“I have been doing that for months.”
“It might be best if you work from home. Keep your distance from the office.”
“I appreciate you trying to protect her.”
“I’m trying to protect you, lad. We can’t risk her rejecting you.” He lowers himself back into his office chair. “You aren’t strong enough.”
I want to argue with him, but I think he’s right. I don’t know what I would do if Piper rejected me.
“We’ll start small. You just keep your distance. Give her some space. Let her come to you.”
“I don’t think she wants to see me again.”
“Of course she does, you idiot.” Ness argues. “The mating bond has her smitten with you already, or you’d probably be in jail. We still have room to salvage this.”
“We?” I ask.
“Yes, you dunce. ‘We’. I’m involved now. I signed a contract to get you closer to this woman. You’re my family.”
“Family?” I ask quietly.
“You are like a brother to me. Hell, I like you better than my own brother. He’s a useless lump.” He leans back in his chair. “Although you aren’t seeming much better right now.”
I suck in a breath. Ness, Sacha, and I have been close since we met in college. Eight years building a company together can really tell you a lot about a person. Until recently they were the only people in my life I could call my family.
“We’ll get her to be your friend first.” Ness cuts himself off with a large sip of his Scotch. “That will create a solid basis for the relationship and you can build from there.”
“Friends?” I lean forward, hands on my legs.
“You think you can handle that?” he asks.
“Yes! Yes, I would do anything to have her in my life again!” I say eagerly.
“Alright, if this is going to work, you have to stop acting like such an idiot and do what I say.”
“Yes! Of course!” Maybe trusting Ness isn’t the best idea, but he’s got more experience dating humans than I do. If he says that I need to become friends with Piper, then that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
21
PIPER
"Wait. He quit?" I ask. For some reason, my heart jumps into my throat.
"He's decided to step away from the company for the time being,” Sacha looks pointedly at his business partner. “Completely of his own accord, apparently.”
My stomach does a strange squeezing at those words. It’s been less than twenty-four hours since I saw Ant in the building. I slept poorly, showed up late to work, then Magnes called and asked me to come to his office.
Magnes’s office is that hyper modern style that matches the rest of the Cryptech building. It’s irritatingly fashionable. A wall of windows, gray walls, gray floor. Magnes sits behind a glass topped desk. Sacha and I sit across from him. Sacha keeps his arms folded across his chest as he glares at his business partner.
“You’re saying he won’t be here anymore?” The discomfort bubbles up from my stomach into a nervous laugh.
“He won’t.” Magnes shakes his large green head.
"Why did he decide to do that?" I demand.
“Pontius called it an 'extended leave'. He said he has personal projects he wants to work on," Magnes says.
"He wanted to make sure you were comfortable. That we could all gain the maximum benefit possible from our companies working together," Sacha adds.
