Page 69 of His Ruthless Match

Grayson’s grin faltered slightly. “Big words for someone hiding behind The Shadow’s pet.”

“I’m not hiding,” Eva said, stepping forward with more conviction than I’d ever seen from her. “But maybe you should be. You’re nothing but a two-bit thief who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. You think any of this”—she waved her hand around the room—“makes you untouchable? I’ve seen better poker faces from drunk frat boys.”

Grayson’s expression darkened, his eyes flickering with annoyance. He didn’t like being mocked. The atmosphere in the room shifted, the tension rising with every passing second.

I moved even closer to Eva. If this motherfucker so much as twitched in her direction, I’d tear his heart out with my claws.

“Careful,” Grayson warned, his voice dropping low. “You’re playing a dangerous game, little girl.”

I gently placed my hand on Eva’s shoulder. My voice was a low growl. A warning. “Enough, Delgado.”

Eva shrugged my hand away and stepped closer to Grayson, pointing her finger in his face. “You padded the accounts. And you tried to launder it through a front you don’t even fully control. Sloppy. And desperate. That mistake could get you killed if the wrong people noticed.”

Grayson’s bravado wavered, and I could see the wheels turning in his head. The last thing he wanted was to piss off The Shadow’s representative.

I stepped closer to him and squared my shoulders. “You have two choices,” I said, my voice cold as ice. “Return everything you stole from House Orvash and leave The Below forever. Or…” I let the words hang in the air like a death sentence. “…I can kill you right here on the spot. Those are your two options.”

Grayson’s lip curled into a sneer. “You think House Orvash will let me go quietly? If I go down, so do they. They’ve been involved in much shadier shit than I have. What’s wrong with me skimming a little fat off the top? They’ll never even notice their stuff is gone.”

I gave a small shake of my head. “You think far too much of yourself, asshole. House Orvash has already noticed, and they’ve made their stance clear. They want you gone. So, change of plans. I was going to try and be the peacemaker, the guy who sweeps in and fixes everything right as rain. But House Orvash gave me the authority to kill you on the spot.”

Before I’d even finished speaking, Grayson jumped up and bolted toward the door. He barreled into Eva, knocking her to the ground.

The instinct to protect her flared. I was at her side in a split second and helping her to her feet. Shifting into my cougar form, I sprang into action, my claws tearing through the air. Within moments, I was on him, sinking my teeth into his jugular, my anger and frustration flooding through me with every pull of my fangs.

Sure, it was probably overkill. I could’ve ended the bastard’s life with less bloodshed, but the job was done. Grayson’s body went limp as his life force drained from him. When I shifted back to my human form, I felt no satisfaction, just a grim sense of closure.

Eva stood frozen, her eyes and mouth wide with shock.

I turned to face the remaining vampires who seemed to be with Grayson’s artifact smuggling business. “House Orvash wants their fucking artifacts back. All these packages need to be rerouted to them immediately, and maybe you’ll keep your lives. If not…” I cracked my knuckles, letting the implication hang heavy in the air. “I’m happy to shift again.”

They scrambled, mumbling apologies as they gathered the stolen goods.

I glanced over at Eva, who looked at me with a mix of awe and something else in her eyes. “Shall we?” I asked, offering her my arm.

We stepped around Grayson’s body and the massive pool of blood, leaving the room in silence.

“That place…” Eva said softly, her voice distant as she searched for the right words. “It was one part corporate boardroom, one part feeding frenzy.”

I was still pissed with her, but I wouldn’t let it show here. That could wait until we were alone. “Welcome to The Below, Delgado. Don’t let it bite you.”

The driveback to Eva’s apartment was a quiet, simmering storm. I gripped the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles ached, my jaw locked as I replayed the events of the night in my head. She had run her godsdamn mouth and could have gotten herself killed if I hadn’t had such a good handle on the situation, and if we’d been with someone more dangerous than Grayson was. Why couldn’t she justlistenand follow instructions?

She sat rigidly in the passenger seat, arms crossed, staring out the window. The tension between us was suffocating, like a thunderstorm waiting to break. But I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t trust myself not to say something that would escalate things.

When I parked the car, I got out and opened her door. She stepped out, her lips pressed into a tight line, and stalked toward the elevator. By the time we stepped into the apartment, the dam was ready to burst.

I slammed the door shut behind us and immediately started pacing, the rhythm of my boots against the floor cutting through the tense silence. My entire body buzzed with frustration and adrenaline. She stood by the kitchen island, glaring daggers at me.

“Do you have any idea,” I snapped, stopping to face her, “how close you came to getting yourself in trouble tonight with that beautiful fucking mouth of yours?”

“I wasn’t the one picking a fight with a room full of vampires.”

“I can handle vampires, Delgado. You can barely handle a dirty look from one of them.”

Her eyes flashed, and she stepped toward me, jabbing a finger into my chest. “I didn’t ask to be dragged into your underworld mafia nonsense! You insisted on taking me with you.”

“Because I can’t trust you to stay out of trouble without me.”