“How do you know she isn’t here to collect a bounty on you?”
“She could have done it ten times over. What does your leopard say to you around her? Does he feel she’s a threat?”
“No. He’s actually enamored with her. That was quite shocking. I’ve never had my leopard react like that before. It wasn’t as if he was reacting to a female in heat. I honestly couldn’t tell if she was a shifter. I’ve heard of a few women who seem to be able to calm leopards, not that mine is prone to temper. Drake Donovan runs a tight ship. I’m in his lair and he wouldn’t put up with my leopard throwing fits for a minute.”
“What would he do?”
“Most likely send me to Borneo, have me looking for a mate—the right mate. I’d go too. Drake’s a fair man.”
Gedeon knew Drake Donovan. Rene was right, Drake Donovan was a fair man. He was one of the few men Gedeon liked.
“I want to get workmen lined up to start on the third floor. I’ll need a separate entrance built. I’m going to talk Meiling into a partnership with me. I want her living here. The only way she’ll do it is to have an apartment of her own. She calms my leopard down. It’s the first peace I’ve had in years.”
“You can’t offer her a partnership because she calms your leopard down, Gedeon.” Rene was genuinely horrified.
“That’s not the reason. I’ve needed someone, but there was no one qualified. She is. She’s so damned intelligent I think she can strengthen what I do. I need you to do a little research for me, but it won’t be easy. There’s a Frenchman, a man by the name of Etienne. Very wealthy. Owns a private jet. We flew on it from Venezuela. He has two nephews. I only know their first names. Jules and Louis. I know I’m not giving you much, but you’ve worked with less. I need you to get as much information on them as you possibly can, especially the two nephews. Once you find them, I want to know where they are. I want to know whothey talk to. Who their friends are. Keep track of them. It’s important, Rene.”
“Do you think someone can identify you?”
“Not me. She put her life on the line for me. She let them see her face. And they have a grudge against her.”
Rene sighed. “It’s my obligation to point out to you that she’s putting you in danger by being close to you, Gedeon.”
“You’ve done your duty, Rene. I want this woman for a partner. Get this information for me and find a good contractor willing to work extra hours. I’ll pay double time, but I want quality work.”
“Is she your leopard’s mate?”
“I don’t know. Her leopard hasn’t risen yet. It’s entirely possible. I won’t know until she goes into heat. In the meantime, I’m not messing up a partnership by fucking her. If something goes wrong, I’ve lost her, and I’m not doing that.”
“Gedeon, you’re not making any sense. If you think you can carry on the way you do with women right in front of her and that isn’t going to impact your relationship with her in any way, you’re wrong.”
“Why would it if we’re just partners? If we keep things on a purely platonic level?”
“Can you do that? You have no interest in her sexually?” Rene demanded.
“Someone’s at the door,” Gedeon said. He didn’t want to answer the question. Or the next one. He already knew Rene was going to ask if it would bother him if Rene went out with her. Hell yes it would bother him. But he would get over it. He had to. Their partnership had to come first. If she had a leopard and the leopard emerged and Slayer claimed her, that was a different story. In the meantime, Gedeon wasn’t taking a chance on losing the best thing he had ever been given. Sex was just sex. It meant nothing at all. But a relationship with someone like Meiling was a gift to be treasured.
Just the idea that another male leopard might lay claim to Meiling was too much for him to consider. His mind couldn’t go there. The moment it did, his leopard roared for supremacy and raked viciously at him, rebelling at just the impressions in Gedeon’s head.
Meiling already knew too much about him, more than anyone else. Things he didn’t want anyone to know. He would have instantly killed anyone who had discovered his past, without a qualm. He was responsible for giving his childhood away. Had he done that deliberately? Shared with her because for the first time in his life he knew he could? He’d told her about his mother, a small part of him hoping she would share her past with him. He hadn’t expected her to intuitively know what happened to him. His rise from thepakhan’s amusing toy to assassin to the vengeful destroyer of the entirebratyacell.
Meiling was intelligent, and he needed that in his partner. She was able to stand up to him when no one, not even Rene, dared to. She might not be the same once he got his eyesight back. That remained to be seen. Slayer was once again losing his mind, which meant Rene was close to the master bedroom with the doctor.
I need care to get my sight back, Slayer. Calm down. And it will be very interesting to see what name Lotus Blossom gives you.He conveyed his amusement to the animal.
Some of the anger faded from the animal, leaving him perplexed.She wishes to give me another name?
One of affection. I call her Lotus Blossom, but her given name is Meiling. When we are alone, she calls me Leopard Boy.
Slayer was quiet, trying to process what was a new concept for him. He was intelligent and could draw on Gedeon’s knowledge. He liked to learn new ideas, in fact demanded it. Right now, trying to assimilate the conceptof Meiling calling him somethingaffectionate, something different than anyone else...
Secret. Just between us. In the way I call her Lotus Blossom. That is only ours, Gedeon persisted with the explanation. He wanted Slayer to grasp the meaning, but what’s more, the leopard was ignoring Rene’s approach with the eye doctor.
Slayer settled down completely, although, as always when there was a stranger close, he stayed alert. Mostly he was turning over and over the information that Gedeon had given him on affectionate names given to one another and doing his best to understand.
“Dr. Bouet, this is Gedeon Volkov,” Rene introduced them. “I’m closing all the blinds so no light can come in. You can open them if you need to, Dr. Bouet.”
Gedeon heard Rene at the windows. Meiling had closed most of the blinds before Gedeon had joined her.
