take the warning of my letters? Huh? You’re a stubborn bitch. Of course, I knew that. I knew that every time you brought up a new recipe. Always pushing to change things. But of course, that is what sells, so I have to keep you on staff. God, I hate you. I hate that I need you to run a successful business.”
“Okay, dumbass.” Jesus, Ember. That mouth will get you killed. I won’t even be able to kiss Kai ever again now if I don’t stop talking. I should’ve told him I love him. It’s quick, but he did say mates are a love at first sight thing. Maybe if I piss Ciro off enough, he’ll make a mistake and leave. I could find a way to get loose and upstairs. Right? I need a plan, damn it. “I’ll just keep on baking in the basement for you.” Sarcasm dripped from her words, and Ciro’s already red face turned purple. He was way too young to have such high blood pressure. Maybe she could anger him to death. Was that even possible?
“Enough with the lip, Ember. Don’t you understand that you’re in danger right now?”
“Well, I’m confused,” she tried to move her wrists out of their binds. “Do you want me to keep on baking for you, or do you want to kill me? Because it seems like there is a major flaw in your plan.”
“No. There’s not. If you can’t bake for me, you won’t bake at all. I won’t compete against you and your little bakery and the show that comes with it.”
“Aw. You have faith in me. You think I have a shot at winning, after all. How heartwarming.” Though the binds were cutting into her skin, her left thumb was almost free. Thumbs are good. They’re opposable. That had to be good news.
“If you agree to leave the show and work for me, I will let you go.”
Ember blinked at Ciro, her free thumb hanging out of the binds, limp and useless without the rest of the fingers. So much for thumbs being the essential fingers. I have got one I would like to flip to this guy right now.
“Let me go? And what, I’m just supposed to ignore the fact that you hit me hard enough so that I passed out, bound me, and then backhanded me?”
“There are worse bosses,” he spat.
This guy—
“Ciro, right now, I’m really scared for your emotional well-being. You’re not making any sense. Are you listening to yourself?”
“The only bakery that is doing well is this one, because of you. I had to shut three storefronts last month. Three. I can’t lose any others. Do you understand?”
Ember blew out a breath as she wiggled her left index finger out from the rope. Finger guns did not make great weapons against crazy bakers.
“No, I obviously don’t understand. You’re not making any sort of sense. You want to kill me, but you want me to keep working for you? Ciro, seriously. Did you ingest some sort of drug? Maybe hit your head?”
“Stop mocking me!”
Then, something truly horrifying happened. Ciro burst out of his clothes, sprouting thick black-brown fur.
Finger guns were definitely not good weapons against bears.
Chapter Nineteen
Kai
Though the drive from his parents’ home to Ciro’s bakery only took ten minutes, Kai committed three-hundred traffic violations. He didn’t even remember driving his car, he was speeding with such determination.
Let the authorities come after him.
He fucking dared them.
They had cleared Ciro. They had called him and, supposedly, verified that he wasn’t in the country.
Obviously, that was a damn lie if the man had called Ember away. The bakery, as Kai had suspected, was not on fire. It was perfectly fine, in fact. The scent of Ember lingered in the air, along with the smell of her blood. Kai just about lost it when he sniffed his mate’s blood, tinging the air with its bad tidings.
The Closed sign was flipped on at the bakery’s door even though the listed hours stated that it should be open. He used his shifter hearing, putting his face to the glass. There was a low mumble of far off voices. Kai took a step back, assessing the building. To the left was an alleyway that would surely lead to a loading dock for deliveries.
Forcing himself to slow his movements to keep the element of surprise, he crept around the corner. The back of the bakery had a loading bay with a thick metal door. When he tried to open it,