Page 21 of Wolf Cursed
Kai.
I swallowed hard, my stomach flip-flopping with nerves.
He pushed his way in without waiting for me to invite him.
“We’re closed,” I said, retreating under the pretense of grabbing my pen from the counter.
A pen.
Like it was some necessity of my job to hold a pen in my hand. Like that would somehow protect me.
“I work here,” he said flatly.
Right. Shit. I tried not to think about what that meant for tomorrow. Or every day after that. Working under the same roof didn’t seem like a safe option, not with how much animosity he held toward me.
“You weren’t here today,” I pointed out.
“I took the day off. Not that it’s any of your business. Is Oscar here?”
“In the garage.”
He marched past me and out the door, taking the cloud of tension with him. Alone, I let out the breath I’d been holding and prepared to head upstairs. My head was throbbing after a full day on my feet. But the sound of voices kept my feet firmly planted.
Evidently, these walls were thin.
“You gave her a job?” Kai demanded in a voice almost as angry as he’d used with me.
“Watch your tone,” Oscar snarled with slightly less volume. “This is my shop last time I checked. Which means I make the decisions around here.”
“You know the rules, Oz.” Kai’s voice quieted, but the hardness remained.
“She’s family. That counts for something.”
“She’s an outsider. You’re putting us all at risk.”
“She’s an orphan who just got the shit kicked out of her by some deadbeat assholes. What am I supposed to do?”
Kai didn’t answer. I could picture the scowl he was probably wearing though. Lust pooled low in my belly. I seriously needed to work on that. I’d never had a thing for the rude asshole before. Not like this anyway. Even the jerks I’d hooked up with in the past had been passably polite to me. It was kinda embarrassing how attracted I was to a guy who hated me. And really annoying.
“This is a dangerous game you’re playing,” Kai finally said.
Oscar grunted. “Don’t I fucking know it?”
“Why’s her last name different?”
“No clue. Caleb wanted to disappear—that much I know. I guess he decided to be thorough about it.”
“What’s the story with the mother?”
“She left a few years back, apparently. No word since.”
“Any idea who she was?”
“None. Caleb kept a lot of secrets.”
Kai snorted. “Yeah, and one of them is standing in your front office.”
There was a pause.
