Chapter 20

Julia

My last clients had taken longer than I’d expected, so I was still finishing up scheduling their fantasy weekend nearly an hour after I’d planned to leave for the day. Since I’d come in early, Oliver wasn’t pleased with my need to stay longer. I was grateful to Gryph for suggesting they watch a movie in one of the conference rooms by the lobby. I suspected he was watching the lobby, not the movie.

It seemed I’d be there even longer since Gryph and Oliver had informed me that they needed to check several boxes from a late delivery before we headed out. I had no idea how long I’d have to wait for them.

Just as I finished up the last details for my clients, Allie entered my office and dropped down on my sofa. “What a day,” she said with a dramatic sigh. We’d both been so busy, I’d scarcely seen her since she’d walked into the office at ten.

“What are you still doing here?” I asked when I noticed the time. It was just after seven. Her last appointment had been at four.

“Dylan is driving me home, and he got caught up in some meeting.” Allie explained.

The offices of Bliss were in the same building as the law offices my brother and his best friend, Dylan, owned. Despite working in the same building, Allie and Dylan rarely commuted to and from work together since their schedules didn’t often coincide.

“Had I known you were going to be here this late, I would have ordered dinner for us,” I told her.

Allie shook her head. “I’m not sure you could have gotten anyone to deliver up here after Gryph frisked the pizza guy earlier today. That werewolf is definitely taking this threat to you seriously. I’m just glad the other werewolves left.”

“I’m still not convinced there’s any threat,” I added, hoping I was right. If I hadn’t admitted to Gryph I wasn’t certain there was any danger to me, I’d feel guilty about all the effort he was putting into protecting me.

“I’m with Gryph and Dylan on this,” Allie began. “I think you’re in danger. There might not be a crazed serial killer out to get you, but someone was angry enough to threaten you. We shouldn’t ignore it.”

“Dylan thinks I’m in danger, too?” I asked. “Did he tell Trevor?”

Allie laughed. “Why are you so afraid to tell your brother about this?”

“My brother is more than a little paranoid after what happened with you and Mel,” I reminded her, wondering how many crazy people could hold a grudge against me or people I knew. “You may have also noticed he hasn’t accepted that my sisters and I are grown women.”

“You must realize that if Dylan knows about the email, Trevor also knows about it,” Allie pointed out.

“Maybe he’ll handle this better than I expected,” I mused.

“I wouldn’t hold your breath,” Allie told me with a soft laugh. “Dylan told him earlier today and made sure Mel called to calm Trevor down.”

“Then I definitely owe Mel,” I added.

“How’s your big plan going?” Allie asked. She was keeping her question vague since we had a werewolf close by.

“I told Gryph all about my big seduction scheme,” I admitted.

Allie smiled. “I had a feeling you’d tell him.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“You’re not the type to play those sorts of games,” she explained. “You also like Gryph.”

“I do like him,” I admitted softly. When she grinned, I quickly added, “That doesn’t mean I accept that I’m Gryph’s mate, or even that I plan to date him. I like you and I don’t want to date you.”

“There’s a big difference between what you feel for Gryph and what you feel for me,” Allie pointed out.

“I suppose you’re right,” I agreed. “Gryph confuses me.”

“It seems you confuse him, too,” she told me. “I imagine any involvement with a werewolf is complicated. Even though I’ve known Gryph for a few years, I still don’t know much about werewolves. At times, that’s made it difficult to be friends with Gryph because I don’t always realize I’m breaking some werewolf rule. Gryph isn’t good at opening up to people, so you can’t count on him to tell you those things.”

I thought about our conversations over the last two days. Allie was right about it being difficult for him to open up, but he’d shared a lot with me. “He seems to be trying. I’m going to talk to Mel’s sister, Evie,” I told her.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Allie remarked.

“What time is Dylan getting here?” I asked as I shut down my computer and started to pack up for the day.

“He should be here any minute,” she replied. “Why are you here so late? I figured you’d left without saying goodbye until I heard Oliver’s howl. Can I just add that it is adorable how well Gryph gets along with Oliver? I saw them in the conference room watching a movie about an hour ago.”

My lips curled into a wistful smile. “It really is sweet,” I agreed.

“Are you about to head out now?” Allie asked as I packed up my laptop.

I let out a long-suffering sigh before responding. “I wish I could. We got some packages in, and Gryph said they didn’t smell right. I’ll be here until he’s done going through them. Hopefully, it won’t take him long to realize there’s nothing suspicious about our shipment.”

Allie laughed. “That’s a werewolf for you. At least, his sense of smell should make it easier for him to isolate the box that smells funny.”

Oliver trotted into the office and announced, “It’s not fair!”

“What’s wrong, baby?” I asked.

“I was helping Gryph!” he told me.

“I know you were helping,” I assured him.

“Gryph told me I had to leave when he found a really smelly box,” Oliver complained.

“Sonofabitch!” Gryph shouted from the reception area.

Allie sat upright.

We both remained silent until there was a soft knock on my office door.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I’m going to call the police, Sass,” he told me. “Allie, you should probably let your warlock know we may be here for a few hours.”

“What did you find?” I pushed.

“I’ll explain after I call the police,” he told me. “Don’t let Oliver out of your office.”