oorly concealed irritation. He'd been played by his own arrogance and had personally h

k. I just wat

e people he didn't fully understand. He used to write those warnings off as

reath, visibly forci

n tonight - I'll have

s the exit ramp h

ed one. What I needed was

elena sat through the entire auction on your ar

nce, eyes carrying just the

s for you. I don't nee

for the gifts. You're here as free company for an engaged Alpha, providing

started

and kep

ust fund out of the arrangement. You get used for free and still rush to prove you're not in it for money. If

e color draine

enough

e." I stepped closer, lowering my voice. "You two don't get to trample all over my boundar

g the color draining out of Hele

quite the sought-after item

ers about as reliably as most people rotated streaming subscriptions. His one saving grace was that he never promised

st bastard is sometimes easier to deal wit

he flinched, retreating behind Jasper,

of her, and the look he turned on me

when did you start throwing y

d at hi

I gave him a small smile. "I've fought off hostile takeovers for that company. I've forced board members out. I bled companies dry

ed further. I looked at Helena,

now. Her boss? Her lover? Or just a temporary Alpha with p

there's nothi

gently at Ja

Xesha over me. Whatever

faintly, as if she were the one who'd forced her way in

after Jasper finally

g. We joke around too much sometimes - that's

een Jasper and Helena, would he seriously

u'd think they weren't covering for a friend's affair b

st all intere

circle treated infidelity as a punchline and a woman's pain as a shared PR pro

exposing He

elves on it, and eventually let the consequences catch up to all

he assistant hanging back

g Mr. Dawn said he w

cing toward Jasper. After a b

turned shortly with the auction house staff, c

ership down the line - confirm for me that these are your

arly unhappy with the di

. If you want it, why

's just not especially pr

e gifts of my own free will, no

ctly c

arry everything d

pt tracking one dark green velvet box in particular

ly for someone playing the role o

notic

p a hand. "Leave

f paused

ping my expression

hy

nother us

arly, that everything was g

ightened

it and headed for the elevator w

ed nearly everything over to

the staff load boxes big and small into

hort on ca

ffload auction pieces too. Anyone who actually knew me would reali

d. "Ale gave me one month to wrap things