Series: Lee Savino
Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 66414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
I meet him in the lounge area near the door. He raises his face and sniffs the air. I don’t need to explain what we’ve been doing. He can smell it. The sweet scent of Maisy’s arousal perfumes the place.
I wait for him to comment on it, but he just asks, “How is everything?”
“Good. Maisy’s resting. How’s Vegas?”
“We’re lying low. The triplets are bummed they’re not allowed in the casino yet. They wanted to use fake IDs, so they could do slot machines, but Darius stopped them.”
“That’s probably for the best.”
“Canyon made him promise to bring them back for their birthday. Hutch and Bern are already practicing counting cards.”
I shake my head at the thought of the triplets hitting Vegas for their twenty-first birthday.
“We’re still surveilling Lucky Lou and his men. Are you ready to make a move on them?”
“Not yet. But soon. Let’s find Allen first, and then we’ll take care of them.” Lucky Lou and his henchmen aren’t long for this earth. They touched Maisy. They have to pay.
“Got it.” He hesitates like I’m not going to like what he has to say next. “I’d like to talk to her before I go.”
“She’s taking a nap.”
“I’ll wait.” He leans against a couch arm, folding his arms across his chest.
“You misunderstand.” I face him down. I’m taller than him, and I’m not above using all my height to intimidate him. My bear wants to speed across the room and rip off his head, and I want to throw him out on his ass just for breathing Maisy’s scent, so asserting dominance is a nice compromise. Only the Moon Cure holds me in check. “I don’t want you bothering my wife.”
“Your wife,” he repeats, as if wondering if I mean it. His forehead creases as he stares into my eyes, hard. I’m more dominant, so after a moment, he drops his gaze.
But he doesn’t back down. “I’d like to talk to Maisy and make sure she’s okay. That this—” he twirls a finger as if indicating the smell of sex hanging in the air— “is okay. Because she didn’t sign on for any of this.” Now his eyes flash bright green. His bear is out.
“I know that.”
“But you’re fucking her like it is real. Does she know what this is? Does she know that she’s your mate?”
My guilt tears at me with vicious fangs. “None of your business.”
“It is my business. I want to know if you’re going to commit to this, commit to her, or forget all this happened once you’re back home.”
“What does it matter to you?” My eyes are bright blue. He can see my bear is out of control. I’m feral.
But he stands his ground. “Maisy’s my friend. If you leave her, I’ll be the one who has to pick up the pieces.”
“Is that what you’re waiting for?” I advance on him. “For me to leave, so you can swoop in and be her hero?”
I don’t let him answer. I cross the room and shove him back. “What's your intentions toward my wife?” I snarl. “You took her to prom. All the years of picking her up and taking her for drives. Little escapes just when she needed it the most. How long have you been watching her? Wanting her? Are you carrying a torch for her?”
“No.” He bares his teeth at me. If I hadn’t taken a double dose of Moon Cure, I’d treat it as a threat and rip his head off.
I circle him, and he turns to face me, his eyes bright with his bear. “Then why did you get close to her? Did you want her?”
“No!” But he presses his lips together. He’s holding something back, and I’m going to get it out of him.
“I don’t believe you. You told me she was perfect. That the person who ended up with her would be lucky.”
“That’s true.”
“So why don’t you want her?”
“Because her best friend is my mate,” he growls.
I stare at him, chest heaving. We’re both breathing hard. “Who?”
“Missy,” he bites out, like he doesn’t want to tell me.
My memory serves me a picture of a tall blonde by Maisy’s side at Winterfest. “The blonde.”
“Yes.” Axel blows out a breath. “I don't want Maisy because Missy is my mate.”
The fight leaves me so quickly, I almost stagger. Relief floods me–I don’t have to kill Axel for lusting after my mate.
And then the guilt rips into me. What sort of person am I that I would come so close to hurting my own brother?
I take a beat to catch my breath. “How long have you known?”
“Since prom.”
“So you’ve been fighting it, too.”
He says nothing. His face is pure misery. I’ve been there. Just talking about his mate must be torture.
“Say no more.”
“Maisy and my friendship is real,” he adds then stiffens. Upstairs, Maisy is moving around. I shake off my adrenaline and loosen my stance.