Chapter 15
Egon, Miami, The Next Day
BANG. BANG. BANG.
The sound echoed through our suite like gunfire.
“Egon! Tori! I know you’re in there!” Chet’s voice carried through the door, muffled but unmistakable. “Open up! It’s a matter of national security!”
Tori froze in my arms. “What did he just say?”
Her body had been warm against mine only seconds before—soft, responsive, breath coming faster as I had pressed her back against the couch. Now tension rippled through her frame.
She lifted her head slowly, her eyes searching mine. “National security?”
I felt the beast surge immediately. The interruption. The intrusion. The scent of another male outside the door while my mate lay half-undressed beneath my hands.
A low sound rumbled from my chest before I could stop it. “I will kill him.”
Tori pressed her palms flat against my chest, pushing gently but firmly. “Egon. Manners. You can’t just go around threatening to murder people.”
Her voice bubbled with laughter. The breathless edge of desire had faded, replaced by something wilder. But behind the humor with me was something that made my beast pace. Rage. Fight to come out.
Concern. Worry. Anxiety. Her next words confirmed it.
“What if it’s about Derek?” she continued quietly. “What if something happened?”
The name cut through the haze. My instincts snarled in protest, but reason forced its way back in.
Derek. The dead man. The threat had not vanished simply because I had momentarily forgotten the human while in Tori’s arms.
I exhaled slowly, forcing the beast back beneath the surface. My hands shook slightly as I straightened my shirt. I’d made a call. Warlord Bahre and the others were tracking him down so I could take care of the threat. End him.
We were not human. We would not follow human laws. The few friends I had here, on Earth, agreed and were more than happy to assist.
Unfortunately, the sneaky human male had evaded their searches. It was as if, after his visit to threaten Tori, he had simply vanished into thin air. Disappeared.
Tori moved quickly beside me, fingers fumbling with the buttons of the dress I had just removed from her soft fucking body.
Now she fastened them again, smoothing the fabric over flushed skin. The scent of her clung to the air. Hot wet. Ready. The sweet aroma of her pussy drove me mad. Warm. Sweet. Dangerous to my control.
Fuck these humans and their bad timing. My hard cock insisted I send them away and finish what we started.
Kill them. Fuck mate. Taste Pussy. Now. My beast was in no better humor about the interruption than I.
I stalked toward the door. Every step carried the promise of violence. The moment the lock clicked open, I yanked the door wide.
Chet stood in the hallway. His gold-spiked hair gleamed like polished metal, as usual. But something in his expression was different. More severe.
No feather boa. No dramatic cape. No sequins exploding from every surface. Just a pair of jeans and a plain brown button-down shirt. No theater make-up. A seriousness in his gaze I had never seen before.
Two humans stood behind him. A male and a female. Dark suits. Hard expressions. The unmistakable scents of gun oil and impatience clung to them.
Sometimes I hated the hint of Hyperion blood that made me just a little different than most Atlan Warlords. Times like this, it was an advantage. Not all beasts’ senses were as attuned as mine.
The female stepped forward. “May we come in?” Her tone made it clear she did not expect resistance.
“No,” I answered immediately.
“Yes,” Tori said at the same moment. She appeared at my side, her hand sliding into mine. The simple contact steadied me. “Please,” she added gently.
The idiot humans, I was sure, believed that one word was an invitation to them. I knew the truth. It was a plea to me and my beast.
Fuck.
I stepped back. Not because I trusted them. But because my mate had asked. And if they so much as glared at my mate, I would rip them in half.
The male and female I did not know entered first.
I positioned myself automatically between them and Tori, every instinct alert. The beast paced restlessly beneath my skin, displeased with strangers entering our space. Armed strangers.
If their primitive human weapons appeared in their hands, they would be dead before they could blink.
Chet swept inside and closed the door as if he owned the place. “Well! Isn’t this cozy?”
He headed straight for the small kitchen counter and poured himself a generous dose of dark brown alcohol over ice cubes. “Just a minute. I need a drink.”
“What do you want, Chet? We were busy.” Tori’s patience had vanished. I’d told her about Derek disappearing. I had no desire to keep secrets from my mate. I also told her I planned to eliminate him.
I’d expected an argument. She’d kissed me and changed the subject. Good enough.
Chet’s eyes drifted to the couch. The rumpled cushions. The reminder of what we had been about to do.
A knowing smile curved his mouth. “Oh, I know.” Then he gestured lazily toward the two agents. “But this couldn’t wait.”
The female stepped forward, pulling a badge from inside her jacket. “Special Agent Morris. FBI.” She indicated the man beside her. “Special Agent Chen. We’re here about Derek Sterling.”
The name hit like a physical strike.
Tori’s fingers tightened around mine. Her body stiffened. “What about him?” Her voice remained steady, but the tension in her grip told me everything.
“May we sit?” Chen asked.
I nodded toward the small table near the window.
They sat.
Chet dropped onto the arm of the couch—my couch—and sipped his drink.
“Derek Sterling has fled the country,” Agent Morris said without preamble.
Fucking coward. My beast was not amused. No wonder we couldn’t find him. Didn’t matter where he went. I would find him and eliminate the threat to my mate. This planet or any other. I would fucking end him.
Agent Chen tilted his head. “He’s in the Cayman Islands. Non-extradition territory. We cannot touch him there.”
“Good.” The word left my mouth before I could soften it. “Let him remain there. Far from Tori.” Now that I knew where he was, I would make arrangements to pay the male a visit.
Agent Chen leaned forward slightly. “Unfortunately, he isn’t staying quiet.”
My muscles tightened as Tori trembled next to me. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into my side. She should not be upset over such an insignificant male.
“We intercepted some communications. Sterling has hired mercenaries. Multiple teams.”
The air inside the suite seemed to compress in my lungs as I waited for him to continue.
“Their objective is simple.” His gaze shifted toward Tori. “Extract Victoria Smith and deliver her to him.”
Extract. Deliver. As if she were cargo.
Something inside me snapped. My vision tinted red. Claws slid from my fingertips before I could stop the partial shift.
“Why would he kidnap her after she left him at the altar?” Chet asked before I could. Good thing. My beast was making it difficult to speak.
“She was technically already his wife.” Agent Morris didn’t react to my partial transformation.
Professional. Unimpressed. Or really fucking stupid.
“And based on what we’ve discovered,” she continued calmly, “he needs her. He transferred the bulk of his assets into her name. Without her, he can’t touch them. ”
Tori’s face had gone pale. But she didn’t crumble. Didn’t cry. She leaned into me and my beast held himself perfectly still. She was cuddling him. Her hand squeezed his arm once before she lifted her chin. “What do you expect me to do? I didn’t know about any of this.”
“We need your help.” Agent Chen leaned forward. “We need to lure him back to U.S. soil. Somewhere we can arrest him. We already have more than enough evidence to charge him. Now we can add conspiracy to kidnap. Attempted murder, if his hired teams are armed. Which we assume they will be.”
“How do we lure him out of hiding?” she asked quietly.
“That,” Chet announced brightly, “is where I come in.”
He poured himself more alcohol. “Anyone else?” He held up the bottle.
“No,” we all said at once.
He sighed dramatically and set the bottle aside. “Fine. Be boring.” Then he reached into his jacket and pulled out a thick folder. “I’ve been protecting you two.” The theatrical tone had vanished. “From the beginning.”
He opened the folder. Photographs spilled across the table. Images of Tori and me. Kissing in the doorway of this cabin. My hands on her waist. Her fingers tangled in my hair. Intimate moments. Private.
“You’ve been spying on us.” Tori’s voice had gone flat.
“I’ve been protecting you,” Chet corrected smoothly. There is a time delay between filming and broadcast. I’ve made sure the edited version we’ve been showing the world doesn’t reveal the fact that you two are mated. No mystery, no drama, no show.”
“The finale is tomorrow.” Tori was watching Chet, those intelligent eyes sharp and focused. I watched her think. Calculate. Try to figure out where Chet was going with this.
“Derek would have already gone after both of you if I hadn’t been interfering. Deleting footage. Buying silence. Creating… distractions.” He sighed dramatically. “Making him—and all the other contestants—believe they had a chance.”
“The distractions were just you being you,” Tori muttered. “For the show. That was part of the deal.”
“Exactly!” he said proudly. “My natural fabulousness is the perfect cover.”
My patience snapped. “What do you want from us?”
Chet steepled his fingers. “Well, Warlord, we have a plan.”