Free The Demon King and I by Candace Havens Page B

bald Latino man who was about the same size as Arath, only much wider. “Please help Ms. Caruthers to her office.”
    The reporters, as stunned as I was by the turn of events, fired off questions as William cut a path through them. Roland was on one side of me, Sharron on the other, and Georgia brought up the rear.
    “I’ll notify security about what happened, and Sharron will send out a release to employees that they are not to discuss anything to do with Ms. Stewart’s death,” Georgia said once we made it into the elevator.
    “The gall of the man, trying to tie you to the murder.” Roland huffed in disgust. “The media can be a useful tool, but it took everything I had not to punch him as we walked by.”
    That made me smile. “Thank you, Roland. Thanks to all of you for helping me. It’s unfortunate that had to happen.” I tried to be professional, but inside I couldn’t help wondering what the reporter meant. Had Emilio and Markie been seen together? I advised her on all of her art buys and kept an extensive inventory of her collections. As far as I knew, she’d never purchased any of Emilio’s art.
    When the doors opened, I stepped out with Sharron and Georgia, while Roland and William stayed behind to go back down. “You know there’s a secret entrance to the garage on the third floor?”
    Roland took my hand in his. “Yes, love, but I’ll not be hiding away in secret. We are doing good work, and I’m not going to let some nasty reporter keep us from doing that. I’ll leave through the front door, thank you.” He squeezed my hand and then waved good-bye.
     
 
Back in my office I called Kyle. He’d already seen the press conference, which had been carried live by several local stations. That’s why we’d done it at five.
    “Do you know what he was talking about?” Kyle answered the phone with a question.
    “No. Not a clue. I mean, they’d met through dinners with me, but I don’t know what that guy meant. Markie isn’t the kind of woman to have affairs with her friends’ boyfriends. She was a flirt, but a straight-up human being.” I sat down at my desk and turned to look out at the sun dipping behind the buildings downtown. “You know, at first when he said that about my involvement I panicked for a few seconds and thought he meant the dream. Freaked me out in a big way.”
    “Well, you handled it with your usual professionalism. I promise to check into it right away. If something was going on, I’ll have an answer for you in a few hours.”
    I sighed. “If they had an affair, I’m not sure I want to know.”
    “I hear ya. Listen, Jake mentioned you guys are having some trouble with some kind of universal shifts. I don’t promise to know what the hell that is, but I do know it’s creating problems for you and your sisters. So as hard as it might be, you concentrate on the saving-the-world stuff, and I’ll handle the earthbound crap.”
    I blew out a breath. “Thanks, Kyle.”
    After hanging up, I stretched my arms above my head, willing the tension away. I noticed Georgia standing in the doorway. She had a strange expression.
    “What is it?”
    “There’s a—Mr. Arath to see you. Security in the lobby says he’s very insistent. Told them that he doesn’t need an appointment”—she cleared her throat—“and that it’s most urgent.”
    Oh, my God. I jumped up. The last thing I needed was a demon king running around the building with reporters everywhere. “Tell them to send him up in the private elevator, and hold my calls, please.” The last bit came out as a squeak and I coughed to cover my nervousness.
    She nodded.
    I made myself stop biting the inside of my lip.
    A few minutes later Georgia escorted Arath into my office. Dressed in what looked like a Savile Row suit, he was so big, he seemed to fill every inch of the room.
    “Thank you, Georgia.” I waited for her to close the door, then turned to address Arath. “You can’t just show up at my workplace