Keir
Unfortunately,Randall’sgreeddoesn’tbuy me enough time to do anything at all. Either Randall is too stupid to know how to bargain well or Rossi is too impatient to get his hands on me. Maybe a little of both.
Less than thirty minutes pass before there’s a knock at the hotel suite door. Randall exits returns to the living room area, pauses to plaster a giant smile on his face, then opens the door. From the couch, I can’t see who’s arrived, but I’m not kept in suspense for long since Randall immediately gestures the person inside.
Rossi. Of course.
The Chicago Alpha wears a mildly pleasant expression, but I can see the derision in his eyes as his gaze passes over Randall in his jeans and flannel shirt. Rossi glances over his shoulder and motions for someone behind him to enter as well. One of my kidnappers from this morning, Jake, enters the room carrying a small gym bag. Rossi tips his chin in Randall’s direction, then Jake tosses the bag down at Randall’s feet.
“One hundred thousand, as agreed,” says Rossi.
I muffle a snort. Did Randall only ask for double the original amount? Is that what he considers negotiating? He thinks he’s playing in the big leagues, but he’s like an ant on the field. A hundred thousand dollars might be like winning the lotto to Randall, but that’s a drop in the bucket to Rossi.
I’m a little insulted, actually. If my former Alpha is going to sell me out—literally—he should at least have asked for a million. Rossi might have agreed to it, too.
Randall leans down, unzips the bag, and just stares at the stacks of bills for a moment. “You sure it’s all there?”
Rossi gives him a tight smile. “Yes. I’m sure.” He withdraws a folder from inside his suit jacket. “Now, if we could please complete the transaction.”
Randall jerks his chin toward Luke. My cousin steps up to take the folder, then opens it to read whatever contract Rossi cooked up. Luke would be… what? Only nineteen now? Or maybe eighteen? Why is he the one reviewing the document?
Luke’s brows furrow together and he glances up at Rossi. “This isn’t a standard mating alliance contract.”
“No,” says Rossi, holding Luke’s gaze, but saying nothing further.
I eyeball the door. Everyone’s standing in the center of the living room area, so if I can move off the couch without being noticed, I might have a chance of making it out of here before any of them could grab me, but… what about the triumvirate?
Is this a ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ situation? Possibly, but I’ll be damned if I can figure out who the bigger enemy is at this point. At least Rossi is aknowndanger.
Luke narrows his eyes. “This is closer to a sales contract than anything else. Is this even legal?”
I swing a surprised glance my cousin’s way. I guess we were never enemiesper se, but that almost sounds like he’s on my side. Sort of.
Rossi shrugs. “It’s legal enough.”
“I don’t—”
Randall smacks Luke upside the head. “You heard the man. Just get me a pen and shut up.”
Luke glares at his father. “Dad, this contract makes Keir hisproperty,not a pack member.”
Well, fuck. I’m thinking I should take my chances with the triumvirate. I edge toward the door.
“It doesn’t really matter to me what happens to the mongrel. He hasn’t been a member of my pack since the night we kicked him out,” says Randall, shrugging and reaching for the papers. “He’s not even my kin. His whore mother—”
“Not your kin?” asks Rossi in a low, tense voice. He grabs the folder back from Luke before Randall can take it.
This news is also a surprise to me and I stop my slow movements toward the exit. If the man who raised me wasn’t my real father, then who was?
Randall tucks his thumbs into his pockets. “My brother raised him, but the bitch already had the kid when he mated her.”
Alreadyhadthe kid?Dad always told me my mother died in childbirth, but that’s not possible if I was born before they mated. If that’s not true, then how much of the rest of my life is a lie?
“You’re an imbecile,” says Rossi, his voice conversational and even.
It takes a second for the insult to register with Randall. “What the hell—”
“The contract is no good unless signed by a blood relative or his Alpha.” Rossi looks Randall up and down. “Apparently, by your own admission, you are neither.” Then he chuckles, turning his attention to me. “That makes you a lone wolf in my territory.”
