57 Familial Bonds (18)

The woman looked down at Iris with surprise, then awkwardly stroked her fur. "What is it? What do you want?" she asked in a soft voice.

'To give you a hug, but it's kind of problematic.' Iris really didn't know how to express her care. She was a fox, so hugging was kind of a complicated matter for her at the moment.

Out of ideas, she simply leaned into the woman's touch and cooed at her. It wasn't the greatest idea ever, but it could work as a distraction. Probably.

"What's its name?"

"Iris," Kyro answered, sounding somewhat unhappy. His eyes were locked onto Iris, accusing her of something.

She glanced back at him, then swiftly looked away. 'I now know that she didn't come to seduce you, so we can be friends. Don't be jealous. I'm being friends with a girl, not some guy. You didn't look half as annoyed when Gale tried to steal me away. Get your priorities right!'

Laughing at her own silliness, she curled up in the woman's lap. When the stranger tried to lift her up, she didn't struggle and settled against her heart, feeling its erratic beat. The woman's eyes were glued to her as she stroked her fur.

"She's beautiful."

"Yes, but that's not why you're here. What do you expect me to do with this information?"

The hand holding Iris tightened, while the one stroking her fur froze for an instant. "I- I don't care. All I want is to make sure I can stay."

"But now I know that you have something to hide," Kyro said, his voice much colder than Iris had ever heard it. She looked over at him and saw a mask on his face. He was usually quite expressive and easy to read, but right then, she couldn't tell what was going on in his mind at all.

For a moment, she even felt scared for the woman. She came at him openly with her tragic story, yet instead of feeling pity for her or wishing to help her out, he seemed ready to tear her apart. His words were actually a threat!

"Everyone has things to hide," the woman said after a time, her hand resuming the stroking of Iris' fur. Her fingers were shaking a little, but not enough to be noticeable. "You wouldn't be so worried about Frank if there wasn't stuff you feared coming out into the open."

"That reminds me that you haven't yet explained why you let him join."

"What?" The woman looked up, puzzlement overriding her pretend calmness. "I thought I sent your secretary all the documents. Every—"

"I'm not asking about that. They're all shiny and good, I'm asking why you thought you were going to get away with it."

Now, Iris was certain that she didn't know this person speaking. The Kyro she knew never spoke like that. Even when she pissed him off, he had the reaction of someone with extreme patience. He would just look at her with disapproval and clean up whatever she messed up or push her away. Not once had he thrown such a frigid stare her way.

Suddenly, she had a bad feeling about this. Was he some kind of gangster? Was her life in danger? Could she have underestimated him to the detriment of her future? If one day she really really pissed him off, would he react like this, like some ice demon king?

Her pitying eyes landed on the woman. Was she going to survive this encounter?

"I'm certain he's going to live up to my expectations and prove himself, and me, right. I don't need to worry about that," the woman said, her confidence returning. On this point, she seemed one hundred percent certain of herself. "You don't need to worry about that."

"Oh, I won't," Kyro said, a flicker of a dangerous smile on his face. "Just remember that from now on, your futures are connected. One fuck up on his part, and both of you are flying out. Now, leave." He stood up and motioned her to the door.

The woman didn't seemed cowered by the threat. "Sure, why not," she agreed, her eyes alight once again. "You can already write down my name on that employee of the year award."

Iris looked at the challenging smile on Kyro's face, then the self-assured one on the woman, and her insides twisted. She was sure she could see sparks flying between the two people. Wasn't this like a prelude to a love story? The two people were even handsome enough to qualify for the roles of the two romantic leads.

Danger bells rang in her head, and she started screaming. The two people instantly looked over, breaking the charged atmosphere between them, and Iris breathed a sigh of relief. She had stopped it just at the right moment.

Next time, she had to be more careful. The woman's sob story had distracted her, bringing out her caring side, and she forgot her original goal. The most important thing was to not let the two hook up. If that happened... her life would never be the same. She couldn't even leave the house!

With another loud scream, she jumped off the woman's hands. Her fall wasn't graceful in the least, and she rolled over her head when she landed, stopping in a messy heap—her long jumps still needed some practice. Luckily, she didn't get hurt.

"Are you okay?" Kyro asked with worry, his cold facade gone without a trace. He carefully touched her side, and Iris was suddenly struck by inspiration. She whimpered and licked his finger pitifully.

Kyro's eyes shifted over to the woman. With fury in his voice, he growled out, "What did you do?"