Forrest sighed. “This may be completely off base, but I’m going to say it anyway, because I think you need to hear it. I think all this crap you keep spouting about omegas not getting to have soul mates is merely cover for the fact that you’re scared that this thing with Brielle could be real and that you’re going to mess it up like you have with so many other things in your life. So you figure, if it’s all going to blow up at some point, just do it now and get it over with. Less pain for you that way, right?”
Caleb wished he could deny it, but truthfully, Forrest had hit the nail on the head. He’d known Brielle wasThe Onefor him since the first time he’ smelled her honeysuckle perfume. No, not herperfume. Her honeysucklescent. But he’d spent every second since then trying to ignore the obvious, listing one reason after another for why it couldn’t be true because he couldn’t imagine the world letting him have something so perfect. Not when his life had been nothing but one big disappointment piled on top of an effing train wreck.
“Assuming you’re right,” Caleb muttered, scanning the room so he would have an excuse for not looking at his teammate, “what the hell am I supposed to do, then?”
“I’ve already told you what to do,” Forrest said with a shake of his head. “Sit down and talk to her. Honestly tell her how you feel and find out if she feels the same.”
Caleb blew out a breath. “You make it sound so easy. But I’m not sure I’d even know where to start. I’ll probably open my mouth, nothing will come out, and I’ll look like an idiot.”
He was hoping Forrest might give him a few suggestions—maybe even tell him the exact words he should use—but before his friend could say anything, a burst of static over the radio interrupted them.
“Harrington’s driver just started the limo, and two members of his security team are heading into the atrium,” Harley said. “I’m going to move closer so I can pick up Harrington’s scent when he comes out and figure out what kind of supernatural he is.”
“I’m moving closer, too,” Brielle added, slipping away from her French contingent before Caleb had a chance to tell her to stay where she was. “Sometimes I can get a better feel for a supernatural’s abilities when I’m closer to them.”
Caleb growled under his breath and started moving to intercept Brielle, Forrest at his heels. They had no idea how dangerous Harrington might be, and Caleb sure as hell wasn’t going to let her be the test dummy to find out.
Even though he and Forrest were still half an atrium away, Caleb could hear the billionaire announcing to his avid audience that he had to leave to deal with another crisis. With that, Harrington turned and headed toward one of the side corridors—and Brielle.
Caleb’s heart thumped faster.
“Fall back,” Caleb growled softly into the mic hidden in the cuff of his suit jacket. “Do not follow Harrington out of the main lobby, Brielle. I repeat. Do. Not Follow. He could be setting us up for an ambush.”
Caleb felt his fangs trying to shove their way out as he realized that Brielle wasn’t listening to him. Instead, she moved closer to Harrington and the two bodyguards waiting to escort him to the garage with every step she took.
Caleb picked up his pace, Forrest right there with him. But with all the people in the atrium, there was no way they’d get there in time to stop her.
“Dammit, Brielle, stop,” he said.
But it was no use.
Caleb watched in a near panic as she followed Harrington and his guards around the corner that led to the parking garage and the limo waiting there for them. At this time of the evening, with the social event still in full swing, the hallway would be nearly empty.
And the perfect place for an ambush.
Caleb lifted his arm, bringing the mic in his sleeve close to his mouth. “Harley, move in now.”
Saying the hell with his cover, he picked up speed. As he ran for the corner Brielle had disappeared around, he realized he wasn’t even sure where Harley was at the moment. She’d been keeping an eye on his limo in the garage from wherever she’d been hiding. He only hoped she was closer to Brielle than he was.
Caleb reached inside his jacket and grasped the small automatic secured in the holster under his left arm. He didn’t want to cause a panic, so he didn’t draw it. But he had his hand around the grip, thumb moving to release the safety.
The moment he rounded the corner into the long hallway that led to the garage, he froze, his fangs and claws extending. The laughs and murmurs of polite conversation in the atrium behind him faded away to nothing at the sight of Brielle standing in the middle of the wide corridor, her weapon out of the holster hidden under her dress, Harrington’s bodyguards pointing their weapons straight at her head.
Harley was a little farther down the hallway, closer to the garage, four more men holding weapons on her as she stood with one clawed hand wrapped around the throat of another bodyguard and the other pointing a small-frame Glock straight at Xavier Harrington. Uriel was at his boss’s side, ready to put his body in front of Harley’s weapon, his large-caliber automatic already pointing in Caleb and Forrest’s direction. Harrington didn’t seem surprised by their appearance. It was almost as if he’d known they were coming around the corner at just that moment.
Caleb’s instincts shouted at him to either pull his weapon and start shooting or tearing his way through everyone standing between him and Brielle. Caleb wasn’t sure which one he was going to opt for even as he stepped forward.
Harrington folded his arms over his chest, jade-green eyes locked on Caleb. He was the only unarmed person in the corridor and yet he didn’t seem the least bit concerned about that.
“My, my, my,” Harrington said, his New York accent slight but easy to pick up. “You are a hard one to get a read on.” He glanced at Brielle, then back at Caleb. “But your protective instincts when it comes to her are quite obvious.”
Weapons abruptly skewed around all over the place, some coming to rest on Caleb and Forrest, others coming around to threaten Brielle, as if the bad guys decided she was the key to this situation. Uriel especially had a glint in his eye as he aimed his gun at her heart. The thought of someone so important to him being in so much danger pushed Caleb even closer to the edge. He knew, without a doubt, that he was seconds from losing all control, and he didn’t give a damn. From the way Harrington and Uriel were looking at him, Caleb could only guess that his eyes were glowing like a blue neon sign.
Caleb glanced at Brielle and saw the fear clear in her gaze. For a moment, he wasn’t sure if she was more scared of the men with the guns or of what he was about to do. But then he decided it didn’t matter. He’d kill them all to save her. He didn’t even care about who’d go down first.
Hating to take his eyes off Brielle but knowing he needed to, he dragged his gaze away from her to look at Harrington. The man regarded him curiously, like Caleb was some sort of puzzle he was trying to figure out.
“I expected something would happen here but definitely not this,” Harrington murmured. “Which, if I’m being honest, is extremely concerning. Almost as concerning as those friends of yours currently searching the offices of the Harrington Group. Then again, I have been distracted lately. Now that I know what you’re looking for, I realize I need to do something about it.”
