Page 20 of The Packaged Deal
I refold the letter and shove it in my desk drawer. So that’s why he’s been trying to see me. I’ve been successfully avoiding him for two weeks now. This is…devastating.
I’d thought when I’d been told he was selling that he was just moving. Somewhere close. I never dreamed he was actually leaving me.
Kandi moves closer to me, and I force everything away and reach for her hand. I bring her knuckles to my lips, and then rub my cheek against them. She sits on the arm of my chair and runs her fingers over my scalp.
Lying to her is going to kill me.
“So, you’re okay with Adrian leaving?” She prods.
“Of course, it’s his life. Why would I have an issue with it?”
Kandi sighs and tilts my chin up so she can look at me. “I love you, Sven, but sometimes, you’re as much a mystery to me as the day we met.”
I watch her leave, and when I'm sure she’s gone; I get up and lock my door. With an inhale to brace myself, I pick up my phone. I tilt my head back on the chair and stare at the ceiling. The phone rings, and I wait.
“Meet me,” I say into the phone when it picks. There’s silence. “I'll be at your house in twenty minutes.”
Adrian doesn’t say a word, he just hangs up, but I know he’ll be there. I take my time getting my keys and closing the office, then I leave.
“Back in two hours,” I say out loud.
Darion looks up at me and nods. That’s it. My boss trusts me, it’s been hard earned and fought for, but he takes me at my word.
Kandi watches me from the other side of the office, but she doesn’t move to follow me. Guilt is a hungry beast always feeding on something and growing inside me. But if he’s leaving, I need to see him. I’m just sorry I’m hurting her.
In the carpark, I pause, struck by the strange sight of a man, one I’ve never seen before staring at me. His eyes are wide, and he looks visibly shocked. For a moment, I get this incredible sense of déjà vu. A rush of anger and grief washes over me.
The man cocks his head to the side, watching me in a way that makes me want to go over there and beat him until he’s a bloody lump on the floor.
My savage feelings startle me, and I rip the car door open and slide behind the wheel, my hands shaking.
I look back, but he’s gone.
“Fuck!”
I have to focus on Addy. I push the strange man out of my mind.
I pull up just as he’s getting out of his car. He ignores me and walks up the short five stairs to the porch of his house. I follow on his heels, and the minute he closes the door behind me, I'm on him. I grip him by the throat and push him back into his own door.
I bare my teeth, and I let out all that rage and fear I’d pushed down.
He’s taller than me by two inches, and even though my fingers are wrapped around his throat, he’s not cowed. If anything, I’ve woken his formidable temper.
“You can’t leave,” I hiss the words.
“I can, and I am,” he snaps.
I growl. He growls back, his blue eyes darken, and a lock of his hair falls into his eyes. He’s so fucking gorgeous. Why do I have to want him so much?
I lean towards him so our chests are just touching, our lips so close yet so far. “Please, Addy, I need you to stay.”
His eyes close, and I lean my weight against him, doing more than I ever have in the years of our friendship. Our breath mingles, and my eyes flick down to his lips. What I want is right there. I turn my face so our cheeks press together. It’s a copout. I can feel his disappointment. It mirrors mine.
“You need me to stay so you know where I am,” he growls. “I don't want this anymore.”
I snarl. “If I could have a pack, I would, but I can’t-”
“Save it, I've heard it before. Your pack abandoned you, and now you think you’re a broken alpha,” Addy says bitterly. “I don't care. I still want you. We’re supposed to be together, Sven. Did it ever occur to you that the reason it didn’t work was because you weren’t meant to be together?”