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Lucas reached out to me two days later, asking if I was free that afternoon. It didn’t exactly come across as a suggestion, not that it mattered, anyway. I finally had an in to see Cain. I wasn’t about to squander that.

Lucas was waiting for me outside of the massive house in the middle of town that was Cain’s residence. He gave a lazy grin as I strolled toward him.

“Glad you could make it,” he said. He jerked his head toward the door. “Let’s get going.”

The guards nodded respectfully at Lucas, stepping away from the door and holding it open to reveal an elegant hallway beyond. Lucas strolled past without a second glance at the guards. I followed.

“Kendra still behaving?” he asked casually after a moment.

“Yeah. She’s harmless if you know how to control her,” I said, earning a chuckle from Lucas.

“Not going to lie, I always wondered what she was like in bed. I’ve always liked a bit of fire, and she seems like the kind to fight like a wildcat.” He glanced over at me, one intrigued eyebrow raised.

I resisted the urge to punch him just for asking the question. If he had asked that about any woman, it would have been disgusting. The fact that it was Kendra made it infinitely worse for reasons I didn’t quite understand. That protective feeling I had whenever I thought about her swelled and intensified.

I kept those emotions in check, knowing I couldn’t let them get in the way. Instead, I shrugged. “She’s certainly spirited.”

“Any chance of lending her out from time to time?” Lucas asked. “I always thought she was a pretty thing, and those types of girls are always the best in bed. How about it?”

I let out a low growl as genuine disgust and anger slammed into me. I had to stop myself from punching him in the face. For a start. After that, the claws might come out.

Seeing my reaction, Lucas laughed and held up his hands. “I’ll take that as a no. Perfectly fine. I can respect a guy who protects his property. Anyway, come on. He’s right through here.”

I blinked, almost shaking my head to clear it. What the hell was wrong with me? I had nearly jeopardized everything because of an off-hand comment about Kendra. A couple of weeks ago, that never would have happened. It unnerved me.

And it wasn’t just the fact that Lucas was saying this about Kendra. The fact that he saw all the women here in more or less the same light made everything infinitely worse.

He pushed open the door to reveal a large shifter sitting behind a desk, head buried in paperwork. He held up a finger, not looking at us as he finished jotting down a note. Then he placed his pencil down, finally raising his head. He raised one eyebrow at Lucas, waiting for his man to provide the introduction.

“This is the guy I was telling you about,” Lucas said.

“Will, right?” Cain asked, and I nodded. To Lucas, he said, “Leave us.”

Lucas gave a short bow and excused himself, clapping me on the shoulder.

“Would you like a drink?” Cain asked me.

“I’ll never say no to one,” I said.

He gave an approving nod and pressed a button on his desk.

“So, this is your first time here?” he asked. When I nodded, he continued, “Lucas told me you held your own in the fighting pits. Twice. Honestly, I should probably thank you. Pierce was a good customer, but he was a horrible bet when it came to the pits. He won so often that any betting against him was absolutely abysmal. We made almost no money on him.” He flashed a grin. “And then came your fantastic upset. I have to thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I said. “Always happy to help get rid of an obnoxious asshole.”

He barked out a laugh. “He was that, wasn’t he? Still, he was one of our regulars, so at least there’s the tidy sum we made after that last bet.” He tilted his head as he looked me up and down. “So, what brings you to the Underside?”

“All the beautiful women, of course,” I said dryly, earning a chortle. “It must have taken a while to set this whole place up.”

“About five years,” he said. “Though I’ve been in the business for nearly twenty years at this point. I figured guys like you would want a more private place that isn’t going to get raided every other month. A bit more privacy and exclusivity.”

“I’m certainly enjoying my time here,” I lied.

Cain grinned. “Most men who come here do,” he said. He scowled, eyes darting to the back door. “Where the hell are those drinks? You’ll have to excuse me. I have a new girl. She’s still a bit slow.”

As if on cue, a woman entered from the door in the back. She kept her head low as she shuffled in with a tray of drinks. The curly auburn hair curtaining half her face was enough to tell me precisely who it was. Even if Kendra hadn’t shown me an image of her, I would have recognized her the second she raised her head. They had the same nose and mouth, the same eye shape, even if the ones staring at me right now were a deep green instead of Kendra’s piercing gray.

“Took you long enough,” Cain growled.

“I’m sorry,” Morgan muttered, putting the tray down on the table.

“Don’t be sorry—be better,” he ordered.

She gave a brief, timid nod. She glanced quickly at me before scurrying away. Looking at Cain, I saw him staring after her with interest.

“She’s cute,” I said casually. “Not normally my type, but there’s something alluring about her.”

Cain raised an eyebrow, lounging back in the chair as he regarded me, his fingers steepled.

“That so?” he mused, as if only now noticing. “She’s pretty fresh. Been a slave for a couple of years, but only been in the Underside for about a month. She needs a bit of training,” he said, rolling his eyes. He grabbed the other drink on the tray and strolled toward me, handing over the glass filled with amber liquid. “Slavers up in the normal world don’t know how to control their slaves anymore. It’s rather annoying. But she’s submissive and happy to please, so I don’t mind it too much.”

I nodded, swirling the drink in my hand before taking a sip. It went down smooth as honey.

“How much?” I asked.

Cain raised an eyebrow. “For her?” When I nodded, he laughed. “Straight to the point, then. Always like that in my men. You’re interested in Morgan, then?”

I shrugged. “What can I say? She’s easy on the eyes.”

I expected a grin. Instead, he gave me a shrewd look that bordered on suspicious, and I started wondering if Cain wasn’t as dumb as I might have anticipated, given his chosen profession. He had managed to set up this entire operation. Underestimating him would be a huge mistake.

“Aren’t you the one Lucas told me won her sister?” he asked.

Not dumb at all, then. Or, at the very least, very well-informed. He took an interest in his business rather than just raking in the cash. He kept his eyes on me, waiting to see how I would react to that question.

I blinked, pretending to be surprised. “Mine has a sister? She didn’t say anything.”

Cain tilted his head, looking me up and down as if trying to determine whether I was lying or not. After a long moment, he said, “No, I suppose she wouldn’t.” He gave a ghost of a smirk as if reacting to a private joke. “She isn’t one for giving out information, is she?”

“Not particularly.” I shrugged again. “Still, I guess it makes sense I’d be attracted to the sister as well. So I’ll ask again: how much?”

Frowning, studying me with more interest than he had the entire time I had been here, Cain pushed himself from his chair and walked around the desk. He picked up one of the glasses and took a long sip as he scrutinized me with a shrewd, calculating intelligence.

“Did Kendra ask you to buy her sister?” he asked.

Trying to keep my face impassive, even as my dislike of the asshole in front of me grew exponentially, I said, “I told you. She didn’t even mention a sister. She doesn’t talk a whole lot.”

“Sometimes,” Cain admitted. One edge of his mouth flicked upward in a smirk, as if amused by some private joke. “She usually needs the proper incentive. But that doesn’t change the fact that I find it difficult to believe you didn’t know about her sister.”

I was treading on thin ice. He didn’t trust me entirely yet, and the line of questioning was only making him more suspicious as it continued. The more I spoke with him, the less I liked him, and the more I saw why he was in charge of this entire operation. Even from afar, he didn’t miss a beat and seemed to know the pulse of everything that went on. I’d taken down plenty of leaders who had let their underlings handle the day-to-day and sit back without knowing a thing about what was happening behind the scenes so long as the money kept coming. Cain actually paid attention, and that was far more dangerous.

My mind raced as I tried to figure out what to say that would put things back on track. I had to find a way to get him to relax and put his guard down, something that would actually make him believe I was here for the women instead of trying to destroy everything he had built.

I raised an eyebrow. “Her mouth is usually busy doing something else besides yapping.”

He blinked. Then his face broke out into a grin, and he started laughing. “I can see why Lucas wanted us to meet.” He grinned again and sipped at his drink. “You want the set?”

I really wanted to punch him in the face for referring to them as a “set.” But considering how bad that would be for the mission, I kept my face impassive. Shrugging, I gave a sleazy smile that made me want to take a shower.

“Having two sisters at the same time has always been a bit of a fantasy of mine. Seems like the perfect time to live that out.”

He gave an amused smirk. “I’ve done that once or twice. Not with those two, but sisters are always fun, no denying that.”

“Good to know it isn’t just in my head,” I said, taking a swig of the drink. It went down smooth. He had expensive taste, then. “So, how much to take her off your hands?”

Cain shook his head. “I’m not going to sell her.”

I frowned. The look on his face told me he was dead serious and nothing would change his mind. I decided to prod to figure out exactly why.

“If you think money is an issue, then I can promise you I have more than enough to pay whatever you want. I want the pair, and I’m not stingy when it comes to getting what I want. Name your price.”

He chuckled, then took a long swig of his whiskey. “This isn’t about money. Morgan’s not for sale.”

I frowned. To be honest, I had expected a little bit of skepticism, maybe a modicum of reluctance. But I had assumed that once I uttered the magic words “name your price,” he would have been more than happy to sell her.

“I’m serious. How much do you want for her?”

He shook his head with an amused smirk. “You’re persistent. I’ll give you that,” he said. “But this has nothing to do with price. The two sisters together are far more trouble than they’re worth.”

“How so?”

He frowned, as if debating how open to be. “Your slave is rather protective of her sister. The two of them tried to escape a couple of weeks ago, which was when I separated them in the first place. Both of them are more likely to behave when they aren’t together.”

“I can handle a couple of slaves,” I said. “And it isn’t as though they can do anything against me. Trust me, I’ve dealt with much worse.”

“You can handle your own. Lucas has told me that much,” he conceded. “But that doesn’t change my mind.”

I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow. “Any particular reason why?” I asked, trying to sound more curious than antagonistic.

“Lucas told me about how protective you are of your slave,” Cain said. “Let’s just say I can be just as protective, if not more so. I happen to like keeping my girls close. I grew attached to them. I’m sure you understand.”

The threat beneath his words was plain as day. Back off, or he would make me back off. Part of me wanted to fight him on it, to push for Kendra. I knew how important Morgan was to her, and I hated that I couldn’t find a way to snatch her from Cain. But I knew that if I pushed, any work I had done in this investigation would fall apart.

“Trust me, I’m doing you a favor.” Cain gave an amused grin.

Something about the way he said it set off alarm bells. But I could also tell, based on the way he was looking at me, that pushing on the matter right now would only cause more problems. He was growing suspicious, and I needed him, needed more information on his whole operation. I couldn’t jeopardize this opening by prodding more.

Still, a nugget of guilt formed inside me. I felt bad about disappointing Kendra, but the mission came first. Besides, there were times I might be able to help her in the future. Not pushing things right now was the best course of action for all parties.

“Fair enough.” I took another generous swig. “So, Lucas said you might have some use for me.”

“I might,” Cain conceded, looking me up and down, seemingly more at ease now that the conversation about Morgan had passed. “But this is not a business call. This was to drink and get to know one another.” He scrutinized me. “I like to know the men I’m dealing with before I get into business with them.”

“What do you know?” I said with a grin. “I feel the same way.”