My phone buzzed with an incoming call as I made my way out of the building, and I paused to check it. My excitement quickly dashed when I saw it wasn’t my woman calling to say she missed me. Because I missed her. Like I’d cut out a vital piece of me and left it behind in that bloody hotel room a few nights ago.
The number that was calling was unexpected enough for me to answer anyway.
“Mr. Timber,” I greeted the caller with a smirk, walking slowly down the street to where I’d parked. “What trouble has your lovely wife gotten into this time?”
The man on the other end gave a harsh chuckle. “Nothing we can’t handle, thanks. But you might need our help for once.”
My brows rose and I stopped completely, ignoring the other pedestrians who needed to walk around me. “Oh? Do tell, Zayden.”
“Someone’s put out a hit on you, Leon. Ezekiel brought it to our attention when it was offered to his people first.” He sounded clipped and annoyed. “Seeing as we owe you for Lucas, I figured maybe you’d appreciate the heads-up.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Someone put a hit on me?” It was beyond laughable. “And thought someone outside the Guild could pull it off?”
Amused as hell, but also quietly furious, I fished in my coat pocket for my key fob. My car was still half a block away but close enough that the remote engine ignition would work.
“Trust me, the boss was equally amused. But she said we needed to let you know so it’s crystal clear we won’t be involved. Ezekiel knows, too.” Zed sounded cautious, like he was worried I might shoot the messenger. Ezekiel ran a black ops company that was small but skilled. If they were about twenty times the size they currently were, they’d be a rival to the Guild, so it was probably a good thing he was staying out of this little dispute. I knew it would benefit me to indebt the fearsome leader of the Timberwolves, because she held Ezekiel’s leash in an iron grip.
I clicked my key fob and didn’t flinch when my car exploded.
“Pathetic,” I muttered. “Sloppy, lazy work. We need better industry standards.”
Zed gave a laugh of agreement. “Car bomb?”
I grunted my response, then ended the call. We weren’t friends, so there was no need for pleasantries, and the Timber family would likely continue to owe me for a long time. Even though it’d been my debt to Layla that had seen me help them in the first place.
Layla. Fucking Layla. I needed to find whatever information she’d hidden away from the Guild. Whatever it was, it got her killed. And it was about to get Danny killed. That was utterly unacceptable, so I would retrace Layla’s steps, and somewhere along the way, I’d find whatever she’d hidden.
Starting with the visit she paid to a prisoner.
I continued down the street, totally ignoring the flaming ruins of my car and screaming, injured bystanders. I had more important business to deal with.
15
Despite what I’d told Kai, I hadn’t called Leon after shutting myself away in the bedroom. It’d been tempting, crazy tempting. But I’d never been the kind of girl who depended on anyone and certainly never on a man. The closest I’d ever come to a committed relationship was the year I’d spent dating Ricardo, Carlos’s younger brother. Then that went to shit spectacularly, and I’d been pretty settled in the idea of being alone.
Just me and Stanley, happily ever after.
So I’d talked myself out of calling Leon, because he’d been crystal clear in telling me not to trust him. Everyone in the Guild had ulterior motives, and he was no exception. That didn’t stop me wishing he would call me, though. I missed him.
Not in a I need his protection kind of way, either. I just missed him. All his crazy, unpredictable shit. It kept me on my toes, never sure whether he was thinking about fucking or fighting or fondue. It’d only been a couple of days since he’d left me well fucked and passed out cold, but it seemed like far too long.
After tending to my bruises and cuts again, I’d checked the lock on my door and placed a dagger under my pillow. Then I’d fallen into a heavy sleep of pure exhaustion.
Come to think of it, now I was starving.
I yawned and stretched, then snuggled into the hard warmth at my back. A strong arm tightened around my waist, pulling me closer until my ass bumped against some impressive morning wood.
“Mmm,” I sighed sleepily as soft lips brushed over my bruised neck. “Leon…”
Kai froze, all his muscles tensing in a flash as a low, angry growl rolled out of him. What did he think he was, a fucking werewolf?
I grinned, smug as fuck as I wriggled my butt against his erection and moaned like I was in the middle of a sex dream.
“You’re not fucking funny, Siren,” Kai seethed, his grip on my waist intensifying. This time, he ground against me with more intention, and my answering gasp wasn’t faked.
Still, I chuckled. “What did you fucking expect, sneaking into my bed? You’re not welcome here, Malachi.” And yet, I wasn’t exactly fighting to get out of bed and away from his embrace. Apparently, my Stockholm syndrome was still in full effect, because I was comfortable. Utterly relaxed.
The tension in his body melted away, and he gave a husky laugh back. “The way you snuggled into me all night tells a different story. Besides, I told you to stop calling me that.”
I gave a yawn and shrugged. Why wasn’t I leaping out of bed and putting him in his place? Shit, I didn’t even need to get out of bed, there was a knife under my pillow. But nope, I just used his thick bicep as a pillow and inhaled his crisp, slightly salty scent. He smelled like the ocean. How fitting, given his fascination with sea sirens.
But it wasn’t real. Kai had played me just as hard as I’d played him. Now what the fuck were we doing? Pretending like we were back on the island? The toothpaste couldn’t be put back in the tube, so right now we were both just ignoring the mess.
“I missed you,” he whispered, making a shiver roll through me. His hot breath teased my neck, and his fingers stroked my belly. “I couldn’t sleep, knowing you were right here within my grasp.”
I wet my lips, swallowing the desire to roll over and kiss him. To admit that I’d missed him, too.
“You didn’t miss me,” I whispered, those words hurting way more than they should have. “You never knew me. You missed Danielle, but I can’t imagine why. She cried all the damn time. Wasn’t that annoying as hell?”
Instead of making him angry at the reminder that I’d been manipulating and lying, I only seemed to be amusing him. He gave a husky laugh and kissed my neck. I needed to tell him to stop doing that.
“Yeah, the crying wasn’t my favorite part,” he admitted. “But she wasn’t who I’ve been missing. It was you all along, the quick-witted woman lurking behind crying eyes. Your act was slipping more every day that you stayed with me, and I think you know it. That’s why you eventually ran, isn’t it? You got scared, because what you felt for me was real.”
He said it as though he really believed I’d admit it. Like I’d even admitted it to myself.
Nope. I gritted my teeth and rolled out of his embrace. Or I tried to. He caught me around the waist, turned me over, and hauled me back against him with arms like steel bands. The only thing stopping me from kneeing him in the balls, then stabbing him through the trachea was the tender way he kissed my hair.