13. Tony

“Are you sure?” Rudy shook his head at his son.

Flint raked his hands through his dark hair, the snake tat slithering between the dark strands. “He can’t not appear.”

My gaze swiveled from Rudy to Flint. They were discussing me but in a secret language. I understood the words but not the meaning.

“You either go alone or you show yourself to him.” Rudy patted his son’s folded arms. “But there will be consequences no matter what you choose. ”

“Can someone tell me what’s going on?” I was ready to stamp my foot to get attention. “Show me what?” They’d already torn my skin which was ouchy at first, but the pain faded and blended with something else that I pushed to the back of my mind.

Flint stood in front of me, and I raised my head to meet his gaze. Those dark eyes with their mesmerizing almost hypnotic power making me think of him not as my kidnapper but as… as someone else. Once I was back in the basement, I’d puzzle it out after a long nap.

“There’s a problem.”

“I figured that.” I rubbed my shoulder. “And will someone explain what this was about?”

“Not now” He steered me toward the basement. “You need to get dressed.”

“Nope.” I stood my ground. “Not until you tell me what’s going on.” Flint was the kidnapper, but I needed answers, though I couldn’t ignore the tension that I could almost see, touch, and taste that made his body shimmer.

“We’re going to meet my business associates.”

No, no, and no. That didn’t sound like fun. I was reasonably safe here with Rudy and Flint, or as safe as I could be with my kidnapper and his dad. Going into the unknown with a bunch of mobsters, some like Emilio who wanted me punished, that wasn’t on my bingo card.

“No way. Sounds scary. I’d like to return to the basement, please.”

“Do you ever do as you’re asked?” His eyes blazed as he towered over me, with something close to… not passion… irritation or maybe hostility.

“I don’t recall being asked,” I snapped. “You said we were going. I didn’t get a choice.” I needed to piece together what was happening but didn’t have enough clues. “Bring your business associates here if you’re so worried I’ll escape and alert the police. I’ll stay in the basement so you’ll know exactly where I am.”

He growled, it came from deep inside him, and goosebumps paraded over my skin. Outwardly, I reacted the same as last night when we first met. But now, instead of being deathly afraid, I was… not. I couldn’t pinpoint the difference. Maybe that was part of his plan. But for what purpose?

“Rarely does anyone other than family come to the house.”

The silence yawned and stretched between us as the synapses fired in my brain. Family. That photo of my father was taken on the grounds, Rudy said. Was he blood family or just in the family business? And that led to me. I was neither.

“So why did you bring me here?”

He opened his mouth and closed it, then looked at his dad. Maybe this was his first kidnapping and he wasn’t sure of what to do next.

“You’ll see.” Rudy hustled me into the basement and chose a button-down and a nice pair of jeans that fit from the closet. He mumbled something that sounded like, “These were left here once.” That wasn’t weird. “Your lip is healing, but your nose is still swollen.”

“No way can I meet the mob when I look less than my best.”

He studied me. “Is that a defense mechanism?”

“What?” I pretended to be ignorant about what he was referring to.

“Using sarcasm and humor to deflect from real life.”

I shrugged. Now it was my turn to change the subject. “Where are we going?”

“To La Luna Noir headquarters.”

The nightclub had a headquarters? That was odd, but then what wasn’t about this situation and his family. But I was going out in public. I could slip through the crowd or steal someone’s phone. Or just ask someone to phone 911 and I’d be out of Flint’s clutches. I did want to get away from him. Yes, I absolutely did. I reran that sentence over in my head as Flint took me into the garage while his dad headed out the front door to his vehicle.

“No handcuffs?”

“Not today.” He stared straight ahead as we drove around the long driveway. Outside the gate, two cars were waiting; one went ahead, one behind, sandwiching us in between. “My security detail.”

I side-eyed him. He sounded like a president or monarch. Gods, he had a huge ego. I tried the door but couldn’t unlock it. Not that I was prepared to leap out on a lonely road or in the middle of traffic.

He pulled into a parking area under a tall building. I’d been past this place many times. The reflective glass changed color depending on the angle and the position of the sun. It wasn’t how I’d conjured a mob meeting place.

The shadowy darkness in the parking garage seemed more akin to the mafia. Flint cut the engine and turned toward me. “You’ll hear a lot of things you don’t understand.”

“That’ll be a first, because since we met, everything has been crystal clear.” Damn, that was what Rudy was talking about. I deflected, covering up confusion and fear. Ugh, I should have my head examined at meeting a bunch of mobsters who… wanted my blood? To string me up to the ceiling? My crime was just a little snooping. I didn’t find anything. That had to count.

“They’re not going to hurt me, are they? If they’re baying for my blood, I’ll sit this meeting out.”

He drew in a sharp breath. “It’s interesting you used the word baying.”

I couldn’t get a handle on this guy. Before his big old important meeting, he was ready to discuss my choice of words.

“Because there might be some of that.”

“People want to hurt me?” My heart sped up, and I fumbled for the door again.

“No. The baying part.” He moved his hand across the console, and I yanked mine away but was almost disappointed when he didn’t pull it back. “They’re more angry at me.”

“So what? I’m your shield? Hi, everyone, instead of being pissed at something I did, look at this guy. He did something way worse.” Gods, I might not make it out in one piece. “What is wrong with you?”

“That’s my line,” he muttered as I curled up in the corner, making myself as small as possible. “Look at me, Tony. Please.”

“No. I can’t stand you.”

He exhaled and something changed inside the vehicle. The temperature? It was a little chilly, and more goosebumps crawled over me. The penetrating scent was no longer his, the alluring one that signaled danger combined with something I refused to name. Now it was more feral, and I shivered, afraid of what or who sat beside me.

And then there was the growl. Not the gravelly grunt from earlier but something prehistoric. I put a hand over my heart, the comforting beat reassuring me I wasn’t dreaming, though if it continued to gallop, I might need to see a doctor.

This was silly. What was I going to see? Did he have a gun pointed at me? Killing me in the car when he’d had the opportunity in or near the woods was kind of ballsy and messy.

I gathered my courage and twisted my body, angling it toward him. His eyes were darker than before, if possible, and his nose and mouth combined to form a… a… snout? His nails had extended and become claws, while his stubble was now furry. He snarled, a guttural sound from deep in his belly.

I was frozen, unable to scream, though one clogged my throat in case I needed it. I couldn’t extend an arm to touch his face but concentrated on breathing. My brain couldn’t brain, and I counted the seconds as time warped and wove around me.

And in an instant, the fur and snout vanished and he was him. Except the eyes remained, boring into me, as if trying to read my thoughts.

Inside, my mind was blank. I was incapable of rational thinking. Flint must have come around to my door and helped me out, because I was in an elevator, with him holding my arm, flanked by two bodyguards. At least I hoped that was what they were. Their unsmiling faces didn’t give me confidence I could make my escape or steal the weapons they couldn’t conceal under their coats.

We entered a huge room, filled with people talking, shouting, and gesturing. There was a logo on the back wall of a dog, maybe a wolf, the name La Luna Noir circling it. Damn, I should have asked him why he couldn’t correct the typo. It bugged me, and I wanted to add an E to noir and change luna to lune. Did no one in this place go to school?

The cacophony of noise hurt my ears, and I couldn’t distinguish what they were saying. But as they sighted us, they went quiet, like a wave across the room. Some were curious, standing on tiptoe to catch a glimpse, others sneered, some sat and grimaced at their neighbor while pointing at me. Or was it Flint.

He led me to the front of the room. My heart sped up, my hands were clammy, but his grip was so tight I couldn’t shake him off.

“My La Luna Noir family, I’d like to introduce you to my mate.”