Callin glanced back at her.
“Is that a threat?” he said in a low voice.
“No,” Valerie said quickly, the picture of innocence. “It’s more of a heads-up. Brianne knows exactly what you are, and I think she knows enough about our kind not to get mixed up with a dragon.”
Callin stormed out of the room without responding to Valerie. He headed toward his trailer, pulling one of the crew aside and asking him to tell the director he was running a little late for the next scene, but he would be there as soon as he could.
He tried to dismiss Valerie’s words. She had to be lying. How could Brianne know he was a dragon? As much as he tried to ignore Valerie’s taunting, though, she had gotten into his head. Maybe she really did know the truth about him. Valerie made no secret of the fact that her assistants all came from the same family and were all loyal to her because they knew what she was. Was it really such a stretch that Brianne knew he was a part of the pack? And if she did, did it matter?
She clearly wasn’t afraid of dragons or she would never have been Valerie’s assistant in the first place. And if she did know what he was, that hadn’t stopped her from having sex with him. Twice.
And she had told him she saw him in her future. Maybe it would be better if she did know, then at least she would know what she was really getting herself into. If she didn’t know, Callin would have to tell her eventually, and that left him open to her reacting badly to the news and ending things between them. He wondered how much she knew. Did she know that there was a chance she, too, could become a dragon? Would she want that? Would it even be possible for her?
Callin had no answers to any of these questions. Even if Brianne carried the Sanmere protein in her blood, the protein that allowed a human to turn into a shifter without dying in the process, it didn’t mean she would want to do it. Immortality was a big choice. He told himself none of that mattered right now. That he and Brianne would have all of these conversations in time, and that right now, all that mattered was making sure she was okay.
That got him thinking about Valerie again, and for the first time, he began to wonder if Lucian was right about the pack. Was Valerie really the right person to lead their pack? She was selfish and she made rash decisions based on what she thought was more likely to get her what she wanted instead of on what was best for the whole group. Did she do the same when it came to making pack decisions? Callin had no idea, but he was starting to think she likely did, and he made a mental note to talk to Lucian when he could and find out exactly how bad Valerie’s leadership was.
Callin was almost at his trailer when the door opened and Brianne stepped out with his cell phone in her hand. She had cleaned her face up and anyone looking at her now would never know that she had been crying a couple of moments ago. She spotted Callin and gave him an embarrassed-looking smile. They continued walking toward each other and when they were close enough to talk without yelling, Brianne gave him another rueful smile.
“I’m sorry about that back there,” she said. “I shouldn’t have let her see me crying, but I just couldn’t keep it in.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. It’s Valerie who needs to apologize, not you,” Callin said, reaching out and caressing Brianne’s cheek. “And I think you’ll find that will happen at some point today. And if it doesn’t, then come and find me and let me know, okay?”
“So, I’m really not fired?” Brianne asked.
“Of course not. And I’ve made it clear to Valerie that if she tries anything like that again, she’s the one who’ll be fired,” Callin said.
Brianne smiled then, her normal smile, the one that made Callin’s cock twitch.
“Thank you,” Brianne said. The smile faded from her face. “Look, Callin, I like you a lot, but maybe we should cool it down a bit. Wait until after filming has wrapped up before we do anything.”
“Is that what you want?” Callin asked. “Or is that what you think Valerie wants?”
He felt his muscles tense up as he waited for her answer. He couldn’t bear to lose Brianne and the thought of not being able to be with her for months and months filled him with dread.
“It’s what Valerie wants,” Brianne said. “But she is my boss and she kind of does have a point about us carrying on here. I mean, you can get away with it as the star of the movie and all that, but I’m just an assistant and it doesn’t bode well having everyone gossiping about me like this.”
“I get it,” Callin said. “And we probably shouldn’t have done what we did in your office.”
He smiled and she smiled back and he knew she was reliving their session just like he was.
“And you’re right about it not happening again on set. I’ve promised Valerie that won’t happen again. But I don’t want to wait almost a year to be with you, Brianne. Come to my place tonight and have dinner with me,” he said.
“I… Valerie will find out,” Brianne said.
“Yes, she probably will. But I’ve told her that you and I are going to happen, Brianne, and she’s going to have to learn to deal with it. I hope that wasn’t too forward of me,” Callin said.
“It wasn’t,” Brianne said quickly. “But she’ll make our lives hell. Mine here and yours…” she looked around quickly, checking they were still alone, “within the pack.”
So, she did know he was a dragon. Valerie had told the truth
