Loving Styles [Brac Village 12] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (13 page)

Grabbing the mop bucket, Styles headed toward the door. He moved quickly toward the elevator, thanking fate that the secretary was nowhere in sight. He didn’t need her going into the office to find out that he hadn’t cleaned up the mess. Styles definitely didn’t need her to find out that he had thrown the expensive jacket over the water.

He had gone there with the intention of killing the lawyer, but since he now knew that the man was a Vampire Hunter, Styles needed to take a step back and consider the situation. Oh, he was still going to kill the hit man for going after his mate, but going after the man who had sanctioned the hit would have to wait.

As the elevator doors slid closed, Styles shook his head. This was the first time he had stopped to consider the consequences. Before meeting Robby, Styles would’ve waited around for the lawyer and then sliced his throat, uncaring what happened next.

Styles was constantly amazed at how much Robby was changing him. He wanted to become a better man. Styles wanted to always see the love in Robby’s eyes when his mate looked at him. He didn’t want to do anything to tarnish that.

The elevator doors slid open and Styles pushed the mop bucket through the basement and storied it where it belonged. He headed out of the service entrance, never looking behind him as he headed back home.

* * * *

Maverick glanced over the list that the coyote had just given him. How in the hell had the humans gotten their hands on this kind of information? The traitor had to be someone who moved in and out of the different packs and covens with ease.

There was only one person that Maverick could think of. There was only one person that would have all of this information at the ready. He picked his phone up and called upstairs to Dr. Sheehan’s office.

“Would you mind coming down to my office for a moment?” Maverick asked Nicholas.

“Of course, I’ll be right down.”

Maverick refused to believe that Dr. Sheehan had betrayed them all. He was a part of Maverick’s household, a trusted member in the paranormal world. He had treated patients not only of Brac Village, but in Pride Pack Valley, and on occasion, he had gone to Christian’s as well.

But there was a tiny part of him that wondered if maybe the doctor hadn’t done something like this. There was no reason in Maverick’s mind for Dr. Sheehan to hand over those files. Nothing would explain the treachery.

The office door opened and Maverick watched as Dr. Sheehan stuck his head in. “Do I need my medical bag?”

Maverick waved toward the chair in front of his desk. “There is no need for your bag. I just want to have a word with you.”

Nicholas moved into the office, taking a seat. “I’ve known you for too many years, Maverick. What’s going on?”

Handing the list across the desk, Maverick watched as Dr. Sheehan took it, his eyes scanning each page. He glanced up, confusion written all over his face. “What is this?”

“A list that was found in a human’s office.”

Maverick saw the exact moment when knowledge dawned in Nicholas’s eyes. “You think I gave this to someone?” There was outrage in the man’s voice. “I might be human, but I’m a doctor first. There is no goddamn way in hell I would’ve ever handed this over to anyone.”

The man’s reaction was too genuine, his rage too raw. “I want you to help me figure out how this list got into a Vampire Hunter’s hands.”

Nicholas threw the papers up onto the desk, sitting back as he sulked. And then in the next breath, he was sitting up straight. The man looked contemplative for a moment before he spoke. “A few weeks back I noticed some of my files were out of order. I’m very meticulous when it comes to my files. I couldn’t explain it so I let it go.”

This time it was Maverick’s turn to sit forward. An alarm had gone off a few weeks back. Maverick had thought that Cecil was sneaking out to have some fun, coercing Carter into taking him. It seemed his assumption was wrong. “Someone broke into your office.”

“But how?” Nicholas asked. “This place isn’t exactly easy to break into.”

“It is if you have paranormal help.” Maverick’s fist slammed down on his desk. If Kenyon enlisted paranormal help to get into the demon realm, what’s to say that the lawyer didn’t enlist help to get into the Den?

If he ever found out what fey helped the lawyer, Maverick was going to nail the man’s balls to the wall. He had underestimated the Hunters’ thirst for knowledge. They were determined to gather as much intel as they possibly could about the paranormal world.

Now that he knew how thirsty there were, Maverick planned on getting as much information on them as well. He was going to use the information for the same reason they were gathering theirs…to eradicate those bastards.

* * * *

“Can I at least go into the backyard?” Robby asked as he strummed his fingers on the dining room table.

“Nope,” Recker said. “There’s a hit man after you. Why on earth would you want to go out into the open?”

Because Robby was bored out of his mind. He wasn’t used to sitting around on his ass all day. He wanted to keep busy so he would remember that someone had stabbed him right in his gut. He still shivered when he thought about how the man had lured him out of the kitchen at the bakery. Whoever that guy was, he was damn good at making wounded dog noises.

Robby wanted to kick himself for falling for such a ruse.

Deciding that he couldn’t just sit around, Robby walked into the kitchen and began to check the cupboards. He pulled out everything he would need to make some chocolate chip cookies. He was surprised that all the ingredients he would need were at the ready. Feeling a little better with something to do, Robby preheated the oven and began to mix the ingredients into a bowl.

Baking always helped relax Robby. And if ever there was a time he needed to relax, it was now. His mate was off chasing down some lawyer to kill him, a hit man was after Robby, and Robby still wasn’t sure how his mate felt when he saw him shift to his wolf form. His mate had taken off before Robby had woken up.

There was just too much shit going on. Why couldn’t his life be simple once more? Okay, it wasn’t simple when dealing with Styles, but Robby could do without someone trying to off him. He never asked to get involved in that. He should’ve just returned that fucking envelope the day he had received it.

Placing the raw dough on the cookie sheet, Robby shoved the pan into the oven and then sat at the table in the kitchen. He couldn’t understand why he didn’t go to work. There was no way in hell someone was going to come after him when Kenway was around. This waiting for the bad guy to be caught stuff was nerve racking.

“Oh hell’s bells,” Frisco said as he walked into the kitchen. “Please tell me you’re baking something sweet.”

“I threw together some chocolate chip cookies,” Robby answered the man. “I had to do something besides sitting around on my ass.”

“Be lucky you still have an ass to sit on,” Frisco replied as he walked over to the oven and squatted, peeking inside. “You damn near got killed. I wouldn’t be complaining about being stationary.”

That was true. But he still worried about Styles’s reaction to seeing Robby’s wolf. His relationship with the man wasn’t exactly what Robby would call in a blissful state. They were still feeling each other out. He hoped like hell that this didn’t set them back.

Even if it had, Robby wasn’t giving up. He hadn’t come this far to have Styles push him away once again. If he had to, Robby would kidnap the stubborn man and take him out to that shack and torture him with sex until he saw reason.

He removed the cookies from the oven and set them on a cooling rack before having another seat. Now that the cookies were done, Robby was without anything to do.

Robby sat very still when Reese and Styles walked through the side door. He tried his best to gauge the man’s reaction, but from the look on his mate’s face, he wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to him right now.

Styles looked pissed.

He watched Reese tap Ryker on the shoulder and then nod toward the living room. They were giving Robby and Styles some time alone. He sat there waiting for the man to say something, anything to indicate if they were back at square one. But Styles didn’t say a word. He walked over to the fridge and grabbed something to drink, before pushing his back against the counter.

“Are we okay?” Robby asked, unable to stand the tension any longer.

“I’m not going to lie, Robby. Seeing you in your wolf form triggered a lot of flashbacks.”

Robby jumped from his chair, stabbing a finger in Styles’s direction. “I won’t let you throw me away, Styles. I know, I get it. You hate wolves. I tried my best not to shift in front of you, but you insisted. Now look where it’s gotten us.”

Styles set his drink down before walking over to Robby, giving him a small growl. “I was going to say before I was interrupted that I worked a lot of shit out in my head. I still hate the wolves responsible for my parents’ death, and my torture. But I don’t blame you. I can’t hate and love you at the same time.”

“I did it again, didn’t I?” Robby said and then swallowed roughly. When was he going to learn not to get ahead of himself? “I jumped to conclusions.”

Styles snagged Robby around the nape of his neck and pulled him close, making Robby’s pulse jump, his stomach clench, and he had an urge to run. Shivers ran through him as Styles dipped his head and pressed his lips against the shell of Robby’s ear. His breath was warm, inviting, and made Robby feel tingly. “Yeah, you did.”

Robby cocked his head to the side, wanting the closeness, but wanting answers as well. He gazed up into dark-brown eyes, searching. “Did you just say you loved me?”

From the expression on Styles’s face, Robby could tell the man looked like he had been caught off guard, as if he hadn’t meant to let the
love
word slip out. Instinct told him that Styles was ready to bolt if need be. Robby grabbed his mate around the waist, ready to pull him back if he even tried. “Answer me.”

“I don’t hate you,” Styles answered and Robby could actually feel the man’s pulse speeding up under his hands. Their eyes stayed locked for a moment, Styles’s body growing stiffer in Robby’s arms.

Robby was ready to push the subject, but didn’t want to hear the words when they were being forced out of the man. He would rather his mate tell him when he was ready to say it. Not before then. “Did you find the lawyer?”

Styles looked relieved at the change of subject. “No, but I found some interesting stuff. I need that envelope you hid.” Robby listened as Styles explained what he had found. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Who would compile a list like that?

Knowing the intimacy between them just moments before was shattered, Robby released Styles. He took a step back, giving himself room to breathe and giving Styles the space he obviously needed. Even though the man hadn’t said the three words Robby wanted to hear, the guy had said them in a roundabout way.

He would have to accept that…for now. “Do you think the envelope has anything to do with the lawyer?”

Styles still didn’t look relaxed, as if Robby would jump in front of him at any second and demand to know if Styles loved him. “I think a copy of that list is in that envelope you are hiding. I need to get it to Maverick. None of us needs that envelope to fall into the wrong hands.”

Robby wholeheartedly agreed. He wanted nothing more to do with that freaking envelope. It had caused him nothing but trouble. The sooner he got that damn thing out of his hands, the better. “I hid it under the bread slicer at work.”

Styles grabbed his cell phone. “Hey, Kenway, look under the bread slicer.”

“You were already looking for it?” Robby asked.

His mate nodded, pulling the phone away from his ear. “We couldn’t let it fall into the wrong hands.” Styles pressed the phone back against his ear as he listened. “What do you mean it’s not there?”

Robby’s heart sped up. Someone had found the duplicate copy. But who?

Kenyon sat across the table from Marino Malone. He didn’t trust this man. There was something about the guy that set off every warning bell he possessed. Kenyon normally wasn’t intimidated by anyone, but a little voice in the back of his mind told him to be wary.

“I’m told you are a very influential man, Kenyon,” Marino said as a waiter set a glass of wine down in front of the guy. “If this is true, we may just have a deal.”

Kenyon had motive behind what he did. He didn’t think that nonhumans should exist. They were an abomination against nature. The thought of wiping them all out crossed his mind more times than he could count.

But what were Marino’s motives? What drove this man besides apparent greed and the allure of power? Kenyon’s instincts were normally on point and his gut was telling him that Marino Malone was far more dangerous than Kenyon could ever be.

Nonetheless, he kept his features in check as he gave the man a tight nod. “We might,” he agreed. “I have always believed that combining forces was a very smart way to obtain one’s goals.”

Actually Kenyon believed that getting rid of the competition was the only way. But Marino was not a man who would be easily killed. He had tied up the loose ends, killing the lawyer and hit man who had gone after Robby. Kenyon had his second go into Brac Village and steal the list. It wasn’t that hard considering the back door to the bakery was always left open during the day. His man just had to wait until no one was in the kitchen. The mission had been accomplished and now the paper was currently residing in his jacket pocket. Having spies everywhere was a handy thing.