Page 91 of Blood in the Water

I flicked on the safety and tossed the gun onto the countertop, turning my back on the three of them. “This is bullshit.”

My head spun, replaying the night before. She had to have snuck up here after Konstantin came to my office. I didn’t see Wynn or Ciel in the club, so did that mean she knew the code? They hadtold herour code?

I stomped out of the kitchen and back down the hallway to my room. So much for a peaceful breakfast. I’d just have to swallow this betrayal and anger and hope it filled my stomach instead.

The woman’s feet pattered down the hallway behind me. “I didn’t know who you were!”

That gave me pause. But she had called medragon, which was the English translation of my name. Didn’t that just prove she knew?

“I didn’t know,” she repeated. “I thought you just worked at the club. And I was at the club because I’m trying to track down my… friend. He’s been taken. I need to get him to safety as soon as possible.” She sighed. I turned slightly to look over my shoulder. Her arms crossed her chest, and her eyes conveyed an earnestness that made me incredibly uncomfortable. “I put a tracker in that guy’s jacket.”

“Cool story, which has nothing to do with us.” I turned back toward my room. “Good luck. Now get out.” It wasn’t just that I had made out with her at the club, and then, somehow, she had made it upstairs to my apartment and caught me off guard. It was that somehow, in the few weeks I had been gone, she’d messed with my brothers’ heads.

Our lives were comfortable as is. We took contracts, completed them, and got paid. It was simple and easy. It was howIwanted to live while I made enough money to secure my future forever and ensure nobody could ever fuck me over again.

This woman was a threat. I’d learned the fucking hard way that whenever you gave people the opportunity, they would try to control you and take your freedom. She wouldn’t do that to me. I would not let it happen again.

“I’m not going anywhere.” She continued to follow me. “I need your help. Please.”

“Decline. Regrettably, I’m completely booked. If only I could. Sad.”

“Comeon,” she pleaded. I yanked open my door and slammed it behind me before she could enter my room. Where the hell were Wynn and Ciel? If they wanted this, they could deal with her. “Just listen to what I have to say!”

“No. Now leave.”

“I’m not leaving!” I imagined her stomping her little foot like the spoiled mafia princess she was. I’d seen her file. I’d seen the original contract come through for her father’s head. I didn’tneed to get to know her to know she was all bark, no bite, and getting involved with selfish princesses would only result in pain. That lesson was seared into my brain. “I need your help. I need all of you.”

“Then book a fucking contract!” I yelled through the closed door as I paced across my room. “I don’t care if you’re fucking my brothers, but good pussy isn’t a free coupon for getting anything you want. Pay for a job, or get out.”

“Hey, fuck you, asshole!” she shouted, pounding her fist on the door. “If I remember right,youcame ontome. You were the one who asked me to walk up those stairs. You were the one who sat me on that couch. And you were the one who put your head between my legs. I didn’t ask for any of that!”

My tongue ran across my lips. God, she tasted so damn good. Hindsight had proven I was completely right.Bad decisions and sunshine.

“Leona,” Wynn’s voice was quiet on the other side of the door. “Give him time.”

“But Cas doesn’thavetime,” she responded, a tinge of exasperation—or was that fear?—in her voice.

Was Cas her friend?

“I know. Ciel is working on it. The tracker will do its job. We’re already closer to narrowing down his location.”

I narrowed my eyes. Both WynnandCiel were already working on locating this friend of hers. All the more reason I didn’t need to be involved. I was a stubborn bastard. I could stay in this room fordays. She’d never last that long.

A slight thump landed on the door, along with a heavy sigh. Like she laid her forehead against my door.

Oh, I wanted to yank it open so she’d fall on her face.

But I also wanted to yank her inside and finish what I’d started the night before.

I knew better than to let my dick make business decisions, so I stayed put right where I was.

“Come on, darling,” Wynn said softly. I pictured him holding out his hand, an image of the perfect gentleman he always tried to be. But I’d seen him blood eagle a dude before, so no, that image meant nothing to me.

Anddarling? Jesus. It wasnotjealousy that was putting a bad taste in my mouth. It was disgust. At her. At him. At for whatever magic pussy she had that had bewitched him.

Slowly, they retreated while I stayed barricaded in my room. I paced in front of my bed frame for hours, trying to sort out why I was so goddamn pissed, and at the same time, I wanted to taste her again.

I had finally found freedom. Finally had a future filled with only my decisions. I had a home where I could come and go as I pleased. Nothing tied me down, not even my ties to the Shadows—Obi had always assured me of that.