Chapter Fifteen #2
He stared at me, his jaw jumping under his scruff, processing the weight of the words I had just spoken.
Usually, the man was clean cut and well put together, a model from Dior.
He was undeniably gorgeous, with his dark hair, sharp jaw, and eyes darker than my brother’s. Haley’s kidnapping took a toll on him, though. There were bags underneath his eyes, and the five o’clock shadow had gained permanent residence on his handsome face. I couldn’t blame the man for his anger.
Everyone was angry, some of us broken.
He had the right to feel and express his anger. But he didn’t have the right to kill the man who held my heart.
“Haley cares for him?” he asked, his deep voice thick with pain.
“She does. She considers him a friend, James.”
“He took—”
I put my hand over his mouth to stop his next words. He let me keep it there.
“No. He saved her.”
His brows came together in confusion, his dark eyes searching mine.
“I don’t have a lot of time to explain, but I can tell you where she is on the condition that you don’t harm anyone in the house.”
He pulled my hand away, holding my wrist captive. “You are coming with us, Karina.”
I shook my head. “I’m right where I want to be—where I need to be, agent.”
“I’m not letting you go,” he said, his voice firm.
I sighed, slipping my arm from his grasp and stepping away from him.
“Haley is being held in a mansion on an island in the middle of Lake Michigan. No one really knows of its existence, in the dead center of the lake. Literally. At night, I thought I was in the Atlantic. Do not touch the house. Do not hurt the staff. They are innocent. You get Haley, and you get out.”
“You are in no place to be making demands, Ms. Jones,” he warned.
“Send my brother to get her then, because I have another assignment for you,” I said, my heart fluttering.
This would be betraying Col, but it would save lives, and that was what mattered most. The information that Roman gave us last night was dark.
It was time to shine some light into that darkness, and saving these women would be a good way to start.
He tilted his head. “What’s that?” he asked, unamused.
“Saving the girls and women locked in a cargo ship here, in this city, at the docks.” Before he could say another word, I rose up on the balls of my feet and kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry about me, James. Collin isn’t going to hurt me.”
I slipped out of the closet and kept my head down to avoid Gwen and her baseball player.
James didn’t say he was here, but wherever Gwen went, that dead man seemed to follow.
I made my way into the kitchen, hiding behind waitresses passing trays of food to people before I slipped through another door.
It led into a secret room where a meeting was being held. A man put his hand on my shoulder, stopping me from going any farther. Smoke filled the room, and the lights were low. When I looked at the man, I couldn’t make out his face, but I knew he was one of ours.
“Get your hand off of her, or die where you stand, Nick,” Col said casually from his place at the table. He was willing to kill one of his men…for me. His back was to me, sitting in front of the mayor, Roman’s little brother, and two other men.
Nikki’s hand fell away from me, and I walked past him.
My demon held out his hand, not breaking eye contact with the man across from him. This was supposed to be a business meeting, going over the betting numbers from Fenway Park. However, Collin had other plans.
I accepted his hand, his rough fingers gripping my skin.
The man was just touching a small part of my body, but I felt him everywhere.
He pulled me onto his lap, my ass perched on his thigh as he sat back in his chair.
The mayor looked me up and down like he wanted to eat me, Roman’s little brother, Anthony, just looked scared, and the other two men paid me no mind.
“Do we have an agreement?” my demon asked.
The mayor sat back, puffing his cigar as he tapped his thick fingers on the table. “You got some balls on you, kid. I’ll give you that.”
Collin chuckled. “Let me rephrase. You will agree to the terms I have laid out for you, or you will lose your limbs.”
The room was silent, the men shifting in their seats. Honestly, Anthony looked like he was about to piss himself. I bit the inside of my cheek. Collin had always been a smartass. I feared that if my demon didn’t get his way, we would be having a Dahmer style barbecue.
I shuddered.
Collin’s hand slid up my spine to wrap around the base of my neck, his thumb sweeping over my skin. It was a possessive touch, one that had my nipples hardening.
“You have no right to speak to me that way, boy.”
“Another word, mayor, and come re-election, you won’t be on the ballet,” he growled.
“We’ll do it,” Anthony said. His voice was weak and timid, but he cleared his throat and repeated himself.
“Ant—”
The boy held his hand up. “Romano has been in power too long, and his son was a pussy, according to my brother,” he explained. He looked at me. “I am sorry for his behavior towards you last night. He was a pig.”
I was pretty sure my jaw was on the floor.
“What the hell happened last night?” the mayor asked.
“The same thing about to happen here if you refuse,” Collin drawled.
Ten minutes later, Collin had Bostin in his back pocket.