AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Fine. You’re off the hook. But only because I like your sister Tansy; she’s sweet. You still owe me, though.”
It was Liam, Seth’s demon partner, who replied. “How about we make it up to you by taking you out to dinner?”
“Absolutely not!” Cooley stomped out of the room.
Liam shrugged. “I tried.”
“One day, she’s going to say yes just to spite us, you know,” Seth said, shaking his head.
Freed from guard duty, I triggered my glamour spell back on and left via the back door, heading for home and my mate.
I’d just gotten into my Urus when I got the call.
“They have her!” Shelby’s panicked voice was shrill in my ear. “We were taking a side street to avoid the crowds. She was walking ahead of us. The moment we stepped out to the main road, a car stopped, and someone pulled her into it. Tansy managed to attach a magic marker to the vehicle. Wait…” There was some muffled words I couldn’t hear, then, she said, “They’re at the Hilton. Eamon’s close by; he’s heading that way now.”
The anger in my head roared like waves crashing against rocks in a storm. I floored it toward the hotel. Whoever had stolen my mate was going to pay.
Chapter 27
Lillian
Irecognizedhimthemoment I stepped into the ritzy hotel room: Kung Pao Chicken…err, I mean, Kang. He’d looked stuffy and boring in the photo they’d shown me, but in casual street clothes, he looked suave, a lot younger, and fashionable. I wouldn’t have been surprised if his sneakers alone cost more than my entire wardrobe.
He was tall, lean, and muscular, with a light olive-toned complexion, just a shade darker than mine, which was pretty light right now since I’d spent much of the summer indoors. His hairstyle highlighted his chiseled cheekbones and sharp jawline. He clearly spent a lot of time at the gym, or maybe that was just the natural build of a snow leopard shifter.
Having already seen the brief on this guy, I knew he was every mother’s dream for their daughter. But I wasn’t interested. I had Gunnar.
“Um, Kang, right?”
“Um, I actually go by Kevin.” He spoke perfect English with not even a trace of an accent. Didn’t Dr. Shen say he spent a lot of time in New York? It showed.
“Oh. Well, Kevin Pao does sound a lot better.”
He chuckled. “Sure does. But for the record, I do actually love Kung Pao Chicken.”
I relaxed a little at his attempt at a joke at his own expense.
“I’m sorry for the…methods…I used to get your attention. I asked those idiots to convince you to visit me on your own, but they had their own ideas on what ‘convincing’ entailed. It’s my fault for not being more clear. They are not who I usually work with. This trip was rather last minute, and unlike Dr. Shen, I don’t have two lap dogs always at my beck and call.”
I tried to gauge if he was lying, but I only sensed honesty.
“Well, Kevin, Dr. Shen told me all about you, and I’m sure you’re a great catch. But I’m really not interested. So if you’re here to—”
“You’re not?”
He looked happily surprised, which had me a little confused.
“Wait. Aren’t you here to convince me to choose you and make a bunch of snow leopard babies?”
“No. I’m here to convince younotto take their offer. I was ready to pay you off if you insisted on it.” Kevin relaxed in his seat. “I’ve been dating a model I met in Milan for almost a year, and I’m getting ready to propose to her. She’s not a snow leopard, but I don’t care.”
I held my hand up, showing off my gargantuan diamond and wedding band. “And I’m already happily married. I don’t plan on ditching my husband for someone I don’t even know.”
“To the gargoyle who owns the protection agency, yes.” He nodded, his eyes on the rings. “Dr. Shen tried to tell me it was a sham wedding intended to fool them. But that’s one heck of a ring for a fake wedding. It’s gorgeous. Big, but still understated. Not too flashy. Who’s your jeweler? I might actually hit them up for something for Sofiya.”
“I don’t know who the designer is, but we got it at that small jewelry store downtown. They had it hiding in the back. He actually proposed with a giant-ass ruby, but there was no way that thing was fitting my finger, so we picked out another one instead.”
Kevin laughed. “Those old gargoyles need to get with the times. Most modern women don’t want a treasure from the past. That shit only flies if you’re a prince and the jewel once belonged to the queen or something. I bet it looked ridiculous on you.”
