Page 21 of Hunted Temptation (Alpha Nights: Unlikely Heroes #4)

Chapter Twenty

ELODIE

Lucille’s smile takes over her entire face. Her eyes stay connected to mine, searching. She doesn’t say anything immediately, but I can tell she has something on the tip of her tongue.

Silence passes between us as we stand in the middle of the room, staring at one another, but I don’t know what to say. I think I’ve said plenty, so it’s time I keep my mouth shut. I do just that, but Nadine doesn’t stay quiet. Her lips curve up into an even bigger smile.

“Let’s teach these bastards a lesson they’ll never forget,” she murmurs.

“But I don’t think we should. What about Vaughn?” I ask.

Lucille’s lips twitch, but they don’t falter at all.

Something is working behind her gaze, and I have to admit it’s a little scary to see.

This woman is without a doubt unhinged, and now I’m wondering what I’ve gotten into here.

Maybe I should have pretended I was still sleeping in Vaughn’s office because I have a feeling that whatever is about to happen, Vaughn isn’t going to like.

“He’ll be fine. Vaughn knows the score,” she quips.

My eyes are wide as I shift my gaze from Lucille to Nadine, who is also staring at me with big eyes. Both of us look like deer caught in headlights. But before a plan of any kind can be hatched, I hear Vaughn call out my name from behind me.

Lucille releases her grasp on my hands, and I turn around slowly to face him.

I expect to see his lips curved up a little bit, a small smile playing on them at the fact that I’m standing here with two women he loves and respects, but instead, I’m met with a murderous gaze, and my entire body stiffens at the sight.

“Vaughn?” I ask in a whisper.

He grunts, and I don’t know why, but I don’t expect him to say anything. He looks like he might want to haul me away and lock me back up in his minuscule office. I’m not opposed to it at this point. I think that maybe I shouldn’t have come out here, not if it was going to upset him this much.

I start to open my mouth to apologize for stepping out of the space where he told me to stay put. But he starts talking before I can say anything. And only then does my body begin to relax, right before all of my muscles tighten again.

“There’s a private investigator here from California,” he states, and I swear, I swoon.

My entire body swoons. My knees almost give out on me, and if it weren’t for my tight muscles, I would probably collapse onto the floor right this second. As it is, I tremble to the point of almost vibrating.

“What does that mean?” I am finally able to ask, although it comes out in a whisper. “What does he want?”

“If I had to guess, it’s to avenge some sick pervert,” Lucille says with a snort.

Vaughn grunts. “Pretty much. The state comptroller’s brother doesn’t believe the story, and he’s followed us here from California.”

“What does this mean?” I ask.

Vaughn shrugs a shoulder. “Not much of anything. The brother can’t place you there. The PI can’t either, not unless he knows of something illicit happening, and that would negate the whole thing, because it’s not like he can go to the police or a judge with that information.”

I want to believe those words, but then I start to think about the fact that it’s not really me who needs to worry. I didn’t do anything. It’s Vaughn. I can’t look away from him. My gaze focuses on his, completely connected. I know there are other people in this room, but I can’t see them.

They don’t exist.

It’s only Vaughn.

“I’m not worried about me,” I whisper. “I’m worried about you.”

The moment I say those words, his entire demeanor changes. His face smooths out, his lips curve up into a small smile, and even his eyes relax. Those little changes allow me to finally relax as well.

My feet move toward him. Without even thinking about it, I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my chin against his chest, closing my eyes and letting out a long exhale as I do.

This is where I am comfortable, here, with him.

When his arms curl around my body, holding me against him, I feel like the weight of this situation instantly vanishes.

Vaughn’s lips touch the top of my head with his own heavy exhale.

I snuggle closer, wishing, not for the first time, that I could crawl inside his body and stay there forever.

I’m without a doubt positive that there is some kind of psychological thing wrong with me, but right now, I don’t care. I’m not sure I ever will.

“Okay, so do we kill this guy?” a woman’s voice calls out.

Vaughn’s spine straightens, and his hands fall from me as he takes a step backward. I hear a man’s voice call out in a very low tone that is laced with warning beyond measure.

“Lucille.”

When I open my eyes, I am met with Theron’s gaze. He gives me a wink but then shifts his attention over to Lucille, who, judging by the bored expression on her face, isn’t the least bit scared of her husband.

She moves toward him and stops when she’s just a few inches from his body, then lifts her hands and presses her palms flat against his chest, almost the same way I stood moments ago in front of Vaughn.

“He needs to go, Theron, and you know it.”

“Yeah,” Theron grunts, then his gaze flicks to meet Vaughn’s. “He does need to go, but the bodies are piling up.”

“They are,” Vaughn murmurs.

I move toward Theron to step between him and Vaughn, my eyes never leaving his. I can feel Vaughn shift around at my back, moving toward me. I can feel his fingers touch the small of my back, but he doesn’t pull me away or try to make me stop talking.

“Theron.”

Theron’s brow arches, and Lucille takes a step backward, her head turning to the side, her eyes finding me. She doesn’t say anything, but they both look at me, watch me with anticipation, waiting for what I’m going to say next.

“No more blood on Vaughn’s hands. No blood on your hands. This is mine.”

“No,” Vaughn and Theron say simultaneously.

“Not you,” Vaughn murmurs.

“Yes, me,” I say. “I need this. He doesn’t get to haunt me from the dead. And he doesn’t get to threaten any of you from the dead, either. Neither do any of the others.”

Lucille’s laughter fills the air around us. The supercharged air. It swirls around me, and I press my lips together as I wait for one of the guys to say something, anything, but they don’t.

With all our attention focused on her, Lucille speaks. “Let us handle this,” she says.

“I don’t think so,” Theron murmurs. Though he doesn’t say it very boisterously.

Lucille smirks as Vaughn slips his hand around my waist, his fingers digging into me and holding me still. Lifting my chin slightly, I look at her, trying to figure out what exactly she’s trying to propose.

Whatever it is, she is certain this is what she wants and that it’s going to work. “I know how to put things on lists. Nobody has to know where it came from, and none of us has to have dirty hands.”

“Wouldn’t your hands be dirty if you were typing the hits?” Vaughn asks.

Lucille shrugs a shoulder. “Only a little messy, kind of like when you have to slide peanut butter off the spoon with your finger.”

“Christ,” Vaughn chuckles. “Your woman is crazy,” he says.

Theron’s lips curve up into a grin. “I love that part about her, and also, she’s got a good idea.”

“Except her idea costs me money, and I can do it all for free,” Vaughn murmurs.

Well then.

There is that.

But then I remember something and turn around to face Vaughn. I tilt my head back, and my eyes find his before I speak. We stare at one another in silence. He watches me, no doubt waiting for me to say something.

“Use my father’s dirty money,” I say.

“What?” he asks.

“My father’s money. You said you got it all, and I could have it when I was ready. I’m ready.”

Lucille squeals, but I don’t look over my shoulder at her. I keep my focus on Vaughn. His brows knit together. He seems confused by my words, but I know he isn’t. He understands precisely what I’m saying.

“What about your future?” he asks.

I’m taking a gigantic leap by saying what I’m about to say. “You’re my future, Vaughn. That money is just a reminder of my past, and I don’t want it. We can use it for good.”

“And killing people is good?” he asks.

“Those people?” I ask. “Yes, it is good. In fact, I would say it’s probably the best thing ever to do. I would fall asleep peacefully at night knowing they weren’t hurting any more children.”

“Well then, let’s set up some listings. How much money do I have to play with?” Lucille asks.

Vaughn breaks our connection and lifts his head, his eyes moving away from mine and past my shoulder to where I assume Lucille is standing. When he speaks, my entire body jerks, my spine straightens, my muscles tighten, and I suck in a breath. I can’t believe the words that come out of his mouth.

“One hundred million.”