Page 89 of Robb

Not that he was surprised, per se, especially after James had demanded the show of loyalty from Anne’s former thugs. But part of him had been hoping…

No, he thought. It was always far too much to expect. It seems that James just can’t help himself from betraying anyone he works with.

We can still take him down, the dingo snarled. Those Hargreaves agents are not so loyal to him. They can be convinced to look the other way.

Not yet, Robb thought. He wouldn’t get far with the cuffs. He knew he’d have to make some kind of move, cuffs or not, soon. But right now, it would be worse than pointless, and would rob them of any future chances they might have had.

“Make gold for you?!” Tahnee shook her head in disbelief, staring at James with disgust writ large across her face. “Don’t make me laugh.”

“Oh, you won’t be laughing, don’t worry,” James said. “Quite the opposite, in fact. I hear that it can be quite awful if your mate suffers horribly. Not that I would know – I never met mine.”

Bruce barked out a laugh. “Probably for the best. I can’t imagine you being tied down to someone like that.”

“No, me neither,” James mused, before he turned back to Tahnee. “But I’m getting distracted.”

“Distracted from what?” Tahnee snapped out. “Even you could see how insane it was to try to wake a sleeping dragon, with no idea if you could control or contain it. What good does a pile of gold do for you now?”

James raised an eyebrow incredulously, then laughed. “What good does a pile of gold do? Really? Did you actually just ask that question?”

Tahnee glowered as James laughed, but Robb supposed it was a little obvious now that he said it: pure, naked greed.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t make gold for just anyone,” Tahnee snapped. “So you’ll just have to get your gold some other way.”

“Oh, this isn’t a request,” James replied, his face hardening. “It’s an order. I’m afraid you don’t really have the option to decline.”

“But surely you have enough of everything, now that you’ve gotten rid of Anne and gotten your hands on Hargreaves,” Tahnee said desperately. “What more could you possibly want?”

But Robb knew that Tahnee wasn’t aware of who James really was – or the fact that Robb and his team were the ones who’d revealed that he’d been a mole within the Agency for years, and then sent him to prison for it. And Robb should have known James better than to think he could have turned over a new leaf and reflected on his past actions while he’d been in prison.

Even James could see the madness of trying to wake an ancient, terrifying beast that had supernatural powers of healing if you managed to pierce the strong armor of its scales, and could breathe a fire that was hotter than lava – but Robb was pretty certain that revenge for having destroyed his life was something that James could enjoy.

And sure enough, at Tahnee’s question, James laughed again – though his eyes were deadly cold as he looked at Robb.

“I can’t lie and say I don’t want the gold for its own sake,” he said, his eyes never leaving Robb’s face. “But that’s merely a side benefit of having finally captured the two of you. No – don’t get me wrong, but revenge is my top priority right now.”

A large hand clapped down on Robb’s shoulder from behind. The Hargreaves goon had been so silent that Robb… hadn’t forgotten he was there, of course, but had somewhat put him out of his mind.

“Revenge?” Tahnee asked, as she looked wildly at Robb. Whatever she saw on his face must have convinced her there was history between the two of them she didn’t know about – because she bit her lip, her brows furrowing. “Don’t tell me you’d go so far as to kill people just because…”

“Just because?” James snarled, rounding on her suddenly, fury roiling in his voice. “Robb Lockwood destroyed my life. Took my freedom from me. Made me a prisoner. There’s nothing just because about it.”

“You did that to yourself, James, when you decided to betray everyone you’d ever worked with – when you decided to betray the person you used to be,” Robb said steadily, still aware of the anti-shifting cuffs on his wrists and the heavy hand on his shoulder. If James gave any kind of word now, Robb knew he wouldn’t stand much chance. “I don’t know what your reasons were, but you can’t blame me for what you did.”

For a moment, rage flashed in James’s eyes, and Robb wondered if he was angry enough that he might forget himself and shift into his wild boar form, but, with obvious effort, he regained control over himself.

“I don’t have time for this,” he finally said with a wave of his hand. “You’re my prisoners now – that’s what matters. But I have a full corporate takeover of Hargreaves to attend to – it’s a little more complicated than just convincing the people in this room that I was right to kill Anne McIntosh, even if a lot of people at Hargreaves had been disillusioned with her leadership for some time. That means flying back to headquarters and explaining myself to them – and making it clear that even if I did kill Anne, I’m bringing with me a shifter who can turn anything into gold with the touch of her hand. So I’m afraid, my dear, that you’re rather an important part of my strategy. You’ll both be coming with me.”

He smiled. “Of course, I don’t really need you, Robb, for anything except leverage. But coming up with ways to ensure your mate stays in line with my wishes will coincide very nicely with my plans for revenge. It’s so convenient when your business can also be your pleasure.”

Robb felt the hand on his shoulder give an iron-gripped squeeze, before jerking him in the direction of the door.

He could see the fear in Tahnee’s eyes as the goon behind her gave her a quick shove too, and he tried to send her a wave of reassurance through the mate bond.

He didn’t know how, but he’d get her out of here. Bringing James to justice and putting him back where he belonged – inside a prison cell – was definitely on his list of things to do, but right now, getting Tahnee out of this tower with its thick stone walls and reinforced glass had to be his first priority.

Robb knew that beyond this room, there was far more chance of finding some opportunity to escape – or, if not escape, then slow James and his goons down somehow. Alert someone. Do something. Get Tahnee away, and then do whatever he had to do to make sure she had enough time to get to safety.

Robb didn’t know what it would be, but he’d been in some tough scrapes during his career.