When I entered the room, Cecile immediately went back to her desk not meeting my gaze. Good, considering she was on extremely thin ice. I had nearly fired her but Maya had brushed the incident off so I had left it alone. That would change in a heartbeat if Maya asked for her to be fired. Then again, I would sell my entire company for her if she asked.
I wasn’t worried about being able to support her, we had enough money in the Earth realm to last generations. The mythology behind dragons hoarding treasure wasn’t that far off, although for us it just seemed to manifest in generational wealth. Which was why it was so fucking crazy that she didn’t want me to spend any money on her. Like what the hell else was I supposed to spend it on? I wanted to spoil the woman rotten and every time I heard her mention something she found interesting, it was a compulsion to get it for her.
I may not have loved it, but I respected that Maya wanted to work. She made a valid point. She needed to be able to make choices, even if it was hard as hell for me to let go a bit. I would admit that it was one of the reasons I hadn’t freaked out about Croy too much. One, I knew you couldn’t control mating shit. Secondly, Maya had chosen him.
So no, Croy didn’t really bother me and the man was a walking fucking encyclopedia. Considering that Maya was a species that we were unfamiliar with overall, the help was much needed. I actually had meant to suggest they work on shifting this evening... but now I had to deal with these assholes.
“Marco.” Our executive officer from Oregon, Edmund, offered me a knowing look and shook my hand in passing. He was younger, maybe twenty-six, but the man knew his state and the area around it very well, so I had determined age really didn’t matter. After all, I was only twenty-four myself. In dragon years that was extremely young but still more advanced than most fifty-year-old humans.
I think Maya was similar in a way because she was very adaptable. I’d seen the woman watch something and then be able to repeat it easily. It was just that lack of base knowledge that needed to be expanded.
As Alex and Michael both greeted me, I inhaled and prepared myself for what was going to no doubt be a long afternoon.
***
UNSURPRISINGLY I HADN’Tbeen wrong.
I leaned back in my leather chair at the head of the table and continued to stare at the PowerPoint of profit measures that Alex’s assistant was clicking through. I’m not positive if he had done it on purpose but the colors and the information were so dull I could barely pay attention. This was not the aspect that I loved about my business.
Dragons were naturally possessive and somewhat selfish creatures. I’d always enjoyed collecting beautiful things. Art, properties, and everything in between. It was one of the aspects of my business empire and it was also my true passion, not all of these other aspects.
My eyes flashed to Maya. One of the greatest treasures I’d come across. Not to be collected but definitely in my possession. I wanted to travel the universe and its many realms with her, collecting everything and anything that she or I found interesting. I entertained myself with the train of thought for most of the meeting.
The twins had gone out about five minutes ago to pick up some dinner. Maya hadn’t mentioned it but I worried she would get hungry.
Sai was in his office ‘working’ with Atlas. Avoiding this third hour of these unremarkable spreadsheets. Lucky bastards.
Croy had wandered off somewhere after the first hour. He had appeared distracted, eyes darting to and from the watch on his wrist. The only people who didn’t seem uninterested included Henry and the three executive officers. One of which, Alex, was on a slide that had Henry and Michael arguing about something. I had no idea what specifically, but I could feel the mood of the room turn from frustrated to angry.
My eyes went back to Maya where she sat elegantly to the right of me. Her eyes on Bella as she continued to pet the sleeping kitten before looking up at the screen. She looked focused as if she had somewhat of an understanding of what was going on. Probably finding it more interesting than myself.
Bella let out a small meow and Michael frowned. He looked at me as if the kitten meowing was my fault. In return, I narrowed my eyes at him, his eyes darted back to the screen instantly.That’s what I fucking thought.
I mentally dared him to say some shit. If Maya wanted to play a soundtrack of cat meows and fill the office with kittens, she could. As long as she was smiling.
My eyes traced the Moretti logo on the PowerPoint and I found myself glad that I had emphasized the equality aspect to her. Sure she was younger than me and probably had no interest in business, but I wanted to make sure that no matter what happened, she was always safe. The rest of them as well.
I planned on making Maya the queen of my empire, just so long as her throne was on my fucking lap. I felt like that was reasonable, I mean the woman was going to share my last name one day.
Should be sooner rather than later if you think about it. She doesn’t have a legal last name, it would be reasonable to get her one. What would be better than to give her mine?
I shook my head a bit thinking about how much my mindset had shifted. Hadn’t it been over a week ago I’d been driving back from a meeting with the council and thinking about how I felt like something was missing? I sure as hell hadn’t thought it was our mate. Maya was an unexpected, gorgeous surprise.
I stretched my arms above my head, a small groan passed my lips. Unintentionally snagging Maya’s attention from the PowerPoint.
Her eyes snapped to my chest and flickered down my body. Her eyes darkened with desire. A small hitch, barely audible, caught in her throat.
I nearly groaned at how much that simple action turned me on. Motioning for her to join me, she slid out of her chair and leaned into my chest.
Bella looked up and licked my chin. The action had me laughing because of Maya’s surprised face. Honestly, this was now the most entertaining executive officer’s meeting I’d ever been to. Then again, they were only really stressful when you didn’t own the company.
“Mr. Moretti,” Alex’s voice had me frowning, “are we not holding your attention?”
Was this guy for real? Michael and Alex were both in their thirties, so they tried to push the buttons of superiority. Last time I checked, though, I was the one paying them.
“Not particularly,” I admitted as Maya blinked at them, her face devoid of emotion, unimpressed. Something she no doubt was not doing on purpose.
“... with his fuck toy,” Alex’s assistant muttered quietly, the tail end practically ringing in my over-sensitive ears. It wasn’t loud enough that a normal human would have been able to hear it.