His cold eyes went to Cassie. “You should do a better job protecting your mate if you plan to keep her.”
Then he was gone.
Cassie
Asshole. How was I supposed to know a small army of Romanians were going to invade a damn awards banquet to try to kidnap my mate?
“Weatherby! Report!”
I jumped as I heard Lois’s voice behind me. When I turned around she was stomping towards us with Martha, Angie, and Marilee flanking her. Meanwhile shellshocked guests made their way out of the ballroom, some of them crying.
As succinctly as possible, I told my boss what happened with Alexei filling in additional details. Lois’s expression went from cranky to thunderous.
“We need to get you all to a safehouse.”
“No way,” I said quickly. “We’ve had bad luck with safehouses.”
Clients had been kidnapped from safe houses. Buildings had exploded. I wasn’t convinced any of our safehouses were safe, even though Wanda had reviewed our security protocols carefully after every event.
Giving me an angry look that would make a lesser being collapse onto the floor in the fetal position to protect themselves, Lois turned to my mate.
“Ruby, for your own safety I’m recommending you hide out at a safe house for the time being. You too Eleanor.”
“I’m a shifter,” Eleanor shot back indignantly. “I don’t need protection.”
Lois growled deep in her throat, and Eleanor’s eyes fell to the floor as she bared her neck in submission. My boss’s expression didn’t change but I could tell by the little sparkle of satisfaction in her eyes she was amused by Eleanor’s easy acquiescence.
“I don’t want to hide.”
My mate’s voice rang clear.
“These guys are pissing me off. It’s not my fault that poor girl killed herself.”
Lois lifted one eyebrow and I quickly updated her on what we’d learned tonight about the Romanian soccer team.
“At least it’s not the Russians,” she said. “Angie!”
“I’m on it, boss.”
Angie held up a phone as she tapped out a message. She had family in Romania, some of them well-connected, so there was a good chance she could get us some intel.
Lois turned back to Ruby but before she could say anything, Mr. Wozniak spoke up.
“Kochana,why don’t you come back to our house tonight? We just upgraded the security system and there’s plenty of space for anyone who wants to come along.”
“Fine,” Lois answered for us. “Marilee, Angie, you stay with Cassie and the bear. We’ll all meet back at the office tomorrow morning at ten hundred hours to strategize on how to end this thing.”
“Alexei,” the bear in question added helpfully, apparently thinking that Lois had forgotten his name. “You can tell because I’m shorter than my brothers.”
He winced as Lois turned her glare in his direction. Eleanor growled softly in protest but kept her eyes on the ground.
“Let’s head out,” I said quickly. “I don’t think they’ll be back tonight, but I don’t want to make us an easy target by hanging around here.”
The limo ride to Ruby’s parents was not as fun as the ride to the banquet. We were all quiet and more than one of us was feeling the exhaustion that follows an adrenaline dump.
When we got back to Ruby’s parents’ mansion, Marilee and Angie did a perimeter sweep while Alexei and I stayed with Ruby, Eleanor, and Ruby’s parents. Once we had the all clear, Mrs. Wozniak passed out towels and room assignments.
“I’ll stay with Ruby, Mrs. Wozniak,” I said when she fixed her attention on me.
