Page 6

CHAPTER 6

Frankie

I sipped at my third cup of coffee for the day and scrolled through the extensive database Lucy and I had put together over the years.

Someone was starting to make moves in the Lopez pack in an attempt to destabilize my father, and by default me.

Now some random-ass rookie was reminding me of my favorite psychopath.

Today literally couldn’t get any worse.

Soren was nothing like him . They couldn’t be more different, but for some reason, this rookie kept reminding me of that asshole and it was putting me in a foul mood.

Of course Hart had excelled at physical combat too. I’d expected him to and yet, I was still annoyed about it.

I’d had him spar with a few of the other rookies and was impressed by his speed and efficiency. Nothing he did was flashy or more effort than necessary. Hart knew exactly how much strength he needed to use without doing more damage than necessary.

That was probably one of the things alphas struggled with the most.

Everything in this world was so fucking fragile.

Including me.

Not that I could let anyone see that. I had to pretend every single day that I wasn’t about to break and it was getting really fucking exhausting when it was starting to feel like everything was reminding me how hard I had to fake it.

I drained the mug and set it aside, refocusing on the file we had on my uncle, Ferdinand Lopez.

He was one of three legacy alphas from my father’s generation and he had three children with his omega, but only one of them inherited the legacy eyes.

Out of all my father’s siblings, he was the one who’d been the most vocal about his disapproval with the way things were being run.

To placate him, my father had named his son, Arturo, as his heir. Then Arturo had fucked up just like I’d predicted he would, and that fuckup had cost him his life.

A few months later his father was found dead in the greenhouse.

Convenient, if you asked me.

I suspected Uncle Lorenzo or Aunt Camilla might be the ones behind his death since they’ve always had their eyes on my father’s position, but I couldn’t be sure when none of the alphas in the pack liked that I’d been named heir.

It could be one of my cousins, but they needed the resources to kill our uncle and then plant his body in the pack alpha’s greenhouse without anyone noticing. That alone severely reduced the number of potential suspects.

Everyone had their own money, but not everyone had the power or the disposable income to hire the necessary muscle for this.

My office door opened slowly, as if whoever was coming in didn’t want to disturb me. I didn’t bother looking to see who it was since only one person would bother me right now.

Soren Hart took up so much space that it was almost amusing when he tried to take up less of it. His huge form was impossible to miss, but he quietly closed the door behind him and crossed the room, reaching for the chair at the only other desk in the room.

“That’s Lucy’s desk,” I warned him. “Don’t touch anything.”

The rookie froze, hesitating before slowly pulling his hand back.

I scrolled down, pretending to read as I waited to see what he would do now.

Hart looked around the office, clearly at a loss as to what to do.

There were only two desks, and the only unoccupied one was off limits. I didn’t care how stupid it sounded. He wasn’t going to take her place if I had anything to say about it.

Our office was a pretty nice size and it was laid out very similarly to the office we had at home – two desks placed right up against each other so I could see her face with my body between her and the door.

The entire wall behind me was a magnetic white board with remnants of my last case still on it. To my right was the sofa and coffee table we had set up for when we had to eat dinner at the office.

Did we have enough space for a third desk? I didn’t know and didn’t care. It wasn’t my problem. Hart could figure it out for himself or he could ask for a transfer because I had no interest in making his life any easier.

After seeing what he was capable of, I knew the best thing to do was get him as far away from me as possible.

Hart set his onboarding documents on the coffee table and then turned on his heel, leaving the office without a word.

A shame he wouldn’t just give up.

I knew he wouldn’t ask to be reassigned without a fight. It just wasn’t in his nature. He may be difficult to read, but I could tell that much at least. For someone like Soren Hart, failure was not an option.

Taking a deep breath, I rubbed my temples as I tried not to let that get to me.

It’s not like I wanted him to fail. I just didn’t want to have him as my rookie, and I couldn’t reassign him without causing a slew of other problems I didn’t want to deal with.

The looks on the other detectives’ faces as I left the gym with Soren were already bad enough.

Clearly, I’d gotten the best rookie thanks to ‘preferential treatment.’

I wonder what they’d say if I asked to switch with one of them. Not that there was anyone else I’d rather take on. I’d already looked.

Whatever. I’d just let him figure it out until Lucy got back.

But I couldn’t help wondering if the commander expected me and Lucy to train him.

I had no idea what she was thinking exactly, but she was probably taking it one day at a time, just like I was.

No one knew exactly what to expect with me now that I was the heir to the Lopez pack and my father showed zero signs of retiring.

We were all just playing it by ear.

The door opened again right as I was making a note about where all my omega cousins were and I looked up, watching in disbelief as Soren quietly dragged a large cardboard box into my office.

I wanted to ask him what the fuck he was doing, but that would be acknowledging his existence and I didn’t want to do that just yet.

Soren cleared his throat when he noticed I was watching him. “Ma’am.”

My eyebrows rose at the honorific. “James is fine.”

“Detective James.”

I rolled my eyes and went back to my notes. “Just call me James or I’ll start calling you Mr. Hart.”

A long pause almost made me look back over at him, but I kept my eyes locked on my computer screen.

Soren rested the large cardboard box against the wall. “Is there anything you need from me?”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at how clearly uncomfortable he was to be so familiar with me. “No, I don’t.”

“If there is, just let me know.”

He waited a few seconds and then nodded to himself when I didn’t respond before going back to whatever he was doing.

I pretended to work as I watched him open up the box and lay out the pieces of wood on the floor.

This asshole was building a desk .

Where had he even gotten it? I didn’t ask because it was none of my business, but I couldn’t help wondering how a rookie who knew jackshit about the inner workings of this company had figured out where the supply room was.

On top of that, he’d somehow gotten that ornery old bat in charge of supplies to give him a brand-new desk.

“I’ve received my ID number, Ms. James,” Soren told me, breaking the silence with his gentle voice.

I didn’t respond.

“They’ve also assigned me weapons. I’ll be able to get them in a few hours.”

He worked in silence for a while before saying, “Ms. James…once I’m done with this, I’ll be putting my computer together. Is there anything you need me to do before that?”

I stared at my screen so hard I didn’t even blink, wishing I didn’t like the way he talked so damn much.

Soren didn’t seem bothered by my lack of response or that I was acting like he didn’t exist. It seemed like he was expecting it actually.

Only one other person has ever been so unaffected by my bullshit and it definitely wasn’t Lucy.

That alone made me want to fire this guy on the spot, but I couldn’t do that when he’s done nothing other than freak me the fuck out.

I couldn’t put ‘reminds me of this psycho I used to know’ as a reason for letting him go without asking for a discrimination lawsuit. I may not be a lawyer but I was my father’s daughter – learning the law was a necessary part of my job.

How stupid would I look if I tried to catch someone for committing a crime that didn’t exist?

Soren finished building his desk and then left the office, leaving me with a brand-new piece of furniture in the center of the room.

Where the fuck was he planning to put it?

Barely a minute later he was back with another large box in one hand and a steaming cup of coffee in the other. He placed that cup on my desk and then leaned down like he was going to whisper in my ear.

I pulled back with a glare, wondering what the fuck he was thinking. “What do you want?”

“You were out of coffee,” he told me, turning his head slightly so I could see his eyes. “Let me know if I got it wrong and you need me to remake it.”

I searched his face for some sign that this was retaliation for me being an asshole, but there was nothing for me to read. Soren’s expression was completely neutral and his eyes told me nothing , but with him this close, I could catch the tiniest hint of his scent.

Cedarwood and patchouli with undernotes of geranium of all things.

It was a strong, gentle scent that had the muscles between my shoulders loosening ever so slightly.

What the fuck was I supposed to do now?