Page 11 of Savage Trap

He does something with a few rapid clicks of his keyboard, and I suspect he’s hacking into the hotel surveillance network. Meanwhile, I run my nose along Cam’s bicep and purr. “A swim and a massage? This is starting to feel like a holiday.”

“You deserve it,” he tells me, a dent between his serious blue eyes. “We don’t spoil you nearly enough.”

My fluttering pussy begs to differ, but I shrug, because phenomenal sex aside, none of us has exactly had the easy life. “Things have been looking up recently,” I murmur, then tilt my head so his gaze jumps to his mating bite on my throat. I haven’t checked it out yet, but I’m pretty sure it’s red and raised from his earlier attention. “Especially if you’re about to ravage me again on the roof.”

Heat flares in his eyes, his big hands cupping my ass and pulling me tight between his thighs. “You like that, sweetheart? Me fucking you deep and slow while we look down at the whole city?”

I flick a glance at Link, who’s still buried in his laptop. When the guys were working me over on the plane, I was distracted by the thought of him listening in. But as the edge of his ears turn pink, I wonder if it would have annoyed him or made him jealous. And the latter idea sends a strange flutter through my belly.

But I’ve never been a tease – and don’t plan to start now – so I turn my focus back to Cam. “Just as long as we don’t get thrown out of the hotel before I’ve had time to unpack,” I joke, right as Link gives us the green light to head up to the deck. We grab our swimsuits, but I pause by Link on our way out. “Is the Wolf of Washington going to be a problem, do you think?”

He cocks his head, considering the question. “Arben hasn’t mentioned him to me, but my guess it’s political. The Dark River Pack was well connected and the way they went out has raised a lot of questions in high places. Not to mention the vacuum without a High Alpha replacement. The Wolf could be here to smooth things over, to put himself forward to run the show, or…”

“Or?”

“It could be a witch hunt. And Arben’s a big target.”

I feel Cam stiffen beside me, even as my stomach fills with unease. Of course Arben is a target, and not just with the pack he pretended to be a part of for a decade. You don’t earn a reputation as an invincible assassin without picking up a lot of enemies along the way.

“Will you try to warn him?” I ask Link as I press into Cam’s warmth. “And get a message to my dad? I don’t want either of them walking in here unprepared.”

Instead of answering, Link’s head snaps to the door and Cam and I both tense up even more. But a moment later it pops open and my dad steps through, his eyes lighting up as he takes me in. My gaze flicks down to Link, who’s staring at his screen and the multiple images he has from the hotel’s surveillance feeds. Pressing a hand to his shoulder, I lean down and murmur sarcastically in his ear, “Thanks for the heads up.”

I expect one of his sneers in return, but he slides his gaze my way, and I’m surprised by the heat I see simmering there. “Guess you’ll have to wait a little longer for that massage, Angel.”

Cam mutters something explicit under his breath, but I just toss my swimsuit on a chair and head towards my dad. He gives me a quick hug and we both spend a minute checking each other over. “I’m sorry I missed your flight,” he tells me. “Were there any problems?”

I narrow my eyes and cross my arms over my chest. “It was fine. But unless you have an extra jet tucked up your sleeve, there’s no way you caught a commercial flight that doesn’t arrive for another hour. How long exactly have you been in Chicago, Dad?”

He gives me an amused look. “I arrived just before dawn. There were a few things I wanted to check out while I was still under the radar.”

I shake my head at him. Lucas Ferrier isn’t just a great politician, he’s also wily as hell. “Not to mention tossing us to the wolves, right? I take it you wanted me to meet the other alphas without you around to keep them in line?”

“I was curious to see how they’d react,” he admits, not at all bothered by my accusing gaze. “And to hear your unfiltered impressions, of course. You have an eye for intrigue, darling daughter of mine.”

I huff at his sweet talk and walk over to the couch, tossing myself down. “Okay, then let’s debrief. But emphasis on the brief, because I still want my swim and massage.”

My dad chuckles while I send Link an arched eyebrow. But he’s turned in his seat, and our gazes cling. For a moment, he lets those dark eyes roam over my throat, like he’s memorizing each of the mate bites there, and I have to cross my legs to avoid perfuming in front of my father.

Damn, maybe I shouldn’t have joined the mile high club, because now I seem to have sex on the brain.

“Daddy Ferrier!” Rory’s timing is perfect as usual, his greeting a gleeful cry as he and Kelly come out of the bathroom, looking suspiciously rumpled. Rory heads straight over to my dad and flops beside him, hero worship gleaming in his green eyes. “Thanks for the loan of your plane. It was wicked, and the bedroom provided the perfect in-flight entertainment.”

My dad shakes his head. “You’re welcome. And I’m just going to pretend you went in there alone for a brief nap.”

Cam snorts as he comes over to sit beside me, but Link drops a black folder on the table between us. I’m pretty sure it’s the agenda we’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks. “We need to talk about the Wolf of Washington.”

My dad sits back with a thoughtful gleam in his eyes. “You met him then?”

“He was at brunch,” I say dryly. “Drinking whiskey and asking questions about Arben.”

My dad drums his fingers on his knee. “It’s to be expected. He’s getting pressure from the European Liaisons to explain what happened in New York.”

I flinch before I can stop myself and Cam puts an arm around my shoulders. But I lean towards my dad, too anxious to be comforted right now. “The story about the Tower still holds, though, right? As far as they know, you got out with your allies before the fighting started, and Darius Raptus and his pack took out Bisha and his thugs.”

Part of Arben’s mission to bury the Dark River Pack includes steering the blame for the Tower massacre away from our door. Everyone who was there that night saw what Bisha did to Glo, Darius’ omega. In a disgusting display of power – not to mention contempt for my designation - he auctioned her off to the highest bidder, who happened to be Kelly’s uncle, Phillip Prior. It was Darius and his guys who started the fight that kicked off the mayhem in the Tower, although the rest of the bloodshed was orchestrated by my pack. And I was the one who hunted down the High Alpha and finished him off, but that detail is only known by the people in this room, Mrs. Lewis, and Arben, of course.

I swallow thickly as my dad tries to read my face. “There are rumors…” he says slowly. “Not from the alphas I got out; they’re so indebted to me, they’ll never question our version of events. But Arben hasn’t been able to track down everyone who was there that night. He’s got to most of them, but it looks like someone with a lot of influence may be sheltering some of the key players.”

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