Lila

Except for a greeting as they walked in, neither of them spoke in the elevator with the security guard. But Dane kept holding her hand, and she caught the guy looking more than once. She would have laid money he wished he could get a picture. Was that because Dane was usually so cold, or angry, he couldn't believe he'd be affectionate? Or was it because the guard could be bought. She was going to have to keep an eye on him and make sure he wasn't a spy…

​​

Holy shit, she was turning into Dane.

The elevator doors opened in front of them and they walked out, still hand in hand, which surprised Lila. But Dane had her hand in a grip and he wasn't letting go. Since it was Saturday, there was no one at the Reception desk. But as they walked towards the conference room he still didn't let go.

"Will you be conducting the meeting with me on your lap, or…?"

She would have sworn Dane giggled, but it couldn't be. He wiped the look off his face as soon as she turned and just squeezed her hand. "I've been having to pretend for too long. I'm not letting you go now for anything," he rumbled and her heart dipped right into her belly. She didn't want anything more than to stuff him back into that car and tear his clothes off. But she knew as well as he did that they couldn't put this meeting off any further.

Chris was probably already having kittens.

Sure enough, when they walked in—still holding hands—Chris, and at least ten other people, including Tank and Josh, and a couple women Lila hadn't met before, were all sitting at the table. And Chris was clearly seething, though he didn't raise his voice when he greeted them.

There was a brief tug of war under the table when they sat down—Lila needed her hand to open the folder in front of her!—but other than that, she just pretended nothing weird was going on. Though the staff stared at them like they'd just teleported into the room.

Dane either didn't notice, or didn't care, because he just scanned the room and frowned.

"Where's Tish?"

"I figured she would still be sleeping off last night—she was pretty sick," Chris said through tense lips. "I'll record and she can type it up later."

Dane frowned, but didn't argue. "Okay," he said, turning to the rest of the staff after the room was silent a beat too long. "I'm sure you all saw the photo. Yes, it's real. No, we aren't talking about it if anyone—especially the press—asks. We're working on getting it taken down. But our main focus today is on building a strategy for security for Lila. I have enemies. We will not allow them to get their hands on her in an effort to get to me. We also need to come up with a personal exit strategy for her from this building, and the apartment building in general, but specifically the Penthouse and her apartment.

"Both our homes are being swept for bugs and devices right now, so we can be certain we're starting clean. And from now on, both are a no-go zone. No one steps in either dwelling except me and Lila. Josh will run security out front and he makes the call for a team to come in if there's a threat, but outside of that possibility, if I need someone there, I'll ask Chris, or Tish. That's it. If you're found in the Penthouse and I didn't just name you, you'll be an assumed spy, fired and searched on the spot, then handed over to our friends in law enforcement. Charges will be laid. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," they all murmured, looking at each other. A couple of the younger ones went pale.

"Make sure your staff and teams know it, too. I don't want to fire someone for being a moron."

No one really laughed. The tension was thick in the room. Lila wasn't sure why. Unless that was just how security people felt when they were facing an unknown threat.

As the meeting dragged on, it was clear Chris was still very angry at Dane, but he was working hard to keep himself professional. Ideas were thrown around the table that involved everything from a celebrity style entourage, to covert bodyguards, to essentially imprisoning her in the Penthouse. She glared at Dane when he didn't shoot that one down immediately. He squeezed her hand under the table. When she looked away, Chris was staring at her.

Eventually the discussion went over her head—they were all using technical terms that she figured out must indicate different types of surveillance. There was an agreement to have her tailed at all times, which she rolled her eyes at, and an assigned car and 24-hour driver coverage.

"Is that really necessary?" she piped up then, feeling sad for the drivers that had to sit around in the building for eight hours when she wasn't going anywhere. "Can't I just call them when I need them?"

"We're not risking a repeat of last time," Dane said firmly. "We have the staff, so let's use them."

Chris looked like he'd swallowed a hot poker at that, but he just rubbed his mouth with one hand and didn't say anything. She caught his eye though and resolved to warn Dane. There must be something up with the staff. Chris didn't look happy.

After a while, Dane looked a little happier. Decisions were made. A good chunk of the staff were assigned and sent off to build shift rosters and other fun things like that. And most of them filed out.

Only she and Dane, Chris, Tank, and Josh were left. Dane told Josh to go get organized, that he wanted him on Lila when she left the office to go home, then he could man the Penthouse until Dane got there.

She looked at Dane sharply, but he was too busy talking to Josh. Why had she said when "she" left, not when "they" left? Why did he think he'd be coming home after her?

As Josh walked out–with a quick wink at her behind Dane's shoulder—Dane turned to Tank. "I know Chris brought you in. Are you sure you want this, Tank?"

Tank opened his mouth, but Chris broke in. "He's the only one strong enough to stop you when you pop your cork," he ground out.

Dane cut him a look. "You might find that now that I don't have to hide how I'm feeling about Lila, my fuse is a little longer."

"Yeah, sure, Dane. And this whole set of circumstances isn't stressful for you at all. No chance you'll get a little edgy," Christ snapped sarcastically.

Dane stared at him and Chris glared back. They both looked like they were on the edge of violence. Lila reached for Dane's hand under the table, but he just squeezed hers then let go.

"Tank, I think maybe you should give me and my brother a minute," Dane said through his teeth a second later.

.

.

NEED A NEW READ WHILE YOU WAIT FOR CHAPTERS?

If you're enjoying this book you might also like my fantasy romance, FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE KING OF BEASTS:

Elia is transmigrated to Anima, where humans have the blood and senses of animals. She's forced to mate Reth, the King of Beasts, but they soon fall in love. Together, they must fight for the Kingdom—and their lives—against the villainous wolf-tribe.