Page 23 of Targeted By Love
“Wow, you’re really lobbing bombs today!” Thiago shared a glance with Boaz.
“Don’t say that when an actual explosion was supposed to have killed someone.” Gods, I had to just say it. “I scented shifter in with the accelerant.”
“Yours!” Boaz’s mouth fell open, giving me the perfect view of his brilliant white teeth.
“No! I didn’t plant the bomb, but whoever did was a shifter!” I hadn’t yet figured out who or why. “I couldn’t recognize whose, it was contaminated, but it had a hint of the familiar, so definitely mafia.
“So we’re all involved,” Riggs finished my sentence. “Might result in a war.”
My brothers were too young to remember the last mafia war, an internal one. I had vague memories. Our dad lost a brother. Unlikely this was a crackdown from law enforcement. They were well paid with hefty bribes and none of them wanted to tussle with the mafia. We dealt with our own problems and the police let us be.
“You don’t need me to tell you what to do.” Boaz, being a pack Beta, always insisted on playing by the rules.
“Kill your mate?” Thiago offered, and he and Riggs chortled. “And his brother?” He clapped. “Problem solved.”
“You’re not funny,” I snapped.
If there was a war, another family were the instigators and the pack Alphas had to be informed. We couldn’t hide it while me and my brothers investigated.
“Me or you?” I nodded at Boaz. I was the one involved due to the hit but also because of my heart. I should be the one to tell Alpha. But packs were big on hierarchy, so I nominated Boaz.
“I’ll do it in person.” He checked his watch. “Great. He’s having his weekly massage. Expect blood to be spilled—mine.”
“Oh no!” Ezra, Lake, Thiago, and Riggs put their hands to their eyes, pretending to cry.
“Boaz is scared about getting a little hurty,” Thiago teased.
Boaz’s wolf snarled and growled, and even though Thiago had a fierce wolf of his own, he cowered before his older brother.
“Go.” I put my hand on his shoulder. We weren’t overly affectionate with each other, but I was grateful he was doing this for me, for us.
Unbeknownst to my brothers and my mate, I’d upgraded from my two cousins looking after my mate to hiring a private security firm to watch over him. I’d told the company an old lover was stalking him and I’d give them a bonus if they kept him safe.
“Where are you going?” Riggs asked as I grabbed my keys.
“To see Rhodes. He’s staying at a friend’s empty apartment.”
“Have you done the deed?” Ezra yelled as Thiago and Lake opened the fridge.
“None of your business.”
“You have!” Ezra followed our brothers into the kitchen as they raided my cupboards.
“He hasn’t,” Thiago whispered. “That’s why he’s so grouchy.”
I took the elevator to the underground parking garage but changed my mind as I recalled the honeymoon car being blown to bits. Instead, I walked a couple of blocks and found a cab outside a bar known as a mafia hangout. My cousin, Arnie, was behind the wheel. I had a lot of cousins since my parents each had five siblings.
Arnie sensed I didn’t want to talk, and after he asked about the family, we rode in silence. I got out a block from Rhodes’sfriend’s place, and when I reached his building, I checked the security guys across the street, in the lobby, and on his floor.
He’d given me a key, and when I got inside, I made a mental note to get a locksmith to install a fingerprint lock. Or maybe one that recognized Rhodes by his retina. But this wasn’t his place, damn it.
The apartment was in darkness apart from the glow of a lamp in a room at the end of the hall. The door was ajar, and my mate was sprawled across the bed, his eyes closed.
Standing in the doorway, my heart was overwhelmed with love for this human that I hardly knew anymore. What was his favorite song? Did he still like chili? If not, that might be a relationship breaker.
Really?
Kidding, I explained to my beast.