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Kane’s snore was his response.
The next morning, at what was closer to noon, Rafe sat at his desk inside Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries’ Shark Safety Unit trying to map out the location of the last hammerhead shark attack. The most recent one was too close to home. Tugging at the collar of his polo, he rolled his shoulders and tried to stave off the headache he felt on the horizon. It had been a long time since he’d felt the amount of stress he was feeling now. Hell, it was the first time in a long time he’d given a shit about anything other than himself. Now, he had a serious girlfriend he hoped would whisk him away from this mundane world of sitting behind a desk or floating lazily around the sea hoping to catch violent sharks only to earn a paycheck. With this girlfriend came way more drama than he was used to, only none of it was her fault. How could she help that her people were the enemy of a vicious tiger shark babe and her gang of hammerhead hoodlums? How could she help that she happened to be the long-lost sister of his cranky older employer? How could she help that her new friend happened to be dating the one great white shark that was hell-bent on killing that mean old boss of his? She couldn’t. None of it was Kalina’s fault. In fact, she could almost be removed from the situation entirely and all of it would still be going on. Well, all of it except being Kane’s sister.
It’s like a very fucked up Spanish telenovela. With way less face slapping and way more sharks.
“Coffee, please, Becca!” the hoarse sound of Kane’s voice traveled through the air and scraped at Rafe’s ears like rough sandpaper.
Rafe knew the sound all too well. It was the deep, raspy voice of someone who’d drank way too much and threw up way too little. This was going to be a tough day. That hangover was going to be a bitch, and a nasty hangover for the boss meant a lousy day for his subordinates.
Becca made her way over quickly with the whole pot, pouring some into Kane’s favorite mug. The one that read “Boss Mode.” It was the only mode the man knew.
“You okay?” Rafe asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Kane replied.
Sure. Makes perfect sense.
It made no sense at all actually, but who was he to judge? He’d been in Kane’s position a few times himself.
“Where we at with those shark sightings?” Kane asked.
Why don’t you jump in the water and chase them down yourself?
Rafe thought it but couldn’t bring himself to say it. The truth was, he hadn’t seen Kane shift into a shark and had only heard Cobalt accuse him of being a shark, a poser one at that, and the whole thing still felt so surreal. If Kane really was a shark, why would he spend so much time in human form? Why would he go through with this bullshit day in and day out if he could simply leap into the water and vanish? Rafe would do that in a heartbeat if given the opportunity. Hell, he was begging Kalina to change him so he could do exactly that.
Finally, after Becca had offered him some coffee too and had passed him her daily flirtatious wink, Rafe got up the courage to come right out with it.
“Let’s cut the bullshit,” he said, way more sternly than he’d planned.
Kane’s head whipped to the right, staring him down with his intense glare.
“Pardon me?” he asked.
“You heard me,” Rafe said. “Last night was a shit show of epic proportions. And you walk in here acting like all’s normal. All’s definitely not fucking normal, bro.”
Kane scowled and Rafe realized he may have gone a bit too far in his bravado.
“You want to take that tone down a notch,” Kane warned.
“Fuck you, man,” Rafe shot back.
Kane’s hand shot out with blinding speed and grabbed Rafe’s throat, squeezing tight.
“Last night was something you need to forget…got it?”
Rafe swatted at Kane’s arm but the man’s strength was superhuman. As he struggled for air, Rafe’s eyes watered.
“Got it,” Rafe managed to whimper.
But he didn’t get it, and as soon as Kane released his grip, Rafe rolled back in his chair and said, “You ever touch me like that again and I’ll kill you.”
Kane laughed and ran a hand through his blond hair. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Must have been the shark in you,” Rafe said.
Kane remained quiet for a long time. When it seemed he was about to reply, Becca squealed from over near the front door. Both men wheeled their chairs around. Becca was known to laugh out loud from time to time and sometimes she guffawed when she witnessed something amazing with one of the animals, but Rafe had never heard her make any sort of noise that sounded like this.
