Chapter 10

Elijah’s eyes had narrowed to slits, but beyond that he remained unreadable. There was no missing the ferocity in his voice when he intoned after a few seconds had passed with no reply forthcoming:

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention, and as my tears devolved into pitiful sniffles I looked up to find that Rita was stood beside him. Her eyes went from the discarded box of chocolates on my desk to Tristan before trailing over to me, and we locked gazes.

Her nose crinkled slightly, and I felt my face heat up as an accompanying wave of self-awareness swept through me at that exact moment.

I was drowsy, all cried out and feeling as fragile as glass, and as a sharp burst of uncomfortable laughter from Tristan snagged the burden of Rita’s stare off me, I took advantage of the moment of sweet reprieve to bend over and begin to rummage through my handbag for wipes.

“Elijah, just the man I’ve been meaning to see.” Tristan laughed again in a way that jarred rather than ease, missing the effect I was sure he’d been going for. He raised his hands in a show of surrender, a there’s nothing to see here gesture. “I was just welcoming the new hire. There’s absolutely no reason to kick a fuss. We’re acquainted, right?”

I said nothing, blowing loudly into a wipe, and Elijah took a slight step forward.

There was no mistaking the way Tristan involuntary backed away from him; though I couldn’t for the life of me have said I blamed him since the taller man’s movements landed softly, like he walked in a field of landmines that only he could see. He carried himself with the grace of a predator, and I would’ve backed away too if I had not been seated.

“Is that correct, Miss Martin?” Elijah inquired, fixating his colorless gaze on me just as I prepared to blow my nose for the second time. Every muscle in me froze. “Do you know him?”

It was the first time I’d heard him refer to me like that, but I shrugged the shock off pretty quickly and considered denying Tristan for a second, saying I’d never seen him in my life just to see how he’d try to wiggle his way out of this one. But I stopped. I may not have liked the man, but this was obviously a clear case of him being in the wrong place at the right time. I imagined that if I hadn’t spent the past week receiving flowers from some anonymous admirer I would’ve found the gesture sweet, though futile.

In other words: There was CCTV footage of our short-lived interaction in the elevator, and I wasn’t stupid, so I cleared my throat to answer.

“Yes.” I shifted slightly in my chair, head downturned. “We met, briefly.”

“Exactly,” Tristan jumped in, recognizing an opportunity as he turned to me. “I said we’d meet again, didn’t I?”

This time my lips remained firmly pressed together as I refused to come to his rescue, and I watched as his false bravado wilted under Elijah’s baleful glare. For all his posturing, Tristan’s nervousness came off him in sparks and something told me that he and Elijah did not have a relationship as smooth as he would’ve liked everyone to believe. I mean, the man was visibly sweating.

“Then why is she crying?”

Tristan blinked, and after a few short moments he gave an uneasy shrug.

“You know as much as I do.”

“Leave,” Elijah ordered instantly, and Tristan stilled. For one moment a look of such unadulterated hatred marred his features, but his expression smoothened out an instant later he began sauntering towards the doorway. However, Rita blocked his way out, arms crossed over her torso.

“St. James,” he purred, chuckling amusedly. “It’s been a while you.”

My supervisor shot him a half-smile softer than the look in her eyes but said nothing, nodding at the forgotten box of chocolates on my table. Tristan blushed.

“It’s a gift,” he turned to me with a sly grin which dimmed ever so slightly when he noticed that Elijah was looking at him. “Think of it as a little housewarming gift. I’ll see you around.”

He dipped his head in acknowledgement, proceeding to make his way out of the room, and this time Rita did not stand in his way.

Elijah’s hands curled in on themselves and an undeniable flash of emotion cracked through his countenance, there and gone at a moment’s notice, but I’d caught it. Even as I turned away when he peered over at me, unable to meet his eyes, I recognized it for what it was—anger.

Or, God help us, jealousy; though I seriously doubted that this was the case.

The thought arrived like a stone in my gut, and when I craned my neck to find that Sidd was staring wide-eyed at me I let out a quiet sigh, hoping he was bewildered and hadn’t caught onto my discovery.

Slowly the tension in the air began to dissipate, the silence was interrupted by Markus’s fingers as he picked up typing the report he’d been working on before Tristan intruded, but our bosses remained rooted at the entrance, studying us so much so that in just a few short seconds it became unnerving.

I was particularly sensitive as I wiped my face, movements jittery as I struggled under the weight of their combined stares before reaching for the ballpoint on my table.

The neon pink, bow-wrapped package that held the chocolates distracted me and I pushed it to a corner of my desk, taking deep breaths to calm myself as I scanned the spread-out dispatch in front of me, but my fingers trembled, and I found I was unable to concentrate.

A spell passed in which things continued like this, and I fought through the numb lethargy that threatened to settle over me, but eventually Elijah excused himself and even though Rita remained behind I found it easier to pull myself together. A sense of wellbeing stole through me, but it was brittle, and I felt hairline cracks start to spread across when she called my name.

“Go and pull yourself together,” she started when I peered up at her, and when I opened my mouth to lie and protest that I didn’t need a moment to myself. Her next words shut me up quicker than you would’ve imagined. “I need you on your sharpest. We’ve things to discuss.”