16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

" S hall I bring you a drink from the bar, sir?"

Jackson looked up from the newspaper in his hands to find Miss Roberts hovering over him. He had seen her at the front desk when he had walked into the lobby, and her anxiety was through the roof. Did she know that she had put herself in a dangerous situation?

And if she did, why was she risking it? What was she hoping to achieve by the ambush she was trying to set up?

"Are you working in the kitchen, too, these days?" he asked.

"I'm just being hospitable, sir, since I'm on my break," she answered with a smile.

He could feel the hostility in her tone. It made him wonder if this was the real her and she'd had an ulterior motive when she tried to get close to him. Had she been trying to get information out of him all this time?

"Instead of getting me a drink, maybe you can arrange for someone to do the work I pay them for in my suite," he said dismissively. "Unless you want me to fire all of you and start afresh?"

Andrea's eyes widened.

"I apologise, sir. I didn't realise there had been an oversight," she answered with a respectful bow. "I'll get someone upstairs straight away."

"Not now," he said. "Layla is tired; I don't want her disturbed."

Andrea couldn't hide the irritation in her eyes. She was making it difficult for him to judge if this was just some woman scorned bullshit or if they were all involved with the Hunters. How many of his employees was she paying to call in with information?

"Of course, sir," Andrea answered.

"I'll send word when we're ready for you," he said before he picked the newspaper up again.

Andrea walked back to the front desk. He could sense her frustration. He should have accepted the drink just to see if she had laced it with something. But it didn't matter. Costas and Miss Roberts were already beaten; they just didn't realise it yet.

Getting rid of humans without witnesses in the city was a little tricky, but like with the forest around his territory, the hotel was his domain. He knew it better than anybody. But he had to make sure he did it right this time. When he had rescued Layla, he'd been sloppy. He'd left witnesses alive, and that was how the news ended up in the ears of a hunter.

He had to find out how deep this well went. Was his hotel infested with them?

‘I have two, Alpha,' Josh said in the pack link.

The two that had tried to go through one of the side entrances. More of Costas' men were walking around the hotel while three others waited in the Housekeeping staff room, getting ready to spring their trap.

‘I have eyes on Costas. He's parked down the street and giving them instructions. They've been told to use the service elevators to get to your suite.

‘The security feed is down,' someone else said. ‘They're making their moves.'

He looked around the lobby and realised Andrea was no longer there. She could have gone down to the security room, or she already had someone in there. It didn't matter. He would purge the hotel of all the vermin before he went back to his territory. His employees' disloyalty was easier to handle than the delicate matter with his pack.

‘Bring Costas in. He and I have things to discuss,' he ordered.

He kept his senses open as he tracked all their movements. The service elevator was already whirring as it went up. If they were hoping to reach the penthouse floor, they would be disappointed. His warriors had trained all their lives for far more dangerous situations, so he didn't worry. Not about catching them, anyway. He was more worried about who they were reporting to. He hoped Costas was the ‘big boss', but that feeling still ate at him.

Something was going to go wrong.

When all the movement stopped, he put the paper down and stood up.

‘All secured,' Josh confirmed.

Miss Roberts still hadn't returned to the lobby when he walked back through the staff doors.

If Costas knew that he was with Layla, he had to know he was responsible for the nightmare he'd faced that night. And yet he had come back with fewer men. What was his angle?

He paused at the service elevator and saw it was open and empty. Instead of walking into it, he walked past it to a blind spot in the hallways and put his hand on a panel camouflaged in the design of the wall. It slid open, and his eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness as he walked in.

When it slid shut behind him, he slowly walked down many flights of stairs until he reached the bottom. Dylan thought he was crazy for having a dungeon under the hotel, but he'd never had to think about situations like this. As an Alpha, he had to stay two steps ahead. As the Alpha King, he had to be further. There was no such thing as being too cautious. Any mistake would be catastrophic not just for his pack but for wolves as a whole. He did all the dirty things that others couldn't do just to make sure they all stayed alive. Many Alpha's duties ended only with their pack, but his didn't.

It was why the Circle was eager for him to have an heir.

Cells ran along one wall of the large space, and on the other side were rooms full of equipment. Josh was already in one of them, going through all the electronics Costas and his men had.

There were already screams coming from one of the rooms. He would have all the information he needed by the end of the day.

He followed his nose to the room he wanted and then placed his hand on the panel beside to unlock the door. Costas sat in the darkness, blindfolded and chained up in a chair in the middle of the room. His greasy hair was out of place, and he had lost a few buttons on his colourful shirt. He was already crying and trembling like a leaf.

"Hello, Costas."

The man quickly turned his head in his direction.

"What is this? Who are you?" he screamed. "Do you know who I am?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here," he drawled as he pulled a chair forward and sat in front of him.

As he watched the terrified man, it occurred to him that he would never have bothered with this if it hadn't been for Layla. Any rumours or ‘sightings' tended to die down after a little while with no intervention. He could have just put his head down and waited for it to blow over.

But Layla. Always Layla.

He had no time to wait things out. Everything had to be safe for when Layla returned.

"Tell me, Costas. Do you know who I am?"

"You've got me blindfolded. How the hell would I know that?"

Another scream rang through the air, and Costas' trembling visibly increased. He had skipped out on the soundproofing in the cells for a reason. Answers tended to come quicker when people knew what they were in store for. They could scream all they wanted down here, and none of their noise would disturb the peace and tranquillity of his hotel.

"If you don't know me, why were you looking for me?" he asked.

"King?" Costas asked. "Jackson King?"

Costas' heart started beating faster like he would have a heart attack. He'd been terrified before, but now he had gone beyond that.

"You're the monster that took the girls," Costas whispered. "You ripped my men apart... Our bullets didn't hurt you... What are you?"

He felt a little relieved at that question. Hunters would already know what they were dealing with. It meant Layla would be safe as long as she learned the rules.

"What do you think I am, Costas?" he asked as he crossed his legs. "Shall we play a little game?"

He felt his face start to tighten as his vision sharpened. Back when he was just a bastard without a mate, this used to be Cain's favourite part. It seemed some things hadn't changed.