Page 6 of Inked in Devotion

I lowered my weapon. The man barely answered the phone when he handed the receiver to me like he was disposing of a lethal viper.

“What the hell are you doing?” Chloe yelled. So she was watching me on surveillance. “This is outrageous. How dare you threaten innocent people?”

“Not so innocent if they’re keeping you from me.”

Some asshole was talking to her in the background, telling her to wait for backup and that they were on the way.

My phone started ringing. I ignored it.

It was probably Kirill. He was my pakhan, but I was mostly an ask-for-forgiveness-later kind of guy. He was probably pissed I broke the truce with the De Luccis, including the part about not being seen near a King, because the hell was I waiting.

“Tell them to send me up,” I demanded.

“You’re going to surrender your weapons at the door before you come in,” Chloe said.

“Fine.”

I handed the phone back to the concierge, whose look of relief sent the same wave coursing through my veins. Ever since Lucy let slip that she saw Chloe with a baby, it knocked me off my axis and I became a live wire whipping up a frenzy of anticipation. Once I received confirmation from our tech guy that Trevor Hayes had dropped Chloe off at this address, nothing could stop me from showing up.

I knew the De Luccis moved her here three days ago. That was even before I found out about the baby. Yes, I couldn’t leave well enough alone even when my conscience warned me to do so.

Okay, scratch that. I didn’t have a conscience. So…

Despite my reputation, I wasn’t a trigger-happy prick. If I left a trail of dead bodies, I doubted I’d be successful with my purpose for coming here.

I headed to the elevators, leaving the concierge to stumble after me. He swiped his access card and punched the button for the fifth floor, then he mumbled “507” before he scrambled away.

The elevator opened, and a blond guy stood scowling at me in the hallway. A goliath who looked like he lived on protein shakes and bench presses. I doubted he was agile. Not with the way he was so disproportionately built, with big arms and a chest that made his head look tiny. I calculated ways I could pin him down. I could probably use my legs or use the walls for leverage.

When I reached him, I raised my arms. “Don’t miss the one in my boot.”

He grunted.

“I’m not a danger to Chloe.”

“I’m keeping my eyes on you, asshole.”

“You should,” I replied. “I didn’t say I wasn’t a danger to you.”

“What the fuck is this?” he snapped when he sussed my back.

I sighed. “Have you never seen a machete before?”

“And you warned me about the weapon in your boot?”

“The machete is hard to miss.”

“I don’t have enough hands for this. Who needs this many guns and knives?”

Does this guy even know who I am?

Four guns, four knives, and the machete.

He glared at me as he tossed them one by one on the floor behind him.

I was getting bored. And bored me became destructive.

“Miss Brown?” Blond said on his phone. “We’re ready to come in.”