Total pages in book: 172
Estimated words: 155984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
“Thank you for the offer, Flambé. I appreciate it. I do intend to use the hammock with you once you build your stamina in the ropes, but as far as sleeping arrangements, I prefer to have you as close to me as possible. I want to wake up with you right beside me. I find I have need of you close for many reasons.”
He wasn’t going to elaborate. Most were of a sexual nature, but he was very concerned with her safety. He didn’t want her too far from him, especially knowing she had Franco Matherson as a stalker. Or that she had death threats against her. She also had it in her head that she could escape him if things weren’t to her liking, and Shturm had claimed her female leopard. While Flambé’s father had brought her up in the rules of lair life, he clearly hadn’t explained what occurred after the claiming.
Shturm wouldn’t be able to give Flamme up. He would follow her to the ends of the earth. Sevastyan didn’t blame Flambé for not understanding the rules when she wasn’t fully aware of them, but those were things that could get others killed. Others like Cain. He didn’t like the fact that she, even for one moment, had considered going to Cain.
“I have a meeting with a supplier tomorrow,” Flambé said. “It’s important for me to go. I know that you’ve got all sorts of things you have to do, so can you have one of your bodyguard friends available to come with me? I can’t cancel it. I did grab my schedule and I’ll get it typed in so I can send it to you and you won’t have to be blindsided.”
Sevastyan paused the massage, both hands clasping her foot. “Flambé, don’t you think you should have told me immediately you had an important meeting?”
“I didn’t remember. I have to put in reminders,” she said. “I’ve got so much to do all the time and my reminders keep me on track. Without my phone, I’m kind of lost.”
He couldn’t fault her for that. No way was he allowing one of his “bodyguard friends” to go with her to meet with her suppliers. Franco had her schedule. And her leopard was close to the emerging.
“I need to know exactly where you’re supposed to be and who you’re meeting with in the next month, Flambé. If possible, you’re going to change those meeting times and days.”
Her eyes flew open and she tried to sit up straight but he refused to relinquish his hold on her foot.
She glared at him. “I can’t just change everyone’s meeting times and their days. In some cases, we booked those times months ago. You know how upset you were when I cancelled on you.”
He nodded. “Sevastyan Amurov is leopard and you knew that going into it. The majority of your other clients are not. Who else do you work for that is leopard?”
Sevastyan kept his gaze fixed on her face, watching her expression closely. He saw the instant shutter come down. She was a businesswoman, used to protecting her clients, the shifters in particular. She didn’t divulge information.
“I am responsible for your security now, Flambé,” he reminded gently instead of demanding as he normally might. “I’m not just prying.” This was about her landscaping business, not a personal matter between them. He was always going to have to be careful about separating the two if it was possible.
“Jake Bannaconni. Mitya and Fyodor Amurov, your cousins. My father had them as customers, not me. I’ve never been on their properties, but recently Eli Perez called me. He’s a shifter my father worked for. Elijah Lospostos is also a shifter my father worked for and I have an appointment with him later in the month. And Cain Dufort. Those are all the local customers that I have at the moment who are shifters.”
His gut tensed. His leopard leapt for the surface, raking and clawing for supremacy. He wanted to do a little clawing of his own but he kept his hands very relaxed as he continued pressing the knots out of her foot. Very gently he put that foot down and picked up the other. That gave him time to breathe away the worst of his rage—the raw edges of it where it was crimson and brutal and desperate for blood.
“Dufort’s business? His club?”
“Both. His private residence and his club. I also work at Bannaconni’s office buildings and his private residence as well. Bannaconni owns several buildings, as do you and your cousins. My company recently signed a contract to work up designs for them too.”
“Is it possible that Franco has infiltrated your company? You have to employ quite a lot of people to cover that many projects as well as non-shifters.”
He had to find an easy way to circle back to Cain. He wanted to know if she worked alone at his residence. He knew she worked alone at the club. Cain would never stand for others to be there. He would know she was a shifter. She would have to sign a nondisclosure and if he could, Cain would try to get her in a compromising position in order to ensure she would never blackmail one of his customers. Cain took his word to his clients very seriously.