Page 55 of Dangerous Heat


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ChapterNineteen

OSWALD

I’d been reduced to errand cat, and I was jealous.

I shouldn’t be, and I was trying not to be. But, I was. Usually, Freya gave me unlimited attention. We spent days chatting and enjoying TV shows together, and nights curled up in the same bed. I was happy for her finding a proper mate who could actually help her through her heats with more than words, but I was less than thrilled at how I’d been relegated to the sidelines.

It was hard to be part of the big happy family they had going when I was a cat. None of them heard me speak except her.

And she hadn’t spoken to me much, other than to send me in search of Nolan. Freya wanted to speak to him about how they were going to find and kill Kylan, and apparently it couldn’t wait until he meandered back into the suite on his own.

Trotting through the halls I got a few odd looks, but no one tried to stop me. Nolan’s scent was familiar to me by now, considering the time we’d spent pressed together, and I followed it to the top floor. Before teleporting myself through the door, I paused.

Nolan was another issue.

I didn’t let people pet me or snuggle me, because I wasn’t a damn cat, but he’d been different. His scent was soothing, and I wanted to wrap myself in it. More than that, he’d seen me. Most likely, he just liked animals, but it felt significant in my jealousy-addled brain. When he’d held me to him, I’d gotten the sense he needed me as much as I needed him in those moments.

He was cute, too. Hiding behind constant smiles and flirtation and sarcasm, there was a cute man who deserved better than he would have gotten as a son of the mafia. He ran an assassination company, but he didn’t enjoy pointless killing. If he did, he would have made Freya prove she was the killer by now.

“Do we allow cats in here?” someone said from behind me.

Turning, I hissed. The tattooed shifter man, Clement, reared back. “Damn, OK, didn’t realize who you were. I won’t be the one to kick you out. If you’re looking for Nolan, you’re in the right place. His suite is a few doors down. I’ll let you in.”

I could have teleported through the door, but having him open it was helpful for my magic reserves. Also, who washeto deny a cat entry? He shifted into an overgrown dog and probably stank a hell of a lot worse.

Once he’d let me through the stairwell door and into the hallway, he went into his own suite, and I followed the scent of cinnamon pastries to a closed door. This one, I teleported through, bringing myself inside Nolan’s private rooms.

The place was smaller and brighter than I’d expected. Floor to ceiling windows covered one wall, sun shining onto the small kitchen and attached living room. There was no couch in the living room, only a recliner with a tray table sitting over it. The TV was tiny and the angle made sunlight reflect aggressively off it. I couldn’t imagine he used it often.

A bathroom was decorated in bright greens, similar to the shades he had on his Hawaiian shirts, with only a few products out on the counters. The only other door led to a bedroom. There were no windows, but he’d brightened it up with string lights with a sunshine glow and ivy strands hung on the walls.

He had a small double bed sitting against the far wall, with a tropical tapestry hanging above it, but he wasn’t lying in the bed. Nolan was perched on a large desk chair facing double monitors. Security screens sat above the main monitors, and I saw our suite, hazily unfocused. Freya’s prior accommodations were also up, as were a few entry points to the building. I had to imagine they had a main security office, but Nolan spent plenty of time looking at the screens too.

Letting out a small meow to alert him to my presence, he didn’t take his eyes off the screen.

I meowed again.

Still nothing.

Internally sighing, I hopped up to the desk, doing my best to avoid his keyboard. He blinked watery eyes at me, looking tired, and reached out to pet me. A small growl rumbled in my chest, but he ignored it. His hand stroked down my back and I fought not to purr. I was not a cat. Being pet shouldn’t be pleasant.

Sitting down, I glanced at what he was looking at on the screens. I froze.

Maisie’s picture was up. I hadn’t seen Freya’s sister much, since Freya pushed down her feelings about what happened to her, but I knew what she looked like. Beside that, their facial structure was too similar to be a coincidence. On the opposite screen, Nolan had a file on Charles Cunning up. I was confused for a second, before I read further into the file. Charles Cunning had a wife, Maisie Cunning; maiden name Alverona. They also had two children together.

How had he found this information? And why? Freya had never discovered if her sister was still alive in Zemterra, let alone known she had kids now.

“Don’t tell her about this,” he murmured, scrolling through the file. “All I’m doing is finding out what I can. Charles Cunning isn’t someone I can mess with unless I’m willing to shoulder the consequences.”

He paused near the bottom, where it detailed some of Charles’ political affiliations. Associated with Kylan — why was I not surprised? — and I spotted a few other names I recognized from over the years. None of them pleasant. Although, in my experience, very few people on the Zemterran Council were pleasant.

“Does she need something? I was hoping I’d be able to spend the rest of the night alone here. You’d think she would be more grateful and stop bothering me after I allowed her to speak to her aunts,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Nolan’s smile was small enough to be genuine. He liked the idea of her wanting to see him. Fuck, I knew the feeling. We stared at each other long enough for it to become weird, then he let out a breath. “Oh. Right. Cat. I’m so comfortable around you, I forgot you can’t say a word to me.”

At least the weird draw to each other was mutual.

Though when he gathered me in his arms and placed me in his lap, I wondered again why I liked him and why the fuck I was letting him do this.