There was an edge to Gedeon’s voice. Although he remained perfectly at ease on the outside, she felt the tension in him coiling like a snake ready to strike. Along with that came a tendril of something else. It felt like a stream of energy, white-hot and frightening in its intensity. That energy began to wrap itself around the ever-present rage coiling inside Gedeon, so ready to strike out at his enemies.
No one is going to take me away from you, Gedeon. We belong.Sometimes, like now, her love for him was so strong the emotion felt overwhelming.
I was born for one thing. One fucking thing, Meiling. I was born to be your man. To stand with you as a partner. In front of you as a shield. Behind you to guard your back. I feel you in my soul. I know you’re there. You are the only thing that makes sense of why I’m alive. I don’t care how many shifters he’s got between us and freedom, he’s not taking you away from me.
Meiling suddenly didn’t care at all about her role as the submissive little girlfriend too frightened by the circumstances of her female leopard going into heat. She dropped her hand onto Gedeon’s thigh and sat up a little straighter, tilting her chin and looking Jake right in his piercing, golden eyes. Waiting. Studying him. Woman and leopard both.
Jake looked a little startled, but he continued. “In the first life cycle, as the female emerges, there are times in the heat of the moment that she accepts a male who is not her true mate. I want to verify that you are comfortable with the man you have chosen, and your leopard is comfortable with the male she has chosen. If not, say so now and we’ll help you.”
There wasn’t a doubt in Meiling’s mind that Jake Bannaconni meant every word he said. He sat across from Gedeon, a man known to be dangerous, fast and without mercy and not only threatened to take his woman fromhim but stated that he would. That took courage and resolve. It also earned him respect, as far as Meiling went.
“Thank you for caring enough about women to worry, Mr. Bannaconni,” she said. She always spoke in a low voice. That was her nature. But she kept her tone very firm. “Gedeon was my choice before I knew about my female. He was my choice when she was rising and I was a mess. His leopard is my female’s choice absolutely. She wouldn’t want any other. I have no idea if I influenced that because I’m so in love with Gedeon. That’s a possibility. I had no way of manipulating his leopard, but if I could have, I would have. His choice was my female.”
If Jake could hear truth, her tone had to have rung with it, because every word she uttered was the raw, honest truth. Gedeon was her choice. There was no other man and there wouldn’t be. She hadn’t looked away from Jake’s golden eyes. Those eyes were going green. Little green flecks had shaded the gold and were now taking over.
“I had to ask. To be sure. Someone has to protect you. You picked a pretty tough man. Gedeon, you’re a lucky man. I don’t know how men like us manage to be gifted with a miracle, but we have been. I treasure mine, and looking at you, I can see you feel the same way. I know I don’t deserve Emma, but I do my damnedest to keep her safe and happy.”
Meiling liked that Jake had put himself in the same category as Gedeon. “I’m very happy. Thank you for caring. We brought you a file we prepared. We didn’t put anything online because Guy Hawkins has enough money to hire the best hackers and we don’t want him to have access to anything in our investigation we don’t fabricate or approve for him. He also has a very dangerous man shadowing us.”
Jake cocked his head to one side as he studied both of them with his unusual eyes.
Gedeon didn’t seem to be in the least affected by that penetrating stare. He held out the folder to Jake. “This is part of what we’ve uncovered and our best conclusion. If you don’t agree with us, we’ll walk out and head into San Antonio for more footwork. If you do agree, we’ll take it from there and show you what else we’re contending with.”
Jake took the file and then opened it. Silence filled the room. He read it thoroughly twice. Word for word. No one interrupted him. No one whispered or talked together. They waited just as Gedeon and Meiling did.
As they had pieced together everything they could find on Guy Hawkins behind the façade he’d built around himself, Meiling had begun to really worry about Laverne. Hawkins had the best PR group to handle his image in the media and they had been doing a tremendous job for years.
Laverne, on the other hand, was a sweet, giving, kind woman without the kind of money her husband had. She had no PR team to watch over her in the media. Lately small shadows had crept in, rumors of late-night partying with drugs, quickly squashed, but once the rumor started, it was there for all time. Meiling and Gedeon were certain those rumors had been carefully planted by someone Hawkins paid.
Jake looked up from the typed report. “I’ve met Guy Hawkins on several occasions. I thought he was a pompous ass with an ego the size of Texas, but if half of this is true, he’s a serial killer.”
Gedeon hitched forward. “He’s a serial killer who will never be brought to justice in the normal way. He keeps his hands clean so there’s no proof leading back to him. I need to speak with Edge Wilson for a couple of reasons. The first: I need to know Laverne is safe before I can take the next step. And second: his life is in danger until I can make my move.”
Meiling once again found Jake Bannaconni’s leopardstaring at them with focused eyes. Gedeon used terms like “make my move” and “take the next step.” She knew that meant Gedeon would go hunting.
They gave Jake the evidence they had on Hawkins and the women they had linked to him who had disappeared. They’d related their evidence to Drake, but it wasn’t the same as seeing it in black and white.
“Edge, I’d like you to read this,” Jake said. “If you prefer not to, that’s all right. It’s your choice.” Jake continued to look at them even as he called out to the bodyguard. “Edge is working for me now. I thought it more expedient if he was close. I won’t order him to cooperate.”
The bodyguard came out of the shadows and took the report Jake gave him. He barely flicked Gedeon and Meiling a glance before retreating to the wall to read through their findings.
“Are either of you hungry or thirsty? I should have asked you that first,” Jake said. “Emma has been trying to instill manners in me for years, but I fail at civility quite often.”
“At least you’re giving it your best shot. Gedeon does a lot of growling. Guests find it off-putting. I can’t imagine why.”
Meiling laughed. The instant she did, the atmosphere in the room seemed to lighten. She felt as if someone had flipped a switch and the room grew brighter. She also felt as if everyone was staring at her. It was difficult not to burrow closer to Gedeon.
“Jake, just to let you know, since I met the helicopter and escorted them to your office, my leopard has been quiet,” Tavin said.
The bodyguard Meiling had been certain was Tavin’s brother spoke up. “My leopard is also quiet. I’m Talbert, by the way. Thank your female for the respite. There are only a few female leopards who can quiet others.”
It isn’t Whisper, Gedeon said.It’s you. With your gifts. Talbert is correct. There are a rare few who can calmother leopards, but you have a universal gift, Meiling. Any leopard will respond to you. You may even have the ability to command it.
Do you have that gift?Meiling asked.
Gedeon leaned into her, pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck and then brushed another to her ear. “Yes.” He whispered the affirmative aloud.I practiced taking over for years until I was very good at it. Taking control of another man’s leopard is dangerous, Meiling. To be able to do so sounds like a gift on the surface, but it can be a curse.
She heard notes of regret, anger, fierce determination. That boy, tortured and forced to see his mother trafficked. Forced to see his family murdered. That boy whose innocence was ripped from him, questioning whether he was a monster because he had exacted revenge against those who had taken everything from him.
