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Finally, Cat turned to face her uncle. “You know I’m going after him, Don.”
She didn’t say Max’s name, but Don knew who she meant. He toyed with his eyebrow. “Yes, I know. I want to speak in private with you, Cat. There are some things to discuss.”
She huffed. “We can speak, but Bones is coming, too. Even if he couldn’t hear us, which he can, I’d just tell him later.”
Bones flashed a smile as Don’s color rose. Then, her uncle covered his anger with a fake cough.
“If you insist. Juan, would you remove…that?”
Cat and Don walked away. Only Bones saw Juan kick Brad Parker’s body before dragging him off.
Oh, yes, he liked that bloke. Now, to deal with this one.
30
Don didn’t wait until they were all seated to begin. He only waited until his office door was closed.
“Are you leaving us, Cat?”
She looked around his office as if the gray-on-gray tones held the answer that Bones already knew. Then, she raked her gaze over Don. He didn’t flinch beneath her icy appraisal, but Bones heard Don draw in a breath and hold it.
“No, I’m not leaving,” she said.
Don’s breath exploded out of him while Bones raked his hand through his hair in resignation. “You just won’t take the easy road, will you?”
Her eyes begged him to understand. “I need to do this.”
Yes, he knew that. He didn’t agree with it, and he certainly didn’t understand, but he did know it.
Bones’s glare cut off the smile that started to spread over Don’s lips. “I won’t stop her from doing what she considers her job, but I willnotsee her die for it. So, the only way you’re keeping her is if I’m with her. Consider it a two-for-one deal.”
Cat gasped. “What?”
Don’s brows shot up. “You can’t expect me to allow a vampire inside an operation designed tokillvampires. That’s not even lunacy. It’s suicide.”
Playing hard to get, was he? Very well. He’d play.
“I could give a rot about your operation, but I do care about her life. That’s why I’m going to make you an offer, and youaregoing to accept it.”
Am I?Don’s expression taunted.
Bones only smiled. “Why does the success of your operation hinge on her? Because without her, you have a group of men who’d do jolly well in a regular war, but against the undead, they’re roadkill. You know it, too. That’s why your knickers were in such a twist when you discovered how lethal she was at only twenty-two, and don’t think I’ve forgotten that it wasyourmanipulation that kept us apart the past several years. Just for that, I’d fancy peeling off your skin like an orange while you’re alive and screaming, but that’s off topic.”
“Quiteoff topic,” Cat said with a warning glance.
Bones waved as if dismissing his deadly urge, although that was only the start of things he’d enjoy doing to Don.
“Nevertheless, she insists on working here, so we have to come to an arrangement. As skilled as Cat is, no one is infallible. If she went down now, your operation would be doomed since you have no one strong enough to replace her. The first part of my offer is that you will never again fret about that. Unless I am shriveled on the ground, shewillcome back alive.”
Don’s mouth dropped a fraction before he closed it. “You’re saying you’d take my orders?”
Bones let his derision fill his laugh. “Not yours. Hers. She’s the only one I’d listen to, anyway.”
Cat stared at Bones as if she couldn’t believe her ears. “You’re serious?”
Yes, and little wonder she was shocked. The people closest to her only used her. Not sacrificed themselves for her. This wasn’t even much of a sacrifice. He’d spent the past two hundred years killing the rogue undead for money. The only difference was that now, the checks would be tiny.
Bones took her hand. “I’m not fretting about control with you, Kitten. Command me as you see fit while I’m on your team. I’ll save my demands for the bedroom,” he added with a wink.
