Page 69 of Taming the Beasts

He grabbed my wrist. “Where are you going?”

“Don’t you want me to leave?”

He shook his head. “Why is your first instinct always to run from us?”

I opened my mouth and closed it again.

“Zoey. No one is asking you to leave. I understand why you lied. I was just letting you know I didn’t like it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.” He reached out and touched the side of my face. “I’ve wanted you since we first moved to Crooked Point. And I have no intention of ever letting you go. I’m just asking you to be honest with me.”

“I will be. No more robberies. Unless we’re doing it together.”

He laughed. “We’re not bringing you on any of our artifact retrieval missions.”

“But I just proved that I can do it.”

“I didn’t say it was because you weren’t capable. I just want to keep you safe. Besides, it appears we already have the artifact we’ve been searching for.”

“I meant what I said. I don’t trust Kebe. All that vampire stuff wasn’t adding up to me. Don’t you think Callum would be able to sense another vampire in his presence?”

“He said he’d never met another vampire before. He really seems to believe her.”

Right.“But she answered all our questions really weirdly. She seemed to just be going along with whatever we said and why did she want us to use the coin outside? That seemed like a really bad idea. I really want the coin to be the cure. I know how long you’ve been searching for it. I’m just worried Kebe is up to something shady.”

“Good, me too.”

“Wait, really?”

Bennett laughed. “Why do you think I called the guys I know in Egypt? And why do you think Titan just locked the coin up again in the vault? We’re not using something we don’t know anything about. Especially something a vampire told us about. I don’t trust a word out of your new friend’s mouth.”

“Oh thank God. And she’s not my friend.” I was starting to think we were enemies. She was trying to steal at least one of my boyfriends.

Bennett laughed. “I don’t trust just anyone, Zoey. That’s why it hurt when you lied to me. And when you told Kebe our secret.”

“She overheard...” the semantics didn’t matter. I nodded. “I really am sorry about all of it.”

“I know.” He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss against my forehead.

It was the most comforting feeling in the world.

“Now, what is this about you just being on vacation from MyFanatics?”

“It’s a permanent vacation, I promise. I didn’t record a goodbye video because I was hoping Kebe would just take over the whole thing for me. And that’s what she said when she went live. That I was on vacation. ButI don’t have any intention of going back on. Well, except to talk to King.”

“Not happening,” Bennett said.

“But he’s the reason I know about the coin. It would be a good idea to double check everything with him...”

“Not happening,” Bennett repeated.

I slowly nodded my head. “Okay. I won’t do that.” Honestly, I wasn’t sure how much it would help anyway. I liked to think I knew King pretty well. But what did I really know about him other than the fact that I presumed he was rich? Bennett’s contacts that he trusted would be the best sources of information.

“Thank you,” Bennett said. “Now about your other clients.”

“Crap, right. I’ll let them know I’m no longer running my fitness business right now.”