Page 107 of The Gift
“Suck my dick, Henley,” he hisses at me. We’ve had this discussion too many times to count. “Back to me taking your money. How much?”
“Not money. One weekend away with Bailey. Alone.”
He shrugs, smug as hell before he raises his eyes to me. In them, he mirrors what I assume mine look like. I see his struggle as he contains the rage but this will help us both.
“What?” I bark, incredulously when his face twists into a smile dragging me from my overactive thinking.
“Do the same rules apply as always? I get one question first, honest answer in return,” he clarifies, slowing his speech so there is no way to escape the sarcasm. You know, in case I missed the cocky arch of his eyebrow.
“Did I say we’d change the rules, or did I ask, do you want to make a bet?” I snap, my fists clenching at my side, aching to punch that look clean off his face.
“Good point,” he replies coolly. “Okay, my question is, did you see the person now dead at our feet moving at all? And that includes all forms of movement.” Koda is serious, like we’re talking how to split atoms.
“No.”
“And you’re still one hundred percent sure you want to make a bet on this one? Like, I’m good, honestly. I’ll be better once I see her, but for now, I’m solid.”
“Yeah, of course. I get that. The way you’re speaking, it sounds you’ve already lost.”
“You know I’m offering you an out, Henley? Like we don’t need to bet on this one.”
“Bullshit. Are you in?” I hold out my hand, he shakes it so fucking fast and starts laughing like a jackal.
“You know, it’s like taking candy from a baby. And I want you to know, not once during the forty-eight hours that I am balls deep in her will I be thinking of you. Promise you, she won’t think of you either.” He slaps my back so hard I stumble forward, the cocky shit.
I flick my chin impatiently, demanding his answer.
“The cleaner. The one who parked his van next to us, trying to lock us in at the Exposé party.”
I legit hop up and take a step back stunned. “How do you figure that?”
“His right arm kinks backward when he walks, like a twitch. Or he thinks he’s got swagger. Might be a result of an accident, or no one ever told him how fucking stupid it looks. Either way you lost this bet, and time with your omega. She’s going to be cross-eyed, talking gibberish the way she does when she’s crammed full of knot. All fucking weekend too. She won’t even be able to take a call from you, her mouth will be so full of my come.” He starts laughing, the noise bouncing off the trees.
“No?” I say or ask, not because I don’t believe him about Bailey, but I didn’t expect him to say the cleaner. “He didn’t look like he’d be able to find his own hole to wipe after taking a dump, and you’re saying he has the skill to nearly kill Bailey? I can’t see it.”
There’d be people who’d probably be offended at the way we unthaw after stress out on the field, but this works for us. To date, we’re probably on equal wins, or maybe Reno is slightly ahead. Although this is without question the greatest loss I’ve suffered.
“It’s him. Sorry, Hen, you lost. I promise, my cock won’t work for a week once I’m finished with her. I’ll wait until her shoulder’s healed before I book our getaway, because, well you know.”
“You want to double or nothing?”
“No can do. I’m taking my peach-pot and running. She is not worth the risk. Besides I already know what you were going to ask and for the life of me I have no idea on how or where he fits in. Exposé is an obvious link.”
“I want to know how he got here. But that can wait.”
Koda’s so confident he walks off without waiting for me to peel the blood-soaked balaclava off the cleaner’s face. And then I spend the next fifteen minutes taking fingerprints from the man, photos of his face from every angle before stripping his clothes off and arranging a pickup from one of the other packs in the alliance. Scenting him, digging past the scent of his death, he’s completely unremarkable but there’s no taint from scent blockers either, adding more mystery.
Without something to occupy my mind, my thoughts immediately become a cesspool of anxiety, and negativity. The reality of what happened hits me hard, really fucking hard.
We’ve all been injured before—it goes hand in hand with being involved in the rescue of omegas as well as our work with the Alpha Alliance, but this one hurts. Ashton getting hurt is one thing, I love him with all my heart, and he knows that. I barely think of Bailey, and I’m up throwing up. Once I start, I can’t stop. I’m assaulted by a million what ifs and for the first time in my life questioning my sanity.
Instead of stopping and helping Koda lift bodies, I keep vomiting and dry heaving until he’s standing in front of me, pulling me into a bro hug that cracks every bone in my body. “Jesus, Henley, I was always going to let you come away with us, all this is a bit over the top isn’t it?”
He squeezes so tight, while I have a meltdown, filling my head with all the things we’re going to do, places we’re going to take Bailey. By the time he takes a step back my lungs inflate again.
“You ready to go see her yet?”
“Yeah.” My voice cracks. So manly. So fucking manly.
