Chapter 8 #2
The words spilled from her mouth in a rush, and for a moment, it almost felt like she was agreeing to something else.
Something more permanent. But marriage would never be in the cards for her.
Not then, back with the man-who-shall-remain-nameless, and not now, with Mr. Lives-Across-the-Globe. Frankly, not ever.
Stan squeezed her shoulders and pressed his lips to hers hard.
She was taken aback at first, but when he didn’t seem to want to let go, she cradled his jaw with her palm.
Her lips grazed his day-old stubble until she was kissing, licking, and sucking the spot he seemed to enjoy the most, which was just below his earlobe.
Between breaths, she mumbled his name and some naughty things she wanted to try once they were alone into the shell of his ear.
When she reached down to squeeze Stan’s butt cheek, Richard cleared his throat. “We need to go now because I can’t promise he’ll be in a talking mood for long.”
“Noted, Richard. We will follow you.”
The three of them were at the correctional wing of FUCN’A within a few short minutes and stepping into an interrogation room only moments later.
“Kallie, why don’t you sit here?” Stan suggested.
The seat was in the far corner of the room, nearest to the exit. Why did Stan want to put her in a corner? Her brows knitted as her lips turned down into a frown.
“Yes, sir.” It was all she could muster at this point.
Why did she insist on thinking Stan was any different from any other guy?
Just because he’d swept her off her literal feet didn’t mean he was her Prince Charming.
Hell, it didn’t even mean he respected her as a person.
She’d thought that him asking her to accompany him to the interrogation had shown that he respected her.
Nope. He probably wanted her here just so he could pick up their lustful activities once he’d gotten what he wanted from the baddie.
Celebration sex, with her as nothing more than a prize to be taken. Gross.
Especially considering the truth of it all: She’d actually have to register herself as a deadly weapon in the U.S. territory of Guam. Yeah, she was a badass, and everyone back home on Milos Island knew it. Yet, here she was, sitting in the corner.
Whatever. She didn’t want to—scratch that, she wouldn’t—get personal right now. They were about to interrogate a monster, and it was time for all of them to put on their game faces.
“What do I need to know about this guy?” she asked.
“We don’t have much about him except that Zagan took him under his wing at a young age. It appears his parents died in a lab experiment, and rather than set Ash free, Zagan took care of him.”
“Who would have thought that monster’s heart actually beats?”
“Right?”
The sound of the door opening interrupted their conversation. Ash entered with a guard behind him. The guard directed Ash to sit and then turned on his heel to leave the room.
“Before you go, can you remove his restraints?” Stan requested.
“Sorry, but I’m not allowed. All convicted murderers must be kept in cuffs to keep them from shifting.”
“Right, the neuro dampeners. I forgot.”
“It’s okay,” Ash stated. “I deserve to be in these cuffs. Let’s get started.”
“Before we go any further, I must remind you that you’re allowed to have a lawyer present.”
“That’s not necessary,” Ash said. He turned his gaze to Kalliopi before continuing. “I deserve to be in these things because of what I’ve done. And you are?”
Kalliopi raised a brow as he met her gaze. “My name is Kallie.” She wasn’t sure if Zagan knew her full name, so she went with her shortened one to throw Ash off her scent. “We haven’t met before because I’m new here. I hope you don’t mind my joining Stan tonight.”
“I don’t mind, and nice to meet you,” Ash said with a shrug.
“And for the record, I’m no longer going to make up excuses about why I stayed by Zagan all these years.
I may not have had a choice when I was a kid.
But now that I’m an adult and was arrested, I see just how terrible Zagan is to the shifter community, and if my information can help you place that monster behind bars for good this time, well… I am willing to help.”
“Well, that’s very noble of you,” Kalliopi said, hoping to encourage him to talk more.
“I’m not doing this for any other reason than to help you collar him because I just found out he killed a friend of mine. And for that alone, I want to see him rot in jail.”
Kalliopi lowered her gaze, expecting Stan to pick up the conversation, but to her surprise, he seemed to be happy to let her take over the conversation—even from the corner seat.
Finally, Kallie asked, “What information do you have that you think might help us with capturing Zagan and bringing justice to your friend’s killer? ”
“Zagan plans to set up shop two miles from campus,” Ash informed them. “In that old facility you raided a couple of years back. His intent is to go after the new recruits that come in from Milos.”
“I thought he was after royal blood.”
“Yeah, he was, but when he was at SHIT last week, he found something new to go after. One of the MILFs he took down has a promising property in her blood. Apparently, she’s the first successful subject in Greece.
He’s hoping the cadets’ blood has the same properties as the girl.
Of course, he also hopes that girl is here so he can kidnap her and continue performing experiments.
He rambled on about him finally finding her after so many years. ”
Stan’s gaze met Kalliopi’s. Neither of them attempted to give away their thoughts to Ash, especially since Kalliopi knew Ash was talking about her, and now Stan did, too.