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“Stop pacing. That’s an antique Persian rug you’re trying to wear a hole through.” Quin was working on something on his own computer at the kitchen island since his gallery was closed for the day. He pulled out the barstool next to him. “Sit.”
I’d already tried sitting. It hadn’t worked well to burn off the frenetic energy thrumming through my veins. The only thing I thought could possibly help was having Felix in my arms again. And my brothers out of the house.
“You can’t keep your dick in him twenty-four seven.” Cal was sprawled across a couch in the great room, his head hanging over the armrest so he could see into the kitchen.
“The hell I can’t,” I snapped back. In thirty-eight years, I’d never felt so much for someone so fast, and knowing he and Julius were downstairs poking into something that had already painted a literal target on my mate’s head made me want to do just that. Just as a precaution. Only to keep him safe. No one could get to him if he was under me.
“You sound like a caveman. Get your head out of your ass.” Quin’s assessment was completely accurate.
“What am I supposed to do? I feel like he’s walking into a trap. Am I just supposed to let him put himself in danger? He’s my fated mate, for fuck’s sake.”
“Who you just met yesterday.”
“What’s your point, Quin?”
“My point, dear brother, is that you barely know him. Fated mate or not, you need to get to know him.”
“And not just in the biblical sense.” Cal waggled his eyebrows and smirked.
“You know I hate to agree with anything Cal says, but he’s right. You need to learn to trust Felix. If he thinks he can do this without putting himself in harm’s way, you need to let him try.” Quin looked just as smug as his twin.
“That’s easy for you to say. He’s not your mate.” Even after only a couple of days, I wasn’t sure I could survive without him. It felt like half my heart was in Felix’s body. My connection to him was stronger than any bond I’d ever felt, and we hadn’t even claimed each other fully yet. In the back of my head somewhere,I knew Quin was right. Felix and I needed to build trust before we took that step. Once my mark was on him and his on me, there was no going back.
“That’s fair. But we all agreed to keep him safe. You already know Julius is the one behind the screen right now. All Felix is doing is leading him down the same path he took.”
It didn’t make me feel better that I was potentially putting my brothers in danger too. But I trusted them to know their limits. They’d been playing fast and loose with legal their whole lives. Cal practically lived for danger. With them, it wasn’t the same. If something happened to them, I’d be sad about it, sure—some more than others—but it wouldn’t gut me like a fish in Pike’s Place like it would if I lost Felix.
“You need something to keep you busy,” Cal suggested.
“Like?”
“A hobby?”
“I have one of those. I plan creative ways to murder you in your sleep.”
Cal scoffed. “Where’s the challenge if I’m sleeping? Now, if you told me you were plotting creative ways to kill me while I was awake, that’s a legit hobby. The options are really endless, and you’d have to really think outside the box.”
“I hate you.”
“I’ve heard I have that effect on people.”
“Hell must be freezing over or something because, once again, Cal and I agree. Felix and Julius are going to be holed up down there forever. Did you see all the snacks Julius took? You’re going to drive yourself crazy if you hang out around here waiting for some bad guy to burst through the door. If we’re going to make ORCA a real thing and not just something we’re doing to humor Felix and to figure out who wants to hurt him, then part of the business is going to be bounty hunting. You need to keep up those contacts. See if Jimmy has some low-hangingfruit for you to chase.” Quin’s grimace told me exactly what he thought about Jimmy and the career I’d decided to pursue since I’d given up art theft as a full-time gig.
“Bounty hunting is ninety-five percent surveillance, you know this. I don’t want to be away from Felix for that long.”
Cal laughed.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He laughed again.
“Seriously, what?”
“I was just thinking you could take him with you. This whole thing was his idea in the first place, right? Maybe he needs a little field experience.”
Honestly, it wasn’t the worst idea, and if I didn’t go after anyone high profile, like Valencia, Felix would be safe. Things rarely turned violent while I was chasing skips. Lots of running, yes. Lots of violence, no. My size was pretty intimidating, and if we were anywhere near the water, the fact that I could shift into a giant killer whale was a pretty damn good deterrent.
It would be a good excuse to show Felix my orca form, which I’d been dying to do since I’d recognized he was my mate.
