Chapter 7

• Axel Arden POV
• I walk Chloe back to her office. She is standoffish and has so many walls around her. She is going to be tough. If she only knew that she is my mate. I guess being an only part wolf, she cannot sense it.
• The first time she walked into my office, I knew. Her scent almost drives me insane. I want her, but she is broken and hurt because of what that idiot did to her. I will give her everything her heart desires and more. I want to care for her and be her mate, her husband, and her daddy. Of course, the daddy part can wait until later. I have to break through to her first. I need her to warm up to me.
• "I am going to my office to get my laptop; I will work in here with you for the rest of the day," I say as she walks into her office.
• "You know I can settle these accounts and call you if I get into any trouble," Chloe says.
• I smile at her. She wants me to leave her alone, but I cannot. I need to be close to her. "I cannot leave you on your first day to fend for yourself. Andrea will be a while, so I can work with you," I say.
• I do not give her a chance to protest. I walk down the hall to my office to get my laptop. I see Cane coming my way. He is not exactly happy that I put his sister under me, but he will get over it. As much as I have helped him with his nasty habits, he owes me.
• "How is she doing?" Cane asks, barging into my office.
• I look up at him as I grab my laptop. "She is fine. You can tell she is nervous, but I think she will do well in my department. Cane, she is too bright to be in marketing. The girl is a whiz with numbers. Have you looked at the things she did at Capital? You should be really proud of her," I say.
• Cane looks at the floor and back at me. I can tell he is upset. "What is it, Cane?" I ask him. I hope he is not back on drugs. I have put him through rehab so many times, and Chloe does not need this right now. She is trying to start a new job and trying to get over a bad relationship. She deserves more than Cane acting like a dick right now.
• "I am worried about her, that is all. She is my sister, and I do not want her to become a conquest for you," Cane says. There it is, exactly what everyone thinks. They think I jump from woman to woman, but that is not really what happens.
• I have been in a lot of relationships that do not work out for multiple reasons. One reason is that I am a daddy dom and women think that is something they want until they try it. Another reason is none of those women was the right woman for me. Chloe is the right one. She is my mate, and I only hope she realizes it and wants to be with me. It will not be easy, but I am a patient man. I could put aside my wild lifestyle and be a good man for her.
• "Are you high?" I ask him. That is the only explanation for being so bold with his boss. Of course, I cannot fire him right now. Chloe would leave if I fired him, and then I would be left longing for her and miserable.
• "No, I am worried about my sister," Cane says. He says he is not high, but he looks high.
• "Good, because she does not need you falling back. Does she know about your problem?" I ask.
• Cane looks furious. "No, and I want to keep it that way. I am not using again; I am just worried about her, that is all," Cane says.
• I do not believe him, but I will not push it. I will keep an eye on him and make sure his assistant keeps both eyes on him. "Look, Cane, I am giving Chloe one hell of an opportunity, and it has nothing to do with how she looks. It is because she is a damn good accountant. Trust me, and she will make good in my department," I say.
• Cane shakes his head and leaves my office. Something is going on with him. I saw it yesterday when he brought her here. He was off. I asked him about it twice, but he insisted he was clean. I have a feeling all this stress has pushed him in the wrong direction, and it is the last thing Chloe needs.
• I go back to Chloe's office. I set my laptop down on her desk. "I have to check marketing real quick, and then I will be back. Are you good?" I ask her.
• "Yes, I am fine, Mr. Arden," Chloe says, smiling the sweetest smile at me.
• I walk down the hall past the elevator, and as I pass the break room, I see Cane talking to Jessie. I watch the two for a moment and then walk to marketing. I find Cane's assistant and pull her aside to talk to her.
• "Margo, have you noticed anything odd going on with Cane lately?" I ask her.
• She shakes her head. "No, but if I do. I will let you know," Margo says.
• "Thank you," I say. I have to get back to Chloe. I walk past the break room, but there is no sign of Cane. Hmmm, he better get his ass back to work. I will not have him doing anything stupid here and upsetting Chloe.
• I go into Chloe's office and sit down across from her. I open my laptop and begin to work. I try to work. I want to talk to her, get to know her, but I know if I tell her that she is my mate or that I long for her, she will bolt from here, and I will never see her again. I have to take everything slow and easy. Women are usually falling all over me, but not her. She is not interested in me. That makes me want her even more.
• "I have a problem here," Chloe says.
• I get up from my seat and walk around to her laptop. Her scent is driving me crazy. I look at the screen. "What is the issue?" I ask her.
• "Look at this account; it seems off," Chloe says.
• "Explain," I ask her.
• She pulls up all of the transactions for the account. "It is fake; someone is stealing from you," Chloe says. I smile at her. One thing Mark at Capital told me about Chloe was she prevented more fraud in the company than any employee he ever had. He said she could smell deception.
• "This account is not yours. What made you look at it?" I ask her.
• She types in the name of one of her accounts and pulls it up on the screen. "Because whoever made this fake account is stealing from one of my clients," Chloe says.
• "Good catch," I say.
• "Mr. Arden, this is obvious, and it seems to have been going on for some time; look at the log. I am emailing it to you now," Chloe says.
• I go back to my laptop and pull up her email. The log of the accounts she sends me is so obvious. Why had no one noticed this? I pull up who handles these accounts. Jessie Dunlay is the account manager.
• "Print everything for me and reconcile the account. Make sure the client's account is restored and close the fake one. Make sure you have all the documentation first," I say.
• My email dings. She already sent all of it. "Done. I will put all of the printed documentation in a file and leave it on your desk," Chloe says.
• I knew she was intelligent and great with numbers, but is impressive. I look over the files she emailed me. I am happy she found it, but this means I have to get rid of Jessie, and I need Chloe to look into all of her accounts. The fact I saw Cane and Jessie all cozy makes me wonder if Cane is involved. I will keep a close eye on the audit.
• At three, I close my laptop. "Leaving me to fly solo for the last hour," Chloe asks.
• "Andrea is on her way back. Please do me a favor and keep the fraudulent account between us. I do not want anyone to know what you found," I say.
• "Okay, no problem. That is usually standard procedure, correct. I never discuss my finding just in case others are involved, not even with other auditors," Chloe says.
• "Do not forget you promised to have dinner with me tonight," I say to her. She smiles and looks happy at the thought.
• "I have not forgotten Mr. Arden. It will be nice to see more of Shadow Creek," Chloe says. She seems more relaxed. Maybe showing off her auditing skills and proving herself helped her.
• "I will pick you up around six at your house. Go ahead and shut down. Go by HR and pick up your credit card and phone," I say.
• "I will see you at six, Mr. Arden," Chloe says.
• "Axel, just call me Axel, please," I say to her.
• She smiles. She is so beautiful when she smiles. She seems a lot more perky and happy since this morning. " Not at work, I will not," she says.
• I go back to my office and start going through the accounts Chloe flagged. Her client's account is locked now so that only I or she can get into it—smart girl. No one will have to worry about the accounts she manages.
• There is a knock on my door. "Come in," I say. My receptionist is on her last break. No one usually comes to my office for anything unless it is important. I look up to see Chloe. She is carrying the file.
• "The file with everything printed. Sometimes I find it easier to see where the fraud started when I look at it on paper. I hope this helps you find it," Chloe says.
• I take the file. "Did you keep you a copy?" I ask her.
• "Yes, locked in my desk," She says.
• "Good, I expect you to find who did this," I say to her. She smiles and almost bounces as she turns to walk out.
• "Good job," I say to her as she leaves my office. I hope she is this excited tonight. Maybe she will be more relaxed. She seems to like praise, and I have noticed little things about her that make me think she might be my mate and the perfect little for me. I would give up my daddy dom lifestyle to be with her, but to have both well, that would be heaven.
• I can hear her talking to Andrea in the hall outside my office. Andrea walks into my office after talking to Chloe. "Did she do okay?" Andrea asks.
• "Yes, you can go back to your accounts tomorrow. If she needs anything, she can ask you or me," I say.
• "Really, I do not mind helping her," Andrea says.
• "It is fine, Andrea. She's got it," I say.
• "Yes, sir," Andrea says, almost pouting. Andrea is a good accountant but not a great auditor. The only reason she is on my team is because she is involved with my brother Chip. It is a favor to him.
• I turn off my computer. I lock the files Chloe gave me inside my desk drawer and leave for the day. I have to get ready. Tonight I have to show Chloe a good time. I want her to see that a man can be kind to her and not use her as his punching bag.
• She did not deserve what that asshole did to her. I saw the ER report. I know men like Jackson. If he ever comes here looking for her, he will not leave alive. No one messes with my mate.