The Mole

Summer went over her quarterly reports from her perch on Kaine's lap.

Kaine peere over Summer's shoulder and watched what she was up to, peeking back at his phone to check his own stocks and bonds every so often.

Summer turned her head and kissed his cheek, keeping her reports visible so her Wolf could see. Always working hard, these two.

Kaine pushed his head into her kiss, the smile he had on his lips because of her choice to be close to him. He tilted his head slightly to place a kiss on her shoulder, then went back to laying his chin where he kissed.

Summer was smiling into his cheek, a light chuckled sounding. “Stocks and bonds doing well?” She asked quietly, then looked at her report again. She shifted in his lap, her lips narrowing ever so slightly.

Kaine had an understated smile on his lips, the melodic sound of her chuckle ringing in his ears. “As always. Fluctuating, but nothing abnormal.” The shift in her body on his lap denoted something was bothering her, her eyeline on her report indicating something up with her business, her lips pressed together another indicator of her concern. “Doesn't look like that's the case with you, though.”

“Up and down is the norm, right?” She purred, then gave the slightest nod. “Mmn. Discrepancy.” She said in a clipped voice. A discrepancy on a quarterly report was never good. She pulled out her phone and punched a few numbers on the calculator. “Kaine, darling…could you reach in my bag and pull out the manila file folder with the yellow tab…please, Sir?”

Breaking out 'Sir' in business mode was not a good sign.

Kaine tucked his phone into his jacket pocket, then placed his hand on her shoulder for balance as he leaned over to reach into her bag. His fingers walked through the various folders. Blue. Red. Ahhh, yellow. He plucked it from her bag and sat back up straight, his arm moving back around her waist as he returned to his previous position, holding it out in front of her with his other hand.

“This one?” She was rattled, and that 'Sir' was her way of showing him that. A comfort blanket, if you could call it that. Something that never came out in public. It sent a shiver up his spine. Well, it's no longer a 'never', is it?

Summer took it from his hand, and though she tried to remember whose lap she was sitting on, the grab was a little tense. It was no disrespect to him, given the words that came after. “Thank you, my love.” She murmured, going to a certain page, her finger running down along it, her frown growing as she cross-referenced her draft report with the final product. “There…” She whispered. “This entire section. That's not what I wrote. These numbers don't add up, the profit margins are much smaller…”

“Shit. Fucking bloody hells.” She hissed.

Summer wasn't one to swear unless Kaine was making her hurt in all the best ways.

Kaine wasn't bothered by the way she grabbed at the folder, she was irked in all the wrong ways. He knew her public persona was harsh, driven, focused, and although it softened when he was present, it didn't concern him at all. “You're welcome.” His eyes tracked her fingers as she looked through the numbers.

“Shhhh. Save that for later,” he chuckled, a quiet sound. Something he had been doing more of as it was unlocked by her presence. “I'm not a numbers person, but… That looks awfully like someone's fiddling them.”

“Someone. has. done. more. than. fiddle.” She fumed, showing him her original and the final printed one in her hands. “This entire summary and conclusion is entirely different from what I sent to the printer. And it makes Caldwell Accounting look like it took a massive hit in the mild recession we had last quarter. A massive enough hit that tax season won't make up for it. Who is trying to make me look less profitable? I have all the bank account statem–” She paled.

“Embezzlement. Make it look like…take over…” She lost her footing in her mind for a moment and then found it again.

“Flannery.” Her tone was murderous.

Kaine's smile disappeared. The Lone Wolf's She Wolf was not to be trifled with. He was suddenly in ruthless businessman mode. Not merely because someone was messing with His She Wolf, but because of who was messing with her.

“I could loan you one of my teams. They could help find out more of the details, figure out what he's doing this time. Or…” He had offered to kill the man, have him disappeared, or even buy him out. It had only been a joke at the time, but now this was getting more personal. “How can I help?”

The whole story about how she'd given Flannery an impromptu piercing in her office hadn't made it to the papers. He had power enough to prevent that. Not quite as much as Kaine, but there was someone behind the scenes pulling the womaniser's strings. Someone needed to take the man down a peg or two, but there was no easy way for him to do that. It needed someone else.

Summer was trembling, furious. “That greasy little wanker is trying to have me ousted from my own…” Her phone buzzed. Thank you for the little present you…impressed upon me. If there's ever anything I can do if ever you are in…need…

Summer, the She-wolf of New York, was known for calm. Collected. And for the hell rained down when she was pushed beyond her limits. Her fingers curled around the phone, knuckles white. “Impressed upon him. I stapled his dick to his balls…and he…”

“Know any FBI agents, darling?” She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Something. Anything. Remind me. Pull my hair, bite me. Just remind me and hold me. I want to go on a killing spree in Flannery's offices.”

Kaine growled a possessive, annoyed, pissed off growl of frustration. “He needs to learn his place.” He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “No, I don't. Never had any dealings with them, so…”

He wasn't sure how to get the man out of her hair. Something would come up. Somewhere. Somehow. He hoped.

“Come. Lets get you home where I can take care of you.” He reached for her bag, then carried her out.

Kaine carried his Rose out of the club, carrying her bag in addition to her. She still had the paperwork in her hands where he hadn't taken it from her. Giles waited with the door to his limo wide open, ready to whisk them home. He ducked, sliding her into the back seat, then pushed her over to follow her in and sit next to her. He tucked her bag into the pocket by the door, safely out of the way, as Giles shut the door behind him, enclosing them in their own private little world away from prying eyes.

He'd maintained his composure until that moment. Something he didn't normally have any issues, but she'd been bringing his emotions out of the carefully contained shell he'd constructed as a young man to become one of the most successful businessmen in the US. Now he could let that out in private.

“I'll kill that damned bastard.” He placed his hand on her leg, both to help him calm down, and to provide her with his touch. “You have a mole.” He stared at her face, seething, trying to focus on something that was good in his life. Her.

Summer was still in She-Wolf-attack-maim-kill mode, her body stiff, tense as he carried her out, put her in the limo. “I'm going to march into his office tomorrow, cut his dick off and staple it to his asshole.” She fumed.

“Setting me up to be framed for embezzling so that the firm is stripped…the nerve…of…that…text…” She pulled out her phone and punched a number in. “Winter. Do you still know that…Oh? I'm sorry for your loss, she seemed sweet when I met her.” She listened and her eyebrows shot up. “Is that so? How very interesting. No, I'm fine. I'm just very angry.” She pulled her phone away, looked at it, then brought it back to her ear. “Winter Yew Caldwell, it is none of your business, and it isn't your place to say I need a 'good hard dicking' from Kaine Hayden.” She was blushing.

“Yes. Yes we are. I'm in a limo with him, right now. Not now. I have to go, sapling. Get those grades up and then I'll let you threaten my boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend will threaten right back, but I can tell you care.”

She hung up right before he growled and put his hand on her leg. She looked at Kaine as he spoke. “I do. I've been thinking of having it removed.” She murmured, taking his hand. “Stay with me. I need you…and I think you need me right now. I'm here.”

“Doing that might get you into contact with a Fed, but not necessarily in a helpful way.” He smirked, trying to lighten her mood before she got on the phone.

He waited. Trying to figure out what the other end of the conversation was. Someone… Died? That's not good. He couldn't tell what the next part was, but it definitely caught her attention. Then again, it could just be her temper flaring over something minor. Then something about their relationship. He could manage that. He figured her imagination had put an image in her head from the comment, given the blush.

He let her shift his hand however she needed. “There's laser surgery. But I was thinking along the lines of burlap. Or a squad.” Sacked. Fired. Get rid of the person in her company who was working for Flannery. Might not be that easy.

“Right now, we're going home.” He squeezed her hand. “I know. We need each other. We're here for each other. Scared, together, remember?”

A week ago he wouldn't have believed he would find someone he cared enough about to take care of. Now… He had Summer Rose.

Summer pinched her nose again. “I need…to go into lockdown. I need to shift my clients, in name only, over to another firm. I need to be able to trust them though. I'll still be handling my own base. I need to…lock everything down. He wants to make it look like I'm stealing from what I worked so hard to build? All the blood, sweat, and tears? I'll blow it up on paper. I need my own assets protected. I need…”

It hit her. He wasn't talking about the mole on the underside of her left asscheek. A Mole. A mole.

Someone was betraying her.

God help them when she found out who it was.

“Home. That…sounds…yes.” She finally let out in a whoosh as she slumped against him. She wanted to take the wolf hide off. She wanted to just be a thorny Rose…the thorny Rose Kaine Hayden called His.

She needs… “A knight in shining armour riding a white stallion to whisk you away to the clouds where you'll be happy? I can only manage a couple of those.” He laughed. Something else he wouldn't have done a week ago. Not like that. Blame the woman sharing the limo for that one as well.

He reached across to stroke her hair softly, something that seemed to help her relax, and she definitely needed to relax. He could feel the tension in the air emanating from her. His fingers tangled in her hair, giving her scalp a tug, then slipped through. He gave her hand a squeeze as well.

Next: That Damn Bastard