Page 59 of Nicolette

“Are you all right?” he asked in a low gentle voice that was the complete opposite of his energy.

“Yes, I’m fine, nothing happened, and I had Rambler with me,” I assured him.

He looked over my head at the tiger and did that silent conversation shit before Nine pressed a quick kiss to my forehead and turned to Amaretto.

“Get the fuck up, stop crying, and face the choices you made, woman,” he ordered.

She managed to pick herself up and used the sleeve of her hoodie in an attempt to dry her face. Really, it just smeared the mascara everywhere, making things worse than they already were. While she may have stopped crying, the drama queen continued to sniff every so often just so we didn’t forget how upset she was—poor baby.

“Tell me exactly what you did, who you talked to, what you said, and why the fuck I should save your ass?” Nine instructed.

Dice and Circus rounded the two coming to stand with me. Circus hooked his pinky around mine in a sweet gesture of solidarity as Dice shifted and sat on my feet, my tiny deadly guardian. It was a rather different experience to know I had these guys watching my back and that I didn’t have to face this alone. Not having spotted where the twins went, I saw them standing near the SUVs with the two men I didn’t know. They both had serious expressions on their faces making it clear they meant business.

“I’m so sorry, Nine. I really didn’t know anything about a vampire or the trouble this would cause. You have to believe I’d never do anything intentionally to harm the pride or the crew. They are my family. I was just trying to protect them from the dangers that she would bring to us when I learned about her contract,” Amaretto started, words spilling out of her as she desperately tried to find something to say that would make him believe her.

“She is my mate, and she has a name. I suggest you fucking use it,” Nine snapped.

The color drained from her face as she finally realized how bad she fucked up. However, that didn’t stop her from trying to throw me under the bus. “Did you know Nicolette has a contract with The Broker?”

“Yes, one that was voided the second I marked her as my fated pair,” he answered, crossing his arms. “No contact or bargain can break that of a fated pair. Which you would have known if you’d come to me about this perceived danger to the pack instead of creating danger for us all.”

No shit, was he for real about the contract?

How come he didn’t tell me that?

Never mind, that was a matter to deal with once this delightful moment was over.

Amaretto opened her mouth to argue, but there was nothing for her to even say. He had her by the lady balls, and she had no choice but to admit what she did was out of spite and jealousy. Letting out a sigh, the woman seemed to deflate before my eyes as she accepted her fate.

“After Nicolette put me in my place last night, I couldn’t be there anymore,” she began as she played with the cuffs of her hoodie. “So I went with a few other girls to a fae bar on the other side of the train yard. We go there from time to time when we want a little variety in our lives. Men who appreciate us and what we have to offer. While we were hanging out with these guys, one of them mentioned the fact there was shit going down on the other side of the river. Mentioned that The Broker was looking for one of his fighters, a woman who had up and vanished a week ago. Said they were offering a reward for the person who gave a valid tip on her location. So I went to the payphone outside the bar and called the Lucky Shot.”

“How do you know the number to the Lucky Shot?” Circus cut in.

She mumbled an answer, but even with my supernatural hearing, I couldn’t make it out.

“Amaretto,” Nine warned.

“We get our drugs from them,” she blurted. “The shit that gets run through here is bad. It’s laced with things that fucks with the high and makes you tweak out. So we have a connection on the other side who hooks us up with the good stuff. We call the Lucky Shot and leave a message telling them where we dropped the money, and they leave the drugs the next day.”

Nine groaned, rubbing his forehead. “You have to be shitting me right now.”

“If you took control of the drugs on this side of the river, then maybe we wouldn’t have to go behind your back,” she shot back. “You say the Savage Pride is the ruler on this side of The Grid, but if that’s the case, why are the fae controlling the market here? All you want to do is run guns, work with the mafia, and pretend to keep our streets safe. You could be so much more than that if you just took it, but you let it all slide right past you.”

A warning growl emanated from Nine as he got right up in her face. “I would watch your mouth, or you might find out just how willing I am to be the ruler you want me to be. It would certainly include ridding my kingdom of rotten fruit like you.”

“Threaten all you want, Nine. You forget I’ve known you for far too long,” she goaded, poking him in the chest. “I know how soft you really are under all that posturing. You only became our alpha because you’re a lion and have more magic than a shifter should. Then again, with your mother being an enchantress who lured your father into her trap, I suppose that makes sense.”

“You’ve gone too far this time, Amaretto,” Nine stated as he took a step back. He motioned to Dice, who shifted back and grabbed the woman’s arms, pinning them behind her back. “You leave me no choice but to do the one thing I loath, especially to a female of our kind. As you said, I’m gifted with more magic than any shifter should have, and now you will understand the full scope of just how powerful I am.”

Magic whipped around us as if a storm was brewing out of nowhere. It pulled and tugged at Nine’s clothes and hair, pulling it free from its bun to swirl in the wind. As he reached deep for his magic, I felt a tug at the center of my chest, drawing me to him. My lioness gave out a distressed cry as I gave in and walked to him.

“Nicolette, no, don’t touch him,” Circus yelled as I reached out for Nine, grabbing my wrist. “Like she said, he’s got enchantress blood in him. If you touch him, he’ll own you, turn you into a puppet to do his bidding.”

I looked over my shoulder at the fear written all over his face. Circus, like Dice, was not a man to fear much in this world, but right then, Nine Lives terrified him. “It’s going to be fine, but he needs me to do this, or the magic will overwhelm him.”

“How do you know that?” Circus demanded. “I can’t, Nic. I can’t let you do this and lose you before we’ve even started.”

Turning to face him, I cupped his cheek and kissed him softly. “He is my fated pair, as you all keep telling me we complete each other, right? Trust me on this, he needs me to pull this off, or we will lose him to his magic.”