How rude to bring that up in front of people she hadn’t even met. She was supposed to be their sounding board, someone they could discuss their cases with, but Vaughn was doing a good job of making her work impossible. She searched for the right answer to his jackass of a question. There wasn’t one. She turned toward the three other men, putting her back to Vaughn. “I’m Nari Zhang.” She held out a hand to the first one, who was around thirty with brown hair and eyes.

He stood and accepted her hand, shaking lightly. “Hank Bistle. It’s nice to meet you.”

She did the same with the others, finding more puzzlement than judgment in their eyes. When she was finished she turned back to Vaughn. “Is this the entire team?”

“No. We have two more out on assignment,” he said, displeasure in his eyes. “The administrator and your father sent them out, but they’ll be back soon.”

Oh, he just had to mention that Quan was their boss. Irritation caught in her throat, but she spoke through it. “I see. Well, I look forward to meeting them.” She turned and smiled at the other men. “I’ll go organize my office and get settled in. If anybody wants to talk or bounce ideas off me, I’ll be there.” Then she walked calmly and confidently out of the main room and down the hallway to her office, where she exhaled, strode around her desk, and flopped into her chair. This was a disaster.

Vaughn followed her. “What the hell was that?”

She sat up. “What do you mean?”

He shut the door and leaned back against it, crossing his arms. “You are not in charge here, and you do not leave a room unless I give you permission to do so.”

She rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding me? If you don’t want me here, Vaughn, then grow a pair and tell the administrator.”

He reared up, his neck elongating. “Excuse me?”

She swallowed. Should she step out of her shoes? The idiot looked like he was about to charge. “You heard me. You’re the lead on this team and you have a say in who’s on it. If you really don’t want me here, tell the administrator. She’d probably understand and just transfer me.” In fact, why hadn’t Vaughn done that? “Unless you want me here?”

“I don’t want you here,” he said, his jaw tight.

She frowned. Had he just looked away for the briefest of seconds? She tilted her head to study him and he stared right back, not blinking. Another sign of deception. Then she glared. “Wait a minute. Did you request me for this team?” she asked.

“Of course not.” He shook his head and wiped his mouth.