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“I don’t make any noises while I sleep. I lay motionless and soundless, often confusing people with my deathlike state.”
Chase chuckled.
“Yes, babe. You were purring like a kitten, especially when I rubbed your little belly.”
“Arg,” Levi groaned, rolling his eyes and slapping Chase across the chest. Then he froze. “Hey, Pierre, why are you going around back? You can just let us out here by the front doors.”
Pierre glanced at them both in his rearview mirror.
“Mr. M called and asked me to drop you both off by the back stables.”
Chase felt Levi’s body tense against him.
Something was wrong.
“You, okay?” Chase asked, wondering what had Levi suddenly on edge.
The boy shook his head. “Nothing.”
It didn’t feel like nothing. He watched as Levi scanned the area around the stables.
Levi was looking for something.
Once the car came to a stop, a large man emerged from the stables and walked toward their car. The sleeves of his white dress shirt had been rolled up past his elbows. Something about the way he walked told Chase that he was not a bartender and definitely not a dancer.
“Excuse me, Mr. Harwick, but could you please come with me?” the large fellow asked, gesturing toward the stables.
“What is this, Özgur?” Levi asked, looking around as he waited for a response.
“Never you mind, little one. Mr. M said to bring him in, so that’s what I’m doin’,” the brutish man missing a chromosome mumbled, never taking his eyes off Chase.
“Sorry, bud, but I’m not going anywhere with you,” Chase said, turning and heading back toward the mansion. He got the feeling that he had overstayed his welcome and he needed to leave. Fast.
Pain tore across the back of Chase’s head, and he stumbled down on one knee. What the fuck?
“Özgur! What the fuck!” Levi shouted as Chase was grabbed by the arms and dragged toward the stables.
“Levi!” he heard Matteo’s angry voice shout from somewhere above his head.
The next thing he knew, his hands were being tied above his head with metal chains, and an angry Özgur stood tightening the locks.
“Matty! What the fuck is going on?” Levi shouted, looking very tiny, standing in front of the seething Italian who owned the kingdom they were standing in.
“Stay out of it, Levi, or I’ll send you inside.”
Levi immediately stopped shouting and stood there, arms crossed, in silent anger. If looks could kill, Matteo’s brains would be splattered across the bales of hay behind him.
Hanging there, Chase wondered what had happened. Had they caught him on the security cameras last night? Was this a shakedown, and they were going to ask him for millions in fake cattle money?
All his years of training and experience had taught him that he needed to be patient. He had to wait for them to indicate why he was being held like a lamb about to be slaughtered. The last thing he wanted was to open his mouth and say the wrong thing, giving himself and his investigation away.
Pain flashed across his eyes as Özgur blindsided him. Levi let out a yelp as he cringed in pain for Chase.
This wasn’t the first time that some dumb knucklehead introduced his fists to Chase’s face. He welcomed the pain. It brought back so many fond memories of working on the force—back when he actually trusted the people he worked for and believed that they were making a difference. Boy, had he been naive.
Chase shook off the pain and locked eyes with Matteo.
“Did I do somethin’ wrong?” he asked, sounding a little more like an asshole than he intended, but hey, he had just been punched across the face. He was allowed to be short.
