Authors: Eve Langlais
“My poor bébé. You’ve had such a hard life.” “Yes I have, which is why I’m determined to hold on to the happiness I’ve found.” She’d hold on to it like the most stubborn of foxes.
Renee smiled. “I know you think he brainwashed me, and it’s funny, because he was also very concerned about taking advantage of me. But what you both need to understand is I’ve met lots of men while incarcerated. The scientists even tried to pair me up with other prisoners before they realized I couldn’t reproduce. None of them ever affected me like he does. I love
her mother, a woman who wanted back the little girl she lost, but instead got a frightened, damaged woman who wasn’t quite sure how to handle the situation.
Renee shrugged. “I don’t know if there is a proper way. But even though I want to stay here with Viktor, I do want to get to know you. I’ve always wondered about my mother.”
“Then what my girl wants, she gets. I guess if you are serious about this lizard I shall have to get rid of my alligator leather, handcrafted purses.”
A grin spread across her mother’s face. “And now I see your father in you. He would be so proud of you for surviving and not letting the mastermind win.”
Renee felt a pang of sadness at never having known the man who died within a few years of her kidnapping. Just one of many things she’d learned over the course of the day. “Thanks.”
Staked outside the hotel where Renee and her mother stayed, Viktor slumped in his seat. He elected to remain out of sight, taking up position in a van parked in the alley instead of stationed near Madame Renarde’s room. He didn’t want Renee’s feelings for him to interfere with her reunion with her mother. But dammit it all, he hated it.
He wanted to give her a shoulder to lean on if things got tough. Wanted to hold her hand and give her the reassurance she probably needed.
Why did doing the right thing have to suck?
The passenger door opened and he aimed his gun at a forehead before he’d even blinked. He eased off the trigger when he recognized Mason.
“What are you doing out here moping?” the bear asked as he clambered in, rocking the van.
“I don’t mope. I skulk.”
Mason snickered. “Sure, you are. Is that what they call hiding in an alley? I never knew crocs had yellow bellies.”
Bristling, Viktor snarled, “Are you calling me a coward? I never back down from a fight.”
“Until now.”
A forearm against his friend’s throat shut Mason up as Viktor growled. “I am not a coward.”
Mason gurgled, so he eased up on the pressure. “Touchy. Touchy. But seriously, what the hell do you call sitting out here
skulking
while the woman you love is up there with her long lost mother making plans to leave?”
“It’s what’s best for her.”
The choking sound coming from his friend had nothing to do with Viktor, who’d slumped back in his seat.
Mason continued to snort. “I can’t believe you just said that. How is sending her back home, heartbroken and alone, best for her?”
“She belongs with her family.”
“She belongs with you. Or are you getting cataracts in your old age blinding you to the fact the girl is nuts about you?”
“You just stated another reason. She’s young. I’m not. She deserves a chance to explore and see the world. Date.” He growled the word and only barely resisted punching the dash at the thought.
“Holy crap, I think all that lead in your body finally got to you. What a load of crock. All these excuses? They’re meaningless and you know it. She loves you and you love her. And it scares the scales right off you.”
“Does not,” Viktor grumbled.
“Does too. You’re afraid of loving her, afraid you won’t make her happy and that she’ll leave.”
“I’m not a nice person.”
“To your enemies. But to your friends and family, you’re the best croc around. Or do you know a lot of bunnies who would call a cold blooded lizard their bestest friend?”
Viktor grimaced. “I knew I should have eaten her when I had the chance.”
“Yes, you should have and saved us all.”
“So I don’t eat my friends, and maybe our age gap isn’t so big. What about the fact I can’t give Renee kids?”
A sad expression shadowed Mason’s face. “No one can, buddy. Jessie decoded more of the hard drives from the lab. Renee, or should I call her Monique, is sterile. The scientists think the accident might have caused it. Whatever the cause, the end result is the same and you can’t use it as an excuse.”
It hurt Viktor to know his golden eyed vixen wouldn’t have babes of her own. But at the same time, it meant there was one less barrier between them. “So what should I do? Dash up there and demand she leave her mother and come home with me?”
A laugh burst from Mason. “Maybe you should try for a little more subtlety. Go up there and tell her how you feel.”
“Just blurt it out?”
“Nah. You’re right. Not your style. Storm in, toss her over your shoulder, take her home and show her why she needs to stay.”
Hmm, there was a plan with merit. But, for once, talk was needed more than action. “No. I won’t seduce her into staying. I’ll go talk to her, but if I end up dumped because I took your advice, I’m coming back to take it out on you.”
Then he was slinking off to the swamp to lick his wounds in private.
Decided to get Viktor back, Renee didn’t want to wait. She needed to find him now. She opened the door and saw the agents standing guard. “What happened to the other guards?”
“Suppertime,” the cross eyed one replied. “What do you need?”
“Where’s Viktor?”
“Alley. But our orders state you need to stay here.” “Too bad because I’m going outside.”
“The boss won’t like this,” said the guard with the pinched face.
“She’ll get over it. If you’re so worried about my safety, then come with me, because I need to speak with him.” And tell him she loved him and he wasn’t getting rid of her that easily.
Stalking to the elevator, she pressed the button then waited, foot tapping. The doors slid open and she stepped in. With identical shrugs, her two guards joined her, but she really wished they would have showered before coming on duty. Then again, skunks never did smell pretty. She’d met enough of them during her time in the cells to know there wasn’t a deodorant made that could dampen the smell.
Holding her breath, she counted floors as they descended. When the portal slid open her escorts stepped out first to scan the area. Deeming it clear, she followed them as they weaved through a series of corridors to the back alley.
Seeing the parked van with the tinted windows, she waved at them to stay back, not that they paid attention as they huddled together sharing a smoke. It surprised her. She’d gotten the impression FUC was tighter with its agents.
Not her problem. She skipped over to the vehicle. Before she could rap on the window it lowered but instead of the chiseled features she’d come to love, she saw Mason stuffing his face with a donut.
“Where’s Viktor?” she asked peering around him to see the driver side sat empty.
“Gone upstairs to find you. But why are you with those two goons? I thought I assigned Jared and Carter to your door?”
She shrugged. “Apparently they’re the dinnertime replacements. So Viktor came to find me? Do you know why?”
“Why do you think? Because he’s an idiot who suddenly realized he was about to let the best thing that ever happened to him walk away.”
“He said that?” She beamed.
“Not in so many words, but that’s the gist.”
“I better go find him.”
Trotting back to her guards, she took the stairs this time, two at a time, until she reached the eleventh floor, huffing and puffing. No wonder Viktor stayed so fit. And to think he carried her the previous times he took the stairs. It explained where he got his stamina. And he thought he was too old.
Trotting down the hall, she didn’t clue in something was wrong until she heard a pair of clicks behind her. Whirling, she saw her guards both pointing guns at her head.
“What’s going on?”
“We’re just the hired muscle following orders. You should ask the boss.”
Who?
“Project, how nice to see you again.”
Uh-oh.
Pivoting slowly back around, Renee’s heart stuttered to a stop as she saw the syringe poking Viktor’s side. Hands in the air, he didn’t seem at all concerned about the fact a crazy woman, who barely reached his waist, held him prisoner.
“Viktor! Are you alright? How’s my mother?” she cried, fear making her frantic.
“Your mother is fine although she’ll probably have a headache. I walked in before our little friend here could do any real damage. I promised to be a good croc if she left her alone.”
“Little?” The mastermind gnashed her teeth and jabbed harder. “Quiet, lizard, or I’ll forget my plan to use you to keep the fox in line.”
“Plan? What plan? Why do you want him?”
“Well, I originally planned to hold your mother hostage for good behavior, but then your lover arrived while you went for a stroll. What better incentive could I have to make you follow orders than to capture him?” The mastermind smiled, and might have looked more menacing had her glasses not chosen to slide down to the tip of her nose.
“You can’t do this. I won’t let you.”
“Don’t worry about me, Renee. Just be ready to listen,” he said cryptically. Viktor winked and she wondered if he’d gotten dust in his eye.
Despite his calm words, panic fluttered in her breast. “Let him go. You don’t want him. You want me.”
The woman, who’d held her prisoner for years, pushed up her thick glasses and smiled coldly. “But he is my security deposit. If you behave, he stays alive. If you don’t…” Mastermind pushed the needle deeper. Viktor didn’t flinch. On the contrary he looked bored.
Icy fear tickled her, followed by a slow rage.
“Calm, Renee,” Viktor admonished. “Everything will work out fine. Trust me.”
She did, but how would he escape? One push of the plunger and whatever vile concoction the mastermind brought would take her croc down.
It seemed like the mastermind didn’t like his serene demeanor and words. “Move a muscle lizard, and Project gets
“Why are you doing this?” Renee asked. “You escaped. You could have left and gone someplace where no one would know who you are. Started over.”
“But I want the world to know me,” squeaked the mastermind. “I am tired of hiding in cubby holes, scurrying in the darkness. I thought I finally had the answer, but something is missing. The formula didn’t work. I need to try again, which means I need you.”
Renee sighed. “Did it never occur to you that perhaps you’re just not meant to be a gigantic carnivore?”
“If a bunny can grow great big teeth and a fox can outweigh an elephant, then so can I,” said the mastermind stamping her little foot. “Now come along quietly or your croc will be doing a jiggle on the floor while foaming at the mouth.”
“I’ll come. I’ll do anything you want, just don’t hurt him.
Did the drugs affect him already, rendering him stupid? “Because I love you, of course.”
A smile spread across his face. “You do? Are you sure?”
“As sure as that damned sun will rise every day in the stupidly bright blue sky.”
“Remember what I said about listening?” She nodded. “Duck,” he yelled.
Acting before thinking, her instinct to obey coming naturally, she dropped to the floor and somehow still managed to see what happened next. Viktor lunged sideways away from Mastermind and her needle of poison. One of her guards fired a shot but missed Viktor who threw himself down and tucked into a roll, popping up in front of Renee. A pair of meaty thwacks later and the mastermind’s minions snored beside Renee on the
pint sized villain as he stroked the hair from her cheeks and smiled at her softly. With a snarl and a narrowing of big eyes behind overly large frames, the mastermind let out a scream as she ran, syringe held high.
Wham! Down went the villainess. Standing over her inert form, massive leather purse in hand, her mother sniffed. “Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, and you will taste the wrath of my genuine alligator, leather purse.”
Renee laughed as Viktor hugged her. They did it. She was free. The mastermind would end up behind bars. She would get to know her mother. She loved Viktor, but… Hold on a second. Did he love her back?
“Do you have something to tell me?” she asked when he leaned in to rest his forehead against hers.
“I’m glad you’re safe?”
“No.”
“Your mother has great aim?”
“No.”
“I’m glad she went for gator instead of one of my distant croc cousins for the bag?”
“No. I told you I love you. Care to reply?”
“In front of everyone?” He looked appalled.
“It’s just me, my mother and some unconscious villains.”
his gun.
“And me,” said Mason exiting the stairwell, holstering
“And me,” Kloe added exiting the room across the hall, sheathing her knives.
“Oh, just tell her before I sic Chase on you,” Miranda hollered when she stuck her head out of yet another door.
“They were all here?” Renee asked.
“Of course. I wasn’t taking any chances with your safety,” Viktor said softly, tilting her chin up. “Because I protect those I love.”
A chorus of ‘Aaaah’s made him cringe.
But Renee smiled so wide her face almost cracked. “Awesome. Now can we go home and have
dinner
?” Codespeak for his bed, without any clothes. He grinned toothily catching
Not again.
Viktor placed Renee behind him as the mastermind regained consciousness and threatened his fox. The villainess was truly delusional given she was surrounded by FUC agents.
“It’s over, Mastermind. Hands up where we can see them,” Kloe ordered with a rattle of silver cuffs.