Page 116 of Lau Ahi
“Well, I’m sure this will be something that the rest of the deans and faculty members would enjoy hearing about.”
“So you’re going to threaten her with me standing here like I’m not a factor? I don’t know Asha, I think I’m offended.”
Dear God he almost sounded jolly, and now I was scared. “Ori, please—”
“Yes, Ori. Please get out of this office. I need to have a word with my subordinate.”
I don’t know why he spoke up. Truthfully, I wished he would’ve just walked out when this all began but no one was looking out for me on the other side. Despite how much I hated this man, I loved my job. And now it and all of my hard work was being flushed down the drain because Ori was about to commit murder in my office.
I don’t even think Dad could get him out of this.
Instead of saying a word, Ori did the one thing that I knew was even worse: he smiled. And God truly didn’t care about playing favorites because for a man who didn’t look as though he fully understood the concept of joy, he executed this smile to perfection. I mean he had high cheekbones, tanned skin, freckles and full lips but clearly God didn’t give him the type of personality that made smiling a regular occurrence because it was his most dangerous weapon.
“So this is how this is going to go, Callahan.”
“That’sProfessorCallahan.”
The smile turned primal like Ori scented the blood of his prey. Clearly Callahan was sensitive about his professional accomplishments so I knew he was going to destroy it. “I couldn’t give a fuck less what the hell your name was. I’ve sat here and witnessed you low-key threaten this woman, try to blackmail her and then attempt to have her give you classified information on an ongoing federal case.”
“You act as though it’s a crime.”
That smile made another appearance as Ori moved his suit jacket out of the way, allowing his gun holster to show before he pulled out his badge.
“This shield in my hand tells me that’s exactly what it is.”
Callahan’s face paled, his faux pas obvious, as he glanced at me. I glared back because I knew he wasn’t looking for me tohelp him out. Instead of being bothered with the pissing contest I was sure was going to begin I sat back in my seat and allowed Ori to do the macho thing he’d seemingly been itching to do for a while. Maybe he would be useful in taking care of the people and the tasks I didn’t feel like being bothered with.
Having a husband might come in handy after all.
“I didn’t realize—”
Ori nodded as he tucked his badge back in his pocket but kept his gun displayed. “And that’s what's even worse. That you needed to realize anything in order to be a decent fucking human. It’s people like you who make me sick to my stomach. You’re in here thinking that you can treat this woman any kind of way because she’s unprotected. Meanwhile, she’s light years ahead of you when it comes to her publications, her research and her theories on criminology. All of which were the reasons why she was the one sought out by my agency instead of you.”
“You’re with the FBI.”
“As far as she’s concerned I am the entirety of the gotdamn FBI and will use the totality of our considerable resources to snuff out your existence if you ever approach her like you did today. Now, move along and never enter this office again without her specifically requesting you, which I’ll make sure she never does,”he’s lost his bloody mind. “Keep your distance and I won’t arrest you on charges that would surely end your pitiful career.”
Dean Callahan looked around again but seemed to avoid my eyes on purpose. He looked at Ori and opened his mouth to say something but then he closed it and nodded like he knew better than to speak. Instead, he walked back through the door without another word.
After he shut and locked my office door, Ori turned and crossed his arms over his chest. I knew that all that maleness wasn’t going to walk out of the door when he rushed Callahanout but I wasn’t prepared for him to exude it so fully in such a confined space.
“So how many times has he tried to fuck you?”
My mouth dropped open at the blunt way he was speaking to me. Was he wrong? No, but that didn’t mean that he needed to verbalize what was obvious.
“You sound so crass.”
“Would you prefer I say something like make love? Given how we met I can assure you there wasn’t going to be anything soft, romantic or respectful about anything he wanted to do to you.” His jaw tightened angrily and I watched the muscle tick uncontrollably until he inhaled sharply to get ahold of himself.
“Well, that’s a way to make a girl feel about a centimeter tall.”
He walked back over in the crowded room taking his initial position across from my desk. “His desires have nothing to do with you. I have to tell you, Asha you give off an air of…”
My hand shot up to stop him. “Please don’t say innocence. That term makes me ill. As though all men desire someone who is childlike or doesn’t have a fully formed frontal lobe.”
“I think when most men say that they mean naiveté or not being jaded by the world. But I can thoroughly agree that the word has less than savory implications.”
“So what am I if not innocent?”
