Chapter Thirteen

Torrin didn’t care for waking to find Erik still gone.

At times he felt less like an equal and more like an exhausted mother trying to keep her unruly children in line. That feeling was only intensified when Erik and Kara were together.

Torrin loved Kara as a sister, but no matter what the problem was, she could always make it much worse.

Still, for what needed to be done, there was no better choice. Liam could be taken to help on such jobs, but his talents were mostly wasted there. He was better for face-to-face work, when coaxing was needed. This particular job would be all teeth.

And no matter how much Torrin might worry for Erik and Kara, he also knew the two were exceptional at their skills.

Still, with the sun rising and no word, he couldn’t help but worry.

His hip ached from sleeping on the couch, though he’d not have given it up for anything. Somehow, with Ashley near him, he always slept with more peace.

Nightmares didn’t come, or if they did, he pushed them off with ease. An ache in his hip was a small price to pay.

The door opened, and Torrin was already prepared to complain about not hearing from Erik. Except, when he came in with Kara on his heels, both looking worse for wear, it stopped anything he’d considered saying.

Their expressions said it all.

It hadn’t gone well.

“What happened?”

“I had to walk for two miles. I jumped off a building. Also, Erik is a horrible date because I didn’t even get a meal out of it,” Kara said, her humor helping to ease the tightness of Torrin’s chest.

If she was making jokes, she was fine.

Erik cut her a dry look. “If you want food, you have two hands. Go to the kitchen and make some.”

“Worst date ever—”

“Get to the point,” Torrin snapped. Normally he took Kara’s bickering—and she fought with everyone—in stride. Right then, however, he couldn’t find his usual calm.

Not with his life on pause. Not with Ashley at risk. Not when faced with what was an obvious failure.

Kara whistled low. “He’s smitten, isn’t he? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him yell like that, not even when I wrapped his sports car around that lamppost.”

Torrin pressed his lips together but didn’t answer.

“Fine,” she said on a sigh. “Look, Tor, this is bad. I know Gregory.”

“What do you mean, you know him?” True, Kara had more than her fair share of odd acquaintances, but Gregory seemed even further out of her normal group.

“Well, I don’t know him personally. We don’t go for frozen yogurt or anything.” At Torrin’s sharp look, she continued, “He’s one of the top guys in that slavery ring that’s been going around.”

That had been among the last things Torrin had expected to hear. Dealing with spoiled rich kids was one thing. Going up against the sort of people who worked with slavery rings was quite another.

Torrin and his cousins were not good people by a long shot, willing to skirt more than a few ethical lines to do what needed to be done. However, slavery was evil of an entirely different sort.

Omega trafficking was the lowest level of foul, and the people who engaged in such a business were beyond ruthless. It was one of the many reasons omegas so often went into hiding. Some alphas cared little who their mate was as long as they had one, and were willing to pay handsomely to be given one.

“You’re sure?” Erik asked.

Kara nodded, crossing her arms. “I had a job about four years ago to steal some files for a client from a big office building in Arizona. As usual, I took a look at what they were before handing them over. It was information on a few of the smaller cells, on recent abductions in that area. In addition, it had a file on Gregory Tansin, along with a picture. The files were from a private eye the father of the family member had hired.”

“What did you do with the files?”

“I left out the file on Gregory and washed a few other files before turning them over. Don’t look at me like that. It was pretty obvious that the asshole who hired me wanted to see what the father and PI knew. If they’d realized the PI had found out that much, they’d have killed them both.” She shook her head. “Not that it mattered. Wasn’t a week after I handed the files over to my client that I heard both the father and the PI were missing. I didn’t think Gregory would have known about me, but I guess he was more involved with hiring me than I realized.”

Kara’s gaze held that spark Torrin had always envied. She felt so much, and while it could hurt, she also had a passion Torrin lacked. He’d assumed it had been his past that made him like he was, yet Kara hadn’t lived so different a life and she retained her fun, her ability for things to matter.

He’d thought, at first, that perhaps having that sort of life around him might somehow soak into him. It was one reason he’d taken Kara in when he’d had every reason to turn away the wild, undisciplined kid who had broken into his apartment, trying to rob him. It had never worked, though.

Until he remembered the way Ashley made him want to smile.

He cut short that line of thought, focusing on Kara instead.

“Is there any chance you still have what you found?”

Kara nodded. “I’ll get it sent over today. It isn’t much, but at least you’ll have a start. Now, please tell me you still have some of my things here.”

Torrin gestured toward the room that had been hers—funny that I already see it as now being Ashley’s. “Ashley’s sleeping in Liam’s room. Your things are still in the far closet, though I suspect we will have to consider moving them.”

She paused, curling her lips into that smirk he knew so well. “So, it’s that serious? Good for you.”

She left, moving a bit slowly, telling him she had to be sore.

He focused his attention on Erik, feeling freer to talk without others around to listen. “Anything to add?”

Erik’s gaze fell to the floor, the way he did when thinking. “I spoke with him, looked into his eyes and talked to him. We are not just dealing with a man willing to trade omegas like cattle—we are dealing with a man who believes with all he is that Ashley is his due, that she’s already his mate. I think the bastard is bonded to her somehow.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t kill him.”

“He put a contract on Ashley. If he dies, we have to deal with assassins. It seemed a better option to deal with him. At least we know he’s coming. Plus, he’s after us. Easier to protect ourselves than keep Ashley alive.”

Torrin didn’t disagree with the choice. He would far rather have a target on his back than Ashley’s.

A phone rang, the one that had been Ashley’s, which sat on the kitchen table.

Only one person that might be.

Torrin crossed the room and answered. “Hello, Mr. Tansin.” He used the name Kara had given him.

“Well, I suppose it’s only fair we are on an equal footing, isn’t it? I’ve spent some time after the close call tonight looking deeper into you and your cousins, and wasn’t I surprised to discover we are not so different.”

“I would disagree. I don’t sell human beings into slavery.”

“So righteous, aren’t you? You have quite the body count to your name, Mr. Kansas. Through your career, from what I could find, I see drug sales, arms sales and no shortage of corpses in your wake. You might think of yourself as being better than me, but you’re not. I’m only more successful.”

“But you’re in our city.”

“So it seems. I came here for Ashley, and I will leave with her. Make no mistake about that. Have a nice day, Mr. Kansas.”

When the line went dead, Torrin lowered the phone to the table.

This had just become a far more dangerous situation than he’d have liked, and for the first time, he feared they might not make it through.

* * * *

Ashley yawned as she entered her room, having left Liam sleeping. Not that she could blame him for being tired. She’d woken in the early hours as he’d carried her to his room, not hers, and she couldn’t fault his choice. He’d ensured she’d gotten to sleep afterward, something he seemed to excel at when he’d put his smart mouth to good work, driving another orgasm from her.

It wasn’t just the sex that drew Ashley to the trio, but she had to admit that was a bonus she’d never expected. She’d been so shut down for the years she’d run from Gregory that she hadn’t been sure this part of her had survived, the one that enjoyed touch, that craved passion. However, the alphas had woken it and had somehow allowed it to grow until she felt fundamentally different.

She slipped into her room, wanting to get a comb through her hair, brush her teeth and dress.

Her room felt almost silly, now. She hadn’t slept in it for a single night, instead sleeping beside the alphas. Alone, she always waited, listening, fearful. With them near, her body relaxed into a sleep she’d not felt since leaving home.

The door to the bathroom opened, and Ashley jumped when a woman she didn’t know exited the bathroom.

No, an omega. Her nose caught that first and a few moments later, she figured it out.

It was the omega who had lived in this room.

“Kara,” was all Ashley said, the name she’d heard them say.

Kara stopped in her tracks, her gaze raking over Ashley like a predator sizing up prey. It was then that Ashley realized just how different they were.

Ashley was soft where Kara was much more like the alphas.

They said she wasn’t their mate. She’s like a sister.

Still, it was hard to shake the nerves, especially with Ashley staying in the omega’s room…

“Ashley, right? Sorry to scare you, but Torrin said you were sleeping in Liam’s room.”

Liam’s name on Kara’s lips felt strange, but Ashley couldn’t quite identify why.

“I let him sleep in,” Ashley said as though to defend herself.

Kara waved her off, her smile not unfriendly but not exactly warm, either. “I wasn’t trying to blame you, just explaining. I needed a quick shower and change before I head home, and I still have a few things here. Didn’t mean to disturb you. I was just going to go check in once more with Torrin before I head out. Nice meeting you.” Kara was out of the room before Ashley could gather anything else to say.

She got herself dressed quickly, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she considered the strange woman.

Kara was strong, confident and more than a match for the alphas. So why weren’t they mates?

Once Ashley felt human again, when her mouth tasted of minty toothpaste and she’d dressed in her favorite pair of jeans, the ones she wore that made her ass look good on days when she needed that sort of pickup, she exited the room.

Torrin stood in the kitchen, his gaze finding her in an instant, as if he’d been waiting for her. Liam was at the table, Kara seated beside him.

They were talking, smiling, laughing. Something about it gnawed at her, something she couldn’t write off. There was a strange connection between them.

Ashley walked into the living room from the hallway, until Kara reached over and set her hand on Liam’s arm.

That was when it hit her.

It was obvious in a way Ashley couldn’t deny.

They’d slept together.

It was written in the comfort between the two, and somewhere in their scents, she could identify it. But they said…

Ashley flinched. No. Torrin had said he’d never slept with her, and they’d said she wasn’t their mate.

Liam hadn’t admitted to sleeping with her, but the carefully worded conversation made it clear he’d purposely left it out.

“Ashley.” Torrin’s voice, careful yet strong, made her lift her gaze toward the kitchen, to where he stood.

It also made Liam turn, so engrossed with his conversation that he’d not even noticed her.

Of course not. Who would with Kara there?

She didn’t even dislike Kara, which made it worse. Kara seemed honest, and she didn’t strike Ashley as someone who was conniving. She had her own mates, but that didn’t stop the hurt.

Liam didn’t speak, though his face said he’d read her reaction.

Kara rose, appearing uncomfortable for the first time. “Well, I think I’ll take myself home. I’ve ignored three calls from my mates and three is the limit before they start getting really mad. Nice to meet you, Ashley.”

With that, Kara all but ran from the apartment, leaving Liam, Torrin and Ashley there.

“Hungry?” Liam’s question was soft, like he knew he was bullshitting her but hoping she wouldn’t call him on it.

“Not really.” Ashley pulled at the hem of her shirt, cursing herself for thinking the jeans would make some huge difference.

Foolish child.

“Sit,” Torrin said from the kitchen. “You need to eat even if you don’t want to.”

Ashley followed Torrin’s order like a lifeline, all the time avoiding looking at Liam.

She took the seat at the far end of the table, then picked at the paper napkin already set out. She tore little pieces off it.

“Look at me,” Liam said.

She didn’t. Even when he sighed, even when he used that sweet voice of his to repeat himself, the one that melted her although she wanted to be stone, she ignored him.

Torrin set a plate in front of her, but her stomach lurched at the idea of food.

How could she have been so stupid? She knew better than to trust them. The first people in so long she’d put her faith in and already it had been shattered.

A soft growl brought her gaze up, but neither alpha looked at her. Instead, they were staring at one another, and the sound had come from Torrin. The warning there, the anger, the message, was clear even if he didn’t use words.

Fix this.

Liam rubbed his hand over his head, then took a deep breath. He didn’t speak until Torrin left, however.

Once alone, he switched chairs so he sat just beside Ashley. “It didn’t mean anything.”

“Of course not.”

“I’m serious. Kara and I were never together.”

Ashley finally lifted her gaze, and the weight of his eyes made it difficult to keep looking at him. “So why keep it a secret? Why lie to me?”

“I didn’t lie—”

She snorted softly and dropped her gaze again.

A snarl brought her eyes back up quickly, the sound a surprise from him.

He caught her chin, his fingers impossibly warm. “Fine, I left it out on purpose. I knew you’d think it meant something, that you’d be uncomfortable, especially because Kara will always be a part of our lives. I didn’t want you to be hurt or to cause any tension between us all.”

“So you lied.”

He let out a slow, long breath. “Yeah, I lied. Kara has a condition that makes her go into heat often. I slept with her because I didn’t want to see her hurting, because I was afraid of what could happen if she kept going to strangers. It wasn’t romantic, it wasn’t anything more than that and quite honestly, we both hated it.”

Ashley searched his expression for a lie, for something to help her believe the story he was telling. Men told tales for all sorts of reasons, and Liam had already proven he’d say what he thought he needed to.

It was true, but…there was a shadow there, something that said he was holding something back.

“You said you and Erik never took females alone.”

“Erik didn’t agree with my choice. It caused some problems at the time, but we moved past it. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but it was only because it really didn’t mean a thing.”

Ashley tried to let go of the tension, but a gnawing ache inside her wouldn’t quite release.

“I haven’t been able to trust people in a long time,” she whispered. “My life has been being betrayed by one person after another, always looking over my shoulder, always waiting for the next person to screw me over. I thought I’d found something different here.”

“You have. I screwed up, and I’m sorry, but you can trust me. I’d do anything for you, sweet.” He sounded so earnest, as if he needed her to believe him.

That was what got her to ignore the unease she couldn’t kick, the one she chalked up to her past making her paranoid. She leaned forward and offered him a soft kiss, as if that sealed their agreement, like it was their own make-up. It didn’t erase the hurt, it didn’t fix that horrible little pit in her stomach where she struggled with the idea of him and Kara, but it was her promise to try to let it go.

“Don’t lie to me again. I won’t be with people I can’t trust.”

A shadow crossed his eyes, one gone as quickly as it came, and Ashley told herself to forget it.

I won’t let paranoia ruin everything.