Page 28 of Her Lion Lover

Leo's heart plummeted to somewhere down near his boots. "And last night?" She was his mate. She'd claimed him, and he'd claimed her, and she'd shifted, just like the legends said she would. But if the only reason she was with him was all about business...

Her cheeks turned pink. "Last night was...was...wonderful. I never imagined sex could be that good."

"We could do it again tonight, if you want. Every night, even. Or I could take you hunting...there are lots of deer in the woods here. Wild boar, too, if you want a challenge." Even as he said the words, he knew what her answer would be. Why wasn't she as excited about finding her fated mate as he was? Was it because all of this had been about her business, and she didn't care about him at all?

"Leo, I'd love to do all sorts of things with you. And we will. But right now I'm worried about my godmother, and I'll never forgive myself if something terrible happened to her while I was getting up to naked hijinks. It could already have happened, while we were...while we were..." Her eyes glittered with tears, but before they could fall, she reached for her phone and ducked her head to focus on that instead. "I'll try to turn it on so I can get her number and we can call her." A pause. "It looks like she tried to call me last night. So many missed calls. No wonder the battery went flat. Wait, there's a message..." She held up her phone, squinting at the screen. "It's hard to make out with all the typos. There's something about an eviction notice, I think, and that she's locked herself in, but if she's not out of there by 5pm Friday, they'll call the police..." Lily stared at him in horror. "It's already after three. We need to go help her."

"I'm sorry, but if there's a court order evicting her, there's not much we can do. I mean, we can fight it in the courts, but if her landlord has the court order, then the police will side with him."

Lily shook her head. "I'm her landlord. Faye lives in the flat above the VEE offices. She gets the place rent free as part of her salary package while the business was on hiatus. I don't know anything about a court order, because I didn't file for one. Unless someone tried to terminate her employment contract, but even then, I'd have to sign off on it, and I haven't. None of this makes any sense."

It sounded like something Uncle Jeremy would do to discredit him. "Is there anyone you know who might try to forge your signature, or forge a court order?"

Lily looked grim. "If she's going to lose the house, my stepmother might be desperate enough."

"I'll put together a security team, and tell them to meet us there. We'll get to the bottom of this, and make sure your godmother is safe."

"I can't ask you to do that! This is my mess. I'll fix it. Somehow."

Leo grinned. "You don't have to ask. You're my mate. What's mine is yours. If your family is in trouble, I will move heaven and earth to make sure they're safe. They're my family now, too." He held out his hand.

Lily hesitated. Fated mates and forever weren't anything she'd considered until yesterday, but she couldn't imagine anyone better to face the future with than Leo King. He was everything she'd ever wanted in a partner, and more.

She laid her hand in his. "Let's go."

THIRTY-FIVE

Three hulking men stood outside the office building when they arrived. Lily hung back, unsure, but Leo just marched up to the trio. "Did Badger brief you?"

The man in the middle nodded. "Protect the lady at all costs, plus any additional security duties as required." He hooked his thumbs into his belt, which bore an ornate horned buckle that Lily thought would have belonged to an American cowboy, instead of the Scotsman he clearly was.

Leo grinned. "Badger sent his best, I see. Let's get this over with, and I'll buy you a round in the nearest pub when we're done." He gestured for the men to lead the way.

One of them did, with the other two falling into some unspoken formation behind Leo and Lily.

"Who are they?" she whispered.

Leo laughed. "They're Highland cattle shifters. Bulls bigger than I am. Implacable and impossible to ruffle in either form. With one of these boys as your bodyguard, you'll be safe as houses. With all three...even I might find them a challenge."

One of the men behind them failed to smother a chuckle. "A challenge we'd accept, sir, when we're not on duty. Always up for a good fight."

They reached the entrance, and Lily fished around in her bag for the keys, but the first man simply pulled the door open and held it for her. It hadn't been locked. That did not bode well.

A greasy looking man with a combover who swam in a suit two sizes too big for him spun slowly on the spot, holding up his phone to capture the whole panorama. Not that there was much to see – just an office with bare desks, all stationery and personal items tucked away in the drawers so as not to gather dust.

Most of those desks would remain bare for the foreseeable future, until Lily found her feet enough to consider hiring more staff. Or managed to win projects enough to keep said staff busy. It would be just Faye and herself to start with, working on the final plans for Hea Sanctuary. After that was put to bed...

Cadence flounced into the room. "I found the boardroom and a quaint little kitchen area, but no sign of stairs to the next level. Must be external access only."

So she hadn't found the trick bookcase that hid the stairs to the second storey. If she'd only pulled out the standard operating procedures manual, the bookcase would have swung open for her immediately. Of course, her stepmother would rather commit fraud than do anything by the book.

"What are you doing here?" Cadence demanded, setting her hands on her hips. "Taking one last look before it's all sold? Who told you?"

"I'm here to see what needs to be done before we reopen for business on Monday," Lily replied, forcing herself to pretend to survey the office instead of keeping her eyes firmly on Cadence. "I'll need to ask Faye to order fresh flowers for the reception desk, and see what the supplies are like in the kitchen. Can't run an office without tea and coffee, of course, but it won't hurt to have something on hand for Friday night drinks, after a hard week. Or for an evening client meeting, if it comes to that." She folded her arms across her chest. "What are you doing here?"

"Why, putting the place up for sale, of course. Mr Minik is here to take photos for the listing. Apparently offices with housing above them are very hot right now, and he says it'll be snapped up right away, for a very good price, too. Maybe even enough so that we can keep the house." Cadence sniffed. "Not that you care about any of that, living in a mansion with your rich husband and all."

"I don't see how you can sell this place, seeing as it's not even yours. You might have persuaded my father to sign over his house to you in his will, but this building belonged to my mother, and now it belongs to me. I don't know how you got in here, but you're definitely trespassing, and if you don't leave right now, I'll have to call the police."

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