Unintentional Addiction: Lotus Adaamas Series

by Stone, Layla

  Adelia’s face fell. She didn’t blush, she actually went pale.

  That pissed him off more. She was ashamed. He didn’t enjoy getting mad, mostly because it showed others what he really was. And that was something he liked to keep secret, something he figured Trent had already divulged. But, still, he would work to keep it contained. In that moment, Shine got him at the perfect time, and Z was nebulously pissed off.

  Shine knew it too, the tarq. The male smiled.

  Zane felt the heat of his anger and had to keep Adelia from noticing the change. If she saw the opaque white coloring of his eyes, she would know that he had lied to her. She would know what he was.

  With the way he was feeling, he was going to need a few minutes. “Time to talk to Trent. Might as well get this over with.”

  “Agreed,” Shine said, reaching for the door. Zane was right behind him. In the reflection of the glass, he saw that Adelia wasn’t following.

  He didn’t know if it was a Yunkin issue that made her act like she was, or if it was something from the abuse he had seen in his Demon vision. Regardless, he wasn’t going to put up with her broken bits. Nothing would get in his way and stop him from getting her into his bed. If he had to piece her back together, so be it. But one way or another, she was going to be his pet for real.

  So, he had to say something to get her out of her head, back into the moment and focused on him. “I’m going to tell the shower you’re cheating on him.”

  He was almost through the door when he heard, “Wouldn’t be the first time.” His anger was gone, replaced by shock. He yearned to turn around and ask what that meant. His eyes were still white, though, so he couldn’t.

  He let the door shut and turned his thoughts to Trent and all the things he wanted to know. It wasn’t until he was standing in front of his ex-associate that he realized his hunger was gone. He felt sated, full, and clear-headed. Also…he felt at peace. No more anger about the betrayal or anything. Mentally, he knew he should be upset, but he didn’t feel those emotions. He only felt balance.

  11

  Maybe You’re Right

  Zane’s right fist crunched the side of Trent’s nose. Warm blood sprayed onto his forearm and hand. His knuckles took the impact and vibrated. Trent’s pained cries didn’t affect Zane in the least. The male’s face had healed along with his other injuries.

  Trent had had all night to mend, so Zane didn’t hold back, knowing he could heal the male again if needed.

  “You had boxes of my product in your apartment, Trent. I want to know who you were selling to.”

  “No one.”

  “You didn’t take my guns to collect. You took them to sell. I want to know to who.”

  “No one. I swear. I just hadn’t brought them back to the warehouse.”

  Zane smashed his fist into the male’s jaw. “I don’t think so. Shine said he saw two red blister pistols. I made those before you started, and I know I didn’t sell them. I don’t even offer them to customers anymore.”

  Zane hit him again. He hated liars. Well, more to the point, he loathed those who lied to him. It was out of principle that he was able to follow through with every hit. Not that he abhorred violence, it was just that he still hadn’t tapped into his revenge.

  “I wasn’t selling them. I just kept them there. In case anything happened to the warehouse.”

  “What’s going to happen to the warehouse?” Shine asked.

  Then Zane asked, “You didn’t find a seller yet, did you? Hard to sell old products, especially when they are old designs.” He followed that up with, “You sold other products. Those were just the ones you didn’t get a chance to sell or put back. So, the big question is not who you sold to, but where you think you’re going to hide when I find out.”

  Trent shook his head. The lie already on his face.

  Zane hit him again and again and then knocked him to the ground. To Shine, he said, “Did you find any energy sources?”

  “No.”

  That’s what Trent had been stealing. That’s what had taken the biggest hit. “When I caught you on camera last night, that’s what you were taking.”

  Trent’s eyes widened.

  “Yeah, I caught you. I set up new cameras because I knew you knew where the old ones were.”

  If possible, the male looked even more pained. Or upset. Trent struggled and kicked the air. Zane ignored it as he told Shine. “After we get rid of the body, I’ll go through his apartment and get my product back then drop them off at your place. Recycle them.”

  Trent screamed again. Zane continued thinking. Trent must have been stealing from the beginning because Z hadn’t noticed Trent near the guns.

  “What are you thinking?” Shine asked.

  “I don’t know. But I don’t think this was a case of opportunity. If so, the guns would have been gone.”

  “Okay, yeah, I agree. What does that mean, though?”

  Zane was still speculating when, in his periphery, he saw Trent pull loose from the rope and grab the chair. He swung it so hard and fast that Zane wasn’t able to move quickly enough. The metal chair hit and knocked him forward, making him crash into Shine.

  Shine stumbled back.

  Zane followed, trying to step over him and failing. Falling half on his friend and half on the hard cement floor, he pushed up and raced after Trent. The traitor was sprinting towards the hallway. Pumping his arms and legs, Zane followed Trent down the corridor, past the offices, and out into the foyer. Trent leapt, slamming the doors open.

  Zane followed.

  Trent used the timing of Z in the door to kick back hard. He knocked Zane to the side. Z hit the ground, got back up, and continued running after the betrayer. Outside, Trent was faster, covering more distance in a short spurt of time.

  Trent slipped in between two warehouses. When Zane got there, he didn’t see Trent anywhere.

  He cursed, stalked the area, but found no trace. He returned to his place. Shine was at the front door when he arrived. “Remember what I said about hitting the gym more?”

  “I’m not sure I remember that.”

  Shine snorted.

  “Put out word that we’re looking for an ex-associate. Put a price on it, or every one of our competitors will be looking for him… Oh, damn it. That’s it.”

  “What’s it?”

  Zane gave it a few seconds to see if Shine figured it out.

  Shine’s jaw dropped. “He was working for our competitors?”

  “He has to be. He has my client list, what they buy, sell, everything.” Zane cursed again.

  Zane’s entire life’s work had been handed over to someone who had not put the time or effort into their hustle. Once more, his mind told him that Trent had done incalculable damage to Zane’s business, but there was no emotion other than clear and unmistakable peace at present.

  Zane didn’t like it. Not at all. He needed to be clear-headed and able to feel his emotions to fuel the rage and plan the revenge he was going to mete out as soon as he figured out who Trent had been working for.

  First things first, though, he needed to find out how many clients Trent had led astray. Then he’d initiate contact with the Yunkins that Adelia was going to give him now that she worked for him and find out what they needed or wanted.

  Trent had screwed him over royally. Z should have been more cautious in hiring another Silk Demon. “I’m going to grab Adelia and swing by Trent’s. Get the guns.”

  “I have the guns in my Dwarf.”

  Zane rubbed his mouth. “Good, that’s one less trip for me.” But that still left him with a lot of mess to clean up, and several contingency plans to put in place. Whoever was protecting Trent was in deep.

  “All right, well, I have things to do. See you when I see you.”

  Shine looked as if he were going to say something, but he must have realized that now was not the time. “See you, Z.”

  As soon as Shine left, Z walked into the healing pod and tried to rid himself of the s
erene fog he was under.

  12

  Trust Isn’t Given

  Adelia had been sitting in the front reception area, twisted up with what she had done. She had kissed Z. Something she had forbidden herself from doing for as long as she could remember.

  The only thing keeping her mentally whole was knowing that there was a healing container and that it could fix him. At least, she hoped.

  Z walked into the reception area, his eyes cold and distant. “Come on, we’ll go over your new job.”

  She didn’t know everything about the Grach effect, but she did know that Z looked serious and a little angry, which was the exact opposite of what he should have been feeling.

  He’d used the container.

  She knew it and was glad. It also grated a bit because she felt like he was erasing their kiss, eradicating her and discarding everything she was. Yes, she had been born a Grach. But she had feelings, and they got hurt when nobody in her life seemed to want anything to do with what she was.

  But that had been her life for so long, she was used to the dull ache. Pushing off the chair, she stood up and plastered on her most professional façade as she followed him to his office.

  Behind the desk, he began, “I’m not going to go over the inventory or the system because you won’t be handling that. All you’ll be doing is answering incoming calls and speaking with anyone who comes through my front door.”

  She took time sitting and crossing her legs so she could process how cut-off he was being. She could be distant too, and she let him know that. “Is that because you don’t think I am smart enough to understand your inventory system, or because this is a temporary thing for now?”

  “This is not temporary. You won’t ever be in the inventory system.”

  “I know how to keep inventory. I did it on the ship I worked on.”

  “The last person I trusted with the inventory, passcodes, and client list, ended up using that information to steal my product and sell it for himself.” Ah, so that was why Z didn’t trust her. She could understand his anger, but it was directed at the wrong person. However, she also understood that once you got burned that deeply, you never trusted again.

  She was at that level with Z. He was playful and made her feel comfortable at times, but she wouldn’t forget that he had pulled a gun on her and threatened her life.

  But because she also wanted to make sure that he knew that she recognized his flawed thinking, she said, “I’m not that person. You can trust me.”

  His voice was hard. “I said, no.”

  “Got it. You do the work yourself.” He was never going to trust or value her. She could almost see him firing her for something trivial because, when it came down to it, he didn’t need her.

  “Exactly.” Before she could ask the next question, he stood up. “I’ll order a Minky screen and have it installed at the front desk. You will also have a Minky pad so you can answer any calls even when you’re away from your desk.”

  “Um…to be clear, are you suggesting I answer a call while I’m in the cleaners?” Because regardless of what he thought, she wasn’t doing that. Ever.

  “That’s up to you.”

  Jerk. “What about after-hours?”

  Z moved from behind the desk to the other side of his office and opened a cabinet. He grabbed a black and silver box and pulled it out, handing her an unopened, executive model Minky pad. Her fingers spread over the soft and expensive box. She’d never held an executive model anything before.

  She noticed that Z was giving her an inquisitive look as her hands continued rubbing the top. She stopped.

  He answered her question about how many hours he expected her to work. “About that, I don’t know what hours you used to work, but I work all hours because I deal with people across the universe and everyone is on their own time. So, even when you leave, you answer the phone.”

  Definition: no personal time off. No personal time at all. “What about if I’m sleeping?”

  “Sleep lightly.”

  Wow. He was impractical. “I don’t think I can work around the clock.”

  “The phone doesn’t ring every minute of every hour. The number you answer is my general contact line. If they know me, they know my private line and will use it. So, just think of it as if you’re my answering service. You take their name, contact number, and then tell them I will call them back.”

  “Okay,” she said, not feeling at all okay. Why didn’t he get an actual answering service? She didn’t ask because, again, she needed the job. “What are my hours for being here?”

  “Twenty to one-eighty degrees. If you get here by ten degrees, I’ll take you to breakfast with me. If not, I’ll make sure the food in the kitchen is stocked, and you can eat whatever and whenever you want. If you have a preference, I’ll order it.”

  She knew of one place where food was plentiful and available for employees, and that was working on a spaceship. Everyone else, including the planet-side admirals, had to pay for their meals. “You will buy me breakfast and anything I want to eat during the day?”

  “You’re looking at me like that’s strange.”

  “It is.” Or at least she’d never known anyone who offered her whatever she wanted. It seemed like there should be a catch. Oh, wait…there was. On call. All day, every day.

  Z moved in front of her and then leaned against the desk, his legs inches from hers. She couldn’t help but feel the heat of his closeness, considering what they had done less than an hour ago. All her flutters came back. But she tamped them down with a mental sledgehammer. He had no real interest in her.

  “Oh, and one more thing…”

  “What’s that?”

  He leaned down, held her eyes, and broke the moment by announcing, “Get me some new clients. Starting with everyone you know on Yunkin. I want names, titles, duties, and contact information.”

  She’d walked right into that. She wasn’t even upset. Yet. Z had told her that he wanted the Yunkin contacts, and she had foolishly thought he had let it go.

  Apparently, he hadn’t. And that was why he had hired her.

  She assumed that he would get rid of her as soon as he had the names, so it was up to her to give them slowly until she had enough money to move on.

  With fake serenity, she said, “Okay. Anything else?”

  “Okay?” He leaned back, watching her face as if he didn’t believe her.

  That was fine, too. Her ex-husband hadn’t trusted her either. Another layer of defensiveness locked in place within her. This was all just a web of lies for Z to get what he wanted. But, thankfully, he was going to pay her for it, so she’d let him play his dumb games. She wasn’t going to play, though. Not anymore. “Yes, I will get you the list of names.”

  There was another pause before he responded. “Good, you can get started on that as soon as you get back from finding a place to live. Don’t come back until you have one. Let whoever you’re renting from know that you work for me, and everything will be set. I want proof that you have a place with a security system, so make your landlord call me before you sign anything.”

  “Thank you for your concern, but I can find a place on my own,” she clipped out.

  “You will find a place on your own, and then you will let me talk to the landlord. You try to keep it from me, I’ll still talk to them because nothing happens on my side of the island without me knowing about it. So, don’t think for a second that I won’t find out what happened last night and who attacked you. Because I will. And as of this moment, they are on my to-do list. You saw how my ex-associate looked last night, so you know what I mean by that.”

  Adelia didn’t like the female who had attacked her, but she’d be damned if she let Z go at her. “I take care of myself,” she proclaimed. “And I already took care of the Roth Demon. She thought I had the homner. I didn’t. She didn’t believe me, and we had a few words. I left.” It was a very exaggerated and condensed outline, but all of it was true.

  “An
d did you tell her I had it?”

  “I didn’t have the homner. So, I couldn’t tell her where it was.”

  Z tilted his head. “And she still used your face as a punching bag?”

  “Wait.” Adelia sat forward. “Are you under the false assumption that I lost that fight?”

  He didn’t answer. That in and of itself was an answer.

  “Wow. That hurts.” That’s how her parents had treated her. Always doing and saying things, expecting that she wasn’t good enough or too fragile. She was damn tired of it.

  Something crossed his eyes, but she didn’t know what it was. “My apologies.”

  Words he didn’t mean. No way did he change his mind that quickly. “Apology accepted,” she lied.

  Z didn’t let up, though. “If a Demon thinks you have something of theirs, you can count on her coming back around for it. And if she does, you will lead her here.” His tone was so bleak, she didn’t know if he was angry and making assumptions about what she would do, or if he was telling her to bring the Roth Demon to his warehouse.

  “If she finds out, I’ll take care of it.”

  “No,” he spoke darkly. “You won’t. I will take care of it, and if you see her again, you will tell me.”

  She had no intention of doing so. “Okay.”

  “You tell me,” he warned.

  “I’ll tell you.” After she handled it.

  He got in her face, his next words spoke exasperatedly. “You’re lying, and I hate liars. You will tell me.”

  “Or you’ll punish me? Hold a gun to my head and beat me up like the last guy?” She spat the words, not letting him threaten her.

  “I will punish you, and you will find out what that entails if you dare to cross me.”

  “I’m your employee, not your slave.”

  “You’re my employee, and as of this moment, that means something to everyone who knows me. Which means everyone stays out of your way, or I will crush them. It also means you do exactly what I say when I say it. Not because I get off on it, but because my clients pay a lot of money for their anonymity.”