Chapter Twenty-Two
ROUX
I woke early, nuzzling Gen. But for all the sunshine and butterflies in my soul, an ominous gloom crept into the corners of my mind.
Hell of a way to focus on a mission, I’d complained to Marius when he and Mina had kicked off our heist in Mallorca with a night of sex.
Now, I was the guilty one.
“Mm.” Gen opened her eyes with a sleepy smile.
God, she was beautiful. And damn, did this feel so right.
She ran a hand along my ribs and her leg up mine.
“If you’re thinking about work, stop,” she ordered. “We have another hour before getting ready for breakfast, and I intend to use it well.”
I turned for a look at the bedside clock, but she caught my chin and steered it back.
“I have a riddle for you. What starts with a P and ends with -ion?” she asked.
I waited.
“Procrastination. The most effective productivity tool known to man,” she declared.
I chuckled. “Not sure that’s the way it works.”
“That’s because you’ve been brainwashed. I’m here to show you the light. A healthy amount of procrastination is the best way to get things done, because it keeps you focused when the time to really get going arrives. But we’re not there yet, so there’s no need to rush.”
I closed my eyes as her hand wandered along my hip and over to my ass.
“I want this more than anything, but—”
She cut me off. “I also want this more than anything, and as for butts…” She snaked a leg around my hip and tapped my behind. “This is the only kind that counts.”
I had to laugh, though she cut it off with a kiss. And since her hands were wandering around, taking an inventory of every spot that drove me wild, I had little choice but to pay her back.
Minutes later, I had her knees hooked over my shoulders, my hips pumping hard, and no clue where my self-discipline had gone. It didn’t seem to matter much either. Not as long as Gen fisted her hands in the sheets, barely biting back frenzied cries.
Focus here, my tiger urged me. Focus on our mate. Our future. Our love.
So I did focus, and focus hard.
“Roux…” she cried. Then she moaned and shuddered in ecstasy.
I came a split second later, wincing at the burn of pleasure-pain. Then I dropped down over her, panting hard.
Gen locked her arms around my back, keeping me in that small, sensual world. The animal instinct to claim was all-powerful, but even my tiger knew this wasn’t the time, so I nuzzled her instead. Stiff tiger whiskers emerged along my jaw, and she giggled.
“Oh. Ah. Ouch.”
God, I loved that sound.
“Now if I could just rub those soft tiger ears too…” She sighed, making my inner tiger claw for control.
“I swear, you’ll kill me one day,” I groaned.
She shook her head. “No. One day, I swear I’ll give those tiger ears the massage they deserve.
But now…” She reluctantly relaxed her grip to peer at the clock.
“Now, even I have to admit this is not the time.” She let a beat go by, then flashed a huge grin.
“Not if we’re going to leave time to shower. And I don’t mean the military kind.”
* * *
Half an hour later, Gen gathered her clothes, kissed me one last time, and slipped out.
I took a second shower — a cold one, with plenty of hard scrubbing to erase the scent of sex.
Then I dressed and headed down to breakfast. As usual, I was the first one there, but not by my standard ten-minute margin.
Mina and Marius strolled in just as I grabbed the local newspaper and folded it open to page eleven.
Marius gave it one look and rolled his eyes. “One of these days, man, you’re going to learn to sleep in.”
He had no idea how close I was to the dark side, but I took advantage of my bluff.
“Maybe, but not today,” I said, telling myself morning sex didn’t count.
Heavenly morning sex, my tiger hummed.
I cleared my throat to cover the sound.
Gen arrived next, making a show of yawning into her hand.
“Morning, everyone.” She loaded her plate at the buffet, then sat opposite me with her foot against mine.
Bene appeared ten minutes late, as usual, yawning and scratching his chest.
“Still no sign of Henrik?” he asked.
“No,” Mina said.
Bene grinned. “Good.”
I froze. Not good, because he’d totally slipped my mind.
Slowly, I drew my foot away from Gen’s. For both our sakes, I needed to get myself together, and fast.
“No messages from Henrik either,” I grumbled, checking my phone. “But, yay. Gordon wrote.”
Everyone groaned.
“Apparently, he has evidence to believe Grepper had the painting delivered here,” I continued.
“Let’s hope he’s right,” Marius muttered.
“Oh. Clement sent me a message too,” Mina said.
“Mr. Fucking Persistent,” Marius muttered.
Mina elbowed him. “He wants us to be safe.”
Bene hooted. “Clement wants you to be safe.” He pointed to Mina and Gen. “The rest of us can rot in hell as far as he’s concerned — another thing he has in common with Gordon.”
Mina opened her mouth to protest, then sighed and changed tacks.
“Clem called to report new information on the case. Residents on Claudette’s street saw a dark Renault come and go a few days before…
” Her face fell as she searched for words.
“…before the night she died. The camera at the Pelletier farm gate caught the same vehicle, and Clem was able to trace it to Paris.”
“Let me guess,” I grunted. “To Alexandre Ernaux or a known associate of his.”
Mina nodded. “We’re getting closer to establishing a clear link between Claudette’s death and this art case.”
Marius grimaced. “Now, we just need to haul Celeste in.”
Bene pointed out the window, indicating the mountainside where Kurt Grepper’s villa stood. “Follow the money, and you’ll find Celeste. Or should I say, follow the painting?”
We split up shortly after breakfast and spent the day reconnoitering.
Mina and Marius drove to the far side of the mountain, shifted, and spied on Grepper’s property from the sky.
Bene faked a hurt knee to appear like a skier left behind for the day and poked around town for information and vantage points from which to observe the villa.
Gen and I drove up the steep mountain road and set off on foot, following a trail, then detouring through the woods to creep closer to the building.
Gen tramped through the snow in high boots. I ditched my footwear a short time later, along with my clothes, and shifted. My paws were as good as snowshoes, and my fur kept me warm.
“Wow,” she breathed as I crept ahead.
I swished my tail, delighted she didn’t mind having a tiger around.
The closer we came to Grepper’s property, the stealthier we became.
Any chance of you hearing the painting from out here? I asked.
“I doubt it.” Still, she cocked her head and listened for a good minute.
I listened too, catching the whisper of the wind, the faint puffs of her breath, and the glimmer of sun in the icicles in the trees. In better circumstances, it would have been magical.
Then I frowned. The less magic we encountered at a warlock’s mountain retreat, the better.
Gen shook her head. “I can’t hear the painting. It’s too far, and those walls are too thick.”
We trekked around a while longer, then returned to the trailhead, where Gen waited for me to shift and get dressed. The moment I did, she pegged me with a snowball.
“Hey!” I protested, shaking off the snow.
She grinned. “Couldn’t resist.”
I chased her down, and she squeaked when I caught her.
“This is what I can’t resist,” I murmured, kissing her.
That hour we spent together up on the mountain was the highlight of my day. A highlight of my life, actually, which seemed dull and dreary now that I looked back to everything before the past few weeks.
But I grew grimmer with every passing hour.
“Dammit, where is Henrik?” I cursed when Gen and I met Mina and Marius at the hotel.
“He’d better not be double-crossing us,” Marius muttered.
Gen rolled her eyes. “Can we focus on enemies instead of friends?”
“According to Gordon’s informants, Kurt Grepper is scheduled to attend the meeting of the board of directors of some big-shot corporation on the outskirts of Zurich tonight,” I said.
“How well-informed are those informants?” Marius asked.
An excellent question. Too bad I had no answer.
“Grepper doesn’t keep any staff at the house, so we could make our move as soon as he departs,” I finished. “We’ll have to act fast, though, because Alexandre Ernaux is bound to send his coven here as soon as he discovers that Grepper was Anonymous.”
I want my goddaughters halfway back to France before you begin, is that clear? Gordon had bellowed before letting me go.
Understood, I’d replied as evenly as I could.
Mina, I knew, would do whatever she wanted. And Gen… I grimaced. I would have to break the news to her soon.
Not long after, Bene phoned from his lookout post in a café along the main road.
“Grepper’s Porsche just passed me, headed out of town.”
“Are you sure he’s in it?” I asked.
“Big guy, gray hair. The plates match,” Bene replied.
“Be ready to move in fifteen minutes,” I said, then hung up.
We all turned to the windows to watch the road, then swiveled as a classic gray Porsche with Zurich plates raced past.
Marius whistled. “Nice ride.”
I nodded. “1950s Porsche 356.”
Mina rolled her eyes. Gen chuckled.
“Crime definitely pays,” Marius decided.
Mina shook her head. “No, it doesn’t.”
“I like the Jaguar better,” Gen declared.
“Maybe, but the Porsche runs,” Marius pointed out.
“So will the Jaguar,” Gen said smugly. “Roux’s been working on it.”
Her faith warmed me even if Marius’s skeptical look didn’t.
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Mina rapped her knuckles on the table. “Can we focus, please?”
I grimaced. With great difficulty was the honest answer, but I did my best.
“We head out in fifteen minutes,” I said. “Everyone clear on their jobs?”
Mina nodded. “I fly in and circle north of the villa, waiting for your all clear.”
“Same here,” Marius said, “but a little farther east.”