Now, there was a corpse in her SUV, the police were on their way to a compound she’d never set foot on before, and a man who could turn into a monster, thought nothing of killing to save her life—could things get any fucking stranger?
She really, truly, hoped not.El, accustomed to the extremes of life, nonetheless felt certain she’d go batshit nuts if things did get weirder.
“Are you okay?”Ryan asked, pressing a hand to her waist but not urging her into moving.
“I’m just getting my bearings,” she admitted with a gulp.
He waited, silently, and patiently too for her to nod and stand upright.When she felt a little less shaky, she followed him to a door, which he opened for her and revealed a bathroom.
“There should be all you need in there.”He pointed to another door.“When you’re done, if you want to meet me in there?”At her nod, he ducked his head and whispered, more to the floor than her, “Will you run?”
She blinked.That option hadn’t even occurred to her.What did that say for her state of mind?
All of this went so beyond anything she’d ever experienced in her admittedly batshit nuts life, and though she was torn up and uncertain about everything that was happening, a part of her just couldn’t leave him hanging.
“I can’t run in these heels,” she told him softly, trying to take the sting away with a joke.She couldn’t tell him categorically that she was A-Okay with everything going down, because she wasn’t.This was her trying to meet him somewhere in the middle.
A fucked up middle at that.
He grinned at her, his gaze moving from the floor to trace her features with an adoration that had her heart clutching.“You can always take the heels off.”
“Nah,” she whispered.“I’m good.I won’t be long.”
At her reassurance, his smile softened, and he closed the door.In the space by herself, she looked around the amber bathroom, complete with Italian marble washbasin and pearly white toilet, and let out a long breath.
Tonight was going to be a doozy.
“Where is she?”
Ryan turned from his perusal of the flowers in the hearth—why they’d even needed a fireplace, he didn’t know.Their decorator had insisted.It didn’t matter that they never needed a fire.Even on the coldest of nights, their temperatures ran hotter.A fire would have been surplus to requirements on a blizzard day!
Turning to see his Triad brother, Trip, in the doorway, he murmured, “In the bathroom.She vomited outside.El wanted to freshen up.”
Trip was as tall as Ryan, but he had white blond hair—a trait that came not only from his heritage as a Lion but his Dutch ancestry too—green eyes, and his skin was pale rather than bronze like most of the Lion Shifters on the compound.When he shifted, he was almost albino in color.He knew, no matter how scared El was the day she saw them all in their fur, she’d fall in love with Trip the easiest.
He was like a cross between a Golden Retriever and a Lion.If that had even been a genetic possibility, that is, he thought ruefully as he sank back two fingers of scotch.
When the burn disappeared within seconds, he wished like hell the stuff would stay in his system rather than flush out of his metabolism like it was water.
“What happened?”Trip demanded, heading for the drinks’ tray and pouring himself some whiskey.
“One of her guards turned traitor.He was going to abduct her… I stopped him.”
“I thought I could smell death when I drove up here.Thought it was roadkill though.”
“You must have broken about twenty laws getting here so fast.”
Trip grinned.“You know I like driving fast.”
“Shame the LAPD don’t like it so much, huh?”
“I’ve not been caught yet.”
“More by luck than management,” Ryan countered, but there was no heat to the argument.If Trip lost his license again, that was his problem.
Well, he said that.He and Marc would be the ones who had to put up with Trip bitching about his chauffeurs.
Trip took a sip of his drink and asked, “Tonight is going to be hard on her.”
