light up a bit more with everything I showed him.
His elation had almost been overwhelming in the vault, despite the climate controls working hard to keep a neutral environment.
“What else is down this hall?” Connie asked as we left the vault.
“Nothing much,” I replied with a shrug, “just a secure loading bay.”
“Secure?” Dylan asked.
I nodded and smiled at him when our eyes met. “It’s made for armored trucks. The doors can’t be open at the same time as a means to try to prevent thieves from taking advantage of shipping.”
“Ah.”
“Shall we head upstairs?” I asked.
He smiled. “Sure.”
I led the way out of the hall and could practically feel my alpha’s eyes on my ass. I liked it… and had to force myself not to give him an extra wiggle.
“The elevator is over by the reception desk,” I said. “Or we can take the stairs.”
“I love how they turned those stairs into a feature,” Connie gushed.
“Stairs then?”
“Sounds good to me,” Dylan replied.
I shivered, knowing I was about to give my alpha an even better view.
We walked up, and I heard my alpha’s slight intake of breath as soon as he got a look at our open coworking space.
“This is the main working floor,” I started.
“It’s mostly open, but there are four focus rooms available if somebody needs quiet.
Then there are two medium-sized conference rooms and one larger.
There’s a kitchenette in the break room and a small coffee bar near the conference rooms. Then there’s the research room and the appraisal room. ”
“Everything makes sense except the appraisal room,” Dylan said with a laugh.
I chuckled. “We can start there then before you take some time wandering the floor.”
We walked across, over to where I instinctively knew the vault was below us. There was smart glass, and a door that always let out a slight hiss when opened.
“Wait… it’s climate-controlled, too?” Dylan asked as soon as he heard the hiss.
“Yes,” I replied with a nod. “Old paintings are extremely delicate. What the owners do with them is one thing, but we had strict protocols. Anything appraised high enough was either in here or in the vault.”
“Why not do the appraisals in the vault?” Dylan asked.
I pointed up, then motioned to the walls. “Lighting. These lights are special for true color, and the walls are painted to not reflect color onto pieces. The appraisal tables were also quite large.”
“Ah, ok.”
“The research room is over here,” I said, leading them through another door. “It’s got its own door to the floor as well.”
The sound of hollow metal rang out as Dylan rapped his knuckles on the flat file cabinets.
“I expect those will have to be disposed of,” I admitted. “They’re heavy, and there’s not a ton of use for those types of cabinets.”
Dylan hummed. “I might be able to figure something out. If nothing else, they might be a good donation item for a library.”
“I think I’ve seen those at a couple of the galleries that sell prints,” Connie added. “They might be interested, too.”
I smiled and met Dylan’s eyes.
“Why don’t I give you a few minutes to look at the rest of the floor,” I suggested.
“Great!” Connie chirped.
We walked back out to the working floor, and I stood to one side while Dylan and Connie wandered around.
The bit of space helped. Being close to my alpha and not having him inside me was almost torture. Every instinct insisted that I should be moaning from how good his knot felt.
I watched as Dylan trailed his fingers along one of the coworking desks and appreciated how his hands lingered on the back of a chair.
I wanted those fingers playing with my nipples as his free hand rested where our baby would grow.
He glanced over and smiled at me every minute or so, and each time a thrill raced up my spine.
My alpha. Everything had seemed so bleak; then he’d breezed into my life and seemed to carry with him more than just our impending mating.
He could barely contain his excitement about the building, and the way he’d looked around the vault told me it hadn’t been just words when he said he wanted to keep it.
“Ready to head upstairs?” I asked when Dylan and Connie seemed to converge in the middle of the room.
“Sure,” Dylan replied.
I led them to the elevator, though the stairs were still available. Then we stepped out to the top-floor waiting area. A smaller version of Ellie’s reception desk sat outside the big office—which stretched the width of the building.
“There are sixteen offices up here,” I said as Dylan and Connie fanned out.
“The one in front of us is the biggest. The four flanking it are the next largest. The far side is split into three. Then four standard offices on each side. Every office has windows, and all the standard offices have smart glass fronts so that light gets to the middle. Then the core has a small break room, the elevator, and the restrooms.”
“So the executive and larger offices are the only ones with brick fronts?” Dylan asked, turning to take it all in.
“That’s right.”
He moved to one side and peeked into an office, then he strolled from one to the next.
It was my turn to admire his ass as I followed behind, basking in his pleased scent.
“Almost fully furnished,” he murmured as he opened one of the doors to the large offices at the far end.
“Assuming you get the landlord’s approval,” I said. “We can probably make a good deal if you want to take it all.”
He turned to me and smiled. “Even if your landlord doesn’t approve, I’d like to discuss prices. I’m going to have to furnish an office anyway, and if you’re competitive…”
We rounded the floor and were soon back in front of the big office.
“May I?” Dylan asked, motioning to the door.
“Of course.”
He opened the door. “Wow…” he breathed as he walked inside.
And probably right into a cloud of my scent since I’d taken over that office.
Tall windows were on either side and wrapped around the corner, flanking a brick accent wall behind the desk. The wall itself was blank but had once held a large art print, so there was still a light pointing at the brick.
“What do you think?” Connie asked as Dylan rested his hands on the back of a plush guest chair.
“Let’s start the process,” Dylan said. “I want the building as-is.”
“Really?” Connie asked.
He turned to us and nodded. “Let me put it this way. I’m not going to have to pull a single permit, at least not for a while. Everything I need is already here, and I’d like to get the paperwork going.”
“Ok,” she replied.
I rounded the desk, then pulled out a folder from the landlord and passed it over to her.
She opened it, skimmed, and nodded. “It looks standard, and I think I’ve already got all the financial information. The lease is within the range specified, so I think I’ve got everything I need.”
“Great,” Dylan said.
She stood. “I’m going to head back to the office to pull everything together.” She turned to me. “What time can I drop by in the morning with it?”
My gaze flicked to Dylan, then back.
I was hoping to spend a good chunk of the next morning enjoying his knot.
“Eleven?” I finally offered. “I was thinking of taking a bit of personal time in the morning.”
“Eleven. Perfect,” she chirped. “I’ll call William and let him know how everything went and that you’ll be passing the application to the landlord.”
“Thank you.”
She grinned. “You’re welcome. Hopefully it all moves fast.” She then turned to Dylan. “Do you want me to walk you back to your car?”
Dylan shook his head. “I think I’d like to discuss the furniture while I’m here.”
“Of course! I’ll call you if I need anything then.”
“Thank you.”
I stood, then turned to Dylan. “Let me walk her down; then we’ll discuss furniture.”
“Ok.”
Connie chattered about how excited she was for Dylan to take over the space while we took the elevator down. Then I waved as I closed the door behind her.
I jogged to the elevator as soon as it was clear she wasn’t going to turn back. The wait for the elevator doors to open was excruciating.
Then I was in the office with my alpha, who’d stood and was waiting for me.
There was only one more thing to do.
I strode to where I was in clear view of one of the cameras and faced it.
“SecondShield. This is Flynn Smith, authorized agent for this location. Please pause all video and audio recording of this room until I exit. Code… umm… ummm…”
My brain short-circuited as I thought about what I wanted Dylan to do to me.
“Damnit,” I huffed. “Fated mates. And I don’t want an audience.”
I stared at the small indicator light on the camera. It glowed red for several seconds, blinked blue three times—an acknowledgement of a verbal command—then went dark.
The soft whirs of the lenses closing on all of the cameras in the room.
I looked around to ensure that all the cameras were dark.
Then, holding back was no longer an option. I walked over and pulled my alpha down into a kiss.