Tall, Silent & Lethal (Pyte/Sentinel #4)(131)

His eyes locked on hers as he said, “And I refuse to let it happen now, Cloe. I wasn’t leaving you behind to be an ass**le. I was trying to put an end to this and keep our child safe. To keep you safe.”

“By leaving me here to wonder if you were okay, Christofer?” she demanded, angry with herself and with him for feeling like this, like she’d die if anything happened to him.

“You don’t understand, Cloe,” he said, shaking his head as he pushed away from the wall and headed for the door.

“Then make me understand,” she said, coming to her feet and grabbing his arm to keep him from leaving.

“It’s my job to protect you and to keep you safe,” he said firmly, his muscles tensing beneath her touch.

“Who says?” she asked softly, moving to stand in front of him.

“My father,” he said with a sad smile as he looked her in the eye. He ran his fingertips along her jaw, his touch tender and sweet.

“And what exactly did your father tell you?” she asked, reaching up and covering his hand with hers.

“To always guard my heart,” he said as he leaned down and kissed her. “And that’s you.”

Chapter 58

Manhattan, New York

“What the f**k?”

“Good morning, sunshine,” Kale said as he popped open a fresh can of Coke and took a long, satisfying sip of the sweet, life-giving nectar that allowed him to function without killing everyone in sight.

Well, almost everyone in sight, he amended a moment later when he opened his eyes and spotted the man that he’d knocked out and chained to a chair only an hour ago. He would have killed him immediately, but there were two parts to the contract that he needed to fulfill before he could collect his pay. Granted, he would have done this job for free, planned to the moment he saw those marks on Cloe’s back.

Since the ass**le had stirred up a bee’s nest that had ended with shifters sneaking into his territory and coming within a mile of his godchildren, he’d decided to pay this piece of shit a visit sooner than later. The job offer had only given him the excuse that he needed to leave.

“I’m under protection,” the piece of shit snarled with a cocky grin. “You can’t touch me until my property is returned to me.”

“Yes, I can,” he said, taking another sip as he glanced down at his watch, noting that his contact was two and a half minutes late.

“You work for the Sentinels, don’t you?” his mark asked, sounding disgusted. “You’re a f**king traitor, aren’t you, mutt?”

“Occasionally,” Kale said unconcerned, looking down at his phone when it chimed and shaking his head when he read the message that waited for him.

She really was a greedy little thing, he thought as he texted Izzy back and agreed to pick up three boxes of fudge. Not that she’d see any of it, but that fudge had been pretty good and he wouldn’t mind having a little extra for the trip back to the mansion.

“You have no idea what you’re doing,” Aidan snarled.

“I’m collecting a bounty for killing a sick f**k who likes to tear apart little girls for fun,” Kale said, meeting Aidan’s cocky glare with one of his own, knowing just how much it would piss the piece of shit off.

Aidan chuckled, as he tried to shift in his chair, but the silver infused titanium chains that Kale had used to secure him to the chair wouldn’t allow him so much as a centimeter of space. “This is over a human? A bitch?” Aidan asked, chuckling darkly. “Oh, you dumb f**k,” he said, shaking his head in wonder, “you’re going to start a war over a bitch.”

“There’s not going to be a war,” he said absently as he picked up his backpack and riffled through it only to curse vividly when he realized that the little sugar addict had stolen his bag of little white powdered donuts that he’d been craving all morning. “There’s definitely going to be a spanking,” he muttered darkly when he realized that she’d also stolen his bag of Hershey Kisses.

“If you don’t release me right now there will definitely be a war, mutt!”

“Only if someone bitches,” Kale pointed out, making a mental note to raid Izzy’s stash once he got back to the mansion.

“They will,” Aidan said firmly, which was sad.

Kale didn’t bother looking up from his backpack as he chuckled. “And who do you think hired me?”

“They can’t do that!”

“No,” Kale said, grabbing a pack of Twinkies and sitting back, not wanting to miss a single moment, “they can’t touch you, but they can arrange to have you wiped from the face of the earth.”

“They’d have to face my Pack!” Aidan snarled with that same cocky grin that Kale was really going to enjoy wiping off his face.

“No, they wouldn’t,” Kale’s contact said as he walked into the room with his Pack filing in after him.

“Brock,” Aidan bit out, his eyes shifting silver as he spotted his Beta and his Pack.

“Aidan,” Brock said, tilting his head in acknowledgement to his former Alpha as he approached Kale and handed him a duffle bag.

“You little son of a bitch!” Aidan snarled, struggling to get free of his chains, but he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“Before we begin,” Kale said, bringing back the Alpha’s attention to him as he pulled out a serrated knife. “I’d like to clear a few things up.”