Before she could say anything else, Dodge said, loudly enough for Bridger to hear, “Ms. Lawson, we need to get moving if we don’t want to be late to meet with the client.”
“Oh my,” Bridger said before Persephone could react. “Who do we have here, with such a deep and commanding voice?”
Dodge made a face but forced himself into professionalism as he freed the phone from Persephone’s frozen fingers. “I’m Ms. Lawson’s new assistant. I look forward to meeting you, Ms. Bridger. If you’ll just excuse us? I’ll make sure Ms. Lawson has a return call on her schedule tomorrow first thing.”
The loan shark chuckled, and Dodge had to wonder if she recognized his voice. They’d crossed paths before when one of the dumb kids in the pack had a gambling problem he hid from the pack. Dodge had been one of the pack enforcers that Evershaw sent to pay off Bridger and warn her away from messing with the pack again. She hadn’t taken the helpful hints well.
But Bridger almost purred as she answered. “I look forward to it, young man. Persephone, enjoy that new client. I look forward to seeing more of your work. Do keep yourself out of trouble, dear. I’d hate for that curious nature of yours to get in your way.”
“Of course,” Persephone said, though her words came out more strangled than Dodge liked.
Dodge disconnected the call and shoved her phone in his pocket, wanting to grab Persephone’s shoulders to give her a shake. What the hell had she been thinking? Things had been going so well, and then whatever it was about the tiger’s cage...
“She knows,” Persephone said in a whisper. “She has to know. She wouldn’t have said – the curiosity kills the cat thing. She’s never said anything like that before, and normally she’s so much more – more – just friendly, and she wanted to mentor me and what if –“
“Easy,” Dodge said, catching her shoulders to steady her. His frustration evaporated in the face of her rising fear. “We don’t know that. She could have been trying to make you panic, see if you reacted with a guilty conscience.”
Which she almost had.
She stared at his chest, breathing too fast, and shook her head. “She knows.”
“It’ll be okay.”
Persephone glared at him. “How will this possibly be okay?”
He almost told her because he wouldmakeit okay. That she was almost part of a pack, whether she knew it or not, and that SilverLine didn’t let one of their members deal with trouble alone. That Bridger was a common enemy and it was time the packs did something about the trouble she created in the city. But at the heart of it... Dodge would make sure she was okay. He’d do anything to make sure.
But he damn well couldn’tsayit.
He arched an eyebrow and checked his watch. “We’re early, but we’ll run some errands before we head to the restaurant to meet with Evershaw, and then we’ll figure out how to fix this.”
Persephone started shaking her head. “This doesn’t have anything to do with him, or with you. She doesn’t know you were there. Why would either of you help me with this?”
He could have told her that his wolf wanted her to be safe, or that the man loved the thought of her sleeping in his bed, wearing his clothes, living in his den. He could have admitted what he couldn’t even admit to himself: their lives were intertwined because she was his mate. It was the only explanation.
But it wasn’t fair to put that on her. She’d known about shifters barely a day, and nothing good had happened to her since meeting him. Dodge steeled himself and shrugged, going to the door to check the peephole. “We know Bridger. She’s... caused problems before.”
“She can’t be behind this,” Persephone said, but she no longer sounded quite so certain.
Dodge opened the door and checked the hall, then held out a hand to her. “Then there’s no reason to worry about talking to Evershaw about her. Right?”
She still hesitated, standing there in her living room. He waited. He knew he’d wait as long as it took.
Chapter 15
Percy
Iwanted to hide in the apartment after Ms. Bridger’s voice hardened and murmured about curiosity killing cats. It had been fucking stupid to bring up the tiger, to have the conversation a second longer than necessary, and yet... I couldn’t think with Dodge right there. He just stood there, watching me, and I got nervous wondering what he thought. It made me blurt out something about the damn tiger and then Bridger must have known something was off...
I still couldn’t believe my stupidity even as we got in my car and Dodge started driving. I meant to drive, but he opened the passenger door for me and I got in automatically. Then my cheeks heated until he must have seen. Ihatedfeeling so off-balance around him. He shouldn’t have had the power to make me feel so insecure and uncertain. I’d known him a day.
Although I’d almost slept with him, had been perfectly willing to get naked... until he wised up and walked away. Or maybe it had all been a game to him. Maybe it still was. He’d been sent to retrieve me for his boss. Maybe that was where his interest ended. Pretending to be interested in me physically, pretending to talk to me like he wanted to learn about me and share about himself, might have only been a way to pass the time. It hurt more than it should have, that maybe he’d used me. That he pretended about everything. That he mightstillbe pretending.
He still had my phone. I clutched my purse and stared out the window. He hadn’t said anything since holding out his hand to me in the apartment, waiting for me to go to him. He didn’t just grab me and drag me out of there. It seemed like it was important to him that I choose to walk out of the apartment, even if I didn’t know why.
The mystery still lingered. He drove through the city and stopped at a popular coffeeshop for coffee and breakfast sandwiches. He handed me one despite my protest that I’d already had breakfast. Apparently toaster pastries didn’t count. We were back in the car for only a few minutes and a few turns when he cursed under his breath. I glanced at him. “What?”
“I think someone is following us.” Dodge exhaled but didn’t hit the gas or send the car careening into an alley to lose whoever might have pursued us. Instead, he made a reasonable left turn and kept going.
