THE BILLIONAIRE ALPHA'S FORBIDDEN HYBRID

A'S

efrigerator sounded like a

etween me and the noise. But tonight, the wall was paper-thin. I could hear the security guard in the lobby thirty floors down tapping his pen

okay,

nd looked up. Sarah, one of the senior analysts, was standing at the edge of my cubicle with her coat

e lemon in my mouth. "Just a migraine. T

ell Global isn't going to collapse if you go home at a normal hour.

voice whispered in the back of my

t, directing the command at the part of my bra

" I told Sarah, ignoring the voice. "Mr. Blackwell wants it

ce floor. "Terrifying. I rode the elevator with him yesterday. I swear the temperature dropped ten deg

rah. See yo

e sound of her heels clicking on the linole

hat sandwich you ate was grass.

pills into my palm. Antipsychotics. Low dose. They were supposed to quiet the auditory hallucinations and dull the sensory overl

rwater currents, slow and heavy. But they were better than the alternative. The alternative was letting Artemis take the wheel,

man who accepted "mental health episodes" as an excuse for sloppy work. He was a phantom in this building, rarely seen, but always felt. H

crowd with a glass of whiskey in his hand. I remembered looking up at him and feeling a sudden, violent wave of nausea. Arte

k phon

drums and down my spine. I gasped, grabbi

urity, Emma Ca

Car

iately. Marcus Hale. The Chief of Operations and Daniel Blackwell's right-hand man. He was anoth

straighter even though he could

account," Marcus said. "He noticed a discrepancy in the risk proj

ix it. I can re-run the numb

ed. "He wants to discu

igital clock on my

s here?" I a

house office. Come up immediatel

e click

d to my ear. He wants to see us, Artemis purred, her tone shi

ispered, slamming the phone d

eflection in the dark window. My caramel skin looked greyish under the fluorescent lights. My hair, usually a neat twist, was startin

go up. You explain the variance. You c

rabbits, Ar

n, the mirrored box inside reflected me from a dozen angles. I stepped in and pressed th

pop that made me wince. As the numbers climbed 30, 40, 45, the air

on the 50th floor, the

executive floor was carpeted in plush, dark wool that swallowed the sound of my foots

by the double doors at the end of the hall. He was massive, at least six-foot-five, with a

head. He didn't look at my face but in

lly s

utching my binder against my chest like a s

e moment. His eyes were dark, and there was a s

es

"He's inside. Don't touch

. ok

My hand was trembling. I took a deep breath, t

so loud I almost flinche

ed out. He looked... rattled. His tie was slightly askew, and there was a tightness around his eyes that hadn't been there ever si

t my face; he looked at my neck, then sniffed the air subtly. A frown creased his forehead. I'm seri

st?" he asked, hi

r. Hale

d, stepping aside to let me pass

night." With that, Marcus walked past me t

s al

door clicked shut behind me with a

ide. To my right, a wall of glass overlooked the skyline. In th

ell was stand

were white. He was wearing a charcoal suit, but the jacket was gone, and his white s

ech. I felt a physical wave of heat hit me, like opening an oven door. My breath hitched in my thr

unadulterated joy that echoed through my head so loudly I thoug

Daniel slowly lifted his head. His eyes met mine. They weren't brown or blue. They

stared at me with an intensity that made me f

was a low rumble that vibrated in

shaking so bad I could barely form the wo

. He stopped three feet away from me. The smell of him, rain, cedar, and som

rom mine. "No," he said softly, a

crossed his face, hunger mixed with confusion. "You smell like a science experiment,

ear. "I... I don't know what you're ta