Free Swallow (Kindred Book 2) by Scarlett Finn Page B

was curious given the circumstances. “Forgive me,” he said, scratching a finger over his mouth in an attempt to conceal his smirk. “Sorry, it’s just funny. We haven’t talked about what happened and hearing that you were familiar with Art, it’s… it’s unexpected.”
    “Maybe we should,” she said, realizing she had some ground to gain in winning her boss’s trust again and she’d need it if they wanted to get through this.
    “We should,” he said, and slid his open palm across the wooden surface to finagle his fingers between hers. “We could get dinner and—“
    Talking was just that for her and she wouldn’t send mixed signals. “I can’t,” she said, withdrawing her hand to tuck it down on her lap.
    “Right,” he said and his eyes darted away in a show of impatience that matched his sigh. “You know, you’re never going to have a normal life with him. It might be fun and exciting now, but soon you’re going to realize that he doesn’t fulfill you. He can’t give you what you want.”
    Irked enough that she wanted to defend her man and her relationship, she slunk onto her feet and let her frosty stature say what she wanted to convey. With the ongoing situation, she couldn’t risk alienating her boss further when there was already damage control needed. But that didn’t give him the right to pass judgment on something he didn’t understand, and he seemed to take every opportunity he could to do that.
    “My relationship is fine, and he does give me what I want.”
    Grant couldn’t claim to know her heart any better than she did. Brodie was the only man who had made her feel the way he did and her heart ached with the weight of grief he carried. She wasn’t going to play games and start going to frequent social occasions with his brother. If nothing else, Brodie would think she was trying to get a reaction from him and that would only annoy him, as it would annoy her if the situation was reversed.
    “We have to talk about Sutcliffe,” Grant said. “You and I have to be on the same page. I do not want a repeat of—“
    Before she could think about working with him, she needed one answer. “Do you plan to give him the device?”
    “You took it from the warehouse,” Grant said. “I haven’t seen it since.”
    That answer was an evasion she wasn’t going to let him get away with. “You have the ability to produce more and I’m not naïve to—“
    “I have commissioned Winter Chill again,” he said, rising onto his feet, wearing an expression as pissed as hers. “And I’m not ashamed of it, Zara. I still believe in—“
    “Oh my God,” she exhaled, having received the answer to her unasked question. She couldn’t work with him. She couldn’t trust him. They were still on opposing sides. “You’re going to pander to him. You’re going to give him what he wants.”
    His deep voice became authoritative and brash. “I want him to understand that I didn’t motivate what happened. Why should my position have changed? I believed in Albert then and I believe in him now. I’m going to make sure that he knows that. He and I can do great things if—“
    “I think you should go,” she said, taking one determined stride away from him.
    This conversation could go no further until she’d consulted with Tuck. She wasn’t ignorant to what Grant was capable of, but she was disappointed, and the weight of that repeated disappointment angered her.
    His ease became fury, but she wasn’t afraid of Grant McCormack. “What are you going to do, Zara? Are you going to go running to your savior? Or are you going to make your own decisions? I don’t claim to know how Brodie obtained your loyalty the first time, but I would like to think that you’re working with a clearer head now, that the fog of seduction may have lifted. He made your decisions for you before, now he’s out of the picture, he’s not around to support you. Make your own decisions, Zara, because I believe if you sit