He didn’t even need to worry about it. Talon tripped over his own damned feet and fell headlong in the grass halfway to the back porch.
Roman allowed himself to slow at the sight, pulling the gun without a second thought and cocking it when Talon made to stand up. “Get back on thefucking ground,” he growled, the command lacing itself through his words and flattening Talon back to the grass. “You get up and I blow out your knees. You can drag yourself to the porch without them.”
When he stepped closer, he realized Talon was crying. The wet, panicky breaths had morphed into desperate little hitching sobs, his eyes wide and round as he looked back at Roman. That frightened gaze never left him, not even as Roman circled the big man so he could put himself between Talon and the house.
None of the Kincaids would get back inside. Roman would be the only alpha to cross that threshold. His mate was in there, and he had already done so much to keep Sidian safe. What was one more body stacked on top of all the others? What was a little more blood spilled, even if it was his?
“Listen, man, listen,” Talon blubbered, his hands fisting in the grass, “we didn’t even know he was someone’s mate. I wouldn’t have fucking touched him if I had known. I’m sorry, okay?”
Roman stopped and stared at Talon, his lips parting around a surprised breath.
Without taking his eyes off the alpha, he threw back his head andlaughed.It feltgoodto laugh, good to let it out, the tension unhitching itself from his body until he felt an eerie calm coil through his nerves. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck again, and he supposed the sound of his laugh must have come out for Talon to be looking up at him with such horror.
“You’re sorry,” Roman echoed. “Do you think that means anything? Do you think that changes anything?”
Talon opened his mouth and closed it, face straining like he was trying to think of anything that might somehow save him from getting his brains blown across the grass. “What do you want, dude? You want money? You want status? We got it. It’s yours. You can have it. You want the kid back? She’s yours. It was Dax’s idea to take her in the first place!”
Roman nodded, absorbing the words. “How did you know how to find us?”
“Tracker,” Talon gasped out. “In the omega’s arm. Dax told the center he wanted it installed the moment he passed out after the birth. Didn’t want him to go missing. Said he was too valuable.”
“I see.” They would have to remove that, though Roman was not sure how . That depended on what Sidian wanted to do and where he wanted to go next. “The address we were given of your house was an incorrect address. That address came from theMambas mercenary group. How did they get the wrong address in the first place, and who would have given it to them?”
Talon whimpered. “If I tell you, will you let me go?”
“I’ll consider it. But you'd better give me worthwhile answers. I’m exhausted. It’s been a long night, and my mate still needs me.” And Roman would do nothing to betray Sidian.
Talon wet his lips, pushing himself up just a little, though a sharp growl flattened him once again. “Okay, okay! Dax got paranoid after Baxter grabbed the alpha girl because he knew the snakes would be trailing us to figure out where she was. The house belonged to a relative of his, and he inherited it when his father died. All he did was go in and change the address.”
“Changing the address would have done nothing to change the official information that the Mambas kept about your pack. I want to know who had access to that information that your pack would have been in contact with.” It had to be someone on the inside. It had to be someone who would have lied about checking the house to keep the others off the trail for as long as possible.
It wouldn’t have been Kitten, who hadn’t been allowed to interrogate her own target.
And Roman knew Hadeon. He wasn’t that kind of alpha.
“I don’t know,” Talon wheezed out. “I wasn’t in charge of the contact. Dax was. You’d have to ask him. All I know is that it’s one of the snakes and that Dax has been paying them to keep the rest of their team off of our backs. If he hadn’t, they probably would have found the girl.”
Of that, Roman had no doubt. “Did you hurt my mate out of vengeance for what I did to Dax Kincaid’s father, or were there other reasons at play I don’t know about?”
“It was revenge at first, but Dax found out the omega was a prime and wanted to keep him.” Talon peeked up, his eyes wide and begging. “That’s all I know. Can I go now, man?”
Roman pretended to consider the option, allowing the gun to lower one centimeter before raising it back up, enjoying that sudden look of pure, animal fear in Talon’s eyes. “Feel free. Join your brothers.”
The back of Talon’s head exploded from the impact, his forehead denting in from the impact of the bullet as blood trickled from the wound just above the bridge of his nose. He slumped forward, brains leaking from the ragged tear in his skull, and Roman lowered the gun with a satisfied sigh.
Then he walked up the handful of steps to the sliding glass door and slammed his boot through the glass.
Chapter Forty-One
Roman strode into the living room dripping with blood and rainwater, his hair plastered to his face and his t-shirt framing every single muscle in his broad chest.
Sidian’s omega purred at the sight of him as he gripped the edge of the landing, pulling himself closer so he could peer down into the room below. Dax lay in a heap, his eyes wide and disbelieving, his chest rising and falling with labored breaths despite the state of his body. He was still alive, thefucker.
Another cramp ripped a noise from Sidian’s throat. He drew his knees up to relieve the pressure, aware of the needy throb between his thighs as his eyes were once again drawn to his mate. Roman was alive and well and in one piece, and though Sidian could see what looked like visible bite marks, he walked as if he felt no pain at all. His stroll was relaxed as he rounded the couch, his head tilting back as his bright forest eyes met Sidian’s from below. The corner of his mouth twitched, a small sign of relief that had Sidian smiling down at him.
They were both alive. They were going to get out of this in one piece, weren’t they?
“Evening, darling,” Roman murmured, and Sidian’s smile widened. “Are you all right?”
