Desire Me If You Can Chapter 10

Amidst an atmosphere where self-loathing and futility intersected, a woman lifting dumbbells for arm exercises spoke up with an indifferent face.

“They must have made a massive donation to that prestigious Miller family. How could we possibly stop that? The other party is Miller.”

“Damn it, to hell with it!”

Another man spat out a harsh curse. Everyone’s mood was ruined by this unreasonable situation, but just as she said, there was nothing they could do about it individually. Other than venting their frustration by lifting equipment faster than usual or pouring out profanities.

“If you look at it the other way, since we got something in exchange, there might be some benefit to us, too. Like the facilities getting better or the equipment being replaced.”

To the words another woman added as if to comfort them, everyone spat out small curses with expressions of annoyance.

“Anyway, the conclusion is the same. That we are in a pretty crappy situation right now.”

Everyone agreed with the clear conclusion someone had reached. Then, another colleague offered an opinion.

“Since it’s already come to this, how about we give him a hot welcome greeting?”

For a moment, they looked at each other. At first, they had bewildered expressions. But soon, their faces took on strange smiles as they realized what was meant by a “hot welcome greeting.” It goes without saying, but it was a completely different story from the “fun welcome party” the Chief was talking about.

Perhaps even more fun than that.

Agreeing words began to emerge one or two at a time.

“Oh, that’s right. He’s a person from the great Miller family; we can’t just let it slide.”

“Let’s welcome him enthusiastically, with our hot hearts.”

“He’s obviously an extreme Alpha, right? Since it’s the Miller family.”

“We’ll have to check what that fancy pheromone of his is like.”

The gleam in their eyes as they let out ominous chuckles of keke-kek burned with hostility toward the Miller they hadn’t even met yet. I won’t let you off, Miller!

Thanks to that, as they were working out their muscles diligently here and there while burning with fighting spirit, one person suddenly turned their head and asked.

“By the way, where is Dane?”

“Huh?”

As the team members, who had belatedly realized their colleague’s absence, looked around with bewildered faces, Ezra answered.

“He said he’s at the police station, that he’d be a little late.”

The surprised colleagues widened their eyes and repeated his words.

“The police station?”

“The police station? Why?”

As a completely unexpected word appeared, everyone’s eyes went wide, and questions poured out from here and there all at once. As the colleagues threw the same question with the same expressions, Ezra answered with a flustered face.

“That is….”

∞ ∞ ∞

“Dane Striker, sign here.”

Dane, who had received the documents handed over by the police officer with an expressionless face, scribbled his signature in the blank space. The police officer, who immediately retrieved the paper, continued nonchalantly.

“Once the investigation proceeds, you will be contacted accordingly. In the meantime, you must absolutely not visit the victim or do anything of the sort. Keep that in mind.”

He recited several points to be careful about, but Dane yawned, clearly showing an annoyed expression as if he had no interest at all even though it was his own matter. The lawyer, seeing the police officer with a vein bulging on his temple at that delinquent attitude, hurriedly soothed him with a smile.

“Please don’t worry; I will manage him well. Thank you for your trouble, then we will be on our way….”

He muttered an excuse for a greeting, hurriedly shoved Dane’s back, and left the police station. The lawyer, who had chased after Dane who went out first, let out a sigh of relief and complained.

“Everything else is fine, but please don’t sleep with married women.”

It is the role of the fire station’s counsel to resolve legal issues when they arise for firefighters, but he only feels a sense of reward when resolving matters entangled in his work; getting involved in such adultery cases was considered a chore instead.

“I told you she said she was single.”

But Dane was still arguing his innocence with annoyance.

“I hate getting bothered too. But who knew the husband would come in all of a sudden? Since he wouldn’t even listen to me and kept running wild, I just hit him once to tell him to calm down.”

“That’s why I’m asking why you hit him—in fact, from that person’s point of view, the intruder is Dane!”

Watching Dane clench his fist while looking down at the lawyer, who was pressing him again in a slightly excited tone.

“Because he was noisy.”

At the cynical remark, the lawyer flinched for the first time and shut his mouth. As Dane looked straight ahead again and lowered his hand, the lawyer walked alongside him and watched his mood. It seemed he was looking for a time to speak, but the wait was not long.

“I know well that having a one-night stand with a woman you met at a bar is a daily routine for you. But why did you follow her to that woman’s house? No, didn’t you say you never stay out overnight? What about Darling?”

This bastard, why does he know so much about me?

As if he could see right through the mind of Dane, who was frowning and looking down, the lawyer continued.

“The Chief gave me strict instructions: if anything happens to Dane Striker, you must get him out as quickly as possible. Didn’t you even say that the cat you’re raising can’t see or hear? It’s old, too. If anything happens to Dane, it won’t be easy to put it up for adoption, so it’s very troublesome if you cause accidents like this. Have more sense of responsibility!”

“Haa.”

Of course, he had more than enough. He was already feeling an immense sense of guilt toward Darling, who must be waiting alone because he had unexpectedly stayed out overnight.

“I got it, I’ll refrain for the time being.”

When he ran his hand through his hair with a sigh, the lawyer finally nodded.

“I will believe you. Then, I will handle this matter. Are you going to work like this?”

“No, I have to stop by the house first. I have to feed Darling, too….”

Dane, who had briefly checked the watch on his wrist and was roughly calculating the time, but the lawyer opened his own car door first and said.

“Get in, I’ll take you.”

Dane readily opened the passenger door and got into the car. The lawyer, who had been looking with a dumbfounded expression at Dane, who had sat in the seat before him without a word, suppressed the anger that was about to rise and silently sat in the driver’s seat.

“Ah, come to think of it, did you hear? The story that the Miller family’s second son is coming to the station today.”

“What?”

At the lawyer’s words as he started the car, Dane asked back briefly with a scowling face. The lawyer answered absentmindedly while focusing on driving.

“They say he decided to work as a firefighter. For the next year. So I heard he’s coming to work from this afternoon.”

“…Huh.”

Dane still didn’t say anything else. He just let out a dumbfounded sigh as if it were absurd.

∞ ∞ ∞

Ominous.

The Fire Chief felt a chilly shudder run down his back for some reason as he looked at the neat face of the man sitting across from the desk.

Like a child of Ashley Miller, his beauty was great. It was a well-known fact that the appearance of extreme Alphas was excellent, but seeing it with his own eyes, he was mesmerized even for a moment. Especially that purple eye—it was so mysterious that he was caught up in it without thinking. It felt like he was looking into the universe. Added to that was the sweet pheromone scent that wafted softly; he felt no sense of reality, as if he were dreaming. Because of that, even when Grayson Miller reached out for a handshake while greeting him, the Chief just stared blankly at his face for a few seconds.

Grayson, who had come 15 minutes earlier than the promised time, sat on the waiting room chair without any complaints until the time came. Even after finally entering the office and facing him, the man only offered stereotyped greetings with a smile still on his face. As if such a trivial wait was nothing at all.

Until now, his attitude had been impeccable. He was extremely polite and didn’t say any useless things. Above all, his appearance was too excellent. The Chief clearly saw his secretary, too, unable to take her eyes off him as if she were bewitched. At this rate, even though he had come to this position by using loopholes, he had a hopeful observation that after some time passed, there would be some degree of fusion, and the fierce atmosphere would subside.

Even though he knew the backlash of the staff all too well.