Elsie stared down at the vibrating phone. She couldn’t hit the End button too soon or Brock would know she was avoiding his calls. Instead, she walked out of her office and ignored the buzzing.

If she stayed in her office and didn’t answer, Brock would call Jackson and Jackson would know something was up. To keep suspicions down, she pulled her favorite office girl, Shannon, into a conference room and told her about the shifting job responsibilities. Shannon would be taking over the various reconciliations Elsie currently did, but Elsie would be carefully reviewing them every month.

For the rest of the day, the two of them stayed in the conference room as Elsie walked Shannon through all her new responsibilities. At least the closed door meeting was a good excuse to ignore Brock’s calls. Jackson had already popped in a few times to bitch about Brock blowing up his phone too.

Considering Jackson could verify she was still alive and in one piece, she didn’t feel one ounce of guilt over ignoring Brock’s constant calls. She was supposed to be helping him run his company, not taking calls from her new boyfriend/mate/whatever-the-hell-he-was.

As five o’clock rolled around, Jackson interrupted her more and more frequently, trying to get some type of assurance she didn’t want to work too late. After all, because he was her babysitter, he would have to work just as late. However, if she wanted tonight to go off as planned, she would have to lose the sitter.

Shannon never once asked how late Elsie planned to make her work. One more mark in her favor.

For all his faults, Jackson was loyal to his family. He might not like it, but if Brock asked him to watch Elsie, he would do it even if he had to complain the entire time. As far as bodyguards went, he wasn’t half bad. He was well built, and being able to grow fangs and claws on command was always a plus in a fight.

But he was horrible at reading people. His whole blackmail debacle just proved how bad he was at reading situations and working out strategies. It was one of the things she hated most about working for him, but in this case, it might actually help.

Assigning Shannon some busywork, Elsie slipped from the room and to her office. Sure enough, there were twenty missed calls from Brock. Taking a steadying breath, she dialed his number.

He answered before the phone could ring a second time. “Where the hell have you been all day?”

Great. He was going to yell at her first thing. “Hasn’t your spy told you already?”

There was a pause. “How did you know I was getting reports?”

Elsie rolled her eyes. Did he think she was an idiot? “I know Jackson told you where I’ve been. Otherwise you’d be yelling at me in person.”

“Yeah, Jackson,” he muttered. “He isn’t my biggest fan right now.”

“Well, neither am I at the moment. Why on earth were you calling so much? Especially if you knew I was fine?”

“Someone telling me you’re okay and you saying it yourself are two different things. I just wanted to make sure everything was going well.”

The words seemed sincere, but Elsie could sense he held something back. Then again, so was she, so who was she to judge? “Everything is fine here. Just a really busy day, as you can imagine. I’ve been locked up with Shannon for the past few hours, trying to teach her what it’s taken me years to learn.”

There was another silence and Elsie knew Brock was trying to ask her something. If he was being this careful with word choice, it was because he was trying not to piss her off. “You’re sure nothing happened to spook you? None of Cullen’s men approached you? Nothing out of the ordinary?”

He knows about Lucian. “You know if I were worried, you’d be the first person I’d call.” Great. Now he was lying to her and she was lying to him. The foundation for a wonderful bonding. Probably best to change the subject. “Have you found out anything about Dani? Jackson is saying there’s nothing you can do.”

“There haven’t been any sightings of her. There are a couple of Cullen’s hideouts she could be at, but we can’t attack them all.”

Just one more wall she was hitting. “You’re king. You can attack anyone you want to.”

“I’m an unpopular king. If I flex muscle and Cullen wins, that’s it for me. We are already vulnerable with everything going on.”

Elsie could hear the frustration in his voice, but it didn’t make her feel better. “You’re vulnerable because of me. Because I’m not one of you. I make you weak.”

“No, you don’t. It will just take time for everyone else to see that. The fact that you survived one kidnapping attack already is a huge mark in your favor. And every day that goes by that you survive the queen’s curse will instill even more confidence in you.”

“You’re saying the reason we have to leave Dani alone with those creeps is because of me.”

Brock responded with an angry growl. “That’s not what I’m saying,” he bit out.

“Whatever. We’ll have to talk about it later. I’m trying to get shit done here. Have you taken time out of your busy day of calling me to check on Riggs?” She knew she’d be working a long day, so they decided the dog would do better at Brock’s oversized Manhattan apartment where there was plenty of staff willing to bend over backward for the owner of the penthouse.

“He’s already been out twice today. He’s doing fine,” he said quickly. “I want to talk about this. You need to know you aren’t a handicap.”

Elsie was happy he was feeling bad, because she was sure he’d be pissed at her when she finally did see him again. A few sympathy points couldn’t hurt.

Elsie pushed away from her desk and headed to Jackson’s office. “Like I said, we’ll talk about this later. I am going to be working pretty late, but then I’ll head over to your place. Traffic won’t let up ’til seven-ish anyway.” Without knocking, Elsie pushed open Jackson’s door. “Now I’m in Jackson’s office and I’m about to put you on speakerphone.” She hit the button that would allow Jackson to hear Brock. “Now tell Jackson you’re satisfied that I am safe and that I am old enough to not need a babysitter.”

Brock grunted on the other end of the phone. “What she said,” he grumbled.

Jackson stifled laughter at Brock’s grumpy response, and Elsie left his office. Taking Brock off speakerphone, she said, “Thank you.”

“He’s not babysitting you. He’s protecting you. There’s a difference. Paranoia is one thing, but we have plenty of reasons to believe you’re in danger.”

“And I appreciate that you care. But there is a thin line here between you caring and you being a dick.”

Brock laughed. “Luckily, I have you to tell me the second I cross that line.”

“The second you even nudge it,” she promised. “Seriously though, I have a mountain of work and limited time. I’ll see you later tonight.”

Brock said a quick good-bye and hung up.

That wasn’t too bad. Now she just had to get rid of Jackson. Striding back to his office, she put on her most confident-looking face. “Brock said thanks for everything. I’m heading back to the conference room with Shannon, so have a great night if I don’t see you.”

Jackson furrowed his brow. “I thought I was staying until you left.”

Elsie widened her eyes. “Didn’t you hear Brock just now? He agreed I didn’t need a babysitter. It’s not like Cullen’s guys would try anything so soon after they failed anyway. You can take off whenever you want. I know you had a busy day.”

She could see Jackson was trying hard to make sense of her lies. But Jackson did want to go home, and he would try his hardest to twist reality to fit what he wanted. “Well, I guess so,” he muttered.

Before he could second-guess himself, Elsie cheerfully said, “Have a nice night,” before she turned back to the conference room. Phase one was completed. Unfortunately, that was the easy part.