The massive vampire dropped his gun and caught her, swinging her around. “Ginny, girl. You sweetheart. What are you doing here?” He seemed to forget all about Theo and his brothers.
Theo moved forward, his mind spinning and his chest heating. His woman had some serious explaining to do. “Put my mate down, Benny.”
Benny gently set Ginny on her feet as if handling fine china, his face falling. “You mated him?”
She nodded, her dimple twinkling. “You disappointed?”
“Yes,” Benny said, his body relaxing and his full lips turning down. “Now I probably can’t kill him.” He paused, his eyebrows lifting. “Right?”
Chapter 14
Ginny tried to plaster an innocent expression on her face, but from the glowering coming from her new mate, she wasn’t successful. “I’d really appreciate it if we kept the killing to a minimum.” Including her. Theo kind of looked like he wanted to strangle her. Or Benny. Or perhaps both of them. He did have two hands. “Please?”
Benny shuffled his humongous feet. “Oh, all right.”
“Thank you.” She gifted him with a genuine smile.
Benny was over a thousand years old. He had metallic eyes, long dark hair, a broad jaw, and a barrel of a chest. Standing at about six-foot-seven, he was a huge, sweet, deadly teddy bear, and she’d considered him one of her uncles for eons, even though he truly was shockingly handsome in a totally wounded and fallen angel way. “So you stole my file,” he murmured, losing his smile.
“Aye,” she said, sighing. “I’m sorry, but Saul has my da.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” Benny asked, hurt in his eyes.
She widened her eyes. “I tried. You’ve been in Russia, totally out of communication, Ben. I couldn’t find you.”
Now he blanched. “Ah, darling. I’m sorry. I needed a couple of decades of alone time.” He turned a harsh glare on his nephews, seemingly uncaring that they were three of the most dangerous vampires in the world. “And you three jackasses got two of my places blown up. Destroyed. Completely turned to ash.” His voice lowered to a growl that sounded more bear than wolf.
Theo stepped forward. “We’ve had a rough month, but we’ll pay you back.”
“Pay me back?” Benny boomed. “Oh, hell no. You’ll overpay me until you work your fool fingers to the bone.”
Theo’s pupils narrowed as if his temper was stretching wide awake. “For fuck’s sake, Ben. It was a penthouse and a house. Surely you had insurance.” Theo looked like he’d be just fine if Benny punched him in the face. Oh, man. Theo wanted a good fight and right now. “Would you just get over it?” He tensed, apparently ready for the blow.
Benny looked at him. Then at Ginny. Then once again at Theo. A smile twitched on his lips. Then he threw back his head and laughed, the boisterous sound echoing in every direction. His eyes watered, and he wiped them off, finally sobering with a couple of coughs. “Oh, boy. You just have no clue what you’ve gotten into.”
Theo cut a hard look toward Ginny. “I’m getting the idea that may be true.”
She fought the very real urge to stick her tongue out at him. Sometimes a vampire ended up pushed to his limit, and if she had to guess, Theo had reached that point more than a few hours earlier. “I’ve never pretended to be anything but who I am.”
Theo snorted. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Heat filled her face. “All right. I haven’t pretended since I promised you I wouldn’t.” All saints. What did he want, anyway?
Theo turned suddenly more toward Benny. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me the king knew about the Green Rock file?”
Benny’s broad forehead wrinkled. “Huh. Thought I had. Why do you care, anyway?”
Red flushed across Theo’s handsome face, even reaching his ears.
Ginny stepped in, patting Theo’s wide chest. “Um, I think perhaps Theo was concerned that the king would be angry. Considering Chalton works with the Realm, surely you can understand that concern, Benny.” She smiled at him again as if he should most certainly understand.
He stared at her a moment. “Well, uh, yeah. I guess I do understand that now.” He cleared his throat and looked at Theo. “I, ah, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about that.” His brows drew down and he looked at Ginny for confirmation. When she nodded with encouragement, his face cleared. “Yeah. Shoulda told you.”
Theo looked down at her as if the world had started spinning backward all of a sudden. “Have you two, ah, worked together a lot?”
Benny chuckled. “Oh, yeah. Remember that cadre of wolf shifters we—”
Ginny held up a hand. “Oh, my.” Panic cut through her with a large swath. Theo didn’t need to know about some of the scrapes she, Benny, and her father had gotten into through the years. “We don’t want to bother Theo withthatstory.” Glancing to the side, she caught both of Theo’s brothers staring at her, their mouths open and their brows furrowed. Amusement glittered in Jared’s eyes, while Chalton just looked bemused.
