Melissa stared at Addison and Marcus indignantly, her eyes slits as she seemed to detect something amiss.

“I don’t understand what we’re waiting for,” she said, her eyes darting back and forth between the two other occupants in the room, but neither of them allowed their expressions to reveal anything.

“You’ll know when it happens,” Marcus said. “Sit down and stop talking.”

Melissa gave Addison a scathing look. “I don’t know what she said to you, Marcus, but—”

“What part of ‘shut up’ did you have a hard time with?” he asked in a conversational tone.

Melissa’s mouth parted, and she rose, her face contorting in anger. “You can’t talk to me that way!” she snapped. “I’m not like the rest of your girls, Marcus!”

“No,” he agreed. “You’re the worst one of them all.”

Her jaw dropped further as the door opened and her accomplices walked into the CEO’s glass office, each one of them looking as perplexed as Melissa.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Melissa snapped. “What is everyone doing in here, Marcus? If you’re expecting some orgy or—”

“Maybe you haven’t noticed,” Marcus cut her off smoothly. “But I haven’t touched you in weeks. You can call it instinct, or maybe I’m just bored of your uptight bullshit.”

“Instinct? Uptight?” Melissa choked, outrage turning her face an unappealing orange tinge. “How dare you!”

“Should we come back later?” Tavia asked nervously, glancing around the room. She could clearly smell the tension in the air, and it was obvious she was trying to determine how it pertained to her.

“No!” Marcus barked. “You should stand there right next to the door, because you’ll be using it in a moment.”

Tavia’s green eyes narrowed as she peered at Melissa through her peripheral vision. Before Marcus could say another word, Erica burst into tears.

“I didn’t want to do it, Marcus!” she sobbed. “It wasn’t my idea! They made me! They threatened me!”

“Erica, shut up!” Tavia and Melissa screamed in unison, their faces turning ashen. Addison sighed deeply, sinking into a nearby chair.

“There’s no need to be nasty to Erica,” Marcus told them in almost a pleasant tone. “I already know you’ve been stealing from me, all three of you. I just want to know why.”

The trio fell silent, and Marcus could almost see the wheels turning in their heads as they tried to think of an answer that would get them out of the hot water they had landed themselves in. Except for Erica’s sniffles, not a sound was heard, and Marcus groaned in annoyance.

“Your salaries are quite substantial. What was the point?”

“We just wanted to ensure we had a nest egg when you kicked us out,” Melissa said quickly.

When Marcus studied her face, shifting his gaze to Tavia and then Erica, he knew there was more to it than that.

“You’re lying,” he retorted bluntly. “I suggest you tell me what you were really doing before I call the police and have them figure it out.”

He was bluffing, of course. He could not risk a breath of this scandal leaving his top floor office, but they didn’t need to know that. Unfortunately, Melissa knew him too well, and a slow smirk formed on her mouth.

“Go ahead,” she replied. “Call them. I can’t wait to hear what your shareholders will say when they find out your mistresses took money out from literally under your nose. Something tells me that will be bad for business.”

A familiar rage began to build inside Marcus, but he did not have an opportunity to respond.

“What mistresses?” Addison asked, rising from her spot. It was the first time she had spoken since entering the workspace after meeting with Tatiana.

“Addison, I’ve got this,” Marcus told her in a low tone, but she did not look at him as she slid forward, stopping in front of Melissa’s smug face.

“Little girl, stand down,” Melissa snapped. “You have no idea how things work around here.”

“I know enough,” Addison said evenly. “For example, you’re not supposed to bite the hand that feeds you.”

“You don’t know shit,” Melissa hissed. “You just waltzed in here and ruined everything.”

“What are you talking about?” Addison demanded, genuine shock in her voice. “What did I ruin?”

Melissa scoffed and turned to her companions, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. “She is just a babe in the woods, and he has chosen her over all of us!” she spat.

“Melissa, what are you going on about?” Marcus growled, stepping toward her to grab her arm. “Start making sense.”

She laughed mirthlessly as Tavia and Erica looked down and away.

“We knew she was coming even before she got here, Marcus,” Melissa snarled, wrenching her arm away. “We knew there was another one on the horizon and that she was different.”

Marcus felt his ears turn warm as he listened to her. “I don’t know what you’re babbling about,” he retorted. “Stop making excuses for your deplorable behavior.”

“Even now you’re going to deny that you’re in love with her!” Melissa gasped in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“Wait a second,” Addison whispered. “Are you saying that you stole the money only to frame me because you were worried that Marcus was in love with me?”

“Ding! Ding!” Melissa cried, pointing at her. “Look, Marcus! Even Little Miss Innocent gets it!”

“Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Melissa,” Addison sighed. “But you’re wrong. You shot yourself in the foot for no reason.”

Melissa snickered. “Maybe you are as delusional as he is. Or maybe you’re just fooling yourself. He loves you. Ask him.”

Addison turned to him, and Marcus could only stare at the scene almost uncomprehendingly as Melissa’s words sunk in.

“You were just trying to eliminate her from my life,” he realized, shaking his head. “You could have ruined her life!”

“What life?” Melissa retorted. “She was a waitress, a nobody who Georges almost hit with his car! If the weather had been better that day, none of this would have ever happened! Instead, we all watched you turn into a fool for her.”

Marcus didn’t have the patience to listen any longer. He wanted the three women to get out of his office and out of his life forever.

“I expect that money back in the accounts within the hour,” he rasped. “And I want all of you out of your apartments by midnight. Anything you leave behind will be burned. That’s a promise.”

Tavia chuckled. “It was only a matter of time before that happened, anyway,” she snickered. “We all saw it coming.”

“Good,” Marcus retorted. “Get on it and get out of my sight.” To his surprise, only Erica moved, running for the door with tears streaming down her cheeks as she blubbered down the hallway, her hands covering her face. “What are you waiting for?” he sneered at both Tavia and Melissa. “A personal invitation?”

“We’re not going anywhere,” Tavia told him with confidence that did not reflect in her emerald eyes.

Even if Marcus looked sideways at her, she didn’t look like Addison. How could he have ever thought that she did?

“Oh, no?” he drawled. “Do you think I am beyond having you escorted off my property?”

“I think you want to keep your secret protected,” Melissa replied.

Marcus felt his blood run cold, and he stared at her, his blue eyes flashing. “What did you say to me?”

“What are they talking about, Marcus?” Addison whispered.

The devious duo whooped.

“Oh!” Melissa gasped through her laughter. “She doesn’t know about you! Tavia, this just gets better and better!”

“Get out!” Marcus roared, his skin bursting to expose the scales beneath.

“Not until we have your assurances that we can keep our apartments and that we will never be sent away,” Melissa said shortly. “Or I will personally go to the press and tell them the entire sordid story. About us, about the money, about your shapeshifting—”

Suddenly, Marcus couldn’t contain himself any longer, and his dragon form erupted from within, his tail whiplashing around the room, smashing into the desk.

Addison shrieked, watching as he manifested into the beast he had kept hidden. Neither Melissa nor Tavia flinched, even when his massive silver head landed inches from theirs, smoke emanating from his nostrils.

“You don’t scare us, Marcus,” Melissa choked, her tone slightly strangled, despite her best efforts to hide it. “You know you can’t harm us unless your life is being threatened! Stand down and give us what we want.”

Marcus’ amber eyes darted toward Addison, who had crawled toward the corner of the room, hiding her face in her crouched knees as she rocked herself.

Now she knows, he thought, woe and fury fighting for first place in his escalating range of emotions. He had tried so hard to keep it from her, knowing that the feelings he had for her were unlike any he had ever felt for anyone before.

Marcus threw his monolithic head back and released a primal roar that reverberated the windows. Melissa and Tavia stepped back, dread coloring their faces together. He could see that they were wondering if they had been misinformed by whatever they had learned. He unleashed another howl and advanced again, willing them to leave his sight.

The second growl seemed to inspire genuine terror in the women, and they bolted from the office, kicking off their heels as they did, like they were worried he would chase them down the hall.

Slowly, Marcus drew back, his body trembling, and he pivoted his head toward the quivering mass on the floor. As if she could suddenly feel his eyes boring into her, Addison deliberately lifted her chin, her face gaunt with apprehension.

Don’t look away, he willed, hoping she would understand. I’m still the same man.

As if she could hear his thoughts, Addison’s eyes latched onto his, and their gazes remained locked together. Marcus watched as her anxiety seemed to melt away, and he allowed himself to fall back into his mortal form.

Addison’s eyes widened in awe.

“How—why—I don’t understand…” she murmured, still frozen in place. Marcus shook his head.

“It’s not easily explained,” he told her hoarsely, offering her a hand.

For a heart-stopping moment, he thought she was going to refuse, but she reached up and accepted it, easily rising to her feet.

Shakily, Addison threw herself into Marcus’ arms, and they embraced sweetly, their lips meeting hungrily. Marcus was flooded with relief.

She still wanted him, even knowing all his flaws and secrets.

How could I have been so blind to what I had all this time? he wondered, his arms enclosing around her waist and drawing her tightly to his body.

All Marcus knew was that, if she would let him back in, he would never leave her again.