8
S
tefan moved with an elegance that Gea would wager disguised more musculature than he cared for people to know he had. He wanted his thugs to be seen as the threat, but Gea wasn't buying it. Stefan was the real danger.
His thugs patted her down, took her pack away, but didn't harm her. Yet. The promise of violence hung in the air, heavy and noxious as smoke. It coated her tongue, made her muscles tense until they cramped. Her instincts screamed at her to run, to get out of this place and never come back.
She bit back a snarl when Stefan set his hand on her back and urged her down a flight of steps into a basement. “This way, my dear.”
Skipping forward a step to get away from his touch, she ignored the mockery in his chuckle. There was a short hallway with several doors opening off of it. “Which one?”
“The second on the right.”
The knob turned easily in her hand. Not locked. Was Tam so incapacitated that she couldn't get out, or was she already dead? Gea wasn't sure which was the better option. Neither would help her get out of here unscathed. Her heartbeat rabbited when Stefan slid his fingers down her back, and she stumbled forward, away from him, just as he'd intended.
The door closed behind her with a distinct click. She didn't bother testing to see if it was locked. Instead, she glanced around the room. A small, empty bed. One table, two chairs. In one of them sat a still, slender woman who watched her with dark eyes.
“Tam.”
Her chin tipped down in a nod. “And you must be Gea Crevan.”
“I am.” Stepping closer, Gea looked the cheetah over to see if she was harmed. Didn't look like it, but looks could deceive.
Tam folded her hands on the tabletop, her long fingers graceful. “You need to leave here. Now.”
“I will.” The sooner, the better. “Come with me.”
“I'm afraid I can't do that.” A small smile formed on her lips, made her breathtakingly beautiful. No wonder she had a rep for making every man she met fall in love with her. Was Stefan included in that number? He was old enough to be her father, but that meant little. Tam's shoulder dipped in a shrug. “I'm needed here.”
Gea sat in the chair opposite the other woman. “My client needs you, too.”
“No, he doesn't.” Tam snorted, derision in the sound, but the expression in her eyes gave away a flash of pain, longing. “He's just upset his toy ran away. It's best for him that he moves on.”
“He's not going to do that.” Not with his mate in the hands of a man who scared the piss out of Gea with a single look.
“He will.” Now the smile turned sad, resigned. “They all do, in the end.”
“You're wrong about this one.”
“Leave now, Ms. Crevan.” Tam's gaze hardened, flicking for just a moment to one corner of the room. Gea let her hair fall forward into her face, glanced in the same direction, and saw a tiny vidmonitor. This conversation was being watched. How much of what Tam said was the truth and how much was just what she wanted Stefan to hear? “Tell your client to stop looking, stop poking his nose in my business, and stop being a stubborn, birdbrained ass.”
The look in Tam's eyes warned her not to argue, and realization sparked in Gea's mind. Tam was trying to get her out of there alive, trying to give Stefan a good reason to let her go. Perhaps that had been his aim all along, but Gea doubted it. Letting her see Tam felt like a game he was playing with her, a cat taunting his prey before he pounced. Gea folded her hands, mirroring Tam's pose. She needed to start giving the other woman what she wanted, but not too easily. “I'll tell him. He won't listen, though.”
Her chin jerked to the side in a dismissive gesture. “Fool.”
“Maybe, but he's a fool who loves you.” That much was true, and Gea thought the other woman deserved to know. In her place, she'd want someone to tell her that about her mates. But she'd thrown them away, hadn't she? She'd been too gutless to even try to claim them. As much as she'd pitied her mother, at least she'd had the courage to reach out and take what she wanted. She should have demanded more,
all
of her mate, but she hadn't run from love. Gea had.
Shame washed through her, and she hated herself for having discarded two good men out of fear. Her mother had been too scared that she'd get nothing if she demanded more, and Gea had been too scared of depending on men like her father. But her mates had both thrown themselves into danger for her beforeâsomething her father would never have done for anyoneâand she'd rejected them anyway. She drew in a deep breath, wiping her clammy palms on her pant legs. There'd be no rectifying her mating situation if she didn't get out of the Stefan situation.
One thing at a time.
Tam laid her hands flat on the table, recapturing Gea's attention. “He's a fool if he loves me.”
The lady protested a little too much, Gea thought. She narrowed her gaze. “You love him back.”
Tam didn't bother denying it. “And that makes me an even bigger fool.”
“Don't run. Trust me, it won't save you from love.” Deus, didn't she know that? Didn't she burn with it every nanosecond of every damn day?
Tam's laugh was a painful, heartbreaking rasp of air. “Nothing can save me now. It's far too late for me.”
“You're wrong.” But Gea studied the other woman's face, the coldly determined resignation in her eyes. “Stefan has something on you, doesn't he? That's why you're here. That's why you don't want to be followed.”
“Of course.” Tam inclined her head, her long, inky hair falling around her shoulders.
“He's going to kill you,” Gea said flatly. She wanted to get out of there alive, but she needed to be certain Tam knew what would happen when she left. Nothing had ever indicated Tam wasn't the kind of woman who always knew the score, but desperation could blind a person.
“Or worse, make me do something that will get me locked in jail for the rest of my life. He'd probably alert the authorities himself to make certain of it.” The cheetah-shifter shrugged, her voice just a little too light. “Yes, I know.”
And if Gea didn't walk away from this, and convince Breck to do the same, Stefan was going to kill her, too. If Breck kept coming after Tam, Gea had the feeling her client wasn't going to fare much better than his mate. “What does he have on you?”
Whatever it was had to be powerful to make a woman leave a man who loved her and she loved in return, give up her freedom, and possibly her life.
“He's taken something from me that I would do anything to get back.” The cheetah's gaze was clear and steady. “Yes, it really is worth dying for to keep it safe.”
“What is it? Is he holding it here?”
She shook her head. “No, it's being held in Europe, and that's all I know right now. Other than that, it's better for all concerned if your client and you put thisâput
me
âbehind you. Walk away . . . while you still can. Not everyone gets that opportunity.” Her gaze was sharp, assessing. “You're in love, I can see it. Heartsick. Don't you want the chance to mend those ties? You won't get it if you don't leave now.”
Gea nodded. “All right. I'll tell my client what you've told me, try to get him to back off.”
“That's for the best.” Tam swallowed and stared down at the table in front of her. “Tell him . . . tell him I'm done with him. I got what I wanted, and he's of no further use to me. Chasing after me like a lovesick puppy just makes him pathetic. It's over between us. Tell him I said that.”
Done with him.
The echo of Quill's words sent pain shafting through Gea. She almost doubled over and groaned with the piercing agony, barely managing to keep herself upright. Her voice came out choked and stifled. “I'll make sure he gets the message.”
“Thank you.” A single tear slid down Tam's cheek, the one farthest from the vidmonitor, so Stefan wouldn't see it, but Gea did. She reached over and squeezed Tam's hand, a silent message of support and sympathy. There was nothing more that she could do to help than make sure Breck understood the kind of danger his mate was in. She'd let him know Tam didn't want him following her, but she already knew he wouldn't listen.
In his place, if her mates were in peril, she wouldn't listen either.
“Good luck.” Pushing to her feet, Gea walked away from Tam with a quiet prayer that the cheetah came through this all right.
Now, if she could only get herself through this in one piece, she might be in business. She opened the door but wasn't surprised when one of Stefan's goons was there. She nodded to him and turned for the stairs as if she wasn't at all intimidated by the gun he had pointed at her. “I assume your boss would like to speak with me before I leave.”
If they let her leave. She didn't mention that part, just offered up a bright smile and walked by. He didn't stop her, and she let a breath ease out of her lungs as she took the steps two at a time.
“Ah, Ms. Crevan. I take it your chat with Felicia went well?” Stefan stepped through a doorway, his other guard close behind, meeting her in the house's main space. She could see the front door, could almost taste freedom, which was no doubt why Stefan had allowed her to come back up from the basement. Another game he was playing with her.
She smiled at him, just to throw him off a little. “It went really well, actually. It was kind of you to arrange our visit. I can let my client know she's fine and doesn't want to see him again.”
Closing the space between them, Stefan examined her face with those icy eyes of his. His henchmen arranged themselves around her. Surrounded. Trapped. The fox in her bristled. She swallowed, raised her chin, and fixed her smile in place as Stefan spoke.
“I will be very . . . displeased if your client keeps sending people looking for her. What I have in mind requires discretion. It's difficult to be discreet when being hounded by little investigators.” He ran a finger down her jaw, the tip suddenly curling into a talon that threatened to pierce her jugular.
“I understand.”
“Do you?” His sweet breath brushed her skin as he leaned too close for her comfort. “You seem a stubborn woman. Perhaps you need a taste of what displeasing me would entail, so you know just how serious I am.”
One of the goons chuckled, and it wasn't a nice sound. It was pure evil. Stefan certainly recruited like-minded men. Men who wanted to hurt, who enjoyed it. Fuck.
She arched her eyebrows, letting her incredulity show instead of her terror. “My client isn't an idiot. Do you think he'll believe anything I say about Tam being safe and willing to go with you if I show up injured in any way? The only way you're going to get exactly what you want from him
and me
is if I walk out of here untouched.”
The argument was working. He was starting to relent, she could see it in his eyes. Her heart leaped, but she let no excitement cross her expression. She might just get to walk out of here. She'd get her second chance with Kienan and Quill.
Thank Deus.
As if her thought had conjured him, she saw a flash of Kienan's face through one of the windows. He met her gaze, nodded once he knew she'd seen him, and then disappeared again. Her heart seized, her mind scrambling for what to do next, how to make the best of the situation.
Â
Kienan caught Quill's scent before he saw him. It was heady, the battle fever mixing with the punch of lust that had become familiar in so short a time. His pulse sped, and he clenched his fists, letting his claws score his palms to ground him back in reality. Gea was in danger. One of his old contacts had been watching this Stefan for a while. They knew he was up to his eyeballs in shit but hadn't caught him in the act. Yet.
Of course, Kienan's old contacts had also been watching Kienan to see what he'd do next. It wasn't often someone like him dropped out of that world, and none of them was certain what to make of it. Most would expect him to take one of the offers with another law enforcement agency. It had been pretty obvious his contact had gotten in touch with him in an attempt to sway him in that agency's direction.
The motive didn't matter here. That he'd gotten to Gea while she was still breathing was what was important. He'd done some quick recon of the place, made sure she'd seen him through a window, and counted three men on the main level. All armed. All carried themselves in a way that said they knew how to use the weapons they carried. The smallest one was obviously in charge.
Kienan wasn't sure if there were others inside or how many, but he hadn't found any security systems in place. Looked like they were relying on firepower. Hopefully, that worked to Kienan's advantage. He'd guess this was a temporary den for them, which could also be an advantage for him.
Quill whipped around the corner of the street, moving so fast he was almost a blur. Kienan stepped out of the shadow of the building beside Stefan's house. “Quilliam.”