Page 94 of Coveted By Cupid

Pleased, I smile. “Good girl.”

“Promise me you’ll be smart in handling whatever is in those crates,” she adds, concern seeping into her tone again.

“Butterfly,” I coo, kissing her tenderly. “Don’t worry. I’m always two steps ahead of the law and whoever we’re dealing with.”

“You wouldn’t be in the game as long as you have been if what you say isn’t true. I just, I can’t lose you,” Vanessa admits, laying her head against my chest.

My hand runs over her wavy tendrils and down her back before my arms constrict around her, creating a protective barrier between us and the rest of the world. “The devil himself couldn’t keep us apart. If he or anyone else tries, I’ll end them.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CUPID

Who would have guessed finding a woman named Riley from Colorado State University would be difficult?

Apparently, it’s difficult given that the current CSU enrollment numbers are nearly thirty-five thousand students. The list Cipher and Chase compiled is longer than I’d like, putting me on edge.

My eyes narrow at the list in my hands. “You’ve got to be shitting me? There are one-hundred-twenty-three possible Riley culprits? How is that fucking possible?”

“The name Riley is popular among college-age students,” Cipher explains, sitting across from me at my desk in my office. “Chase and I realized quickly we couldn’t go off of a first name alone. We included first, middle, and last names, as well as any names that could use Riley as a nickname.”

“Goddamnit!” I drop the list on my desk among the hundred-plus campus ID photographs of our suspects, running my hands through my hair.

“I feel you,” Cipher says, shaking his head in disappointment. “I was looking forward to winning that bottle of bourbon off Chase.”

“Dude,” Oaks says to Cipher from where he stands behind my chair. “It’s not the time to joke.”

“Who says I am?” Cipher retorts, raising an eyebrow. “Pappy Van Winkle is nothing to joke about.”

“Pappy? For real? Damn,” Oaks pauses a moment, musing. “I should’ve learned computers. Pappy is a fine bourbon.”

Annoyed with both of them, I throw my hands in the air. “What the fuck am I going to do? It’s Sunday—I can’t delay tomorrow from coming. Vanessa needs to return to classes or risk not graduating on time. Scalpel is doing a checkup on her upstairs as we speak, and I’m certain he’s going to clear her. We’re no closer to finding the woman who either suggested or knows who suggested Vanessa to the Black Market Railroad. And I’m supposed to be okay sending my woman back to that place where who knows who’s watching her?”

Oaks lays a heavy hand on my shoulder to anchor me from popping all the way off. “It will be okay, Cupid. We’ll double the number of men on her security detail. Nobody is going to get to her.”

“Yeah,” Cipher chimes in, agreeing with Oaks. “I know you assigned Cookie as her bodyguard, but sending another brother with him as backup is another pair of eyes on lookout.”

My fingers work tight circles at my temples as I ask, “Who do I send? I’d go myself if we didn’t have to prepare for the sale with the head of the Denver Mafia. I need most of our crew here packing up the cargo or managing the rest of the club.”

“Whoever you send, they need to multitask, observing while protecting Psyche. Someone who has an eye for detail,” Oaks suggests.

“And intimidating,” Cipher adds with a raised finger. “No offense to Cookie, but he has that pretty boy look—the college girls will be all over him like flies on shit. We need someone who is going to deter people from approaching.”

“Right.” I rub my chin, contemplating candidates. “I need someone who will be blunt and not afraid to speak out if people get too close, someone off-putting.”

The three of us are brainstorming who to send when the air shifts in the room, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I raise my head, rearing back when I notice Crypt standing right behind Cipher’s chair, looking like some dark angel.

“Jesus Christ, Crypt!” I cover my chest with the palm of my hand where my heart is racing.

“Make some noise, buddy,” Oaks says, equally shaken. “Nobody heard you enter.”

“He does that all the time,” Cipher grumbles, turning in his chair to face our brother. “Ever heard of knocking?”

Crypt shrugs. “Y’all were concentrating. I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“But scaring the shit out of us is okay?” Oaks asks.

Our enforcer cocks his head, confused. “I wasn’t even trying to scare you.”