Page 96 of Rejected By My Shifter Billionaire

I hated how much that word still hit. Like it lived under my skin. Like it belonged to him even in conversations that had nothing to do with pack law. Like my body remembered things my brain tried to forget.

“And,” he added, pulling out a tablet, “your agency technically operates as a subsidized venture under Celestini Holdings, which gives me full executive override.”

“Oh, come on—”

“I’ll even make it easier for you.” He swiped the screen and turned it toward me.

My name was at the top of a pairing schedule.

So was his.

“First match is you and me.”

I snatched the tablet out of his hand, my heart hammering so hard I was sure he could hear it. “You’re abusing your power.”

“Probably.”

“This is harassment.”

“Unlikely. I can forward you the legal release you signed.”

“I signed that before I knew you were going to be—”

My throat closed, and something feral glinted in his eyes.

“Say it.”

I didn’t. I couldn’t.

“Then I’ll say it for you,” he murmured, standing slowly. “Your first match is me. Unless you’d rather shut the agency down before it even launches.”

My hands curled into fists as he walked around the desk. Each step was deliberate, controlled, like he had all the time in theworld to corner me. And that’s exactly what he was doing—backing me into a corner where I had no choice but to agree.

He stopped just short of touching me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off his skin.

My pulse betrayed me.

So did the way I leaned back against his desk and didn’t move away.

“I told you before,” Nicolo said, voice quiet and deadly. “You don’t get to start a fire on my land and act surprised when the smoke finds me.”

I stared up at him, breathing hard, trapped between his body and the desk. This close, I could see the flecks of gold in his green eyes, could smell that maddening cologne mixed with something purely him.

“Fine,” I whispered. “One test. That’s it.”

He smiled again, and this time it was all predator.

“See you at the first trial, Maryah.”

I WAS HALFWAY TO MYcar when my phone buzzed.

Ada:Emergency meeting in your office! Crisis level: DEFCON 1!

I sighed and turned around, my heels clicking against the concrete as I made my way back to the Concord Agency offices. Whatever Ada had managed to catastrophically mess up this time, it couldn’t be worse than what I’d just agreed to.

Right?

The glass doors to my office swung open before I could even reach for the handle. Ada stood there, bouncing on her toes like a caffeinated chihuahua, her tablet clutched against her chest.