A devastatingly attractive smile shone just for her. “Picking you up and going somewhere?”
Two days from now. With that much warning, she could arrange for a bit of time off. Amy returned his smile. “Go, make mischief in the reporting world. Stop by around ten thirty on Monday, and we’ll see what we feel like for lunch.”
Colin grinned wider as he stepped away, pausing with his hands on the doorframe. “If you change your mind and want to speed things up…”
He flipped her a card, and she caught it in midair, smiling as he vanished down the stairs. She hopped off the desk and returned to her computer-repair task.
Once the job was done, she’d stop for lunch. By then she should safely check in with Evan. See how he’d enjoyed his time behind bars. Find out what his next plans were.
He’d be happy to receive a concerned IM from his “secret mole” in the Canyon pack. It had taken her months to set up that bit of finagling. The woman working as Evan’s assistant had been a tough nut to crack at first, and Amy felt a touch guilty at times for involving the human in her deception. But it had to be done, and now the prep work was proving priceless.
Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she entered the code needed to begin the diagnostic, her subconscious taking care of the details.
Sweet revenge had begun. Her gaze might be focused on the screen in front of her, but her mind was daydreaming about the moment she would look Evan Stone in the eye and see him broken.
Everything was falling into place.
Chapter Three
Everything was falling apart.
Evan had made it home after one of the most uncomfortable nights he’d ever experienced. He changed quickly then returned to the hotel to find the power restored, but an exodus of customers vacating the lobby, and there was nothing he could do to convince them to stay.
The kitchen informed him they would be running a limited menu as half their supplies hadn’t shown up, again. It was the third time in as many shipments the order had been mucked up.
And to top it all off? His Hummer had four flats.
His escalating bad luck was no longer strange, it was freaky. The situation had moved beyond what could be considered coincidence, by any stretch.
It took until noon before things were borderline back to normal. At that point, Evan abandoned the hotel to his subordinates, fed up with just about everything.
He returned to his apartment, where the power had also been restored, accompanied by Justin Cullinan. The least expected of allies, the man was assistant-slash-sometimes-bodyguard-slash-friend to the new husband of Evan’s recently married office assistant. Evan had found the enormous bear shifter waiting for him after he’d gotten bail.
Which, it turned out Justin had posted. And that was just the start of his involvement in Evan’s affairs.
“How the hell did you get power restored to the hotel and my apartment so fast?” Evan slapped the papers he’d been handed against his leg.
Justin folded his arms. Tilted his head. Waited.
Evan cussed under his breath. He was grateful the big bear shifter had stayed in town, and even more pleased the man knew a thing or two about dealing with emergencies.
Still burned his britches to have to fawn over anyone.
“Thank you for getting the power restored,” Evan gritted out. “I have no idea how the mistake in payment history happened.”
“Your lawyer has been alerted, and your accountant. After I called them this morning, they both promised to do some digging. Said they might have some ideas.” Justin eased onto Evan’s sofa and waited.
Damn bears. Far too patient. Evan wanted to do something immediate and physical, like finding an appropriate neck to wring. Instead all he had were more questions without answers.
He hauled his temper back into line. Last night had been a hell of a trip, but the time in the cell had allowed him to plan. Evan knew what he needed to do. He plopped himself down onto the coffee table, resting his elbows on his knees as he faced the bear. “I appreciate you getting me out of jail. Shaun tried, but they didn’t listen.”
“Shaun doesn’t look as impressive in a suit as I do,” Justin pointed out. “And it’s no problem. If you were in jail and Caroline heard, she’d be upset. That would make my boss upset, because they’d have to cut their honeymoon short, so for the next while keeping you on the straight and narrow is my job.”
Oh, hell to the no. This wasn’t going to turn into some kind of let’s-take-care-of-Evan deal. “Look, I said I appreciated being bailed out this morning. Don’t push it. I don’t need a nanny.”
“You won’t even know I’m around,” Justin promised.
The six-foot-six, dark-haired bear shifter who sat on Evan’s couch wore a thousand-dollar suit along with polished black shoes and a watch that probably cost more than Evan’s shiny red Hummer. “Right. Because you’re so inconspicuous and shit.”
“Like a fly on the wall.” Justin lifted his hands to shoulder height and fluttered his fingers, and Evan burst out laughing, the tension piled on his back vanishing for a moment in much-needed levity.
“Between you and Shaun, I’m going to get nothing done.”
“Oh, you’ll get stuff done, because I’ll keep the problems out of your hair.”
“You’re a bear. What do you care?”
Justin waited again.
“Caroline, Tyler, honeymoon, I understand that part. But is that all?”
“If you’re looking for some deep confession of love, nope. Not getting it.”
Evan made a rude noise, even though he was amused. The wolves he took care of were hilarious at times with their antics, but this bear hit a different part of his funny bone.
There was something other than amusement on his mind, though. He was no charity case. “I’ll pay you. Hourly rate to match whatever Tyler gives you.”
“I don’t need money.” Justin leaned forward and lowered his voice. “And you can’t afford me.”
“Bullshit.” Evan straightened up. “I’ve done all right for myself.”
Justin raised a brow. Held up a hand and twisted it so the gaudy oversized ring on his oversized finger caught the light and damn near blinded Evan.
“Fine. I don’t own a diamond mine.”
The bear shifter winked. “It’s okay, honest. I’m on salary with Tyler, and while he’s gone there’s not much for me to do. You wolves are entertaining.”
A familiar bark of laughter sounded from the door.
“That phrase gets said way too often around here.” Shaun stepped into the room. “You got a minute, Evan?”
Evan stood to greet his Beta, who looked, and smelled, far better than the previous night. “For you, always.”
“Your tires were stabbed with a knife. Something long, thin and not usually used on vehicles.” Shaun paused. “Not that blades are typically used on cars anyway, but you know what I mean. My contact thinks filleting knife.”
“For fish?” Evan dropped into his favourite chair, throwing a leg over the arm as he attempted to breathe out his tension. “Who the hell would take a filleting knife to my tires?”
“You piss anyone off lately?” Justin asked.
“He’s the Alpha of Takhini.” Shaun stomped to the side of the couch to glare at Justin. “Anyone he pisses off can take a hike.”
“Well, someone didn’t take a hike, instead they pulled off some well-executed and perfectly timed mischief. Which means someone else, probably from around here, made more than a few mistakes over the past couple days to allow that kind of trouble to go unchecked.” Justin eyed Shaun, judgment written all over his face.