It didn’t matter, he was better than the rest of them combined.
Alissia kept her spine straight as a pole as her heels clicked on the wooden floor, face impassive. As always, she gotthosestares from her colleagues. Especially Doug, who kept his beady eyes on her whenever she was anywhere near Rynar’s door.
Doug was a wiry thing, more head than body. His mother probably thought he was gorgeous, though, and told him that every chance she got, because Doug had a mountain of an ego. He was really good at filing things, but that was about it. He was insanely envious, too.
Yes, yes, Alissia–a paralegal, gasp–was allowed in the boss’ office without scheduling an appointment a week ahead. Butonly because they both knew she wouldn’t go inside unless she really had to. The others would have probably found any opportunity to bother him, just to be in his presence.
If only they knew the amount of work Alissia had to put in for Rynar. She would trade places with any of them for a week, see how they liked it.
Alas, she couldn’t do that. Not until she passed the bar exam. Damian still had a few months before he finished highschool. Then he had to get settled at college, which could take another few months.
Then, hopefully, Alissia could start saving the money she so desperately needed. Damian, being the genius of the family, had already gotten a scholarship. But there were a ton of expenses anyway. Alissia was still waiting for the day their digital textbooks would be free. And there was the pesky issue of clothes and food.
They were already a month late on rent.
But she’d figure something out. She always did.
For now, she had to do her job.
She stopped in front of Rynar’s door.
With a deep, centering sigh and a weird feeling in her stomach, she slid the door open.
2
RYNAR
Rynar finished the interplanetary call with Deruzia just as the door opened.
He didn’t need to look up.
He already knew it was Alissia. She could come into his office as she pleased. Zaryn, the head of accounting, Nazyn, in charge of research, and Deryg, leader of the security team, also had that privilege, though none of them smelled as good as Alissia to Rynar’s senses.
They were, after all, the Deruzians Rynar trusted most on Earth.
Deryg especially had been by his side in some tough situations. Rynar had been one of the best fighters back at the Academy, but even he couldn’t have fought off twenty-three other Deruzians by himself, after the graduation ceremony had devolved into chaos. With Deryg, he’d managed it with only a few scrapes to his left horn.
But nobody could help him out of this mess. Nobody could even know about it until Rynar had all the facts.
That’s where Alissia came in.
He trusted her more than any of his other employees. She was prompt, efficient, understood the assignments and did her best to finish them.
Rynar also liked the fact that she didn’t cower before him.
Didn’t try to appease him.
She did her job and wasn’t afraid to contradict him when needed. It was refreshing in a sea of only hearing people echo his own opinions back.
Most importantly, Alissia understood the meaning of privacy.
She was fantastic when it came to sniffing out details and piecing evidence together. She remembered details from thirty cases ago. But she didn’t bother with other people’s business.
Which is why he’d askedherto copy those ancient documents. Deruzians had a saying he particularly liked.A promise made is a promise kept. Alissia was human, but she embodied that. To him, her word was golden.
She strutted in like it was her own office. She was tall for a human female and she emphasized that height with those dagger heels she seemed to love so much, though she was still shorter than his Deruzian height of seven feet.
Her long black hair was swept to the side, cascading in those curls that were so very human. Deruzians had straight hair from the moment they were born until their final days and it was not malleable–just like Deruzians themselves. Alissia called them stubborn. Rynar liked to think they were determined.
