Page 35

CHAPTER 35

Leo

My girl didn’t want me killing that dickhead but I wasn’t going to let him treat her like that and get away with it either.

I pulled my hoodie over my head and yanked it down over my gear as I headed for the main entrance of his apartment complex. Jabbing in the code, I reminded myself not to yank the door open too hard or the glass would shatter and announce my presence before I was ready for it.

Getting caught wasn’t a concern but if Frankie found out I came here to mess with him she’d get all weird and annoying. So, I had to be careful. I had to blend in.

I yanked the hood over my hair and kept my head down, going for the stairs instead of the elevator since they didn’t have any CCTV in the stairwells.

Francesca was making me crazy .

She always made me crazy, but this time felt different.

What made me angry wasn’t what she’d done either, but the way she’d said his name. Francesca hasn’t once said my name since I’ve been back. Not aloud anyway.

But she kept saying his name like it was the easiest thing in the world despite her track record.

When Frankie slept with someone, she didn’t ever use their name. It was the only reason I’ve never been worried about her passing flings and the ruts she’s spent with others.

Her rookie was getting under her skin and she was reacting to him the same way she did to me. No alpha has ever gotten her to rely on them other than me.

Me .

Now this rat was dragging her along and fumbling around while he was spying on her and I refused to let him ruin her like she’d ruined me.

He didn’t care about her the same way she cared about me so the devastation she’d feel could never be soothed. This Soren would disappear and leave her broken and bruised. I refused to let that happen.

So. We were going to have a little chat.

I hit the fifth floor and shoved the door open, heading down the hall to his apartment.

Killing him was unfortunately out of the question but she hadn’t said anything about torture or maiming.

It would be really fucking difficult to spy on her if he didn’t have any eyes to see with.

Watching her with him had set my blood on fire.

I’ve never been furious with Francesca. Not really. She pissed me off quite frequently, but it was always a passing emotion I found entertaining and invigorating.

But Soren made me want to rip her eyes out so she could never look at him again. Or his eyes. I couldn’t decide. Maybe both.

I could rip my own eyes out I supposed. Then I wouldn’t have to watch her stare at that horrible little spy like he was the answer to all her problems.

Except then I wouldn’t be able to exterminate all the rats in her life and what use would I be to her then? She’d have no reason to keep me around if I couldn’t at least be useful.

This wasn’t a helpful train of thought.

Frankie would be mad at me if she found out how seriously I was considering enucleation as a solution to all my problems.

I knocked on his door harder than necessary, but I was one volatile, impulsive thought away from blowing up this whole building so honestly it was a win I hadn’t done more than dent his door.

Why did it feel like everything I’d worked for was going to disappear?

Sometimes it scared me how much she understood me. Always has.

From day one, she’d looked into my eyes and saw the horror that lived inside me. She could see it and it terrified her, but she never looked away from me.

She saw me.

Francesca wanted my darkness. Nurtured it. Brought it out of me at every opportunity. She knew how messed up I was and still, she poked and prodded and did everything under the sun to infuriate me so I’d remind her just how awful I truly was.

She liked how fucked up I was. Loved it actually.

Francesca wanted to bask in that darkness. Wrap it around her like a blanket and know her monster would keep aaalll the other monsters away.

Now she wanted someone else’s darkness and for the first time since we started this whole song and dance I felt…threatened? No, not quite that. Maybe it was jealousy? But I didn’t think it was that either.

I was more afraid of losing her than I was of dying and I wanted to live happily ever after with her but life wasn’t a fairy tale. I’ve lived every day since I left like there wouldn’t be another but for the first time in our lives, she marked me.

She marked me.

No more hesitation. She was mine.

She was mine and I refused to live in a world where I had to watch her push me away again.

Would she ever understand how she was literally everything to me? Would she understand she was the only reason I haven’t ended up exactly like my father?

There was nothing I wouldn’t do for her. I would even find a way to change my designation if I had to.

All she had to do was say the word and I’d get it done.

Yeah, I was fucked up. Deeply flawed. Out of my mind more often than not. But that’s what Frankie liked about me.

So, what was I supposed to do now?

There was a rat by her side.

I could kill him but she’d never forgive me for it. I didn’t think it would even matter if I told her what he’s been up to. Frankie only liked the fucked-up ones. She’d probably like him even more when she found out he was spying on her.

I couldn’t help but smile.

How could I be mad she was like this when it was the only reason I had even a fraction of a chance with her?

I’ve made a lot of promises to Francesca over the years and I had no intention of breaking them. I didn’t want her to sacrifice a single thing she wanted ever again. I would be the one to sacrifice. I would be the one to suffer.

Soren needed to understand that I would always find a way to give her what she wanted even if that meant keeping him tied up until we came to an understanding .

I knocked on the door again, harder this time. It rattled in the frame before someone on the other side finally yanked it open.

Soren didn’t look surprised to see me which I found exciting.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“My job.” I shoved past him into his apartment and took a look around. “I’m Leo by the way. Does Soren happen to be your real name?”

“Yeah, Soren’s my real name.”

Sticking my hands in the pocket of my hoodie, I walked through his apartment one room at a time. It was bare and boring but the dining room table was covered in weapons and gear. Along the wall behind it was a massive desk with an insane array of computers and monitors.

“Why are you spying on her?”

“Why haven’t you told her about it?”

I turned slightly to see he was watching me with his arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the wall like this was just another day.

His calm reaction to my intrusion was starting to piss me off.

I shrugged a shoulder and eyed the sniper rifle laid out on the table. “I don’t think you’re going to hurt her.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because you can’t resist her.” I smirked and picked up one of the bullets for the rifle. “Don’t worry, I don’t blame you for the way you begged her not to leave. Francesca has this way of stripping you down to your bones, and still, you’d offer her your marrow too if only she kept holding you.”

Soren didn’t move from his strategic location. Between me and the door like I was the one trapped in here with him instead of the other way around.

I narrowed my eyes, wondering if anything I said would get through to him or if he was too embedded in this job of his to understand he was already useless to his employer.

“And who exactly are you to be watching her so closely?” Soren asked.

This little rat actually seemed defensive.

Good for him.

“I’ve known Francesca for a long time,” I bragged. “These games she plays are old news and you’re not the first person she’s fucked around with just to piss me off.”

A muscle in his jaw flickered and I smirked.

“Once she gets tired of you, she’ll move on and I’ll be right here, waiting.” That red eye glared at me, so bright it was nearly feral. “But you? You’ll never be able to move on. You’ll be thinking about her for the rest of your life until you go fucking insane. Ask me how I know.”

“Speaking from personal experience I assume,” Soren murmured.

Oh, she must love that soft, deep voice of his.

The wave of violence crashing over me was sharp and familiar but I didn’t feel the need to give in to it. Not yet at least.

I carefully set the bullet down and smiled. “You’ve been looking for me.”

“I have.”

What a guy. He didn’t even blink when I called him out on it either.

“Find anything interesting?” I picked up a flash grenade, impressed with the variety of his weapons.

“No,” Soren gritted out.

Would you look at that? He did possess feelings other than lust.

“How about this then.” I tossed the grenade up in the air, high enough it nearly hit the ceiling and Soren actually flinched. I grinned and caught the grenade before it hit the floor. “You answer my questions and I’ll answer yours.”

That fleck of red in his brown eye glimmered and I couldn’t help but fixate on it. It glowed in the low light and I found it mesmerizing.

Would that fleck turn grey if he became an omega?

“Fine,” Soren stated as he pushed off the wall. “But let’s make this game of yours a little more interesting.”

He crossed the room and grabbed a revolver off the table, checking the chamber before picking up a single bullet.

I had no idea what he had planned but it looked like fun. “You’re pretty agreeable for a rat.”

Frankie’s rookie eyed me like my choice of words bothered him but he didn’t contradict them. “Would you like to hear the rules?”

“Go for it.” I pulled out one of the chairs from the dining room table and sat down, shifting my weight and slouching down to get more comfortable. “Tell me what you find interesting, Mr. Hart.”

Soren pulled out another chair and sat down right next to me, yanking it around until he was facing me, our knees pressed together intimately.

Then he slid a single bullet in a chamber before spinning the cylinder and flipping it into place. “Every time one of us asks a question about her, we pull the trigger.”

I grinned when he pressed the barrel to my shoulder and pulled the hammer back.

This was definitely interesting.

I couldn’t say I was surprised we had this psychosis in common too.

My girl really knew how to pick them, didn’t she?

“You go first,” Soren told me. “Ask me anything.”

Anything?

The smile dropped from my face and I pulled my hood back, ruffling my hair as I considered all the options.

It wouldn’t be difficult to figure out who he was working for, but it would be time consuming.

Who’s to say he’d tell me the truth anyway?

Soren tapped his throat. “I’m not wearing scent blockers so you should be able to tell if I’m lying or not.”

Except I couldn’t smell a thing.

I peeled off my own scent blockers and tossed them on the table, not willing to be outdone. “I’ve got a better idea.”

Grabbing his free hand, I placed my fingers on his pulse and stared into his eyes, watching for any tell he might have. “What are your orders?”

He clenched his jaw, obviously annoyed I hadn’t asked about her. “Find her weakness and report it along with the evidence. If I can’t find it, I have to create one.”

Hm. He didn’t seem too happy about these orders of his, but he didn’t seem like the type to abandon a job either.

I took the gun and pressed it against his thigh. “Your turn.”

“What’s your full, legal name?” Soren asked as he pressed his fingers to my wrist.

I was really hoping he’d ask that question. “Leonidas Koen Lopez.”

A massive grin spread across my face when his pupils dilated until his eyes were nearly black.

“How are you related to her?”

I pulled the trigger, impressed despite myself when he didn’t even flinch. “Francisco Lopez decided to adopt me into the pack after my father murdered my whole family. Francesca and I aren’t related at all. We just share a name.”

Oh, he hated that.

Soren’s pulse was racing and there was the slightest hint of cedarwood in the air.

I handed him the gun. “I guess I get two this time around.”

“Guess so.”

He placed the gun against my dick and waited for me to ask my question. Did he think I wouldn’t risk it? Guess he needed to learn just how crazy I could get when it came to Frankie.

“Have you found her weakness yet?”

The gun clicked and Soren raised an eyebrow when I didn’t react to the possibility of having my dick blown off.

“One,” he admitted. “But I have no intention of telling anyone what it is.”

I grabbed the hand holding onto the gun and placed the barrel against my forehead. “Which one?”

Soren hesitated.

He didn’t pull the trigger despite my question. I respected that. It was a little ambiguous after all. But I respected his hesitation more.

“You don’t think I’m willing to die for her?” I slid my finger over his and pulled the trigger for him, smiling slightly when Soren actually tensed like he expected my brains to splatter across the apartment.

He tried to pull the gun away from my head but I forced him to keep it right there where it belonged. “Don’t go getting scared now, cupcake. This is just the beginning.”

Red flashed at me and I grinned.

“You don’t seem to understand what you’ve gotten yourself into, so how about I tell you a little story?”