Tilly

I smiled at that. “One day, she’ll realise we all will.”

“You need to sit her down and explain everything to her,” Luca said. “It’ll be hard for her to hear, but it needs to be done for the pack to thrive.”

“I will when we’re both ready.”

“What if she comes into her heat before you have? She’ll reject you.”

I dropped my eyes and sighed. “That’s my problem.”

Luca looked around me and gave a quick nod toward the lift. “Here comes the devil.”

“Luca, Cruz.” Sandy smiled as she opened the door. “I need to have a chat about my team.”

“What’s the problem?” Luca asked. “We asked for any problems, issues with staffing, and any grumbling employees a few weeks ago. What has changed in that time?”

“I’m lacking dedication from a staff member. She used to be wonderful, but things have changed and I’m thinking it’s time to let her go,” she said. “She’s changed since the new ownership.”

I strode to the window as I counted to ten, glancing at the ground. Should I antagonise her, should I confront her or sack her?

“Tell us who and why?” I asked, turning around and sitting on the window ledge, crossing my legs at my ankles and my hands gripped the window frame to stop me putting my hands around her neck.

“It’s Tilly Connors,” she said, glancing away because she knew her words were going to embarrass her.

“And what do you mean by not dedicated?” I asked.

“Her work isn’t satisfactory, like she’s distracted and I believe she’s looking for a new job, which means she isn’t putting in full effort. And she’s late pretty often, for instance, today,” she said.

I pushed myself off the window ledge and strolled around the office space, humming a tune to myself. Luca caught my eye as I turned to Sandy.

“Oh, she isn’t late. She left the company, emailed saying she’s quit,” I said. “Maybe she found that job she’s looking for, but if I find out you had anything to do with that, you will need a new job, too.”

Sandy’s eyes popped open as she considered the lie I’d told. I could see in her gaze she wondered how her plan had gone so wrong.

I strode to the door, pulling at the handle. “Good day, Sandy. Luca and I have work to do.”