But when he got there all he saw was Darrel.
“She’s gone,” the other man said. “Back to the city.”
“How?”
“I lent her my car.”
His hand was around Darrel’s throat before he could think twice. “Damn you,” he growled.
The older wolf gripped his hand but didn’t struggle, as he stood pinned to the side of the cabin.
“She wanted to leave,” he wheezed. “Why would she stay?”
Kieran dropped his hand, his teeth grinding together. “All I needed to do was talk to her. Explain.”
“That you wanted another?” Darrel scoffed. “You obviously don’t know much about women.”
“No,” he growled. “I needed to explain I only want her.”
Darrel blinked. “She’s a witch.”
“Like I give a damn. I’m going after her, Darrel, and if you are wise, you will ensure that, should I be lucky enough to bring her back with me, her return will be celebrated. Lisette is not, and will never be, my future.”
But his maddening witch just might be.
That is, if he could repair what a ghost from his past had just shattered.
Chapter Nineteen
“Come in.”
Chloe pushed into the Fated Match office, shutting the door behind her. This was one meeting she was dreading, but it was like ripping off a Band-Aid. Better to get it over with quickly.
Vivian sat at her desk, surprise on her face as Chloe dropped into the armchair across from her.
“Hello, Viv.”
The siren dropped her pen and leaned back in her chair. “How bad?”
“Bad.”
“Lose the check, bad?”
“Possibly.” She’d run away, after all. Kieran might call that a breach of contract. On the other hand, her presence had become redundant. She’d held up her end of the bargain as long as she was needed. Surely he couldn’t blame her for wanting to avoid more humiliation by being publicly cast aside.
“Hell.”
Chloe braced herself, ready for whatever her boss tossed at her. At the end of the day it was her fault, her decision to leave. If they lost the money they needed to expand Fated Match it was because Chloe had dropped the ball.
But instead of yelling, Vivian pushed to her feet and walked to the silver cabinet in the corner. Opening the paneling, she reached for a decanter of dark liquid and poured a finger full into two glass tumblers. Returning to the desk, she held one out to Chloe.
Still expecting the axe to drop, Chloe accepted the drink and stared into the amber depths.
“Are you going to poison me?”
Vivian snorted, taking her seat. “We just lost thousands of dollars. We deserve a drink.”
“I expected you to fire me.”
White lashes shaded the siren’s eyes for a moment before she turned her attention back to Chloe.
“You had your reservations going into this and I talked you out of them by offering what you most wanted. That doesn’t mean I was one hundred percent sure we were doing the right thing.”
“Did you come to any conclusions?”
“I’d say your presence here now is a pretty good indication that we bet on the wrong horse.”
She swallowed hard, trying to keep herself together. No matter what she did, she was letting people down—left, right, and center. “You mean I shouldn’t have let my emotions cloud my judgment.”
“No,” Vivian replied. “You should never have been in the situation in the first place.”
Chloe blinked. “What have you done with my boss?”
Vivian lifted the drink to her lips. “Contrary to popular belief, I do have a heart.”
She’d always just assumed there was a cash register in the siren’s chest, but sure, if Vivian was feeling forgiving she wasn’t going to rock the boat.
“Tell me what happened,” Vivian said.
A huff of self-derision escaped her. “Exactly what you warned me about. Turns out I’m not one in a million.”
Her boss held out her drink for a toast. “Me neither.”
Touching the glasses for an obligatory clink, she tried to process the startling confession. “You’re dating someone?”
“Almost always,” Vivian replied. “But that’s not what I meant. I had my heart broken once when I was young. You have a choice ahead of you, Chloe.”
“Which is?”
“One, you could let this crush you and become the sad lady with a dozen immortal cats in her house.”
“Not an attractive option. What’s door number two?”
“Let the heartache make you stronger. Grieve, and then come back wiser with the knowledge that you will never make the same mistake twice.”
Like Vivian had, Chloe realized. Her icy boss hadn’t been born without a heart. It had merely been shattered.