“Someone has been stealing from us,” Billows announced as she entered the office. He waved her toward the chair behind the desk. “I need you to find out who, and I don’t want you to leave until you have.”
To give herself time to think of a response that wouldn’t trigger his temper, Azelie moved around him to do as he wanted, seating herself at the desk. The computer was already running, the books open for her to inspect.
“Alan, of course I’ll do my best to see who is stealing from you, but I’m a numbers person. Just looking at the books probably won’t initially give me answers. I’ll be happy to work on it until I find the culprit, but it could take weeks. Or more. Depending on how clever they’ve been.”
“Then you’ll stay weeks or more,” he snapped.
He began pacing, his movements quick and angry, much like a trapped tiger. She forced air through her lungs, refusing to give in to panic. Billows was very angry. The atmosphere in the room felt sinister. Ominous. A giant storm ready to break right over her head.
“I understand your anger. You work hard for your money, and no one has the right to steal it from you. I’ll find them, Alan, but I need to go home when I’m tired. I don’t sleep well anywhere else. To do this for you, I have to be alert.”
Billows abruptly stopped moving, swinging around to stare at her. Her stomach dropped. There was far too much speculation in his eyes. Something else as well. Lust maybe. Certainly interest in her as a woman, not just his bookkeeper. His steady stare was unnerving, but she forced a pleasant smile as she pulled a notebook from her backpack.
The weird thing was, she’d seen that look a few times before. Not often. Mostly he was terse and dismissive. He didn’t spend a lot of time with her. Usually, he barked orders and left. She was uncertain why he would have sudden bouts of interest in her. She didn’t flirt. She dressed in baggy, shapeless clothes. No makeup.
“Why didn’t you allow me up to your apartment?”
It was the last thing she expected him to ask. Her heart accelerated at the dark shadows creeping over his face.
“Did you have someone up there?”
His tone indicated she had better not have had someone in her apartment. Worry for Andrii sent a shock wave of panic through her mind.
“I’m quite capable of making someone disappear,” he added.
He wasn’t joking with her. She kept her expression serene, with effort. She’d practiced the look a million times in her mirror after hearing those screams coming from somewhere in the complicated maze of secret rooms. Her eyes met his, and she made certain she had a look of inquiry.
“Alan.” She kept her voice gentle and sweet. Deliberately, she acted as if she didn’t understand. “That isn’t something you should say to me when I’m looking for the criminal stealing from you. I know he might deserve whatever he gets, but I can’t know about it. It wouldn’t be safe for you.”
He frowned and took a step closer to the desk. “What is it with you? I don’t like bitches as a rule. I have a hard time getting you out of my mind.”
Her heart continued to accelerate. Her mouth went dry. That wasn’t good. She’d begun to suspect he was looking for more than a working relationship, although he never dated anyone for more than a week or so. His women didn’t last.
“Perhaps you could refrain from referring to me as a bitch. I am not a dog, nor am I in heat. I’m your employee, and you’re skating very close to a pet peeve of mine.” She stuck her nose in the air and regarded him steadily with as much annoyance as she could muster.
What could have been a smile touched his mouth. “A pet peeve? Damn, woman, that’s it right there. That attitude you have. We can talk about that later. Right now, I want to know about the other night. Why you didn’t let me come upstairs.”
She sat back in her chair. He was expecting her to say she had company, and she feared if she admitted Andrii was there, Andrii would mysteriously disappear. She had to give him something or he would get angry. She decided on a partial truth. And she was going to give it to him without attitude because he seemed to like attitude. She didn’t want him thinking about her, let alone liking anything she did.
Her lashes fluttered, and she took a deep breath, letting him see it disturbed her to tell him. She wanted to give the impression of reluctance and a little bit of shame.
“I haven’t gotten over it.” That was the stark truth. She would never get over witnessing Quentin murder Janine and her niece and nephew. She would never get over the trauma of the three bullets tearing through her body. Still, she poured embarrassment into her tone.
His eyebrow lifted. “Gotten over what?”
Andrii would have known immediately without making her say it. Billows was that obtuse. Really? She wanted to get up and walk out. But then, she’d wanted out for years. She knew that wouldn’t happen with consent. Billows would threaten her and possibly kill her before he would allow her to quit.
“Quentin murdering my sister, niece and nephew. Shooting me three times, attempting to kill me.”
His eyes lost the blaze of anger. “You were still a kid.”
She decided to act as if she was powering through. She allowed her eyes to shimmer with tears before she dropped her gaze from his, as if hiding her shame. “I don’t feel safe when anyone’s in my personal space.” That was true, and she hoped he believed her. Everything she’d told him was the strict truth.
She caught at the drawstrings on her hoodie and twirled them nervously around her finger. “I don’t even invite women friends to my apartment. I’m not ready yet.” She wasn’t certain she would ever be.
She hadn’t invited Andrii, but once he was there with her, she hadn’t been afraid for her life, more for her heart. Fortunately, Billows dropped the idea of thinking someone was in her apartment.
“That makes sense, Azelie.” He seemed much more relaxed, the harshness and cruelty fading from his expression. “You aren’t going to get over something like that quickly.”
“It didn’t stop when I was in the hospital. There were so many reporters and cops forcing me to relive it over and over. I have nightmares. If someone came up to my apartment and could see where I keep everything, I would never be able to fall asleep.” That was true as well—with the exception of Andrii. She didn’t know why he was the exception when danger emanated from him. She felt physically safe, just not her heart. She desperately needed to guard her heart from him, but she knew it was impossible.
“You realize, working for me in the position that you do, adding someone else into the mix would be seriously dangerous for them.”
Billows stated it casually, as if it was a foregone conclusion that she would never date anyone.
She forced herself to meet his gaze. Again, he had a strange look in his eyes. This time he looked possessive. She had no idea what that was all about, but she didn’t like it.
“I’m far too busy to add anyone into my life.” She was. That was the truth as well.
Studying Billows’ hard expression, she suddenly was terrified for Andrii. She would have to convince him she was too busy or not interested. But she wanted at least one night with him. Just one. It would have to last her a long, long time. She wasn’t going to take chances with his life. Billows was a criminal, and by his own admission, he was willing to kill people.
That made her think of the woman who had screamed. Billows could say he was watching a movie all he wanted, but she didn’t believe it. She hadn’t believed his explanation then, and she didn’t believe it now. If anything, she was more certain than ever that he had hurt someone while she was working in her office.
She refused to put Andrii in danger, not even if he was her one chance for a perfect relationship, or as perfect as one could get with both people having issues. She wasn’t going to take all the blame. She knew she was screwed up after what Quentin had done. Her parents had started her down a road of mistrust and her brother-in-law pushed her over the edge. But she saw things in Andrii’s eyes when he wasn’t guarding himself. Bad things. He definitely had issues, so no, she wasn’t going to shoulder all the blame for being the only one screwed up.
“It’s good you don’t want to put anyone else in danger, but I think it’s time you had someone looking after you.”
Her heart jumped, began to race. She worked at breathing normally, at settling her pulse. She had to handle this just right. “I’m quite capable of looking after myself, Alan. I’ve been doing it since Quentin took my entire family from me.”
