by Riley Storm
“My car is out there,” she told him bluntly and kept walking.
He darted forward and grabbed her elbow, gripping it tightly. Not enough to hurt, but close.
“Let. Go,” she said, furious that he would dare to touch her.
“I need to see the evidence.”
“Then go look at your bank account history for two weeks ago. It’s hard to miss a deposit of ten million dollars,” she snapped.
“Considering I never made it, apparently it is easy to miss. Especially since it took you two weeks to find.”
Haley bristled.
“There’s a conference room down here,” Kincaid said, pulling her down the hallway. “We can sit, talk and look things over there. You show me everything that you have.”
She thought about resisting some more, about causing a scene, but her mind wandered back to what the Queen had said, about her losing her job if she was wrong. It left little room for misinterpretation.
No room, really. She was quite blatant about it.
If the Queen had been that blatant, she must believe Kincaid to some degree. Haley smiled tightly as she decided it would be nice to prove both of them wrong. At which point, she would hit the Queen with a bill for services rendered that would more than compensate her for this ridiculousness. And the Queen would pay. She always did.
Feeling confident in her own abilities, she snatched her elbow back and walked calmly beside Kincaid, her back straight, chin up.
This was going to be fun.
“I don’t know how you can possibly miss ten million dollars being added,” she remarked as he pulled open a richly-colored wooden door, revealing a room beyond that looked much more like an office than anything else she’d seen so far.
Kincaid gripped the door tight and held it open, waiting for her to walk through. Stepping forward, she came to a halt abruptly as he moved, walking inside and cutting her off, and letting the door go at the same time.
She shook her head, grabbing the handle and hauling back on it. The door was heavier than it looked and with her small frame, she was forced to exert herself to pull it back open.
“Can you stop the childlike behavior?” she said, biting the words off.
“Are you done with the insults to my intelligence?” he fired back. “You’re well aware of how much money is in my account. There is no need for me to look at it on a regular basis.” His gaze locked onto her as he sat down in a chair. “After all, isn’t that why we hired you?”
Haley was forced to concede the point.
“Look,” he began, but she held up a hand to stop him.
“I don’t want your speech about how you’re innocent. Save it for someone else, okay?”
Eyes that she would have been glad to have roaming over her under any other condition, stayed locked upon her face.
“Very well. Show me your proof.”
Adjusting her skirt as she sat forward, Haley once again pulled out her tablet before sitting across from Kincaid. He leaned forward eagerly, like a predator moving in for the kill, and for a brief moment, she felt scared, reminded that she was essentially locked in a cage with him. It was just the two of them in the room, and if he wanted to do anything to her, she would be helpless.
You’re insane, Haley. Go find the Queen and tell her you aren’t doing this. You aren’t working with this arrogant asshole.
“Are you going to show me?”
She blinked, realizing he was staring blankly at the screen as she held it out to him. Flicking it on, she showed him the various pages of information that showed very clearly an extra ten million dollars now sitting in his account, that someone had purposefully tried to hide.
Even Kincaid didn’t try to argue that she was wrong. It was plain as day to see now that she and her team had tracked it down.
“That appears to be correct,” he muttered, unhappy about it all, but unable to deny what it looked like. “Though I didn’t steal it.”
She remained quiet, not interested in getting into a shouting match with him about whether or not he was a thief and thus a traitor.
“Someone must have planted it there,” he said quietly. “To frame me, to make me look guilty. To try and have me removed.”
Haley just shrugged. She’d done her part.
“This someone, they would have to have access to the accounts. To be able to move money around. They would know exactly how to make it look real,” he said.
His voice was growing colder the more he talked, and when Haley finally looked up into a handsome face twisted with anger, she realized immediately where he was going with his insinuations.
“Excuse me?”
“You could do it all,” he said. “Easily too, I bet.”
She laughed sharply. “Kincaid, I didn’t even know you existed before this morning when we found this information. You flatter yourself, but you are not that important to me.”
Tracking his face, she saw the hurt at the way she’d dismissed him, though it was gone in a second, hidden behind his defenses. He tried not to let her see that she’d scored a point with him, but she had. She was paying close attention, watching his features carefully.
“Unless someone paid you to do it, maybe.”
“I make a solid seven-figure sum a year being Ursa’s accountant. Why the hell would I jeopardize that? It’s a good job. You’re barking up the wrong tree. It’s far more likely you did it.”
“Everyone who knows me is aware I would never betray my House,” he snapped, shoulders and arms bulging under his shirt as he pounded at the table, expressing his anger.
“Maybe the House doesn’t know the real you,” she suggested. “Either way, I don’t give a shit. I showed you the evidence. I did my part. What now?”
He fell silent, scratching his chin thoughtfully. She watched him for a few moments, noting that when he wasn’t furious, he was actually fairly easy on the eyes. But his anger twisted his features up into something unpleasant to look at.
I wonder what his smile is like?
Catching herself, she started thinking about something else. Anything else. She was not going to go down this path with Kincaid, evaluating his looks. He was the enemy.
“Go home,” he said abruptly.
“What?”
“Go home. I’ll be in touch.”
He got up swiftly and was out of the room before she could say another word, the door slowly closing behind him.
“Well, that was fucking weird,” she muttered, getting up and doing as she’d been told.
Anything to get the hell out of this place. It gives me the creeps.
6
The sleek electric vehicle pulled into the parking lot with barely a rumble.
He regarded the white car with interest as he lounged against the building, his thick skin warding off the chill of winter, though all he wore was a tight navy-blue sweater and black jeans with gold stitching. The cold didn’t affect him. Never had. Part of it was being a shifter, but even amongst them, he felt it less than most. Perks of his lineage.
Through the window, he could see Haley looking at him. Probably deciding whether or not she’s going to get out of her car now I’m here. Kincaid put the odds at fifty-fifty.
He’d been at her place of work for nearly an hour, waiting for her to show up. Turned out she didn’t start all that early and he’d made the trip for nothing, wasting some of his day, and more of the precious little time his Queen had given him. Not that he blamed her. Word would get out sooner or later, and she would be forced to call him in for questioning, at a minimum.
“What do you want?”
She was out of the car now, the door still open. The small parking lot was right up tight against the building, leaving only twenty feet or so between the two.
“What do you think?” he said, asking the rhetorical question, then answering it himself. “I’m here to clear my damn name, and you’re going to help me like Kaelyn ordered you to.”
Haley shook her head. “I’m no
t some sort of servant. Nobody orders me around, got it?”
He dipped his head in her direction, acknowledging the truth of that. “Bad wording.”
But you’re going to help me anyway, or she’s going to fire your ass. You know it. I know it. Now stop being an obstinate bitch.
That was what he let his face tell her despite what he’d said.
Haley’s thin eyebrows came together over her eyes as she shot a look back at him. It said the same thing, except she used some other words to describe him, ones that weren’t very polite. It was clear Haley didn’t believe a word he was saying.
That was what fired him up more than anything, and why he’d sent her home the day before. Kincaid wanted her to believe him, to know that he was innocent. It bothered him that she wouldn’t, and he didn’t know why. It wasn’t like he cared. She was the one who had accused him in the first place, without even asking him about it.
Bitch.
“I’m not a traitor to my House,” he called, breaking the silence that had been lingering on between the two of them.
“You people are so weird,” she said, sounding exasperated. “You work at a company. Why do you talk about it like that? House. Queen. Traitor. She’s the President, you’re an employee. You stole from the company. I don’t know why she’s letting you look into it, but we should be getting the police. They handle these things. Not accountants.”
As much as she might not want to be there, Kincaid couldn’t help but admire her fire. She fought to obey the rules with as much strength as most did to break them. It was…odd, but respectable at the same time.
“Maybe,” he said. “But the police aren’t going to be involved. So why don’t we go inside so you can stop shivering, and you can give me the information I want. You know, work with me, like you’re supposed to be doing.”
“Are you alone?”
He blinked. That wasn’t the response he’d expected. Why would she be asking that? Who else would he bring? It wasn’t like Kaelyn was going to be accompanying them or anything. The Queen had assigned them to work together to figure things out, and that was what he was doing. Why was she…
Suddenly, he got it. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he growled, insulted. “You’re safe with me.” He didn’t want her scared of him, but that’s exactly what she was, he realized, looking at the situation from her side.
He’d been waiting for her outside of her work, where she was alone, by herself. Little tiny five-foot-four Haley, and him. She didn’t strike him as being particularly weak, but obviously, there was no contest between the two of them if it came down to it. Kincaid felt guilty.
“I promise,” he added, spreading his hands. “I’m sorry for waiting for you like this. I wasn’t really thinking about how it would appear from your point of view.”
Haley chewed on his words. “That’s not a surprise. Though this time, I think I do believe you. And that is one.”
Kincaid rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything else. Haley had closed the door and was grabbing her bag from the back. The last thing he wanted to do was to say something that would damage the fragile truce between them. He needed her to work with him. For now, at least.
“Why didn’t you call me?” she asked, unlocking the door and walking inside without waiting for him. She punched in a code to disable the alarm and then they went to the elevator, where she punched the button for the top floor.
“I don’t have it.” He smiled, mostly to himself. “You’re not the only one who had no idea who the other was before yesterday, you know.”
Haley had the good grace to look sheepish, but that was the end of it.
“What more do you want from me?” she asked as they emerged into the offices for her company.
“I want the name.”
“What?”
“Of the company or person that deposited the money into my account. The name. You can look that much up, right?”
“I suppose,” she said. “What good will that do?”
He frowned. Clearly, she wasn’t very good at the whole espionage thing. “It gives me a place to start looking. To find out who was involved. To see why they might have done this. Anything, really.”
She nodded. “Okay. Hold on a moment then.”
He followed her into a private office and took a seat without being invited. Haley shot him a glare but didn’t say anything. The look had said enough. She didn’t like that he was in her personal space, in her sanctuary.
Well, too bad. You shouldn’t have come into mine and called me a traitor to my own House.
Tapping fingers against the back of his head as she started working on her computer, he looked around the office. It was nice, but…plain. The wood finishes on the wall were all high quality, dark stained and richly colored. Same with her desk, which was large, but not so huge that it gave off the impression she was trying to compensate or look aloof from the rest of her employees. A single bookshelf stood against the wall, to the left. It was packed with books.
The desk itself was clean, devoid of just about anything. A stapler, pen holder, calculator, and a mailbox tray were all that adorned it besides her monitor. No pictures, no personal belongings or knick-knacks of any sort. It was so sterile and impersonal, he felt awkward even being there like he didn’t belong in the office.
“Did you recently move into the building?” he asked casually. Maybe she hadn’t had time to unpack any of her belongings.
“No, we’ve been here the better part of twenty years, since my predecessor moved us here. Now let me work.”
He rolled his eyes and lounged back, crossing one foot up onto his knee casually. He could see her mouth tighten, flattening into a line as he gave his best fake relaxed sigh to go along with it. Burying his grin, he looked away. Egging her on was just too easy sometimes.
“Okay, I have the name. But it’s probably nothing,” she said, sitting back. “Just a shell company. You guys have hundreds of them, you know. It’s a nightmare to look after.”
“Uh uh,” he said, standing up to come around to the other side.
“What are you doing?”
“Reading the name?” He made it sound like she should feel silly for asking something like that.
“I can tell you it, you don’t need to come hover over my shoulder,” she said coolly, but he ignored it. This way was more fun.
“I know.” His eyes found the line on the screen, reading the word aloud. “Granted Holding Company. I know that name,” he said thoughtfully. “You must have a list of known corporations operated by House Canis, right?”
Haley eyed him. “I do. Though why I’m supposed to watch out for things by your rivals still doesn’t make sense.”
“Just check it,” he said, though he knew he was right.
She did so. “Granted Holding Company. Associated with one Laurent Canis. Whoever that is.”
Kincaid was silent. He knew exactly who Laurent Canis was. He was the bloody Reaver of House Canis. Their businessman, he oversaw all the business interests of House Canis. Wasn’t that just an interesting coincidence?
Kincaid needed to know more before he brought it to his Queen. Right now, it would just make it look like he was a traitor, working with the wolves. He needed proof he’d been framed by them.
“Here, can I just…” He bumped her chair aside with his hip, tapping on the computer even as Haley sputtered and tried to recover her composure as he calmly took control of her device.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for them. And what do you know,” he said. “They have an office here in Plymouth Falls. How convenient.”
He stood up and walked around the edge of the desk, heading for the door.
“Where are you going?”
Kincaid looked at her over his shoulder, pulling open the door. He held it open with his foot, now facing back into the office. “To pay them a visit of course.”
“What for? Anything they did would have happened at a bank.”
&
nbsp; This time, he couldn’t stop the grin. She was so clueless as to the world he lived in that it was almost adorable. Almost, if it wasn’t for the fact she had fingered him as a traitor.
“To see what can be seen. To get a clue as to who really runs it, and why they had ten million dollars they could just drop into my account. Someone put me up to this Haley, and I intend to find out who. This is about more than just bank accounts and money transfers. Someone is out to get me, understand?”
“This isn’t some sort of spy movie,” she said, standing firm.
“No, it’s not, but it’s not a game either. It wasn’t bank error in my favor, collect ten million dollars. Understand?”
“I guess.”
He nodded. “Now, are you coming with me or not?”
7
She stared at the door.
Go with him? To do what? What did he want her to do? For that matter, what was he going to do?
“Shit.” She got up and hurried after him, grabbing her jacket from the coat rack next to her door. The Queen had charged her with working with him, and she wasn’t about to let him go on her own.
“So, you are coming,” he said, holding the elevator door as she hurried inside, well aware that this was quite possibly the stupidest thing she’d ever done.
She was about to go get into a car with someone who hated her, and who was very likely trying to sabotage his own company. He was basically an enemy of her client, a client that had told her to work with him if she wanted to keep her job.
It was like being caught between a rock and a hard place. Haley didn’t want to go, but she wasn’t about to let him head off on his own. That would give him far too much freedom to come up with whatever sort of evidence he wanted. No, Haley had to go.
If there was proof to be found, evidence of any kind, she needed to make sure it was handled properly. If he was innocent and it showed that, she needed to verify it. But if they found something that proved him guilty, she needed to be there to ensure he didn’t destroy it, not until she could tell the Queen.
“Why bring me along?” she asked, getting into the SUV he indicated. There was no way in hell they were taking her car.
