Page 22 of Wolf Promise
Bolt sighed. “We could play this ‘what if?’ game all night, but it doesn’t help Bayden one bit. Let’s get Mia to pull traffic camera footage so we can see what really happened.”
“Fine,” Justice growled and pulled his phone from a pants pocket. He pushed a button and lifted it to his ear.
Bolt hoped they’d find Bayden soon. Being on edge, both in wolf and human form, meant Justice could blow any minute. They were both Arek’s lieutenants, second in command of the pack, and Justice had always been known as the patient and event-tempered one of the two. This reversal of roles did not sit well with Bolt. He’d have to speak to Arek about the situation, which would make him feel like a snitch, but the pack’s safety always came first.
No matter how much it sucked.
He needs a mate, Bolt’s wolf growled. Like us.
Shut the fuck up, Bolt ordered the animal. Nobody here has or needs mates.
The wolf chuffed, lolling his tongue outside the snout.
CHAPTER 11
Aheadache loomed behind Regie’s eyeballs. She massaged her temples, but it didn’t help.
“You skipped lunch again, didn’t you?” Payel made it sound more like a statement than a question.
“Nope, I actually ate both a sandwich and a banana.”
That morning, there’d been a flurry of email threats from her stalker. He—she assumed a man, but she really shouldn’t discriminate—the person, they, had witnessed the paparazzi outside her office the night before and now raged against Bolt. She apparently could not date anyone. Regie wished she could share the reason for her headache with Payel, but although Heimdall didn’t suspect her assistant, so far, they wanted the stalker situation kept under tight wraps.
“I’m in pain because Grandfather, once again, changed his plans last minute. Very last minute.” She’d forwarded all the messages to Heimdall Shield. Arek Varg hoped the stalker would become upset enough to make a mistake, so that they could track down the origin of the messages this time. Besides, her grandfather’s behavior also contributed to her headache.
“It’s hard working with family,” Payel said, her lips pursed. She never criticized Regie’s grandfather, but her facial expressions always revealed how she felt about the older man hijacking the schedule. “What plans do we need to alter?”
Regie appreciated Payel’s loyalty to Regie and the company. “He sent paparazzi waiting for me and Bolt outside the office last night. An altercation happened between them and security.” She decided to leave Bolt’s actions out of the description. His instant protective stance still made her insides flutter. Why did such aggressive gestures turn her on? She’d been without sex for too long. That must be it.
Payel nodded. “I saw the pictures, but wanted to wait to until this afternoon to bring them up in case they would upset you.”
Regie smiled and lowered her hands from her head. “That’s very considerate of you.”
“More like self-preservation.” Payel grinned. “I didn’t want to derail what we have to work on this afternoon.”
“Well, that is what we need to change. Thanks to those pictures, the board now wants me to make an official announcement about my engagement earlier. As in today, this afternoon.” The pictures hadn’t been too bad. The magazines had, of course, picked the most unflattering shots of Regie where every pore and wrinkle on her face showed up as she stared into the camera, her pupils tiny because of the flash, which made her pale blue eyes look almost white. Basically, she looked like a prematurely aging opium addict.
“Okay, I’ll write up a press release. As soon as you approve it, I’ll send it to all the major media outlets and also directly to those journalists who we know are our friends.” Payel’s stylus flew across her tablet.
“I have to do it in person,” Regie said. “Two of the board members are patrons of a non-profit organization for the arts, and they have an exhibition late this afternoon. They want me there, with Bolt, and I’m supposed to announce the engagement to the media, who’ll cover the event.”
Payel’s hand paused midair, the stylus balanced between two fingers. “Today? But we have a meeting with the Colorado franchise people this afternoon. We already rescheduled with them once. They’re not going to be happy about us standing them up again.”
“I know, and I’m sorry to ask you to delay the meeting again.” She hated to reschedule any meetings because her packed schedule just became more unruly when stuff didn’t happen in their original time slot. But this time, she hated it extra much because Payel had put extra time into the project and taken more of a lead role. “Listen, you know more about this project than anyone. “You should do the meeting without me. You know what I would agree to and what I would veto. Lead the discussion according to those guidelines without actually promising anything.”
Payel stared at her. “They’re not going to want to meet with your assistant when they’ve been promised the CEO of the company.”
“We didn’t promise them anything,” Regie countered. “We scheduled a meeting for them to present their initial offer of a collaboration, and that’s exactly what you’re giving them. Besides, I think it’s about time that you took more of an official lead role on some projects. You are more than ready for them.” The more she thought about this, the more right it seemed to her. “I’d like to move you into a project management position. With a raise, of course.”
Payel pressed her lips together and looked away. “I don’t want to get a promotion just because you can’t make a meeting.” She sounded hurt.
“That’s not why I’m offering it to you. You know me better than that. I’m offering you a bigger role with bigger pay because I know that you are ready for that. Think on it for a while and if you’re not ready, we continue as before.” Regie tilted her head. “But your track record over the past few months, especially on this project, has shown me that you are more than ready.”
“Okay,” Payel mumbled. “But what about being your assistant? I can’t do both.”
Regie smiled. “The promotion comes with a catch. You have to promise to find and train your replacement.”
Before Payel could answer, the office door opened, and Regie’s grandfather strode in, holding a tabloid in his hand. “These pictures look awful. Why didn’t you smile at the camera like the media training taught you?”