Meiling felt the regret in the leopard. She was already as bonded to Meiling as Meiling was to her. A burst of affection spread through Meiling. She wrapped her arms around her middle to give the leopard a hug. “Go to sleep. We have time to figure this out. I’ll reach out to a friend in the morning and ask her questions. Maybe I’ll sound out Gedeon tonight and see what he has to say. I’m so glad you’re with me, Whisper.”
I’m happy.
Meiling thought about whether she could share with Gideon that she did, in fact, have a leopard. She shared everything with him. There was so much joy in her, it felt as if it was overflowing. At the same time, she knew she couldn’t tell Gedeon about Whisper. She would have to be very careful about the questions she asked and how she went about gathering information.
Gedeon was proprietorial over her. She had to admit she liked that trait in him—until now. Now she had to worry about how he would react if he did find out she had a leopard. Like Meiling, he had gotten used to the two of them being together.
“I’m happy too, Whisper. Go to sleep.”
Meiling finished dressing and went to the mirror to make certain the evening’s events hadn’t taken too much of a toll on her and Gedeon wouldn’t know anything different had taken place. She did look a little different. Her skin seemed to glow more. She looked almost radiant. Her eyes were darker, sultry looking. It was as if Whisper enhanced her looks in an exotic, sensual way. She wasn’t wearing makeup, so it wasn’t like she could wash the look away.
Meiling chose to use the stairs rather than the private elevator. Stairs gave her the opportunity to burn off a little energy, although she could feel the same exhaustion that had overtaken Whisper sneaking up on her. Maybe just lying down beside Gedeon would be enough for a while. She could save her questions for Evangeline and then figure out what to do. Her head was all over the place, just like her emotions.
The hall was lit only by the old-fashioned sconces that matched the house so perfectly. Meiling had come to love the house. It fit with the city, the swamp, and even the Mississippi River. The structure seemed to have a personality of its own. Over the years it had taken on the flavor of the city around it, so the beauty and flaws, the music and culture were absorbed into the architecture. The restoration and additions had been done very carefully so that Gedeon’s home, to Meiling, was a beautiful example of New Orleans culture.
Gedeon’s suite was at the very end of the hall, creating a private, separate apartment from the rest of the house. She was used to letting herself into his living quarters and going straight to the master bedroom. She didn’t need the aid of lights to see through the spacious rooms. One wall faced the swamp, just as hers did. She knew that his leopard could easily cross the short distance to reach the thick grove of cypress and gum trees, where it would be extremely difficult to find him. One of the walls in his bedroom alsofaced the swamp, so his leopard could escape from the bedroom. Gedeon had planned for all contingencies.
He was like that in the way he approached the jobs they took. He studied every possible outcome and had a strategy in place, usually more than one, on the off chance things didn’t go right. His mind was very methodical. He didn’t hurry his work and skip steps in order to get his work done faster. Still, his brain did work at an incredibly fast rate of speed. There were so many things she admired about him.
Meiling was three steps into the bedroom when the scents first hit her. Cloying perfume. Overpowering male sex. The sound of flesh slapping hard against flesh. She froze. Her mind shut down for a moment. Everything shut down while her vision focused on the woman kneeling on all fours on Gedeon’s bed while he was behind her, slamming his cock into her so hard he drove her forward.
“I thought your little partner would be the first one you’d call,” the woman gasped out, gripping the bedcover and pushing back.
“Really? Have you seen her? Do you really think she could stand up to my rough brand of sex?” There was just the right touch of derision in Gedeon’s tone. “Shut the fuck up or get out. I can call the next on my list if you’d rather talk than fuck.”
He lifted his gaze and caught sight of Meiling standing there. He looked nearly as stricken as she felt. She backed out of the room and, once out of the bedroom, turned and fled his apartment.
He’d practiced that tone. They’d written those words together. Early on they’d known someone would eventually ask why he wasn’t using his partner for sex. He didn’t want attention on her. She didn’t want the attention, not when she knew she was hunted. They’d sat together at the Café Du Monde and written the little script for him. He’d practiced saying the lines until he’d gotten that perfect derisive tone down.
Laughing together in their favorite café had been one thing; hearing him actually repeating the phrases while he was having sex with someone was another. Sex in his bedroom.Herroom. That was their special place that was supposed to be off-limits to anyone else. Why would he bring someone to his room if he’d asked her to come to him? Did he want her to see him with someone? Had she somehow given herself away and he wanted to make it clear that he wasn’t about to have a sexual relationship with her?
She let herself out the front door and ran down the steps. There was a part of her that was so devastated she couldn’t think straight. Another part of her shook with fury so strong it was frightening. She had to get herself under control before she saw him again. If he had set her up, he was an idiot. She didn’t believe Gedeon was that stupid, but then, men could be when it came to women.
She walked toward the Café Du Monde. It was open all night and she could get her favorite drink and sit by the river and just think. Whisper and the overload of hormones she’d brought had caused her brain to rush too fast. She had to slow everything down.
Alone, as she walked toward the café, it was acceptable to cry. She’d lost Gedeon. She’d never really had him. He’d been her fantasy. She’d always known she was going to be alone. She’d been good at being alone. Finding him and then coming to depend on him had been both a miracle and a curse. She knew what it was like to share her life with someone. She would have to go back to being alone. The idea of it was like looking into a dark abyss.
Whisper. She had her leopard. She wouldn’t be entirely alone. She hugged that knowledge to herself as she dashed away the tears and straightened her shoulders. She would build her networks again and find places far away from Gedeon’s territories. He worked all over, but mostly he worked for the crime families. She didn’t. He worked forshifters. She didn’t. And wouldn’t. Now, more than ever, she would have reason to stay away from them.
There was a rowdy table of partiers and two tables of what appeared to be tourists at the café. She also recognized Remy Boudreaux, a shifter and the head detective in New Orleans. She’d met him a couple of times. He sat at a table with his wife, Bijou, a very famous singer. Surrounding them at the other tables were more shifters, presumably bodyguards for Bijou, and a couple of Remy’s brothers. Bijou sang in her club at times, and this night must have been one of those nights.
She returned the wave they gave her, purchased her café au lait and left quickly before anyone engaged her in conversation. The Boudreaux family was very nice. She knew the moment they realized she was alone, they would invite her to join them, and she didn’t want to talk to anyone. She needed the solitude to sort herself out. As she walked away, she could feel Remy’s frown and the way his alert gaze trailed after her. He was a protective sort of man.
Meiling continued away from the café down to the river, where there was a bench off the path. In the dark, few would see it. Bushes grew close, concealing the bench during the day, so at night she would be even more difficult to spot sitting on it. She could sit and stare at the water rushing by and listen to the power of the Mississippi while she regrouped.
There was no sound to warn her, not even his scent because the wind carried it out over the river, but she knew he was there. Gedeon sank down beside her, handing her a jacket as he did so.
Meiling stared straight ahead at the churning river, taking a sip of her drink, unable to look at him. He wasn’t hers anymore. He never would be again.
11
THEREmay as well have been an ocean between them. Gedeon could feel the distance—not only distance, but a wall as solid as titanium separating them. He couldn’t blame her. He wasn’t even certain what had been happening lately, so how was he going to explain himself? Meiling wasn’t a trusting woman. He’d eased her into his world, careful of every step. In one terrible blow he’d ruined everything between them.
“We have to talk about this, Meiling,” he said. Because they did. He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t go back to his life without her.
“No, we don’t. You don’t owe me an explanation.”
Her voice was such a thin thread of sound. Always so soft and delicate. Just sitting beside her, Slayer was quiet. “I want to give you one. Ineedto give you. You don’t have to listen to me if you don’t want to, but I have to tell you what’s been happening.”
