Page 19
Five
Declan
Cillian stands with a muscle jumping in his jaw, looking at me like he’s picking out my casket.
“You asked her to come back.”
“I didn’t have any fucking way to contact her, Cillian.”
“She walked into this fucking place alone, Dec. Without my knowledge. To see a man who put officers in the hospital the last time she was in a room with him.”
“There was a fucking separation glass.”
“I don’t give a shit if there was a goddamn steel door.”
I lean back as far as the table cuff lets me. He won my review, like he said he would. They gave me back gen pop. I’ve had worse outcomes. But most of all, I just saw my girl. So I’m in a good mood.
“You wanna know what she did?”
I keep staring.
“She came into my office at seven in the fucking morning. With a conflict disclosure for the firm, and a mating bond petition. And when I fucking told her it was out of the question, she fucking cross-examined me. In my own goddamn office. For forty fucking minutes.”
My lips twitch.
He drops into the chair and pinches the bridge of his nose.
I laugh.
“This isn’t fucking funny, Dec. That woman went to the best schools; she had the best grades. She has the best instincts I’ve ever seen in an associate; she’s never had so much as a fucking parking ticket. And she’s about to attached her name to yours.” He looks up, and all I see is an Alpha who’s scared for one of his own. “So here’s what’s gonna fucking happen. I remain your chief counsel, and because she fucking argued me to death, Zahra stays on your team. But I want every fucking thing in writing.”
“Fine,” I reply, grinning.
“I told her the paperwork will protect your right to be bonded and keep a professional relationship, but it won’t protect her reputation.” He points at me. “There are people in this city who’ll use you against her, and she won’t fucking see it coming, because that woman never had to watch her back like that.”
That wipes the smile off my face. I feel my jaw clench, my teeth grind, my wolf starts pacing under my skin. He goes still, and I feel his lips pull back off his teeth. He’s not looking at Cillian. He’s looking past him, at a city full of people, picking out which one he’ll end first.
Hurt her? Hurt HER?!
Nobody’s hurt her. He doesn’t fucking care. Cil said it out loud, so it’s real, and he wants a throat in his fucking mouth. My hands go hot. The cuff on my wrist creaks, and I have to look at it to make sure the claws don’t come out.
“She signed this shit anyway.” He slides the document to me and sets a pen on it. “She thinks she knows what she’s doing, Dec. You and I both know she doesn’t. She knows the goddamn law. She doesn’t know any of this crap. You, the fucking streets...”
I pick up the pen and sign the paper.
“Anyone who uses this against her,” I say, jabbing my finger on the document, “is gonna have a very short lifespan.”
“Fuck’s sake.” Cil shakes his head, looking somber, frustrated, fucking tired.
He stops before walking out. “I’m the only licensed Alpha who… saw it happen.”
I nod.
“I want you to know I’ll do it. I’ll be your witness but I’ll be thinking about drowning you the whole fucking time.”
I fucking smirk.
He shakes his head again. “Go fuck yourself.”
