Page 18 of Hunted Temptation (Alpha Nights: Unlikely Heroes #4)

Chapter Seventeen

VAUGHN

With Elodie by my side, I open the door to the office building and wait for her to walk inside. She looks back at me, watching as I close the door and ensure that it’s locked. She doesn’t say anything about the tight security, though I can read the question clearly in her gaze.

I hold out my hand and wait for her to slip her fingers in mine. Curling them around hers, I tug her behind me as I walk toward the elevator. We step into the car, but neither of us speaks as it climbs to my floor.

I know the others are here. A meeting has been called, and something niggled at the back of my mind to bring her with me. I know without a doubt that she would be safe at my place.

Nothing and nobody can get inside my condo without me seeing it, without me being alerted, but there was no way I could just walk away from her today. Something is going on, and I want to know what it is. And I need her with me so I can focus on whatever the task at hand will be.

As we walk toward the office, I can see that the light is on inside. The others are likely here. I wasn’t really paying attention to each of their cars in the parking lot, but I’m sure they were all there.

I’m typically not late, but taking care of Elodie this morning put me a few minutes behind schedule.

I don’t take her into the conference room.

Instead, I unlock my small office and guide her inside.

I can introduce her to everyone later, after this.

I need to know what’s making the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention.

“I have a meeting with my partners, then I’ll come and get you. I want you to meet them.”

Her eyes widen at my words, and her lips part, then snap closed. I’m not sure what she wants to say, but I don’t wait around to find out, either. Jerking my chin, I smirk as I tilt my head to the side.

“I’ll be back soon. Don’t get into any trouble, Goldie.”

She sinks her teeth into the corner of her bottom lip, her eyes searching mine for a long moment before she lets out a heavy sigh. “I won’t,” she says softly.

Fuck me, but this woman undoes me. The more time I spend with her, the less I see her as the eighteen-year-old I watched from across the street of her father’s hellhole and more as a woman, as the woman who holds my fucked-up heart, not like a girl.

And I’m sure there is some fucked-up shit involved in that, but I decide to not analyze it. What I’m going to do is ignore it all and just feel—at least for now. The time to analyze shit will come later.

“Lock the door behind me, and I’ll see you when I’m done. Stay in here.”

Closing the office door, I stand by and listen for her to flip the lock into place. She does. And only when I know she’s securely locked away do I make my way over to the conference room.

As I stand in front of the closed door, I can hear men’s voices on the other side, but I can’t make out what any of them are saying. I listen for a moment, waiting to hear any of the women’s voices, but there is nothing. Just the men. Just my brothers.

I reach out for the handle and tug it down to gently open the door. The moment I step into the room, the talking ceases. Their attention shifts to me, and I realize that there are no women here. Leaving Elodie in the office was a good choice.

“Just the guys today?” I ask.

Theron smirks before he jerks his chin. “Figured it would be better just us. The girls can meet her later. But we need the information, all of it. Now.”

I clear my throat before sinking down in my chair. I can feel their eyes focused on me, their attention on me and only me. I’m not sure if that should make me feel uncomfortable or not, but I don’t think I care.

“Someone searched for Elodie.”

“Searched?” Merrick asks.

“I set up an alert online to see if anyone was looking for her. Someone searched for her, but there is nothing to find,” I announce.

The silence that follows my words is deafening.

Then Grayson makes a noise in the back of his throat, and I watch as he places his palms flat on the table before he pushes himself up to standing.

His eyes search mine before he speaks, his words coming out slowly, taking his time with each one as if he’s afraid to fuck up in some way.

“There has been someone asking questions,” he murmurs.

My breath hitches, but I don’t say anything in response to his words. I know he has more information for me, so I wait. Every minute feels like absolute torture. I need to know who is out here looking for Elodie.

For my woman.

Grayson continues, thankfully putting me out of my misery without wasting much time.

“He’s a private detective. He wasn’t hard to find.

I’m not sure he’s very good at his job. I mean, maybe he is when it comes to regular jobs, but we spotted him instantly.

Especially when he started poking around here, it took me about five minutes to find out his identity. ”

“Who hired him?” I demand.

Silence. I watch as he shifts his attention down to the table, then slowly lifts it to meet mine. “The comptroller’s brother,” he announces.

“Not the wife?” I ask, surprised by that information.

That’s when Grayson’s eyes lift to meet mine and his lips twitch into a smirk. “She’s already got the house up for sale, packed it up, and moved out.”

“Seems she didn’t waste a minute,” Boden mutters.

Hale snorts. “Probably more than happy to get the fuck out and away from whatever sick-and-twisted shit that guy had her doing.”

No kidding. No fucking kidding.

“So what do we do with this guy?” I ask.

I know what I want to do with him. I want to end him.

Anyone who is a threat to Elodie needs to fucking go.

And if I’m being honest, this asshole is also a threat to me.

I don’t think he’ll be able to connect any dots, and even if he does, there won’t be any evidence, but I also don’t need him poking around my business, my life, and my woman.

“We run his ass out of town,” Theron grunts, his gaze flicking to meet mine.

I arch a brow, and my lips twitch into a smirk. “And take care of his brother.”

Boden chuckles, but it’s Theron who speaks. Our unofficial leader. The man who always seems to keep a calm head when the rest of us are in the middle of battling a storm.

“And take care of his brother, because if he’s anything like us, he will never quit looking for the man who killed the piece of shit. And if he’s upset the fucker is dead, then my guess is he’s a piece of shit, too.”

Merrick snorts. “I would say you’re probably right on that, but if you want, we can get a dossier on him.”

“Sure,” I mutter, even though it doesn’t matter. I’m killing the son of a bitch anyway. He’s here, and he’s a goddamn threat.

ELODIE

As much as I want to walk around and snoop through the office, I decide against it. I don’t want to violate his space. He’s trusted me enough to stay in here alone. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to look into every single nook and cranny, because I really do.

Walking over to the window, I look down at the street, but there isn’t anything there. Just a sidewalk, an empty sidewalk. Stepping back from the window, I walk over to the small bookcase.

There are only a few books on one shelf. The rest are filled with little trinkets and items, such as a small globe and a decanter with amber liquid inside. But the books are what hold my attention.

The 50 th Law , The Obstacle is the Way , The Art of War , The Complete Gentleman , and Never Let Go , which looks like some kind of fitness book. I extend my finger and slide it across each book as I hear the door open.

Turning my head, I look over to the doorway and see him standing there, watching me. “You read,” I state.

“I do,” he murmurs.

He doesn’t move toward me. He stays where he is, his eyes focused on mine. Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I tug on the skin there before my hand falls from the books, and I turn toward him fully. I take one step forward, then another, stopping before I reach him.

“Is that okay?” he asks with a chuckle.

I close the distance between us silently, then place my palm in the center of his chest as I tilt my head backward. “I didn’t take you for a reader,” I whisper.

“Yeah?”

“I like that. I used to read a lot when I was able to borrow books from the school library.”

He wraps his fingers around the side of my neck, flexing them gently. When the pad of his thumb slides along my bottom lip, I have to press my thighs together in an effort to relieve the ache there.

“You able to meet my business partners and family?” he asks. “Or do you need me first?”

I need him first.

But I don’t say that.

“I would love to meet them,” I exhale.

He chuckles as if he finds me funny, maybe cute, or maybe both. He lowers his head to touch his lips to mine, his tongue slipping inside my mouth to taste me wholly. My body shifts forward, melting into his. I wish I could climb inside him and live there.

That way, he would never leave me. That way, I could be with him always.

That way, he would keep me. He breaks the kiss and nibbles on my bottom lip a couple of times before he lifts his head.

His eyes find mine, holding them before he murmurs, “You’ll meet them, then we’ll come back here, and I’ll make you come with my mouth before I fuck you hard against my desk. ”

My thighs tremble. My body aches. My whole world spins.

“Okay.”