CHAPTER 8

Chapter 2

Around seven the next morning, Emerson was making his way down the mountain when he spotted Anna by the car. She'd obviously been waiting for a while.

"Boss!" Anna had been leaning against the car looking bored, but she immediately brightened when she saw him.

Emerson smiled and stepped forward, but as Anna moved to rush at him, he quickly reached out and planted his hand on top of her head, stopping her cold.

Emerson had vivid memories of Anna's enthusiastic tackle-hugs. Even with his conditioning, taking one of those hits would leave him sore and breathless for hours.

He wasn't sure if it was because he'd saved her life, but Anna had always been incredibly affectionate with him. Every time she saw him, she'd launch herself at him like a missile.

He used to welcome these warm greetings. Hell, there was something weirdly satisfying about the impact, even if it hurt.

But over the past couple years, Anna's strength had grown way beyond what Emerson could handle. This defensive move had become his standard greeting protocol.

Not that he was happy about it.

"Why do you always do that?" Anna complained, frozen in place while glaring up at him.

Seeing Anna getting genuinely pissed, Emerson quickly looked around for a distraction.

Perfect timing—a guy climbed out of the driver's seat.

"Who's this?" Emerson asked, looking confused.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?" Anna snapped, finally having someone else to direct her frustration at.

The guy didn't seem bothered by Anna's sharp tone. He walked up to Emerson with measured steps and spoke in a completely flat voice.

"Name's Reaper."

Short and sweet, delivered without any emotion whatsoever.

Emerson barely reacted, though his eyes briefly dropped to the man's legs before returning to his face.

The guy had short silver hair and looked well-proportioned overall, but his arms were unusually thick and muscular—like he'd been built from mismatched parts.

Anna's whole attitude shifted when dealing with Emerson. Her earlier irritation evaporated as she noticed his questioning look.

She walked over and gestured toward the man. "This is our head of security. Senior company personnel."

Emerson's eye twitched. Since when did he have a company? Had things gotten so official that they now had department heads?

Anna caught his expression and immediately knew what he was thinking.

She rolled her eyes. "Boss, do you have any clue what our business actually does?"

Emerson shook his head.

"Do you know how many people work for us?"

Another head shake.

Seeing his completely blank stare, Anna felt her energy drain away.

She'd expected this, but it was still exhausting.

"Let's just go. Get in the car." Anna sighed, no longer wanting to continue this conversation. She opened the door and climbed in.

Emerson followed without argument. Being a hands-off boss had its downsides—he really couldn't make excuses at this point.

But as he passed Reaper, Emerson noticed the man watching him with an oddly intense look.

Before he could figure it out, Anna called from inside the car.

"Boss, if you don't hurry up, we'll miss our flight."

"Coming," Emerson replied, quickly sliding into the backseat.

He wasn't about to give Anna another chance to lecture him. That woman could be absolutely brutal when she got going.

Emerson had barely gotten comfortable when Reaper got behind the wheel.

He was about to chat with Anna when he noticed she'd already buckled her seatbelt and was staring straight ahead with laser focus.

Emerson was confused. They were both in the back—why was she being so careful?

He figured Anna was still annoyed and making these little gestures to show her displeasure. Not thinking much of it, Emerson leaned back and made himself comfortable.

"Ahh—" he yawned. Getting up this early had completely screwed with his sleep schedule. He definitely needed to catch up.

With his eyes closed, Emerson missed the evil grin Anna was trying to hide as she peeked at him.

If he'd seen that look, he might not have been so relaxed.

Reaper glanced back to make sure they were seated, then fired up the engine.

The car shot forward like it had been launched from a cannon.

Emerson, who'd been drifting off, got thrown forward violently. Despite his quick reflexes, the sudden acceleration caught him completely off guard, and his face smashed into the seat in front of him.

His recovery was impressive—he immediately grabbed the door handle and pulled himself back into position—but the red mark on his face was clear proof of his embarrassing moment.

"Ha! Oh my god!" Anna completely lost it, her rigid posture dissolving into laughter. Emerson's predicament had made her absolutely delighted.

Emerson shot her an annoyed look. He knew she'd deliberately kept quiet about Reaper's driving style just to watch him make a fool of himself.

But what surprised him more was Reaper's complete indifference. Even after his boss had been thrown around like a rag doll, the driver didn't slow down, didn't check the rearview mirror—just kept driving like nothing had happened.

When Reaper had introduced himself, Emerson had picked up on the guy's cold personality.

What he hadn't expected was just how ice-cold he really was. Wasn't he worried about getting fired?

"He's got a death wish," Anna explained, seeing Emerson's confusion.

That made sense. Someone who spent every day thinking about dying probably didn't worry much about job security.

"But isn't dying pretty easy?" Emerson leaned closer to Anna, keeping his voice low while watching for Reaper's reaction.

"He wants to die in battle—go out swinging," Anna replied, pushing his face away. "Unfortunately, he hasn't managed it yet."

The warmth of Emerson's breath on her neck had caused a blush to spread across Anna's cheeks—quite a change for someone who was usually so composed around her subordinates.

Emerson noticed Anna's reaction and pulled back with satisfaction.

He'd gotten that close on purpose—payback for her earlier prank.

Now satisfied with his small revenge, Emerson found himself genuinely curious about their driver.

Despite the brief exchange, he'd picked up on something important in Anna's explanation.

This guy was seriously dangerous.