Chapter 37 Leo
LEO
The music was way too loud for this conversation.
But that didn’t stop Spencer from droning on and on about her date with our girl. “She's shockingly good at video games. But she said she didn’t really play them as a kid.”
With a cold bourbon in hand, Dom scoffed and muttered to herself. “Had better things to do with her time.”
It had been days since Spencer had taken Kiera to the arcade, had her all to herself.
And yet here she was, still spilling details.
Spence was lucky that we were on a mission watching some fuckhead scumbag across the crowded bar, or I would have smacked that smug smile off her face half an hour ago.
What had really pissed me off was how Kiera had left me like that on the couch.
And I wasn’t sure what was wrong with me.
I had manners, sure, but I’d never been one to let a woman walk all over me.
Once we were in the bedroom, all the guardrails were off.
She’d be lucky if I even bothered to give her a safeword.
Dom polished off her drink. “You shouldn’t be messing with her. She’s not staying.”
“We’re friends.” Spencer shrugged.
Shaking her head, Dom kept her eyes on the guy in the Gucci polo across the dance floor. “A friend you’d rather have as one of your little fucktoys.”
“No, she’d be more than that. For sure.” Spencer leaned against the bar as she tried to get her mind off the gorgeous girl locked up in our house.
I couldn’t shake the image of her either. And despite her attempts to act unbothered, it seemed like Dom couldn’t either. She’d grown far more irritable since Kiera had been in the house and even more so as we started letting her have more freedom.
The threat of her ex-boyfriend was dissipating by the day. I was sure he’d already moved on to whatever girl he could find by now. But Dom didn’t seem to think so. Even though she tried to hide it, I could tell Dom was worried about her. That something about Kiera was putting her on edge.
Whatever it was, I didn't mind. It was all an excuse to keep Kiera close. And in my eyes, that was never a bad idea. Trouble followed that girl like a dog following bacon.
Hell, maybe I was the dog.
Even as we stood in this crowded bar, I couldn’t stop myself from picturing her.
The way she’d towered over us, taking her first sip of power over me, had sent me into another dimension.
I’d barely slept that night, going back to my room and rubbing out a few more orgasms at the thought of her pretty ass slamming into my hips.
Trying to refocus, I followed Spencer’s gaze, a small camera in her hand.
Our mission was as vague as they always were: go to 13th Floor, watch for a man dressed in a red polo. Watch his movements and who he speaks to.
And finally: Do. Not. Intervene.
Fuck The Oracle for that.
My blood started to boil at the thought. All of us knew exactly what happened to these girls the second they left this place with those assholes. They’d take everything they wanted, leaving no trace of the women behind.
Tapping my finger against my trousered thigh, I bit the inside of my cheek.
The Oracle had been circling the rising crime issue in Valemont for a while now.
It had started in the neighboring towns, but Valemont had been a safe haven: protected by the Violence and Laniidae, by The Oracle’s oversight.
But whatever this was was seeping through the cracks.
And The Oracle hadn’t done shit about it.
It was starting to make me feel like the military had. Trapped, useless, and unable to defer from the orders of my superiors. I hated being shipped off to god knows where, told who to hurt and who to heal.
I mean, fuck. I’d ditched that shit just to end up a powerless pawn again.
“Do you think she’ll stay nearby once she’s safe to leave?” Spencer wondered as she stared out at the mark, a new friend dapping the guy up as they started to chat.
Barking, Dom whipped her head to look at Spencer. “Enough already. She’s better off gone.”
My eyebrows lifted at the snap. I’d seen her like this a couple times, but never for this long.
As I stared at her hardened face, the veins bulging across her tattooed neck, I knew something bigger was going on. Something Dom didn’t want Spencer and I to know about. But I was going to figure it out, whether she wanted me to or not.
Suddenly, the mark moved toward the door, pulling our attention with him. Reaching into the pocket of his pants, he pulled out a black business card. From this distance, it was impossible to make out any of the details.
From my side, Spencer’s camera clicked off a few photos.
It was a special piece of equipment, one we’d been given from The Oracle’s mysterious Research and Development team.
Compact and powerful, the thing could take close up pics from yards away, all while being small enough to dupe security scanners.
I’d tried poking around with it in the shop before to figure out how it worked, but once I heard a screw straining, I gave it a rest. After all, I knew medicine, not tech.
Once the guy handed over the card, he headed for the door.
Spencer pulled out her phone, tapping to zoom into the photo. “It’s the fucking eagle again.”
Without looking away from the mark, Dom asked, “With the lightning bolt?”
Nodding, Spencer sighed. “Yep.”
It killed me letting that fucker walk out of here alive. He should be dead in a ditch, and we should be the ones doing it. That was our job. All of this other espionage bullshit wasn’t what I’d signed up for.
For a moment, I thought the set of Dom’s jaw meant that she agreed with me.
But then I saw how all the color had drained from her face, the restless tapping of her boot against her barstool.
It wasn’t just rage coursing through her veins; it was dread.
The symbol meant something to her, it must have.
I needed to find out what Dom knew. It was unlike her to hide something like that from us, especially on a mission. And while a part of me was worried about her, a larger part feared for my and Spencer’s safety. For Kiera most of all.
Secrets could be fatal in our line of work. And I wouldn’t let Dom put our sisters at risk.