DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(127)

“It is. I could make life for a child with diabetes so much easier. Diabetes is a difficult condition to live with. Adding five to seven shots a day to it is a nightmare for a child who cries when the doctor wants to give them the occasional vaccination.”

Her expression softened as the scenario I’d described registered. And that flash of deep sadness that I’d noticed twice at the bar passed through those intense eyes. Again I wanted to ask her what that was about, but then she began walking around the room again.

“Tell me about you support staff,” she said.

I glanced toward the door, an almost automatic reaction whenever I thought of Jaime.

“Jaime—you met her out at the elevators—is my personal assistant. She’s been with the company since its inception. She and Colin—Jacob’s assistant—were the first two people we hired. Even before the first team of scientists.”

“You trust them.”

“Of course.”

“Would they know about the projects you’re working on here?”

“They know only what they need to know to do their jobs. We’re very careful about what we put down on paper, what we say in front of help staff. There is a protocol in place to keep secrets secret.”

She walked over to the couch set intentionally on one side of the room to present a cozy place to have meetings. She kicked off her shoes and pulled her legs up underneath her, sitting like a teenager making herself at home. I followed, taking a spot on the other side of the couch.

“We’ll have to check them out, just to make sure something hasn’t slipped through your protocol.” She scratched her head just above her brow, her eyes again moving around the room. It seemed like she always had to know what was going on around her, what threat might suddenly pop up. It must be difficult living like that, believing that there could be danger around every corner.

“What about the rest of your staff? You have, what, three floors here?”

“Four.”

“Four?”

“The labs are in the basement.”

She nodded. “Is it just you and your brother up here on this floor?”

“Jacob, me, the head of human resources, the head of research and development, and the head of accounting.”

“And the second floor?”

“Support staff. Accounting. The secretary pool. Legal.”

“You have your own in-house legal department.”

“We do. They work on patents and other legal issues that have, or may, come up with our products.”

“Does anyone in legal know about this device?”

“Shit, yeah,” I said, realizing I’d missed one person when I was thinking about the people who could have leaked information on the device. “Sharon Potter. She’s the one who worked on the patent application with me.”

“We’ll have to check her out. Do you think you could introduce her to me when you give me the tour?”

“Sure.”

“Anyone else?”

“Not that I can think of. But I’ve already given your father a list of employees. He said you’d be checking most of them out.”

“We will. But we need to know who to concentrate on the most.”

I sat forward and buried my face in my hands for a moment. All this was becoming somewhat overwhelming. I was beginning to wish I’d only been paranoid. That this was all some sort of hoax that would disappear. But I knew it wasn’t because of what I’d found in my email inbox when I got to work this morning.

“There’s something I should show you,” I said.

Adrienne was watching me, her expression unreadable except for this little spark that seemed to be alive in her eyes. I couldn’t tell what it was. The excitement of the case? Or being this close to me? Or maybe something totally unrelated to it all.

I crossed the room to my computer and pulled up the email. She moved up beside me, moving in front of me as she moved closer to read. Her ass was just right there, pushing back against me. I couldn’t help but touch it, running my hand slowly along the curve of her hip to the long line of her outer thigh.

“When did you get this?”

I almost had to ask what she was talking about.

“This morning.”

She was chewing on her lip, eating off the lipstick that had been there. She straightened up and, because we were standing so close together, pressed back against my chest. I slid my hand around her waist, helping her catch her balance. She stood there for a moment, clearly not disturbed by my touch. But then she pulled away and walked back toward the couch.

“That reads like a death threat.”

I don’t think she wanted a response from me. She pulled her cellphone out of that dainty purse, clearly annoyed with it when the phone caught on the purse’s lining. She tugged roughly at it, and I was pretty sure I heard something rip. I had to bite back a chuckle. This was a serious situation, after all.

Very serious. But it was going to be a lot of fun, too.





Chapter 6


Adrienne

My father answered his phone on the third ring, his voice thick with sleep.

“What?” he mumbled.

“It’s me, Poppy. There’s been a development in the case.”

“What?” he repeated, but his voice was clearer, the sound of drowsiness quickly disappearing.