ile and taking some time off to write her own book. That was what she really wanted to do. She wanted to write young adult books about life as a shifter. If human teenagers felt lonely, then Winter guessed it was about a million times worse for shifter teens.
“I’m not talking like a dad on a sitcom,” she said.
“You are.”
“Okay, Leon, cut to the chase.”
She didn’t really have time for dilly-dallying. Winter considered her job to be something very serious. She worked hard as a writer, and she did her best to make sure that her work was always up to par.
Sitting around talking on the phone sounded like a wonderful way to spend the day, but it wasn’t going to do her any favors when it came to getting her work done.
“I need to know where you’re at with the story.”
“It’ll be done Monday night.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Leon had never harassed her about a deadline before: probably because she always got her work turned in on time. Why now? She sensed hesitation in his voice, and she knew there must be something else: something he wasn’t saying.
“Just spit it out,” she said.
“Okay, okay,” he told her. “Word on the street is that Dragonette Daily is doing a similar piece.”
“So what?”
“So, they’re looking for dirt on Brian Monster.”
“And?”
“And they’re willing to pay us.”
Winter’s heart sank.
Dragonette Daily was a tabloid newspaper. She hated the group with a passion. Winter often felt like she had to work twice as hard to get anything done because people always heard of Dragonette Daily, confused it with Dragons Daily, and then didn’t have any respect for Winter or her colleagues.
“I hope you told them to suck your dick,” Winter told Leon.
Silence.
“Leon?”
“I did not.”
Shit.
“Leon, what did you tell them?”
“I said we’d consider their offer,” he said, sounding exasperated.
She sighed, pissed. She wasn’t going to do it. She wouldn’t. There was no chance in hell she was going to screw over Brian Monster like that.
Winter knew very little about him except that he was one of the three owners of Monster Brothers Security. The firm had a reputation as being one of the best in the damn world, and she had been wildly lucky to find Brian’s work phone number. It had cost her two hundred dollars and a coffee date with a hot nerdy girl who spent most of her time playing dragon adventure games, but it had been totally worth it.
She had an interview with the man behind the company.
Well, one of the men.