Alpha's Strength (Fallen Alpha) (22 page)

Slowly, she moved to stand next to him. "No, I don't think it's them. I just think something is...off."

He nodded, a few wisps of black hair falling over his eyes. Wendy stuck her hand in her uniform pocket to stop herself from pushing his fallen strands out of his vision.

Draco finally spoke. "And the legal matter?"

"I'll call downstairs and see if there's an update."

One of the newest associates had overstepped and interfered in a matter where they didn't have a contract. The person he'd pursued and brought to the police was now suing the company. Wendy wasn't overly concerned. This wasn't the first person to begin litigation either to get money or to stop them from doing their jobs. So far, Powers, Inc. had always won.

"Your first job is about three hours from here by air." She looked out the window. "The weather should be fine."

"Excellent. Then we'll leave two hours from now."

With one last nod, she walked to the door and stepped through it, shutting it behind her with a thud. She had to give Draco credit. When he'd commissioned the building, he'd used only the best materials. The thick oak door separating his office from everyone else made a point every time it closed. If anything ever screamed, 'stay out', the thud of his office door shutting did.

Approaching her desk, she found herself humming, though she'd been horribly nervous and embarrassed a moment earlier. Draco seemed satisfied with her job performance; she'd get to fly with him in just a matter of hours; he'd touched her; and it was likely she would progress another level on Hero Land tonight.

Life was good...until she reached her desk.

Gasping, she rushed forward as she realized the contents of her purse littered the floor. What the hell? Scrawled across her computer monitor in red lipstick were the words, SLUT and FREAK.

Whirling around, she glared at Kate, who typed at her computer, apparently working on the database Draco had asked her to finish the week before.

"Why would you do this?" Wendy hated the way her voice shook. She knew this was a little thing, nothing of consequence, a mean spirited prank, but still, she felt violated. They'd gone into her desk, touched her purse, and defaced her computer. This was her private space.

Kate raised an eyebrow. "Why did I do what?"

"This..." Tears threatened to spill, but she knew she wouldn't give Kate, Tania, or any of the others involved the satisfaction of watching her cry. She pointed at the mess on the floor and then to the computer. "Why would you do this?"

Rising from her desk, Kate looked the model of perfection—as always. Her black hair fell past her shoulders, perfectly coifed, never a strand out of place, slick and smooth. Her sculpted eyebrows sat atop her long face, which belonged in a magazine spread not on the top floor of a company of Guardians. Oh yes, Wendy was sure Kate knew how beautiful she was, the amount of power her looks held over both men who wanted her sexually, and women who hoped being in her presence would make them somehow like her.

"I didn't do anything." Putting her hands on her hips, she regarded Wendy's destroyed purse and disrupted computer screen with an air of amusement. "I was with Tania the whole time. I only recently got to my desk. It must have happened while you were in there doing whatever it is you do every morning with Draco."

Whatever she did every morning with Draco? She gritted her teeth and wished she could scream. "You're lying." She pointed a finger at Kate. "If you ever do this again—and tell this to all of your friends too—I'll go to HR and report it."

Kate laughed mirthlessly. "You're going to tattle? I told you, I didn't do this."

The thud of a door closing interrupted Kate's speech. Oh, god. Draco. Wendy had only a second before he appeared. Even knowing how powerful and fast he was, his quick arrival at her desk still startled her.

"What's going on here?"

Kate's eyes widened. If Wendy hadn't been so furious, she might have laughed.

Unless you were used to Draco's intensity, you could be overwhelmed. Kate almost never saw him in person. Most of the time, he spoke to her over the intercom or sent her computer messages.

Wendy covered her eyes with her hand. When hysteria threatened, it helped to shut out all light. Since she couldn't actually flip the light switch, this would have to do. Draco could not see her lose her cool. Handlers did not display emotions in front of their Guardians. It was imperative to remain calm. Guardians lived with a lot of pressure, both by putting their lives on the line and then by having to hide their real identities from the world. Handler rule number one? Make your boss' job easier, not harder by freaking out all the time.

Taking her hand off her eyes, she forced a smile. "It's fine, I think we just had a misunderstanding."

"You're lying to me. I can hear it." Draco turned all his attention on Kate. "I have the ability to compel you to tell the truth. All I have to do is alter my vocal patterns and not only will you tell me what I want to know, but you'll also confess all kinds of things we'd both rather I not hear. If you want to keep your job, tell me the truth, Kate. What happened here?"

"It was just meant to be a practical joke. She's just such...a..."

He narrowed his eyes, and though the force of his blue-eyed stare was not on her, Wendy gulped.

Draco raised an eyebrow, with what could only be described as venom in his gaze. "Such a what?"

"Such a geek, and she gets such preferential treatment here. We wanted to knock her down a peg."

"If Wendy gets preferential treatment, which I don't think is true, it is only because she does her job better than anyone else."

Feeling her cheeks heat again, she wanted to crawl in a hole and hide. It was great to be appreciated by your employer but not like this.

She tried to interrupt. "Look—"

"If anything like this ever happens again to Wendy or to anyone else, the person responsible will be fired immediately. Clean up this mess, Kate, now."

Without another word, Draco turned on his heel and returned to his office. The thud of the wooden door stretched out over the silence in the room. Kate's eyes, still huge from Draco's interrogation, closed for a second. When she opened them, she'd regained the distant composure Wendy was used to seeing.

"I'll get a cloth to clean off your computer."

As Kate walked down the hall, Wendy gave in and collapsed in her chair, letting her knees buckle as she did. She wished, for a moment, she were a member of the crew in Space Adventures; none of them would ever have needed their boss to rescue them from bitchy coworkers. Sighing, she wondered how he had known to do so in the first place.

For the rest of this story, check out Rebecca’s website to find your local retailer.

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