Suddenly he was pushing me off, not seeming to care that my blade sliced his skin as he thrashed. But he wasn’t trying to kill me anymore, he was frantically searching the room. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t trying to steal her out from under my nose this time.
On some kind of unspoken agreement, we quit fighting each other and started looking around for the one thing we actually had in common. Danny.
She was nowhere to be seen, though. Not at the bar or in the lounge or…
“Shit,” I spat, realizing where she probably was. I took off toward the back of the club, where the kitchen and staff change rooms were located. Also, the management office.
I shrugged off the security guards who tried to stop me and threw open the office door with Kai only a few steps behind me. Sure enough, there she was.
“Oh hello, boys,” she purred from her seat in front of Lee Sheridan’s desk. “Nice of you to finally join me. Did you sort out your issues?” She tipped her head to the side, the only hint of anxiety showing in the way her eyes tracked back and forth between me and Kai.
I wet my lips, shooting a hard glare at the owner of Meow Lounge. “Trust you to pick such an opportune moment to get my DeLuna alone.”
The middle-aged man behind the desk just grinned and spread his hands wide. “Me? I did nothing wrong here. I simply came to thank your lovely partner for such an invigorating show, and she asked for a moment alone. How could I say no?” His face was pure smugness, and I was sorely tempted to cut it off his skull.
“Siren,” Kai said, reminding me he was there. “Let’s go.”
I bit back a smirk as Danny’s brows rose.
“Boys, I was actually in the middle of a conversation with Mr. Sheridan here,” she informed us in a cool tone. “If you’re not done with your little schoolyard scuffle, you can continue it out in the parking lot. The adults are talking.”
Kai’s jaw dropped, but I was barely holding back my grin. Before he could compute what she was saying—how fucking stupid was he?—I’d sat my ass down in the second chair opposite Sheridan’s desk.
“Actually, you’re the one who started that fight, aren’t you?” Lee Sheridan asked, eyeing Kai up and down. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re just one big walking erection, but fighting is bad for business.”
The muscle-bound moron clenched his fists at his sides, like more violence would solve his problems. But Lee had already made up his mind.
“You can wait outside, thank you. We’re lovers, not fighters, at Meow Lounge.”
Outrage twisted Kai’s face, and he shook his head in denial. “What? No, I’m not—”
“I said,” Lee snapped, cutting him off with a bark of authority, “thank you. There is the door. Do you need me to call security to assist you out?”
Kai’s jaw flapped a couple times while I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from snickering, and Danny gave a frustrated sigh.
“Go,” she ordered him. “Leon and I have this perfectly under control. I’ll see you back at the house.”
He definitely wanted to argue that point, but he must have seen the exact same thing I did when I looked at her. She was in no mood to be questioned, anger practically crackling from her skin as she glared up at him.
His jaw clenched and his fists tightened, but he gave a small jerk of his head. “Fine,” he seethed. Then he shot me with a dagger glare that promised we were far from done, before stalking out of the office like he’d just had a cactus shoved up his ass.
The door slammed behind him, and I shifted my attention back to Danny. She was perched somewhat uncomfortably on her chair, her back a little too straight, and it made me all tingly inside.
“Well then,” Lee said, clasping his hands in front of him and giving me a long look. “If you’re here, then I have to assume this is about Layla.”
Well, I wasn’t expecting that.
33
My jaw quite literally dropped when Lee explained that he and Layla had been involved, and that was why she’d extended her stay in this area. But the shocking part wasn’t that Layla had been sleeping with a man more than twice her age, it was that she and Leon had been dating at the time.
Leon was strung tighter than a piano wire as Lee told his story in an emotionless, matter-of-fact tone. It made me worried enough that I got up and seated myself directly in Leon’s lap instead. It surprised him enough that he seemed to snap out of the murderous rage he had going on, and his hand curled possessively around my bare thigh.
“I think it’s in everyone’s best interest if we wrap this up quickly,” I suggested with a pointed look at the Meow Lounge owner. “So let’s cut to the chase, shall we? Layla hid a data cache somewhere before she died. She told someone that it was in the last place the Guild would find it. Do you have it?”
Lee’s brows rose in surprise. “Do I—？ No. No, I’m sorry she never even told me what she was working on. Have you spoken to her uncle? She mentioned he didn’t live far from here. There was definitely something shady with him too.”
Leon practically vibrated under me. He was so tense, his fingertips biting into the flesh of my thigh like it was his last grip on reality. I covered his hand with my own, attempting to soothe him while I pushed Sheridan for more information.
“What kind of shady?” I asked. “Why do you say that?”
He spread his hands wide in a shrug. “I truly don’t know much. Just that he was leaving her notes on a dead drop website.” With a sigh, he ran a hand over his head. “I swear, if I knew anything that could help, I’d tell you.”
Leon jerked beneath me, then carefully lifted me out of his lap before he stood up. “I think you’ve done enough,” he snarled, then stalked out of the office without a backward glance.
I frowned after him, then turned my attention back to Sheridan with confusion.
“She wasn’t in love with him,” he told me apologetically. “They were friends who became involved but never loved each other more than friends. She needed more.”
I wasn’t even remotely interested in casting judgment over ancient history of people I didn’t know, so I gave him a clipped thank you for the information.
At that, he smiled warmly. “I should be thanking you for that show out there.” He gave an exaggerated chef’s kiss, and I exited his office before I could take offense and shoot him. Layla was a fucking idiot if she shacked up with this guy over Leon.
I headed for the exit, assuming Leon had gone out to the parking lot, but a hand grabbed my wrist before I got there. A swift jerk pulled me off balance, and I tumbled into a tiny private room with nothing more than an armchair and a floor-to-ceiling one-way glass window.
The hidden door closed behind me, then Leon’s lips were on mine, kissing me like he needed to remember he was still human. I melted into his demanding hold, my hands cupping his face as he claimed my mouth, his searing kisses imprinting on my heart and soul.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered against his lips when the desperation eased off. “I wish she was still here.”
Leon shook his head. “I’m glad she’s not. Every day, I realize how blind I was. How naïve. What I had with Layla wasn’t love… this is.”