Chapter Two

Kara wanted to laugh at her shitty luck. The alphas from the elevator—or at least two of them—were her clients? These were the men who had called in so many favors just to get into a room with her?

If I’d known I was going to run into them again, I’d have just fucked them to start with.

Live and learn, right?

Kara moved quickly, her size a benefit when it came to speed. She was never the largest in a room, but she was usually the fastest. She had her pistol pulled from the holster at the small of her back and pointed at the alphas before she’d fully decided what to do about them. She was sure they’d run into each other in the elevator by accident, and this meeting had been set days before that.

Still, the idea of it being a coincidence didn’t sit right. How unlucky can a person be? Even me?

The alpha with the short hair and impossibly scrumptious physique reacted with a speed that nearly matched her own, bringing his own weapon out. She wasn’t shocked to find he hadn’t gone for small and easily concealable. No, he’d picked a much bulkier and more intimidating 9mm.

The desire to remind him that bigger wasn’t always better struck her, but she smothered the urge somehow. That was a miracle, as keeping her mouth shut wasn’t a skill she’d ever bothered to hone.

“You were in the elevator,” the one with the long hair said. The surprise in his voice helped sell that this was just a big clusterfuck of coincidences.

“What? Me? Never been in an elevator in my life.”

The alpha with the gun grunted, a sound that didn’t scream trust. “So why’d you pull a gun?”

“Because I don’t like you?”

“Like I’d forget how you smell.” The alpha with the long hair curled his lip into a smile which made Kara’s stomach flutter.

Fucking flutter, as though she were some idiot omega who was smitten by a big strong alpha. The reaction annoyed her worse than the asshole’s gun. I might shoot him on principle.

“This was clearly a mistake,” Kara said without lowering her weapon. “Let’s just chalk it up to shitty planning and go our own ways.”

The alpha with the gun narrowed his emerald eyes. “You know, after we saw you, before we left the building, they closed down the whole station.”

“Well, with the world the way it is, that sort of thing happens. Hope you boys weren’t too scared.”

The man kept going as though her snarky words meant nothing. “They were looking for a woman. Apparently, she slipped out when no one was looking.” Woman? So the police must not have released that they’d lost an omega, because the alphas would have said it otherwise.

“She must have had shitty guards.”

“No guards, from what I heard.”

“Well then, who could really blame her for blowing that place? Sounds like a smart girl. Don’t know what it has to do with me.”

The man with the gun lifted his eyebrow. “I doubt you were on any of their visitor logs, were you? They haven’t put much work into finding that woman, because what does one lone woman matter to them? However, I’d bet that would change if they connected their missing suspect with an infamous thief. That might get them a lot more interested in the case.”

Kara’s arm ached. It wasn’t the weight of the pistol—though to be fair, she rarely held it out straight for so long. Normally, if she pulled her gun, she shot someone. Instead, it was the tension that ran through her shoulders and back as she argued with herself.

I could shoot them.

Even as she considered the option, she knew it wasn’t really a choice. Despite Kara’s less than savory life, she’d never killed anyone without good reason. She just didn’t have it in her, and she wouldn’t start with a couple of alphas who didn’t seem any more eager to kill her than she was to kill them.

The guns were all posturing.

“So what do you want from me?”

“The same thing we wanted when we walked in. We need you to steal something for us.”

Well, that I can do.

Cullen couldn’t relax. He might not have a gun pointed at him anymore, but he knew the feisty little female still had possession of it, and she didn’t mind waving it around.

However, unless he planned to disarm her personally, he supposed there wasn’t much he could do about it. The idea of disarming her had merit. He wanted to smell her again, that playful, spicy scent that signaled her arousal. Still, if he got close enough to pat her down—and she was the sort to need a full frisking to be sure she was clean—finding weapons would be the last thing they’d end up doing.

Which was a complication they didn’t need. When she was some faceless woman in an elevator, sure. He and Reese always shared females, and she seemed well worth the effort. Now, though? They needed her help, which had withered the opportunity. Plus, the woman had escaped a police station and was a well-known and feared thief. Not exactly the sort of no-complications sex he preferred to indulge in.

For the best. Reese is looking at her like he could eat her up already. We can’t afford distractions, and she’s nothing but one big distraction wrapped in black and lies.

Reese took a folded piece of paper from his pocket and slid it across the table. “We need one of these.”

The woman opened the paper, her pink tongue stroking gently against her bottom lip as her eyes—too clever for his comfort—darted back and forth. “This is from the lab on the west side of town. Hythen Pharmaceuticals?”

Smart girl.

“That’s right. It’s what a security clearance badge looks like. The address of the person to get it from is on the bottom of the paper. From what I’ve seen, he’s got no alarm system, just a deadbolt and maybe a dog.”

“If that’s it, why do you need me? I get hired for bigger game than this. Seems like a two-bit kid from the streets could grab this.” She leveled a look that said she didn’t trust them any more than they trusted her. “Hell, even you might be able to manage a job this easy.”

Her barb stirred Cullen, rousing his interest further. Why was it that each little insult she threw had his cock perking up? Cullen preferred demure women, those who listened, who fawned, not the sort who pulled guns on him and challenged him, so what was up with his dick?

Reese answered, which was good, because Cullen’s attention remained on the woman’s soft pink lips and not the conversation. “This needs to be done right, quietly. The last thing I want is to risk getting caught. This is delicate, and if they realize the card is gone, the lab will be on higher alert.”

She leaned back, pulling her hood off. The light from the window caught on her hair, and Cullen’s back straightened. It was blue. Not a deep, dark blue but a neon that shone even in the dimness. “No more brown?” The question came out before he’d had a chance to silence it.

Her eyes met his, and he noted they mirrored her hair. Bright blue and sparkling from the lights. “Brown is boring.”

And she was anything but boring, wasn’t she?

“What’s your name?”

The woman released a long-suffering sigh. “Kara.”

The name was odd, short and harsh on his tongue. It seemed to fit her well.

“I’m Reese, and this is Cullen.” Reese nodded back at him.

“And your young groupie?”

Cullen couldn’t stop the soft huff of laughter at the way she spoke about the other alpha, who was still taller and much larger than she was. “That’s Damon. He doesn’t like this sort of thing.”

“Fun?”

“No. Bars and noise.”

She did that eye-rolling thing again that made Cullen’s hand itch to swat her ass. How did she manage to rouse that in him? When was the last time he’d felt so strongly for any female? Maybe it was the challenge of it, the alpha in him scenting prey that might actually be worthy of the chase.

“Can you do the job?”

She folded the paper and tucked it down the front of her shirt, into the cup of her bra. How can I be jealous of a damned piece of paper? “Yeah, I can do it. What’re you paying?”

“Other than our silence?”

“Silence keeps me out of jail, but it doesn’t put sex toys in the nightstand.”

Her vulgar joke sparked to life the sizzling embers of lust inside him. He wanted to take each of those damned toys and break them into pieces, to replace them with his own body, to show her she didn’t need them. Before he’d even realized it, his throat vibrated with a deep growl.

Reese jumped in. “One grand, and we won’t tell anyone about you. That’s more than fair for all of an hour of work.”

“A grand for lifting one little key?” She crossed her legs, the action drawing Cullen’s focus to where her thighs now pressed together tightly. “Money that big means you’re desperate. Who are you?”

“Does it matter? I didn’t figure you’d be that picky.” Criminals rarely were.

“Take the wrong job enough times, and you realize some questions are worth asking. If someone is willing to pay too much, I want to know why.”

Cullen leaned back on the couch, trying to look comfortable despite the lust swimming through him. “We’re private investigators. The key is for a case involving a missing person, so time is of the essence.”

“Lot of money for a missing person case. Trust me, there aren’t a lot of people worth it.”

“It’s a missing omega.”

And that said it all, didn’t it? Omegas were rare, and the alphas around them would do anything to obtain or keep one. In this case, it had been her friend who had called them when the omega had fallen off the grid.

Kara didn’t respond right away, the silence thick and full of things that flashed in her gaze but didn’t leave her mouth.

Was she annoyed by omegas? Many beta females were, just like beta males often resented alphas.

Which Cullen had never fully understood. There were some advantages, he supposed, but overall the world seemed simpler for betas. They got to live their lives, never worrying about heats, about bonding, about the incessant and insidious truths that alphas and omegas dealt with on a daily basis.

People always wanted what they didn’t have, though, and it seemed one’s designation was no exception to that universal truth.

Kara tapped her foot on the ground, the action causing her legs to shift, drawing his attention there. “Did she run? Because if an omega ran, I’m doing exactly jack shit to help the alpha she ran from.”

Reese leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “We wouldn’t take the job if that was the case. I looked into it deep, but there’s no evidence of abuse. Hell, the alpha looking for her was her best friend, not a mate. Her family is worried as well, and they made it clear they had no reason to believe she was running from them or him.”

Again, silence ate up the space. No one said the ugly truth—missing omegas were rarely found. Omegas fell off the grid for two reasons. They were running, which she didn’t seem to be, or they’d been abducted or murdered. Either way, they didn’t often have a happy ending.

The knowledge of that showed on Kara’s features, her gaze darting away for a split second before returning. “Okay. I’ll scout the place tonight, and if it looks good, I’ll grab it. If not, I’ll give it a few days of surveillance.”

Cullen rubbed his hand over the back of his tense neck, trying to massage away the stiffness. What was it about Kara?

Why did he still want to fuck her as badly as he did? Maybe he and Reese just needed to burn off some steam with a warm and willing body.

Reese pulled an envelope from his jacket. “Half the money is in here, the rest when we get the keycard.”

“Who are you taking it to, to alter?” At Cullen’s look, she smiled, stuffing the envelope into a bag that hung from her hip. “This badge has a picture and name on it. It’s useless to you unless you have a new one made with your own information. I’m not an idiot.”

“Terry Grimes,” Cullen shoved through gritted teeth. He didn’t like giving away secrets, but then again, both Kara and Terry were criminals. Hell, they probably knew each other. One big happy illegal family.

Kara let out a huff but didn’t comment on the choice. Instead, she hopped to her feet, the move quick and graceful, like a cat leaping onto a table. It made him reconsider the way her black leggings clung to her toned thighs and showed off every inch of her form.

“I’ll get back to you when it’s done.”

Cullen pulled a business card from his back pocket, their cell numbers printed on the white cardstock, and handed it over. “Call us when you’re ready.”

Kara’s deft fingers brushed his when she took it, and he swore sparks flew at the innocent touch. His cock hardened and her scent increased, as if that was all it took for both their bodies to get on board with the plan.

And just when he thought she’d pull back, that she’d retreat from all the waves of desperate lust and aggression he knew he was throwing off, Kara’s grin only widened. “I don’t shit where I eat,” she whispered. “And I don’t fuck clients.”

With that, she was off, twisting past him and out of the room before he’d picked his jaw off the floor.

Reese chuckled, a deep rumble as though he was amused by the entire exchange. “She’s a handful.”

Cullen nodded, gaze pinned to the doorway she’d walked through, as though he could still see the way the leggings had clung to her perfect, heart-shaped ass. “Yeah, she is.”

Reese slapped Cullen’s shoulder, shaking loose his intense focus. “Come on, let’s get back to Damon and fill him in.”

Cullen rolled his shoulders to get rid of the need to chase the female, to shove her against a wall and taste her, to bask in all that attitude and snark.

She was a criminal and even if he wanted to fuck her—and boy did he ever—he might end up missing a kidney by the end.

It might just be worth it.