Chapter 19

Nova

“Roses?” Dominic frowned and set aside the coffee cup, the rapidly spreading brown stain on his shirt momentarily forgotten. “What did he look like?”

Adam opened his mouth to respond, but Nova quickly cut in, “Actually, I think it might be my ex-husband. He showed up at my house this morning and I sent him away. He must have stalked me here.”

The two men stared at her in shock. She wrung her hands sheepishly, suddenly feeling ashamed.

It was bad enough that Henry had shown up at the restaurant in front of Aria and Dominic, and even worse that he had come to her personal address, but for him to come to her employer’s home? That was a thousand times worse.

He really wouldn’t let go of her and Lila, would he?

“I’ll handle it,” Nova said softly, rushing past Dominic and Adam before they could say anything. She quickly made her way around the outside of the house and hurried toward the front gate.

Indeed, Henry was standing there with an oversized bouquet of at least two, maybe even three, dozen red roses in his hands. Nova was suddenly glad for the large wrought iron gate that stood between them.

“Nova, darling,” Henry said warmly as she approached, “I wanted to smooth things over after what happened this morning, so I thought you might like these roses—”

“What the hell are you doing here, Henry?” Nova hissed, storming up to the fence. She completely ignored the roses. She didn’t even really like roses, and Henry should have known that after their years of being together.

“First you stalk me at a restaurant, then you show up at my home, and now my employer’s home? Have you gone fucking insane?”

Henry didn’t respond to that right away. He just looked up at the sprawling mansion behind Nova. His eyes flicked over the ornate wood siding, the conical roofs topped with intricate spires, the gardens filled with colorful flowers and artfully-trimmed shrubs in the shapes of various animals.

“Huh. So you work at the Alpha House now,” he said slowly, deliberately. “What do you do here, exactly?”

“I don’t have to tell you that.”

Henry shifted his gaze back to Nova. “You must be a low-level servant as a human. Scullery maid, maybe?”

Nova bristled. “If you must know, I’m his daughter’s nanny.”

Henry scoffed. “Nanny,” he echoed, clicking his tongue. “You know, Nova, that this is no place for humans. You should be amongst your own kind, where you’ll actually be treated well.”

She pulled her shoulders back. “I’m treated just fine here.”

“Is that so?” Henry tilted his head. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re a sheep amongst the wolves. Literally.”

He didn’t bother to hide his disdain as he cast a sidelong glance at the security guard who was standing not far off. “Come back with me, Nova. You won’t have to work here. I just so happen to be looking for a secretary. You would be far more dignified in that role than as a werewolf’s nanny.”

Of course, Nova knew all too well what Henry meant.

His family was wealthy. Very wealthy. If Nova went back to him, she would want for nothing—in a financial sense, at least. Even his secretaries were paid extraordinarily well, and they only hired humans.

Henry’s father owned one of the biggest human corporations in the country: Kingsley Enterprises. They produced specific car parts that they held a patent for, which allowed them to be one of the few human companies that could genuinely compete with werewolf-run enterprises.

Henry must have taken over the family business recently. Nova recalled that his father had been ailing when they were married. For all she knew, his father was dead now.

But none of that concerned Nova anymore.

“No thanks,” she said coldly, folding her arms. “I’m perfectly happy at my current job. I have no interest in whatever ‘job’ you have to offer. My current employer, despite being a werewolf, respects me far more than you ever did.”

Just then, a deep voice said from behind Nova, “Yeesh. He’s even uglier in the daylight, isn’t he?”

Nova quickly turned to see Dominic striding over, wearing a fresh shirt that he was still buttoning at the top.

Henry’s lip curled, instantly recognizing him even through the fence. He glanced at the half-undone shirt and his face darkened. “It’s you.”

Dominic stopped next to Nova. “It’s me,” he said coolly.

Henry looked like he’d just sucked on a lemon. “So he’s your lover and your boss,” he scoffed, looking at Nova again. “Which came first? The sex or the paycheck? But I suppose it doesn’t matter to women like you, does it?”

Nova’s heart stopped, humiliation and fury washing over her in equal measure. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to reach through the bars and throttle this bastard, but she controlled herself.

“You must be an expert on the topic,” Dominic suddenly cut in. “I assume you’re used to women only sleeping with you for money.”

Nova clapped her hand over her mouth to hide her gasp. Henry stared furiously at Dominic, the bouquet vibrating in his hands as they shook with rage. “What did you just say to me, you fucking four-legged freak?” he growled, taking a step closer to the fence.

But Dominic just snapped his fingers, causing the nearby security guard to move toward Henry.

“Escort him off the property,” he ordered the guard. The guard nodded and wordlessly grabbed Henry’s arm, causing Henry to drop the roses.

Even though Henry was a muscular man, he was still a human and therefore no match for this lone werewolf.

“Hey—wait—don’t touch me!” Henry shouted as the guard began to pull him away. Dominic and Nova just watched him go. “Nova! Come back with me!”

Nova held her ground. “No,” she said calmly, instinctively taking a step closer to Dominic.

“See? She doesn’t want you. And if you have any sense,” Dominic called after him, “you will stop harassing this woman.”

Henry’s eyes flashed with anger as the guard led him away. Only once Henry was out of sight, his shouts fading into the distance, did Nova realize she hadn’t been breathing throughout most of that exchange. She exhaled sharply and turned toward Dominic.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “For helping me again.”

Dominic merely nodded and replied in a cold tone, “I’m just making sure your ex-husband doesn’t cause any trouble. With Aria’s birthday coming up in five days, I don’t want any incidents to occur.”

Right. For a moment, Nova had almost thought he had helped her because he cared about her.

But that had just been her mind playing tricks on her after that tense moment they had shared on the porch. A moment that she had likely entirely imagined.

She hesitated, wondering if it was still wise to ask for time off after what had just occurred. But recalling Lila’s good behavior earlier, she knew she couldn’t miss her daughter’s birthday.

“Actually,” Nova said before Dominic could walk away, “I was going to ask if I could take that day off. My daughter was really hoping to go to the amusement park.”

Dominic blinked. “The amusement park?”

Nova nodded. “That day is her seventh birthday, too.”