Page 76 of Coveted By Cupid

“Fuck.” Frustrated, I pinch the bridge of my nose.

“We’ll clean the area after the Feds are done and keep our scouts here on-site. If Kirill or Mikhail returns, we’ll be alerted.”

Considering the two men who have been recruited to abduct my woman are still at large, I’m not okay with waiting around for them to turn up.

Remembering there are others we can interrogate, I ask, “What about the guards? Are any of them alive for questioning?”

Again, Punk shakes his head. “We had one. But he bled out.”

Double fuck.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

VANESSA

Gentle nudging on my shoulder stirs me from my sleep. I turn in bed, finding Marlene hovering over me. Light is peeking through the bottom of the curtains near the floor, alerting me it’s morning. Cupid is not in the bed with me, meaning he never came home last night.

My heart sinks like a rock in a pond. Where the hell is he?

I sit upright, rubbing the sleep away from my eyes. “Marlene? What is it? Is something wrong? Where’s Cupid?”

“Nothing’s wrong. The guys are still out. I didn’t want you waking and wondering where I went.”

“Where are you going?”

“My shift in the kitchen starts soon. I and some of the other ladies in the club make breakfast for the crew most mornings. If you’re hungry, come downstairs to Whiskey Wheelers to grab a bite.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you. What time is it?”

“Not quite six,” Marlene says, heading for the bedroom door. “It’s early yet. If you want, sleep for a while longer before coming downstairs to eat. In the meantime, if you need anything, Cookie is right outside the front door.”

Cookie? What kind of club name is Cookie? Must be another ole lady or a club bunny.

Before I can ask more questions, Marlene is out the door and off to work.

Ugh. Work. I should do the same thing.

Rent may no longer be an issue living with Cupid. Still, I have bills to pay. Not to mention studying. I need to get back to my coursework as soon as Scalpel clears me.

Sinking back against the pillow, I look at Cupid’s empty side of the bed with a frown.

What have you been up to all night, my biker?

Marlene said to rest some more, but my mind is running wild with where he might be and whom he may be with. Sleep will not happen until I see Cupid, and he better be ready to answer all my questions.

Sighing, I climb out of bed and dress in silence.

After being in bed all day yesterday, I want some normalcy, opting to dress in my regular torn jeans, sporting my signature untamed wavy hair, and wearing my favorite shade of cherry red lipstick. I sigh, checking myself over in the mirror above the dresser and feeling more like myself again, aside from the fading, purplish contusion on my forehead. At least the swelling has nearly disappeared.

My head is still hurting, but staying cooped up inside the apartment while Cupid is away will only make my brain hurt more with all my wild theories running amok.

Opening the front door, I’m startled when I see a tall man in a Royal Bastards leather cut, no older than me, leaning against the wall standing guard. He’s almost too handsome to be a biker with a chiseled jawline, well-groomed hair, and a clean-shaven face.

The biker stands upright once he sees me, nodding hello. “Morning, Psyche. Are you ready to head down to breakfast?”

“Morning?” I say, confused. I peek around him, but don’t see the woman I was expecting to find outside the door. “Um, I’m sorry. Who are you?”

“I’m Cookie,” he says, pointing at the name patch on his cut, along with the prospect patch underneath it. “I’ll be keeping guard and escorting you to where you need to go when Prez is busy.”