Chapter 17

(Ronan’s POV)

I tilted forward, my lips just about to brush over Julia’s, when a shrill ringing caused her to jolt backwards. I cursed quietly, fumbling for my phone on the nightstand, but the moment was already lost.

“I, uh…” Julia was shuffling across the bed, away from me. “I’m just going to go to the bathroom.” She scrambled off the bed and was in the bathroom with the door slamming shut before I could even respond.

Strangely, I felt a hollow ache in my chest as soon as she left the room. There was something about her that made me wonder…what if we tried this for real? What if Julia feels the same growing attraction I do?

I was surprised that the thought didn’t scare me. In fact, it almost didn’t even sound that bad. I felt a subtle shift in my head that told me Tyler was listening. The low hum that ran through my body told me he agreed: a real relationship with Julia might be a nice thing.

I shook my head and grabbed the still-ringing phone. “Hello?” I barked, frustrated that Julia and I had been interrupted like this. “Sir, I have news,” a calm, cool voice said quickly. “We’ve received word about Rowena.”

My heart began beating faster. “Tell me. Now.” The voice complied: “She was seen recently in the city. As you know, our security team has been keeping tabs on her movements, and we discovered that she spent some time in the area near the Packhouse.”

I sucked in a surprised breath, trying to get a handle on my emotions. Rowena, the witch that had cursed me all those years ago, taking away my ability to recognize my true mate, was not only in my city, but near my Packhouse.

“When was this?” I asked, my voice shaking. “Last week,” they replied. “Thursday night.” I almost dropped the phone. Thursday night was the night I had gotten drunk at the pub. Thursday night was the night Julia had had to bring me home. Thursday night was the night I spent with that mysterious woman I couldn’t stop thinking about.

My hand curled around the phone, squeezing it so hard, I was surprised it didn’t break. I knew there was something off about that night. It had all been too…easy. Simple. Coincidental. Now that I knew Rowena was involved…

She had something to do with all of this, I could feel it. My desire to find the woman from that night grew even larger. She was the one person who could unravel all of this and lead me back to that blasted witch — and finally break my curse.

Julia’s face suddenly flashed across my mind. If the curse was broken, that meant I was free to go and find my true mate. Which meant getting closer to Julia was a distraction I couldn’t afford right now.

I was surprised when I felt a wave of uncertainty from Tyler. I frowned. My wolf had always been focused on our true mate, but I could tell he also felt for Julia. He didn’t want to hurt her…and neither did I. There was something between us, something I couldn’t explain, and I hated to think about destroying our fragile connection.

(Julia’s POV)

I stayed in the bathroom for at least an hour, hoping Ronan would be long asleep by the time I returned to the bed. I had heard him exchange a few terse words with whoever had called, but other than that, there was silence.

When I finally got back into bed, Ronan was still and silent. I fell asleep soon after. When I woke up, he was already gone. I got ready for work and headed in by myself, wondering if Ronan had gone in early. Or maybe somewhere else? Somewhere that had something to do with that phone call?

I was lost in my thoughts as I walked into the office, but my sister’s grating voice quickly brought me back down to earth. “I mean, I don’t know what she’s thinking,” Sandy told the group of people crowded around her desk. “Must be some kind of midlife crisis or something.”

“She’s got some rich guy keeping her now,” she continued. “God, can you imagine? Julia, a sugar baby! It’s laughable.” She didn’t see me walk up behind her, only turning around once I cleared my throat.

“Good morning, everyone.” I smiled coldly at the group, most of whom had the decency to look embarrassed I had caught them all talking about me. “We’ve got a lot of work to do with this new merger coming up. Let’s get to it.”

“Give it a rest, Julia!” Sandy narrowed her eyes. “We all know you’ve got some secret boyfriend that you’re hiding from everybody. You’re probably just guilty you were cheating on Kevin with him and don’t want everyone to figure it out.”

I was able to handle these kinds of stupid comments from Sandy when we were alone, but in front of everyone at the office? My subordinates? I mindlinked Sandy: Apologize. Now. Her reply was taunting. Or what?

I’ll tell everyone here who the real cheater is. I smiled as I watched the blood drain from her face. And unlike your baseless accusations, I actually have proof of you and Kevin’s betrayal. So, I’ll tell you again: apologize now.

“Julia, I’m…” Sandy gritted her teeth, forcing the words out. “I am sorry. For what I said. It was…unfair.” Our coworkers watched the scene with interest, but once I nodded, accepting her apology, they quickly dispersed. The fireworks were over.

“You might have won this time, but I’m not finished with you,” Sandy hissed, leaning in close to me. Her eyes were venomous. “I won’t stop until I catch you, because I know you’re up to something. And when I do?” Sandy grinned. “I’ll make you pay, bitch.”

“Excuse me.” We both whirled around to see Ronan standing beside us, face unreadable. “I’m sure this conversation is riveting, but we have begun work hours.” He looked down at the expensive watch on his wrist, then back up at Sandy.

“I know you’ve been allowed to enjoy a rather…lax experience here,” he continued, his voice sleek and dangerous. “But let me make myself perfectly clear. If you continue to waste company time, my time, you will be fired.”

Ronan caught my eye, then looked back at my sister. “The only reason that you haven’t been fired yet is because of Julia. Every second, third, and fourth chance you’ve been given is because of her. You’d do well to remember that the next time you choose to hurl insults at her.”

Sandy nodded, eyes wide and cheeks red. Ronan looked pointedly down at the stack of folders that still needed filing on her desk, then back at her. She grabbed the pile with an embarrassed squeak and took off down the hall.

Before I could say anything, Ronan had turned on his heel and left, heading back to his office. I waited for a few minutes, but couldn’t help myself. I took off in Ronan’s direction, bringing a stack of documents that needed his signature as my excuse for dropping by.

As I approached his slightly-open door, I heard Ronan speaking forcefully to his Gamma. “I don’t care what it takes. You need to find that woman, immediately. Everything else can be put on hold until this is accomplished.”

I held my breath, hoping Ronan would explain why it had suddenly become even more important that he find the mystery woman who had spent the night in his bed. Instead, he sighed, and said, “And Alex? Julia cannot know anything about this. Keep her out of it. That’s an order.”

My blood turned to ice. There was only one reason I could think of that Ronan would want me kept out of the search for this woman, and it wasn’t good. Had he found out the truth?