Excitement was rampant amongst the employees of Lupus Corp at the arrival of their CEO. The doormen and admin staff were waiting for the imminent announcement of an across the board raise, while the managers, lawyers and scientists were riding high on the successful final trails of the newest tech product: the Heart-Ring. With barely restrained excitement, dozens of eyes followed Gabriel Moncrief as he made his way through the building and to his office on the twentieth floor.

Theo was waiting for him when he entered his room.

"Where were the trucks discovered?" Gabriel asked as he rounded his desk. The Charles River flowed peacefully beyond the floor to ceiling windows lining two sides of the room.

"And hello to you too," Theo shot him a boyish grin as he leaned against one of the two settees in front of the desk. "Did you miss me? I missed you, cuz."

Taking in the pile of paperwork that needed his attention, Gabriel leaned back in his chair and arched one dark brow. "Where?"

"British Columbia," Theo said, his expression turning serious. "Some of the almonds were sold off, but most of the stock is accounted for and useable." Leaning forward, he placed a slim leather folder on the mahogany table. "We had to send a new shipment to our primary buyer a few days ago, but the Larssons agreed to increase their portion of the purchase to cover the product left in the trucks."

"Why?" Gabriel asked, looking over the new contract. "Are they increasing their chocolate production?"

"No, they claim they are experimenting with an almond-chocolate spread?" Theo shrugged, showing his opinion on the matter. A spread made with the high-grade almonds in the trucks would make the production cost ludicrously high.

"If they were going to sell small quantities to an elite customer...no the grade is still too high," Gabriel shook his head, throwing the folder to the side. "Tell the Larson buyer that we will supply them with cheaper crop if they are set on making paste."

Theo's brows rose, "Why not let them take it off our hands and cut losses?"

"Larson is no fool, she is buying up the extra almonds as a personal favour and every favour owed comes with a cost." Gabriel said, moving on to the piled papers on the other side of the table.

"Got it," Theo nodded. He took out his phone to write a quick message. "What should we do with the left overs then?"

"See if our restaurants can make use of some of it, the rest can be salted and sold to our bars." At the thought of restaurants, Gabriel's mind turned immediately to Alex. His mysterious chef had finally let him into her head. Why does he have to be so good-looking? It was pleasant indeed to discover the attraction he felt for her was reciprocated, but Gabriel had no idea how he had managed to hear her thoughts at last.

Was it her shaken state that brought about the lapse in her block? And come to think of it, what on earth had made her so weak that she had almost fainted to begin with?

Pleasure at recalling how she had felt in his arms warred with concern for her health. At least she had recovered quickly and according to the last text from Delores, Alex had left the hotel for her usual afternoon jog.

"Well, that expression is new," Theo pulled him out of his thoughts, looking very amused. "I would describe it as dazed, but no one would believe me."

Dazed? Gabriel's jaw hardened as he fingered through the documents on the table.

"You were thinking about Alex, weren't you?" Theo pushed.

Gabriel tried to ignore the feeling of annoyance that filled him at hearing the intimate way his cousin called her name. "Where are Bertie's latest experiment results? We don't have much time before the launch of the Heart Ring."

Theo crossed his arms over his chest, "Changing the subject? How childish!"

"Watch yourself, pup," Gabriel muttered.

"Oh come on," Theo raised his arms in frustration, "Gabriel, I get that you're the big boss Alpha, and you've decided you should marry that utterly boring Marianne. But then tell me why it is that you can't take your eyes off Chef Turner?"

"Theo, you're imagining things again." Gabriel said, knowing full well his cousin was right. He did watch Alex, he couldn't seem to help it which irritated him to no end.

"Gabriel, you know emotions are my thing," Theo pushed off his chair and leaned on the desk. "While you? Well, you're about as emotional as a log. And yet, despite that fact, Alex has you tied in knots. Aren't you curious to find out why?"

Gabriel finally looked up from his papers: "She is human."

"Damn it, you're so frustrating!" Theo groaned pulling fingers through his tussled curls.

The knock on the door stopped him from pressing on and Gabriel was glad for it. He didn't want to hear any more nonsense about how he should pursue a human. And perhaps, even more than that, he didn't want to hear that human's name coming out of his cousins mouth so casually.

"Come in!" Gabriel raised his voice, effectively cutting off his nonsensical thoughts.

The man in the lab coat with the spiky red hair was just the scientist he wanted to see.

"Come in Bertie, I was just asking about your progress."