Chapter 10

CHAPTER

TEN

JACK

“Goddamn it, Cal!”

My feet hit the dock just in time to see him go over the side of the boat, landing in the canal with the slightest splash. A split second later, I saw his massive black-and-white form under the surface as he took off down the canal, chasing Scivolo’s boat.

This was one hundred percent not lying low. This was a nightmare. There was no way in hell people were going to miss a giant sea panda cruising through Venice.

Untethering the mooring line, I jumped onto the boat and threw the key into the ignition almost all in one movement, then I turned the boat into the canal, trying to catch up with Cal.

My heart stuttered in my chest every time Cal almost got clipped by a passing boat or sent a gondola rocking, and I hoped a trip to the hospital wasn’t in our future, though if a passing boat didn’t maim Cal, I might do it myself as a consequence for being an impulsive asshole.

We wound through the canals, and in the distance, I could see Scivolo’s boat. They were traveling far faster than the posted five-kilometer-per-hour speed limit. As fast as they were moving and with a killer whale obviously following, we were bound to garner unwanted attention. I had no choice but to slow down and attempt to look like I was just another boater on the water, making my way through the canals.

The farther into the city we traveled, the more and more narrow the canals became, but still Scivolo’s boat didn’t slow, traveling the waterways like the man piloting her boat had been doing it for years. As they made their way between two redbrick buildings, I noticed something Cal couldn’t see.

Red and white signs emblazoned with Solo Gondole and Attenzione: Canale Stretto began appearing with greater and greater frequency until they were joined by a Do Not Enter sign.

I stopped, killing the engine, and watched what happened next like it was occurring in slow motion. Scivolo’s boat made a sharp turn down another canal between two buildings, leaving waves in her wake that probably made it hard for Cal to see that she’d turned.

So he didn’t.

He passed the Do Not Enter signs, and I couldn’t look away as he continued at speed into the narrow canal.

Until his big body scraped against the building foundations on either side, and he got stuck.

Served him right for going off half-cocked. I tried—and epically failed—not to laugh as he tried to kick himself free with his fluke. His pectoral fins were pinned between the buildings, completely useless for helping him turn around in the tight space. Not that he had room to turn in the tiny canal anyway.

My laughter echoed off the surrounding buildings, tears streaming from my eyes, as Cal gave up and shifted back to his human form. He swam toward my laughter, hauling himself up onto the boat.

I opened my mouth to speak, but he held up a hand.

“Not a word. Not one single word.”

“Okay.” I bit the inside of my cheek, holding back another laugh that came out as a snort.

Then I realized he was bleeding, and I immediately sobered.

His arms and the sides of his body, from his armpits to his hips, were red and raw, and my heart twisted seeing him hurt.

“Shit, Cal.” I looked through the boat for a towel or something to dab at his injuries.

He looked down at his torn skin and winced like he hadn’t noticed the cuts until I’d pointed them out, like they hadn’t been causing him pain until he saw the blood mixing with the water running down his skin and pooling on the polished boat deck.

This was the second time since we’d left Seattle that I’d seen Cal bleed, and I hated it.

At least this time, it wasn’t my fault.

Stowed in the compartment under the passenger seat at the rear of the boat was a blue-and-white striped towel nestled in among a few life jackets. It was folded neatly and smelled clean, if faintly mildewy like it had been locked up in there for a while, and I passed it to Cal. His face twisted in pain as he reached out to grab it. The water in the Venetian canals wasn’t known for being the cleanest, and even with our advanced shifter healing, the wounds still needed to be treated to avoid infection. Cal blotted at the worst of them, his jaw clenching.

Scivolo would be impossible to find at this point. We’d have to figure out what had her running today some other way.

“Let’s go back to the hotel.”

Cal nodded and sat gingerly on the bench at the back of the boat as I started the engine. While we’d been pursuing Scivolo and zigzagging through the canals, it had felt like we’d traveled a lot farther from the city center, but by the time I retraced our route until I saw signs for canals with names I recognized and followed them, we were almost back at the hotel. The whole trip had taken only about twenty minutes. Some of Cal’s more superficial cuts and scrapes were already starting to fade, but the deeper gouges were still bleeding.

“I hate to tell you this because it’s going to suck, but you can’t walk into the hotel naked. You’re going to need to put your clothes on.”

“Fuck.” Cal hissed the expletive under his breath but rose from the bench to grab his clothes from where I’d tossed them. His legs were relatively unharmed, his tail the narrowest part of his body in his shifted form, and he slid the jeans on, leaving them unbuttoned and only zipping them up enough to keep them from falling off his hips.

I had to bite my cheek again, this time because he was so goddamn gorgeous with his jeans barely staying up on his hips and droplets of water and blood clinging to his skin that it made my mouth water.

But something was missing.

Wordlessly, I reached into the front pocket of my jeans and pulled out Cal’s gold ring, holding it out to him on my palm. He glanced down at it, then at my face, an emotion in his gaze I couldn’t decipher, before he snatched it from my hand and slid it back onto his finger, watching the way it caught the sunlight.

My heart squeezed in my chest, and my brain screamed at me to throw him down on the boat deck and claim him, to bite him so the world would know Cal Hunter was mine.

But this so wasn’t the time.

Or the place.

And Cal was hurt.

On a deep, cleansing breath, I turned back to the wheel, hands a little shaky, and slowed the boat so I could slide us into the open slip right in front of the hotel.

“If I put this on, I’m going to ruin your shirt.”

I shrugged. “I’ll buy a new one.”

Cal held the dark green fabric out to me. “Will you help me?”

My breath caught in my throat as I shook out the shirt and held it open for him so he could slide his arms into it. The movement was painful for Cal, judging by the way he gingerly pushed his beautifully muscled arms into the sleeves. He buttoned it enough to cover the fact that his jeans were undone and looked at me.

“Ready?”

“Yep.”

I led the way into the hotel, holding the door open for Cal. His movements were still off, but unless someone knew Cal well, they wouldn’t see the pain he’d locked down as we walked into the lobby.

A bouquet of pink balloons sat on the check-in counter next to a vase full of pale pink roses. Carlo stood behind the desk, beaming, his smile stretching from ear to ear.

“Ah, signori! It is a beautiful day, no?”

“I’ve had better,” Cal mumbled low enough that I wasn’t sure Carlo had heard.

I nodded. “Yes, the weather is lovely today.”

“No, no. It is a beautiful day because there is a new baby in my family. My cousin Amerena had a baby girl this afternoon. I am going to see her after I leave the hotel!”

Beside me, Cal stiffened and met my eyes. I’d caught the name too.

“Congratulations, my friend.” I slapped him on the back and shook his hand. “That’s very exciting news.”

“Yes, my whole family is in town for the birth. We are going to celebrate!”

If my hunch was right, I think Cal and I had just figured out why Azzura Scivolo was in Venice. “Enjoy.” I started to turn away, my hand finding Cal’s lower back and urging him toward the elevator, when I remembered something important. “Carlo, before you leave for your celebration, do you have a first aid kit we could borrow?”

The younger man’s eyes narrowed for a second, but he was too professional to ask why we needed the kit when he didn’t spot any obvious injuries. “Of course, signore. Give me just one moment, and I will get it for you.”

The second Carlo ducked into the office, Cal’s head swung my way, and he pitched his voice low. “Amarena?—”

“I know. That’s Scivolo’s granddaughter’s name. But wait. How did you know that?”

One side of Cal’s mouth tipped up in a smug grin. “Since you weren’t sharing everything you know—” He held up a hand when I tried to interrupt. “I know you think I don’t notice shit, but I can tell when you’re keeping information from me. You’re not as slick as you think you are. You’re still keeping things from me, but rest assured, I’ll figure it out. At any rate, since you weren’t sharing, I had my people look into it.”

A laugh tumbled past my lips. “Your people? Felix and Julius?”

Cal’s smug grin faded a fraction as Carlo returned to the lobby holding a small metal box and passed it over.

“Thank you.” I shoved Cal gently toward the elevator again. “Have fun celebrating.”

We got into the lift, and the doors closed on a gleefully waving Carlo.

“How do we find out if Carlo’s cousin Amarena is Scivolo’s granddaughter?” Cal asked the question the second the door shut behind us.

“I’m going to hack the hospital system. You go shower. I’ll have an answer by the time you get out.”

Cal made a face as he unbuttoned the shirt and took it off. It had stuck to one of the abrasions on his side, and he peeled it away carefully.

“I’m also going to ask Reuben if he can have some more clothes delivered.”

“If that’s an option, why didn’t we just do that from the beginning?”

I couldn’t tell him I hadn’t had Reuben order more clothes because I liked seeing him in my shirt. That would pole-vault us across the line we were both skirting.

Instead, I said, “Didn’t think about it then.”

Cal gave me a look that clearly said he knew I was full of shit, but he didn’t press the issue. He slid his jeans down and off, and I tried not to look at his naked body as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

Grabbing my laptop from the desk in the corner, I settled onto the bed and pulled up an encrypted browser.