“More than you’d believe, kitty cat.”
“More?”
“Definitely more.”
More than enough to be soul mates?
She wanted to ask him. She held back the question this time. Laying in silence, she rested her hand on his head.
With that, Flora dropped her back onto the crisp hotel pillows. The warmth and weight of Dylan’s body lying over hers lulled her into a much-needed sleep.
18
DYLAN
She was sleeping, breathing deeply. His own body moved as her chest rose and fell. Now that he was left alone with his thoughts, the silence began beating in his ears. Cassandra and Romeo Bray were high suspects on his list, and he knew Flora wouldn’t want to hear it. It would crush her to know people who she trusted were after her. Dylan couldn’t exactly prove it either, his wolf instinct pushed his suspicions.
Getting up he pulled out his notebook and pen. His phone rang and he answered it quickly, trying to silence it so it wouldn’t wake Flora up.
“Hello?”
“Hey, I was just watching the surveillance at Lust Lane, and guess who I saw.” Felix’s low voice came from the end of the line. He was also an Enchanted Pack member who was hired at the club to set up security cameras and watch the feed until they could hire someone more permanent.
“Who?”
“Emery Sparks. Your girl's ex," Felix stated. “She was meeting with two big guys. Found them on the dark web and they're cage fight collectors.”
Shit. Holy shit. Emery was working with collectors. Flora’s ex-girlfriend was involved in cage fighting?
“What was she doing with them?”
“Just talking. The cheapskate club owner wouldn’t get cameras with a mic on them. Something about a breach of privacy,” Felix said, clicking his tongue.
“Okay, did you do any more digging?”
“She’s been in contact with someone under the name of WL. Nothing on him. But she’s been talking back and forth with WL for about a year. About what I can’t tell yet, it's all in code.”
“When could you figure the code out?”
“This is some high-level shit, so probably a couple of weeks.”
They weren’t working with that kind of time frame. Anything could happen in a couple of weeks, and he was beginning to question Flora’s mental state. One person could only take so much. He’d met Emery multiple times: walked her to her car, watched her interact with Flora. While he could never write her off completely, she seemingly had the same likelihood of being Flora’s stalker as Willow and Luxe had. Chances were slim as hell. But slim still meant there was a chance.
“Okay, call me if anything else happens. I have to go,” Felix said before hanging up. Dylan didn’t know what his next steps were. Emery probably knew what Flora’s animal was and figured she could make a quick buck selling her into cage fighting. Most people who found a panther Shifter would do the same. It was a damn shame what money could make people do.
“Who were you talking about?” Flora’s sleepy voice startled him. He schooled his posture and slowly turned to face her. She was still cuddled up in the fluffy comforter on the bed.
“We don’t know for sure what’s going on,” Dylan began. He didn’t want to tell her that her ex, who she still was close friends with, may be trying to sell her to the Shifter Black Market.
“Don’t play with me, Dylan. Just tell me straight out.”
“Emery was spotted talking to collectors outside of Lust Lane.”
His statement was met with silence as he stared at her. She was processing and it was scaring the hell out of Dylan with each minute that passed.
“What do you know?” she asked, her sudden question a lighting crack to the tense atmosphere in the room.
“That’s about all we know,” Dylan left out the info on "WL" in case it would freak her out more. She wasn’t supposed to be the one stressed out. Dylan wanted her to go on with her life as normal. Let him hold the weight of her reality.
