Chapter 2

BLAKE

"Not now!" I snarled. As soon as the elevator doors opened, my assistant, Anna, jumped to her feet. She rushed to the other side of her desk as soon as she saw me. The entire top floor was my executive suite consisting of a waiting room, meeting room, and my own private office. I stormed through the waiting room, brushed past Anna on my way to my office, and slammed the door behind me.

A part of me winced at how much of an asshole I was to her, but it didn't matter. Putting up with me was part of her job, and she was compensated handsomely for it.

"What the fuck happened to you, dude?" Reeve Song, my best friend and lifelong business partner looked at me from where he stood at the giant window overlooking the city below. Reeve was like a brother to me, and we were part of the same wolf pack. If any other person intruded on my personal domain like this, I would have ripped their head off. He was the only person in the world I trusted besides my kin.

He scanned me up and down, pausing at the giant coffee stain on my shirt. "Did you dump your breakfast all over yourself?"

Tugging at my tie, I practically shredded my suit jacket and shirt with my claws as I ripped them off. "A hazard of on-site recon," I replied. I strode to the other side of the room where I kept several fresh sets of suits in my office closet.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have to give a speech at the RIDTech conference right now?" I asked. Reeve was a pioneer of online retail and his expertise was what allowed Wulfthorn Baked Goods to dominate the home bread delivery market.

Once I was out of the soiled clothes, and no longer smelling like a walking coffee cart, my heartbeat slowed. Like the hazy fog outside, my temper faded away under the bright light of day.

Reeve gave a long sigh that I heard even from across the room. "Petra quit."

I stuck my head out of the closet. "Again?" Petra was Reeve's assistant, also known as his walking brain and calendar.

Reeve nodded. "For real this time and without a word. Her resignation letter was on her desk this morning. I was jet-lagged from flying back from London and dealing with Dad's estate. The conference totally slipped from my mind."

I tugged the knot of my tie into place. "How many times have I told you not to be such a jerk to her? It was bound to bite you in the ass eventually."

Reeve scoffed. He jerked his head in the direction of my office door, where Anna was sitting on the other side. "Dude, you're one to talk. Pot meet kettle."

I joined Reeve at the window. Together, we looked down at the bustling street fifty stories below us. Up here, among the clouds, the people below looked like little ants crawling around my feet. We may as well have been gods watching the world from the heavens. It was lonely at the top, but this was what I had pursued my entire life.

"Fisher's ready to make a move," Reeve said.

Fisher was the founder of the Bean Brewing and Sipping coffee shops. For over two months, I had been trying to work out a deal to buy his company. He was going to retire soon. After devoting his entire life to expanding the reach of his company, it was well deserved. From one tiny coffee shop in Huntington Harbor, he expanded his company until every city in every state in the country had a Bean Brewing coffee shop. Too bad he didn't have an heir to take over the company after he stepped down. Still, the old goat refused to sell to me. Not that I was going to give him a choice. That company was going to be mine eventually.

My goal this morning was to analyze the staff and operating procedures at the coffee shop. I wanted to spot any inefficiencies that could be improved upon and examine the way the employees interacted with their customers. My entire empire was built upon a neurotic attention to detail and a willingness to take down anyone who dared to stand in my way.

Owning a nationwide chain of coffee shops where I could also sell products from my own company was the next step in expanding my empire. I wanted to see Wulfthorn's pastries and breads in every coffee shop and every store in this country and the world. Bean Brewing and Sipping was a vital step in that plan.

"Is it Unibrod?" I asked.

Reeve put his hands in his pants pockets and gave a nonchalant shrug. "Most likely. My sources found out that Fisher's meeting someone in Paradise Peaks after the new year. Now we know why he's been dicking you along."

I wasn't the only one who had my eye on Fisher's coffee business. Unibrod, the world's biggest conglomerate of fast food brands, wanted to gobble up Bean Brewing and add it to their portfolio. The very thought insulted me to my core. Like my own bakeries, Fisher ran his business with passion and the utmost attention to the quality of his products. I was going to fight to my last tooth to get this company and keep it from becoming another stale chain that sold overpriced burned coffee.

"I need to beat them to Fisher. Make him an offer he can't refuse. No matter what, I'm going to close this deal," my words were almost a growl as they came out.

Victory was so close. There was no way I was going to let this opportunity slip out of my grasp. Whether Fisher knew it or not, I had my sights locked on him. The wolf inside of me was not going to let up the hunt until I captured my prey.

Reeve sat down in my leather chair and picked up the tiny rake next to the Zen sand garden on my desk. He raked a circle around the bonsai tree in the center. "Better get on it. Fisher's going to spend the entire month of December in Paradise Peaks. It'll be the perfect time to ambush him. Unibrod already has their lackeys swarming all over." He stacked a pebble on top of another. "No more time for runs to the coffee shop."

I sighed at the reminder of what happened this morning. What was supposed to be a quick data-gathering visit turned into a nightmare because of some clumsy woman who looked like she just got off the bus from bumfuck somewhere.

Not that it was a bad thing. She had an intriguing openness about her that was missing in the jaded cosmopolitan women who stalked the streets of Huntington Harbor in their stiletto heels.

The time we had together was brief, but the moment I touched her, it felt right. Perfectly right in a way I never experienced before. Her soft body molded to mine when she bumped into me, and she wasn't a chore to look at. Not at all. Behind her heavy dark-rimmed glasses, she had thick long lashes and sharp brown eyes. Though the rain turned her hair into a frizzy puff, her soft brown locks fell past her shoulders in a wavy waterfall that I ached to sink my fingers into. Even through all the layers she wore, it was clear she had the right amount of curves in all the right places.

Despite her awkwardness and the power difference between us, she had a silent confidence about her. Not many people dared hold their heads up high and glare at me the way she did, especially after she spilled her drink all over me.

Then there was her scent. It was difficult to describe. Sweet and musky, with a lingering trace of honeysuckle and fresh fall apples. I took a deep breath through my nose as if I could conjure up her aroma through memory. She smelled like home in some unseen paradise I had never been to.

Something about this woman stirred a part of me that I did not wish to confront. It was something primal and overwhelming. Unable to face her any longer without losing control, I did what an alpha wolf never did. I ran out of the coffee shop with my tail between my legs.

A high-pitched childish giggle pierced the silence of my office before the door burst open. "Uncle Blake! Up!"

Emilia, my niece, dashed toward me with the frenetic speed and agility that only wolf pups possessed. She wore purple leggings under a black tutu covered with glitter that twinkled in the light, and a pink t-shirt decorated with a rabbit jumping over a rainbow. In one of her hands, she clutched a ragged stuffed bunny that flailed its limbs as she flung it around. Poor Mr. Snuffle's head lolled back, and its beady black eyes gleamed up at me as if it wanted to exit this plane of existence.

I held out my arms and hefted her up as she crashed into me in a whirlwind of gangly legs and grabby hands. Wrapping her little arms around my neck, she watched with gleaming mischievous eyes as my assistant scrambled clumsily after her.

"Mr. Wulfthorn," Anna gasped. She was winded and out of breath from chasing after the child. Messy strands of blonde hair streaked with silver escaped from her normally neat French twist. "I'm terribly sorry. She got away from me. It won't happen again."

"It's alright, Anna," I assured her. It wasn't really, though. Emilia could have gotten hurt. She was the only remaining link I had to my late sister, and as the heir to the Wulfthorn empire, she had to be protected. Still, Reeve's predicament echoed in the back of my mind. As much as this current situation was chaos, it would be even more of a mess if Anna quit on me. "No harm done. The child is safe. Why don't you take an early lunch break."

She started to protest.

Holding up a hand, I interrupted her. "I insist on it. Emilia and I have a lot to catch up on. There are important matters of tea parties with Mr. Snuffles to discuss."

My niece let out a playful giggle.

"Send an order down to the kitchen for Emilia's lunch to be delivered to my office."

"Yes, sir. The usual, sir?"

I nodded. Though we had lived together for less than a month, Emilia was like me, a Wulfthorn through and through. We knew what we liked, and exactly how we liked it. The only difference was, I didn't throw a tantrum before every meal.

"Want anything, Reeve?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I'm not hungry. Thank you, Anna."

Anna exited the room, closing the door behind her.

"Did you have a good nap?" I asked Emilia.

She wrinkled her nose and squirmed. I bent down and let her slip out of my arms.

"No. Anna smells like stinky medicine. I don't like it here." She stuck out her little lip and pouted before she stomped over to my desk. Climbing onto my chair, she dragged Mr. Snuffles onto my desk and began to rearrange the rocks in my Zen garden.

I sighed. In the short time since my sister's death and discovering that I was now Emilia's only living family member, I still did not have anybody who I trusted to watch my niece while I was at the office.

Reeve chuckled. "She has a point. This has to be the most expensive daycare in Huntington Harbor. The office is no place for a kid. There's nothing for her to do and nobody around to play with her except for us old farts. Not to mention, you have to figure out the acquisition. How are you going to poach Fisher ahead of Unibrod and babysit at the same time?"

"I'll figure something out," I grumbled. He was right. As much as I loved Emilia, this was the last thing I needed at the moment. The current situation was untenable. I could concentrate on work, or on family, but not both at the same time.

At that moment, the phone outside my office rang. Normally, I would have let the call go to voicemail until Anna came back to deal with it, but something inside of me pushed me to go out and answer it.

I picked up the phone. "Blake Wulfthorn."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Wulfthorn, this is Gladys at Discreet Talent Connections. I am happy to inform you that we have found a nanny who meets all the criteria you provided."

I grunted. "Did you do a full background check on her?"

"Certainly. Her name is Lacey Conway, twenty-three years old. She passed with flying colors, not so much as a parking ticket. Graduated summa cum laude and has experience babysitting young children, as well as glowing recommendations from her previous employers."

"Send her over to my office ASAP today. I want her to start immediately."

"I will make arrangements right away. If there are any further concerns, please feel free to contact the agency."

Once I ended the call, I sent a request to my security team to run a background check on her. Not that I didn't trust the employment agency, but there was no such thing as being too careful when it came to my family.

Surprise and shock made me freeze when I opened the door to my office. Reeve was on all fours, with two pieces of tissue paper taped to his forehead. The tissue was twisted so it stood upright out of his head. Emilia sat on his back, her little hands clutching at the nape of his shirt.

"Faster, bunny! We have to make it to the other side before the wolf gets us."

I closed the door behind me and crossed my arms. "What is going on here?"

Emilia laughed. "Uncle Reeve is a giant bunny!"

Gently, I lifted her off his back. "I can see that. You're looking particularly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Reeve. It's a good look on you."

Reeve rose to his feet and flexed his neck and back. He waited until Emilia ran across the room to the window. Once she was distracted, he held up his middle finger and made an obscene motion at me.

"The kid looked like she was going to cry," he grumbled. "It was the only thing I could think of to make her stop. Swear on our pack that what you saw will never leave this room."

I chuckled. "Your secret is safe with me. I swear." I gestured at his head. "Those may raise questions among the office staff."

He scowled and ripped off the pieces of tissue stuck to his head. "I thought you were going to get a nanny to take care of the kid." Tossing the paper into the wastebasket, he moved to the mini-bar and began fixing himself a drink.

"I did, and I have. That was the employment agency on the phone. They're sending someone over this afternoon." Leaning my hip against the edge of my desk, I looked at Emilia who was describing the happenings on the street below to Mr. Snuffles. "The help can't come soon enough."

Reeve sat on one of the seats facing my desk. The ice clinked against his glass as he brought the tumbler up to his lips. "That was fast. Maybe I should have them find me an assistant." He swallowed. "That is if your new nanny doesn't run out of here screaming by the end of the day."

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Reeve finished his drink and got up. "As fun as this visit was, I've got to get back to my office before the interns set the place on fire."

A discreet knock on the door interrupted our conversation.

"Come in," I called out.

The door opened and revealed Sammy, the head chef at Balsamic, the upscale Italian restaurant in my office building, and also my personal chef at the office. He pushed a serving cart containing Emilia's lunch.

"Thank you, Sammy. Just place the food on my desk."

Reeve slipped past him out of room.

"Right away, sir." Sammy moved with the speed and efficiency of someone who had worked in a professional kitchen for years. In fact, I had poached the young sous chef from one of my favorite restaurants in the city. The head chef he worked under kept him on a tight leash, refusing to let Sammy develop his own skills or have any input on the dishes in his kitchen. Now that Sammy ran his own kitchen, he had full creative control, except of course, when it came to my niece's orders.

Sammy placed a place mat on the desk, then a complete place setting with kid-sized silverware and cloth napkin. Finally, he set a plate in the center. He removed the silver bell cover and revealed the same meal that Emilia ate every afternoon. Chicken nuggets and a side of matchstick carrots with ketchup and ranch dressing on the side. Next to the plate, he placed a small cup of milk.

From the lower compartment of the serving cart, he pulled out a booster seat and placed it on my chair. With a quick bow, Sammy excused himself and exited the room.

"Time for lunch, Emilia."

Silently, I let out a sigh of relief when she came over without protest. Ever since she came to live with me, meal times had been a daily struggle. I lifted her up into her booster seat and pushed the chair into place.

She examined the plate silently. Her face flushed, in the all too familiar sign of an impending tantrum.

"Emilia..."

Her face scrunched up, and she let out an ear-piercing screech. She kicked her legs and thrashed her arms. "No! It's wrong. All wrong." Emilia scrambled out of her booster seat and ran to hide behind the chair where Reeve had been sitting.

In the midst of the chaos, my office door popped open. It was Anna. She stuck her head in and looked at the scene with a horrified expression on her face.

"What now?" I snarled.

"Mr. Wulfthorn, your nanny is here," she announced.

The door opened all the way and someone I had thought I would never see again stepped in.

Though she no longer looked like a drowned cat, she stared at me in wide-eyed silence, as if she had seen a ghost.

A grin tugged at my lips. "Hello, Oklahoma."