Her smile widened into something real. “Damn. You know your designers.” She laughed under her breath. “Guess there’s no fooling the Syndicate. Bad for business, huh? Besides, my sister works under Miss Rossey. Gotta keep it clean. Family ties and all that.”
I nodded to Alic, who already had his phone out to complete the transfer.
“So,” I said, tilting my head. “Why not join the fold?”
She let out a long, exaggerated sigh, eyes rolling as if she’d heard that question a hundred times. “It’s amething,” she said, her voice more thoughtful now. “After I left Faerie, I realized I can’t handle being under anyone’s thumb. Even the best bosses eventually make you choose between yourself and the mission.” Her smile dimmed, lips twitching into something bitter. “I always lose when I play that game.”
I nodded once without judgment. The Syndicate only recruited the willing. We didn’t trap or manipulate. Loyalty was worth more than control. If she wasn’t in, that was her choice, and we respected that.
Her phone chimed. She checked it, tucked it away, and handed me a small remote. “That’s what I like about you Syndicate folks,” she said with a grin. “Always pay up fast. Always ask, never push. That’s how real gangsters roll, keeping the street cred polished.”
I crossed my arms, returning her grin with a smirk of my own. “Yet there’s always someone who thinks they can do it better.”
She laughed and clapped her hands together. “Yup. And then you crush their skulls like soda cans and move on. Circle of life. There’s always gotta be some dumbass trying their luck.”
I shrugged, done with the small talk. My focus returned to the container. “He locked or loose?”
Instead of answering, she turned on her heel, strolled to the nearby fence, and scaled it in one smooth motion, more feline than bear. Perched at the top, she looked back over her shoulder and winked.
“Locked up. I’m a professional, ya know.” With that, she dropped down the other side and disappeared into the dark.
I thought about having her tailed as I watched the spot where she vanished. A unique shifter like her could be useful, and with her family already in…. Then I remembered that we had enough weirdos. We needed more sane employees even if the weirdos were more fun.
“Alic,” I said, my voice calm but commanding, “I need you to stay out here and keep watch while I get the information out of him.” My cells buzzed at the thought of making this man bleed.
Before I could take a step inside, he stepped forward into my space, eclipsing the moonlight with his sheer size. His shadow cast over me like a protective shroud, but it was the way he moved that threw me off. Gentle. Deliberate. To him, I was something precious, something breakable.
“You don’t need to get your hands dirty,” he said quietly, reaching for my hand.
I blinked as his fingers closed around mine, his thumb brushing across my knuckles. Soft. Reverent.
Then, as if that weren’t enough to send my mind spinning, he lifted my hand and pressed a featherlight kiss to it.
I just stood there, staring at him like he’d grown a second head or ripped out one of his own eyeballs.What the actual fuck?
Peeking around his mountainous shoulder, I scanned the area, half-expecting a camera crew to pop out, announcing the prank was a success. “Who the fuck is this,” I muttered, “and what did you do with Alic?”
He gave me a rare smile, arealone, and just like that, my usual sarcasm shriveled on my tongue.
“I’m just done fighting you,” he said, and something in his voice made my chest tighten.
What?My brain stuttered. This had to be a setup. For years, Alic resisted me with his ever-persistent and stoic no’s, making sure I knew it was impossible. We were oil and fire, always sparking, never blending.
What changed? Was it the sex? It couldn’t have beenthat. Right?
Maybe I finally broke through that stone armor of his. Maybe I finally wore the stone beast down.Maybe… Maybe he’s my….
A flicker of panic tried to rise in my chest, but I shoved it back down.
“I would’ve given in to you much sooner if I knew it was going to make you this quiet,” he said with a smirk.
I punched his arm. It was a knee-jerk reaction. The split-second my fist flew through the air, I saw his skin shimmer into stone. Too late for me to pull back, I braced myself for the pain that would shoot up my arms… but it never came.
I looked down. My hand was still resting on his arm, but the stone had melted away beneath my touch. Right there, in that small patch of contact, his armor had given way to skin.
Real. Warm. Flesh.
I looked up at him, heart stuttering, and his expression made my chest tighten. No shock. No fear. No confusion.
