Chapter 52 52
Maisie's Pov
When I stared at my reflection in the mirror, the image of me wiping his lips. I groaned, banging my forehead lightly against the cabinet while I waited for my coffee to brew. Thank God Emma wasn't around or she’d instantly know something was up. That woman had a bloodhound’s nose for sniffing out secrets.
I wonder what tonight would look like? A hell about to break loose, that's what.
But I wasn't worried about any of that. I was more worried about myself. My skin heated at the memory of Roman’s mouth and hands and the wicked things they did to my body. I still hadn't gotten over the kissing, caressing, and exploring he did that brought me expertly over the edge. If we had problems, physical attraction was never one of them. The sex was amazing.
The coffee finished brewing. I poured myself a cup and ignored the singsong voice in my head telling me I was wrong about Roman and I and I had to focus on getting back at Xavier. It was the middle of the workweek. I had orders to complete and a business to run. What I didn’t have was time to agonize over my bad decisions.
I ate a quick breakfast and poured myself a second cup of coffee before hunkering down at my desk.
No thinking. Just work.
Luckily, I had plenty of emails and meetings to keep me busy through the morning. I’d just finished a video call with a client when someone knocked at the door.
“Hello?” I answered without asking who it was.
“Hi,” a deep male voice rumbled behind the door. “It's Tyler.”
All thoughts of work flew out of my head.
I straightened in my chair and cleared my throat. Lucky for me, I was in my undercover secretary office.
“Come in.”
The door creaked open and he entered.
His eyes landed on my desk and he took a step back. “Oh, you're busy. I'll come back later.”
“No, no, it's fine.” I pushed back my seat. “Come in.”
“Sure.” He entered fully and closed the door behind him. “So….” He said, scratching the back of his neck and that's when I noticed his outfit.
Sporting a flannel shirt and jeans, he looked like he should be buying everyone a round of beer at the nearest pub instead of working as a software engineer.
“Everyone's in the testing room.” He managed after a few seconds of silence.
“Okay. I'll be down shortly.” I replied.
“Ummm… now will be a good time.” He said, avoiding my gaze.
“Alright.”
I rose to my feet and grabbed my jacket.
He waited till I got out first before he shut the door behind me.
To say our walk to the elevator was awkward would be an understatement. Tyler and I said nothing to each other when we got into the elevator. We didn't even spare each other a look and to be honest, it was killing me.
I opened my mouth to say something but he beat me to it.
“I'm sorry about last time. I didn't know you were engaged. I just…” He swallowed. “I wanted a friend.”
“Oh.”
“You know what? It's okay. You probably thought I was bothering you.” He looked away.
“Hey,” I reached for his arm. “I’ll be honest, I love my space, I really do, but I can afford to loosen it to accommodate a few friends.”
His eyes brightened up. “Really?”
“Yeah. I wouldn't want things to be awkward between us.” I said.
Tyler narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Very.” I nodded.
“Thank you.” He took both my hands and gave them a shake. Then, he let go of it.
I looked at him and smiled. He smiled back. That's when I thought to myself : Tyler would make an excellent pawn.
The doors parted and we walked out into the hall.
The testing room was a part of MW Corp I personally set out for testing. It was in a different location from the lab and was specifically for testing gadgets. Today, we invited a few investors and a few members of the board to witness the testing of the Healer wrist band.
Tyler and I arrived at the testing room. It looked like something out of a movie. The walls were white and curved into glass panels. Computers were everywhere with numbers and graphs dancing across the screen.
My heels slowed to a stop when my eyes locked on her.
There was a little girl sitting in the recliner in the centre of the room. Her feet barely reached the edge and she couldn't have been more than 6 years old. Maybe 7.
Her blonde curls were styled in two braided pigtails and her hands rested obediently on her stomach.
My chest tightened at the sight. For half a second, the room blurred and all I could see was Aria.
I remember the first time she was diagnosed. How she sat on the too-big hospital chair and how she sobbed when the pack doctors took her blood. The memory hit me like a punch I hadn't braced for and I inhaled sharply.
“Chloe?” Tyler's hand reached for mine. “Are you okay?”
I nodded before he could look too closely. “Yeah. I'm fine.”
It was a lie but saying it was necessary.
We moved closer, joining the cluster already gathered around the girl.
Clyde and Emma nodded when I approached. Xavier looked up from the iPad he was staring at and smiled at me. Roman… he didn't need to do anything. He leaned against the counter and locked eyes on mine. My cheeks heated and I looked away.
A few other scientists hovered nearby as if waiting for orders from Dr. Michaels.
He gently wrapped The Healer wristband around the little girl's wrist. Then, he began to secure it carefully.
“You'll be okay,” he said in a calm voice as if to reassure her. Then he nodded to the man seated behind the computer console.
The device on her wrist beeped once, then again, syncing with the monitor. Lines of data began to scroll through the screen and we waited.
Suddenly, symptoms began to appear one by one. From fatigue to nausea to bleeding from the nose, ears and eyes, red rashes on every part of the body and lastly, fever. Then the final line loaded.
FINAL DIAGNOSIS : RED HOWL.
“A cure will be administered shortly.” the system chimed.
For a second, no one moved.
Until the room exploded with cheers and gasps.
Dr. Michael let out a shaky breath and clasped his hands together like he was praying. Xavier cursed. It was the relieved kind. Roman straightened but I could see the smile on his face. His eyes found mine and he mouthed to me : “You did it, darling.”
I smiled and mouthed back. “No, we did.”
My attention was distracted when warm arms wrapped around me. It was Tyler.
“We did it!” He laughed as she spoke into my hair.
I was stunned. “Tyler…”
“Oh, sorry.” He put me down, still grinning. “It worked.”
“It did.” I smiled.
When I turned, I froze. Both Roman and Xavier stared at Tyler. None of them were smiling. They glared at him.
Roman's expression was dark and his jaw locked like he was biting back something sharp and Xavier… Xavier's eyes were colder and protective in a way that made my skin crawl.
The joy in the room dimmed just a notch and I swallowed.
These two Alpha's look like they're going to murder him.