Taking his mate’s hand, Hunter looked at his cousin. “Okay, let’s go.” Then, noticing the tightness of Carson’s face, he asked softly, “Hey, everything okay?”
Gritting his teeth, Carson answered, “Just peachy.”
Chapter 19
Zane’s hand groped blindly for his phone on the nightstand, finally finding it and silencing its alarm.Two o’clock in the fucking morning! Groaning as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he dragged himself out of bed. Stumbling over to the in-room coffee machine, he punched the ‘on’ button before heading to the bathroom.There’s no way I’m going to make it through today unless I’m highly caffeinated…like four cups for starters…and then maybe ten more ought to do it.Flipping the switch, Zane growled as the bathroom light blinded him before he could cover his eyes.Fuck, shit, damn, and fuck some more!
He blinked several times before padding over to the shower turning on the hot water and stepping into it. A deep, soul-satisfying sigh escaped his lips as it needled his body.I feel like shit warmed over.Exhaustion from last week’s work forced him to reach out and lean against the tiles, his body soaking up comfort from the pulsing water overhead. He was running on ‘empty’ and it was his fault— all because he hadn’t listened to his mate. Shunning all of David’s entreaties to get some sleep, Zane was now paying the price.
Steel was right, I need to get my fucking act together. I’m no use if I’m too fucking tired to take care of David. Picking up the shower gel, he squeezed some into his hand before soaping up his body. Swearing to himself, he realized it wasn’t only his mate he was shortchanging; he was also putting his brother and Dylon in jeopardy. So far, they hadn’t run into trouble, but he was worried about what might happen today. If things went sideways, he needed to be on top of his game and missing night after night of sleep certainly wasn’t the way to get there.
Now, all Zane could hope for was that the information he uncovered about Willow Thatcher last night was correct and Dylon’s plan would succeed. After rinsing and turning off the water, he stepped out, dried off and then glanced at himself in the mirror, snorting at his new scruff. Deciding to keep it, he finished up in the bathroom quickly—the smell of freshly-brewed coffee was calling to him.
After taking the first sip, Zane sighed with satisfaction; he could feel his body soaking up the caffeine. Checking the time, he dressed quickly, poured another cup of coffee to take with him and then grabbed his bag. Leaving the key on the dresser, he left his hotel room, joining his brother and Dylon who were waiting for him at the elevator. “Hey,” he murmured.
“Good morning,” Cody said, cheerfully. “Don’t you look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning.”
Shaking his head, Zane growled, “Fuck off.”
“What do you think, babe?” Cody asked Dylon, “Can’t you just feel the energy radiating off him? I never knew he was such a morning person.”
“Har, har,” Zane said, slurping some more coffee before stepping into the elevator. “Can we just go and get Willow without all this bullshit…because unlike you two, my mate is back in California.”
“Certainly,” Dylon grinned, pressing the button. “However, my mate has a point. Are you sure you’re up for this? If not, Cody and I can handle it ourselves.”
“No way,” Zane said. “I’m going with you…don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
Tilting his head in acknowledgement, Dylon said, “Okay, same plan as yesterday. Once we get there, you’ll ghostwalk Cody inside, then come right back out. He’ll take care of unlocking the door before he scopes out the place. Once he finds Willow, he’ll give me the signal for us to enter. Got it?”
“Yeah…no doing anything that’ll scare Willow...like me walking through a door,” Zane muttered, sarcastically.
“Yeah, well, hopefully she’ll be hiding somewhere in the warehouse, out of sight of the door,” said Cody.
“Trust me, she will be,” Dylon assured them, as the elevator doors opened. “Let’s go.”
~/~/~/~/~
After parking in front of the hospital, Carson looked in the rearview mirror at his cousin behind him. “Even though the doctor says Henri has fully recovered, I’ll be driving the rest of the way. Do you have a problem with that?”
“Nope,” Hunter said, “but may I ask why?”
“I just want to,” Carson answered. He wished Cody or Colton was with him so he could get their reactions to what he’d discovered about his mate, but they weren’t. Maybe later, in the privacy of his bedroom at the chateau, he could facetime with them—to see what they thought. In the meantime, without absolute proof his mate was an imposter, he wasn’t comfortable telling his cousin or Fionn. Catching Hunter’s eyes again, he said, “I couldn’t get his boss last night, so I left a message but no response...which I think is strange. I have no idea what’s going on with Remy Marchant. You’d think he’d care about Henri, but obviously, he doesn’t.”
Studying his cousin, Hunter wondered what was causing Carson’s attitude change about Remy. Obviously, something happened between yesterday and today thatpissed off his cousin, but other than not getting a call back, he hadn’t a clue what it could be. Hunter’s eyes narrowed. Normally, he’d let it go, but if his cousin knew something that might put Fionn in danger, then it became his business. “Are you upset because of Remy’s response, or in this case, his not responding?”
Snorting, Carson shook his head in disgust. “You could say that…it’s just not that, but …you know what? Never mind. I’ll sort it out when we get there. I’ll be right back,” he said, getting out of the car.
Fionn waited until Carson had entered the building before asking, “What the fuck was that all about?”
“Not sure, pet,” Hunter said, “but I don’t think it has anything to do with us.”
Snorting, Fionn replied, “No kidding! I bet it’s Remy, but who the fuck knows? I just hope there isn’t going to be a scene when we get there.”
“Not gonna happen,” Hunter said, calmly. “If Carson can’t control himself, I’ll ask Maximus to send someone else to handle the sale.”
“No, don’t do that,” Fionn said. “I don’t want to get him in trouble. Maybe he’s just having a bad day…oh, here he comes.”
“Love you, pet,” Hunter murmured. “Don’t worry about my cousin…he should cool off by the time we get to your chateau, especially after two hours of driving through the French countryside.”
