“Like hell you don’t.”
“This is extremely uncalled for, Agent Slate. Does your department not teach respect?”
Chase was always Chase to me, so hearing Agent Slate tossed around so many times unnerved me. The older man didn’t need to speak loud for his voice to carry through the parking lot. I looked around and, yep, people were starting to return to their offices after their lunch break.
Nowhere in sight when I felt cornered, the group arrived right on time for the ruckus. All they’d see, all they’d remember was a Slate harassing a polite old man.
"Chase, come on," I tried to get his attention.
Chase’s focus stayed glued on the threat, but Hodge’s eyes fell heavily on me.
“My, my.” Hodge’s voice was only the barest whisper. “What have you done to earn such a loyal guard dog?”
Chase’s body acted as a broad, effective barrier between us. Hodge could barely see me, yet his gaze was still so penetrating. He was either undressing me with his eyes or thinking my liver would pair nicely with fava beans and a nice Chianti, and I didn’t know which version disgusted me more.
“Excuse me,” Hodge said, making a show of checking his watch before his eyes cut to me again. “See you later.”
See you later.A simple goodbye on the surface and he spoke so casually, but when he’d just scared the crap out of me and he stared so intently, it kinda felt like a promise. It even felt like a threat to me.
Chase agreed. He lunged a second later, shoving Hodge away from me and into a parked car whose alarm pierced the air. Ah! The ensuing commotion barely registered because the shriekingbeep, beep, beepof the alarm drowned out everything else. God, it hurt my ears, it drilled right into my skull.
I wasn’t sure who broke up the—what would the agents call it—the altercation, the only other person I recognized was Temple. I was too busy being assaulted by a freaking car alarm to focus much on the aftermath of the confrontation. Why did they make alarms so loud, did the owner pay extra?
Right when I wondered whether perhaps my heightened senses had kicked in, the alarm shut off. Did my shifter side react to the stress of the situation or the surprise of the car alarm? Only an echo reverberated in my brain, leaving me with no more answers than I started with.
21.Regrouping
Chase
Dammit. Matthias Hodge found ways to creep under my skin. I was the bosses’ little brother to him, an easy mark, and there was little I could do to wipe that infuriatingly innocent expression off his face since I wasn’t on his case.
When finding Hodge and Lucas together, I saw red. Temple pulled us apart. He and I were close to the outside street now, so traffic and other noise might mask our conversation.
If we ever started talking, that is. I stared at the dirty concrete under my feet and ignored my companion.
“How’d you get anywhere with Bolton when your performance with Hodge was so abysmal? I thought you were better at playing the game, Chase."
“Game?” My head snapped up as I glared. “This isn’t a fucking—"
"A fight, then?” he acted, calm, collected, and annoying as hell. “Weren’t you just telling me that whoever proves themselves dominant wins?”
"Shut up."
My fist clenched, aching to hit the crummy old sedan blocking us from the rest of the garage. I didn’t need to add property damage to my sins, and judging by all the scratches and dents, the car took enough of a beating already.
"Learn from Bolton,” Temple advised. “The man had enough high-priced attorneys to understand his best move was keeping his mouth shut, but he had a score to settle. He had to beatyou.Don’t make it personal.”
"Really, that’s what you’d do?" I asked sarcastically. The guy was as impersonal as they came.
“I’d let the stronger forces take care of it for me. Hodge’s going to be arrested any second now.” His eyes widened in mock surprise. “Oh, I’m sorry, are we still pretending we don’t know anything about that?”
Punching Temple appealed to me a lot more than hitting a vehicle, but when I stepped towards him—all the fight drained from me. The prospect of deciphering him seemed too exhausting.
"No, I’d say there’s been enough pretending." I met his eyes. “Why don’t you just tell me the truth?”
"If you don’t trust me, it doesn’t matter what I say."
"Is that a no?”
