What she and I had done was between the two of us, and I really didn’t want a lecture on maintaining focus at this critical time. With less than two weeks to the end of our contracts with Gordon, I couldn’t afford to blow things — and getting involved with his beloved goddaughter would be the best way to do that.
Can’tnotget involved,my tiger insisted.
True. I normally prided myself on strong self-disciple, but the instinct to hold, to touch, and to claim had been overpowering.
It’s destiny,my tiger murmured.
Maybe, but I wished destiny would work on its timing.
“We were able to go through security footage of Gordon’s street,” Marius said, bringing my mind back to the business at hand.
Video evidence showed Celeste staking out Gordon’s apartment days ahead of the break-in. It also showed hermaking a quick exit the day of the theft and hurrying into a waiting taxi. Unfortunately, the camera angle made it impossible to tell whether she’d been carrying a painting.
“What about things here?” Marius asked. “Everything quiet?”
My blood heated, and I fought to keep my voice steady.
“Nothing to report.”
Marius disappeared into Mina’s bedroom, while Bene and I shifted and settled down on the floor. I started out a good meter away from the couch where Gen slept, but the next morning, I woke up touching her. Or rather, she touchedme, poking her hand out of the mound of blankets to rest gently between my ears.
The moment she woke, she flexed her fingers and resumed lightly scratching my skull.
I leaned into her hand. Heaven.
When we turned to face each other, her awestruck expression warmed my soul, and I felt a ridiculous rush of pride in being such a fine specimen of a tiger.
“You like that, don’t you?” she chuckled, scratching gently.
Hell yes. It might not equal the pleasure I’d given her on the roof, but the moment was special in its own way.
My tail kept tapping in joy, which was tricky, because the place was full of breakable objects. A half-filled wineglass. Framed prints of Prague in the early 1900s. Vases.
I snorted. What the hell did Henrik do with a vase? Fill it with cheery daffodils to brighten up his miserable, eternal existence?
Soon, the others stirred. Bene flopped from side to side for a while, then chuffed, rose to sphinx position, and started meticulously grooming his golden fur. Mina padded from the bedroom to the bathroom, and Gen stood to put on the kettle.
I stood, stretching out one hind leg, then the other, and gave my body a thorough shake. Then I shifted in the hallway and pulled on my clothes.
“I’ll fetch breakfast,” Gen volunteered.
I practically jumped to follow her. “I’ll go with you.”
“Me too,” Bene added cheerily, spoiling everything.
So, no hand-holding on the way to the convenience store, no stolen kisses at theboulangerie. Just a crackling field of sexual energy that followed us everywhere.
We happened across Henrik on the way back to the apartment, and soon after, everyone crowded around his dining table for a breakfast of baked goods, yogurt, and cereal.
“Clement was kind enough to send me a few details,” Mina announced, squinting at her phone.
Marius grumbled into my mind.Kind? The bastard is just trying to curry favor with my woman.
Gen’s expression went hard.
“Apparently, Claudette was keeping notes on our working hours and comings and goings,” Mina said grimly.
“Nothing someone couldn’t figure out from the outside,” I noted.
