Page 76 of Hunted Innocence

NADINE

It’s beentwo days since Lucille told me about her crazy plan, and I’m still thinking about it and wondering how it’s going to work. It is crazy, and I think it’s also going to work. I’m just not sure how Theron and the other guys are going to like it.

I have a feeling they’re all going to protest, but in true Lucille fashion, she told me to let her worry about that part.

So, of course, I can’t let her worry alone. I’ve been seriously stressing out about what is going to happen, how it’s going to happen, and if I’m just wasting my worries, my time, or maybe even my heart.

I hate feeling like this, but at the same time, I love it because, for the first time in my life, I’m allowed to feel whatever I want without constant fear. Sure, I’m stressed out about Grayson and the future, but I’m not terrified.

Not anymore.

I’m trying so hard to focus on work my body freezes when Theron calls my name. He yells out a second time, and my wholebody jumps as I bang my knees against the underside of my desk before I push my chair away.

Slowly, I stand to my feet, smoothing down my skirt with my palms, and turn to face his office door. It’s closed, and I wonder how in the hell he can get his voice to travel the way it just did—twice.

Reaching for the handle of his door, I gently turn it, then push the door open before stepping through and closing it behind me.

If there is anything I know about Theron, when the door is shut, you don’t bother him. If he calls you into his office and the door is closed, you shut it behind you after he’s called you in.

A closed door is always that way for a reason and should always remain that way until instructed otherwise.

“Sit,” Theron states the moment the door latches shut behind me.

Walking over to the chair that is positioned across from his desk, I sink down and cross my ankles before I bend my knees, tucking them beneath the chair. Placing my hands in my lap, I lace my fingers together in hopes of keeping from fidgeting. I have no clue what he’s called me in here for, but since he hasn’t even lifted his eyes to meet mine, I know it can’t be good.

“Theron?” I ask.

I am feeling very intimidated by him at this moment. I don’t know what to say or what he wants from me, so I stay silent and wait. And wait. And then he finally speaks. But before he does, he slowly lifts his gaze to meet mine.

“Do you agree with Lucille’s plan?” he asks.

“Lucille’s plan?”

I try to play dumb, but I’m not sure it works. Because he arches a brow at me as if he knows exactly what I know. Letting out a sigh, I throw my hands in the air.

“It’s a crazy plan,” I cry out softly.

Theron tilts his head to the side, his eyes never leaving mine, and then his lips curve up into a wide smile. “Well, Lucille came up with it, right?” he asks.

“She did.”

He chuckles. “Then, of course, it’s crazy, but is it what you want?”

Instead of answering him, I have a question of my own. “Will it work?”

We stare at one another in silence. I’m not sure what he’s going to say. If he doesn’t think it’ll work, then it probably won’t. Theron may be ruthless, but he’s also very cunning and one of the smartest men I know.

If he thinks something will work, then it will.

But then, I also have to remember that at one point, Lucille outsmarted him, so maybe she’s on to something herself. Theron laughs again, then laces his hands on his desk. He presses down, straightening his elbows as he pushes himself up to standing.

I watch him move as he makes his way over to the window and turns his back to me. “If Lucille came up with the plan, then it will probably work. But I have my reservations about giving you the green light.”

He doesn’t continue. His back stays to me, but I don’t know what to say, how to say it. I just stare at him with this uncomfortable silence between us, waiting for him to continue, to say something—anything.

“You have reservations?” I ask when he continues to stare out of the window in silence.

Slowly, he turns around, his hands behind his back, his eyes finding mine, and he holds my gaze for a long beat, then clears his throat before he speaks.

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