15. Matt

FIFTEEN

MATT

"He was going to kill me?"

I'd made it a question, and I wished Ranger was beside me because what if that was the wrong answer. Could I prove in a court of law Dane has been going to kill me with that gun? No, it was all circumstantial.

Shoot, Ranger was right. I'd watched too much TV. He should be by my side. He'd thrown me to the wolves by leaving me alone.

There was silence from the five elderly men on the screen.

"Are you sure?" one asked as he rubbed his head. "It would be unusual for one of us to kill a human."

This wasn't going how I imagined. They were inquiring about my actions when it was supposed to be Ranger they were looking into. And why was everyone mentioning humans? Not that I hadn't done that myself. Was it because the actions of the mafia were closer to animals than people? Nah, people were awful too.

"Ummm, maybe because… I'm not really..."

Ranger rushed over and interrupted. "Matt was knocked unconscious and is suffering from concussion. He's not in the right frame of mind to be questioned."

"I am," I nodded, probably reminding them of a puppy, and I paired it with a cheesy grin. "What I should say is I'm not." Maybe I was concussed and this was a dream or I was hallucinating.

One elder scratched his ear, another made notes.

The one with the beard brushed the question aside. "And why are you with Ranger and not in the hospital?"

Ranger offered me his hand, and I squeezed it before the council members told him to leave. "He wanted to make sure I was okay."

"And that involved a long drive outside the city?"

Hmmm. I could say he abducted me or kidnapped me, but would they look kindly on that? If they knew what I was doing with Dane, they might say I deserved it.

"I was asleep most of the ride. You'd have to ask Ranger." I studied my palm. "Not sure if this is important but he bit me." I held up my injured hand. "Is that similar to getting a mobster tattoo? Am I one of you now?"

I was faced with five gaping mouths.

"We do not refer to ourselves as mobsters. We are proud shifter mafia," one spat out.

"What's a shif?—"

Ranger silenced me with a kiss. His soft, warm, wet lips pressed on mine, and I thanked the universe. This was the best dream ever.

His cocoa-laced breath billowed over me as he placed a hand on either side of my head. His tongue probed my lips, flicking and licking them. I moaned into his mouth. His tongue darted inside me and pulled out, and I whimpered at the loss.

"Stop!" one distant voice complained.

"New love, Clyde. Let them be."

"But we're conducting an investigation."

"Ranger, enough."

Ranger pulled away, leaving me breathless and cross-eyed. Or whatever, but the world looked different than it had moments earlier.

"Congratulations."

"Thank you." Ranger grinned, and I almost kissed him back until a gruff voice interrupted.

"You're mated."

There was that mate word again. I faced the phone, rubbing a finger over my wet lips, before eyeballing the man beside me.

"Is this like a friendship bracelet?" I hissed, waving my hand at Ranger. I turned toward the phone. "He won't tell me the significance."

The five men held up their hands, saying that was for Ranger to explain.

"Are we done?" Ranger asked.

"We need to hear more about why The Obsidian Circle Alpha supposedly wanted to kill Matt," the one with the beard said.

I had to try and spin this so both Ranger and I looked good. Best I just spit it out. "Dane and his cronies are bad guys, and they were trying to smear Ranger's organization and run them out of the recycling business."

There were sharp intakes of breath from the five men on the screen.

"Ranger, is this true?" the head guy asked.

"It is. I've done my own investigation and reached the same conclusion."

"Wait."

The screen went blank, and I reached for Ranger with my wounded hand. We sat not speaking until the screen flickered and the same five faces appeared.

"We're glad you're safe, Matt, and thank you for what you have accomplished. Ranger, I leave this to you and Flint as to how to settle this matter. It's out of our hands."

"Will do." Ranger ended the call.

"You kissed me."

"You told them Dane was going to kill you," he said.

"He was," I answered.

"I liked it."

Now I was lost. "That Dane was trying to hurt me?"

"No, silly." He rubbed his nose against mine. "That we kissed."

"Oh, that." I rolled my eyes, and Ranger rested his brow on my forehead.

"Yeah, that."

"Do friends kiss one another and poke their tongue into the other person's mouth?" I gulped. "Asking for a friend. Not me. Another friend."

"Not friends."

"Then what?" I was a little panicky, awaiting his answer and yet not wanting to hear it because we couldn't go back. Ranger had kidnapped me, and yet he'd looked after me as one would someone they cared about. What if he said it was a ploy to stop putting him, me, or both of us in danger?

My emotions were flip-flopping, one moment expecting him to say the kiss meant nothing. Or worse, he just wanted to have sex because we were stuck in a house together with no power and there was nothing better to do. How would I react to that?

But what if he told me he more than liked me and the bite, the kiss, the being kind, and looking after me was a sign of his affection?

I was a mess, see-sawing from one opinion to the other.

"Something much more."

"Ranger, we met thirty-six hours ago. Please don't kid yourself that you've fallen for me."

"Not at all."

What the hell? Now he was saying it was nothing. This guy. The sooner I removed myself from his clutches, the better. But if I wasn't in his, I'd be in Dane's. And Ranger's clutches were warm and safe with a bit of tongue thrown in.

Ranger waved a hand in front of me. "Thought I'd lost you."

He never had me, though technically, as he'd abducted me, I guess he did.

"My kind fall instantly in love when they meet the one."

There was so much to dissect in that sentence. "The one?" His kind? In love? My poor overwhelmed brain couldn't process any of it. Being mafia didn't make him love any differently to the rest of us, did it? Unless the fear of dying, of being killed by a rival, made mobsters grasp an opportunity and embrace it. But they didn't call themselves that apparently.

"I'm not like you. None of my family is."

"And there you go again." It was hard to keep track of the inconsistencies. "Earlier this morning you tried to tell me you were the same as any other family."

"Yes and no."

The lights came on. Great, the power was restored. I got up and headed for the kitchen, tired of trying to figure out the meaning behind Ranger's words. Flinging open the fridge, I was disappointed at the lack of food. I slammed the door and began opening cupboards, banging them closed when I found cups, saucepans, and baking pans.

"Where the fuck is the food in this house?"

Ranger pointed to a door. "Pantry."

I stormed in and scrutinized the shelves, lined with tins and labeled containers, a freezer filled to the brim with meat, fish, frozen pastries, bread, fruit, and vegetables. But I was so annoyed, I avoided the healthy stuff and raided the snack section, taking a handful of cereal bars, spicy chips, and chocolate bars. I slipped a can of soda in my jacket pocket.

Plonking myself in an armchair, far from Ranger who hadn't moved, I tore off a hunk of chocolate and shoved a fistful of chips in my mouth. It was too much and my cheeks bulged, but I didn't care. The sugar, salt, and oil combination soothed me a little.

Ranger didn't speak, and I got more ragey. I gnawed on a cereal bar and the nuts lodged in my teeth. Gross! But not only was I angry at him, but also, I was pissed off with myself. Allowing him to worm his way into my affection.

No. Nooooo. I didn't care about this guy. Not one little tiny weensie bit.

I chewed more chocolate and bit my tongue. Owww. I was pissed off with everyone when my anger should be directed at that fucker Dane.

"Come." Ranger extended a hand, and I ignored him. He was always giving me his hand, holding it, biting it, squeezing it. Fuck him and his handsy ways. "I'll give you an explanation for the mark."

"Not going anywhere." I spoke with my mouth full and bits of chips spattered over my purple jacket. Not mine but the one I was wearing.

"I don't expect you to. But you'll have to stand near the window."

For a second I wondered where the gun was. Maybe my expression gave me away because Ranger added he'd have to be naked outside. He was one weird dude, and I considered asking for the gun, but I'd never handled one, let alone fired a gun, so I gave that a miss.

"Fine." I trailed chip crumbs behind me. So Gretel and Hansel like. Hmmm, while that story ended well, the middle bit was not great for either of them.

Being naked during a flood had to be a ritual. I could lock him out, take the keys to the car, not that I knew where they were. Probably not a good idea. But if I gathered enough food, I could run into the woods and hide for days. And then what? Every solution either ended with me drowning or being submerged in mud.

"Show me what you got." I cringed. I always said the wrong thing at the wrong time and now Ranger was naked and headed out into the freezing weather.

"What you're about to see will be like nothing you've witnessed before."

"That's what they all say." I rolled my eyes.