Page 33 of The Huntress and Her Hound

“And if that happens, you’ll take care of it.” Henry squeezes my shoulder. “Now get us invited to that party.”

“Got it,” I mutter. I go back to my current task, narrowing the names down of the hotel reservations to male patrons—and then cross searching them on the internet with a program I built. I drum my fingers on the top of the desk. A list of results pop up, and I click the first one.

Sam Erickson, Son of Esteemed Investor Samuel Erickson, Found Dead in his Vegas Hotel Room.

I stare at the picture of a familiar face. Oh shit. Now I have more questions than ever. I scour the article, searching for some sort of cause of death. Did she...?

“Did you kill someone?”

“No.”

Would she lie to me? I mean, she knows what we do for a living. If she killed some asshole in self-defense, that would be understandable. We could help her. I could help her. The thought has me pushing back from the desk, crashing into Henry.

“The fuck?” he grunts, his steely eyes boring into mine suddenly. “What’s up with you? You’re acting like you’re hiding something—like when Luca had Emma in his basement.”

I stand to my feet and shake my head. “No one is hidden in my basement. No worries.” It might be worse than that.

“Where are you going?”

“I was gonna hit the gym,” I lie, eyeing the clock. Cher is already at work. I’ve been watching her location on my phone. Am I ashamed of it? No. I’m keeping her safe—and already failing. That causes me to frown.

“I’ll go with you,” Henry says with a shrug. “Then we can grab dinner. I promised Lydia I’d FaceTime her tonight.”

I fake a painful smile. “Alright, well then... Let’s go.” And then I’m hunting down Cher. I feel uneasy about confronting her—but I have to know what happened. I can cover for her if something happened.

She just has to be honest.

***

Three hours, a lot of sweat, and a fresh shower later, I’m back on the prowl, heading to the godforsaken rooftop bar. Somehow I managed to convince Henry everything was normal, and I’m just out exploring Vegas. However, as I ride the elevator up, I try to piece together the information I discovered while spending an hour running on the treadmill.

It’s clear that Sam Erickson had a sick obsession with drugging women, and his history of bribery to cover complaints, charges, and settlements prove it. I’m truly disappointed he died before I got my virtual hands around his neck. And I mean, did I anonymously send all that information to the press? Absolutely. Is it already being published all over the internet? Yes, yes it is.

But he hurt someone I care about—er, something like that.

The doors slide open, breaking my thoughts, and I roll my shoulders as I step into the desert night air. I haven’t really thought through this night, and the bass of the dance music rattles my chest annoyingly. I spot the bar that Cher stands behind, all that cover-up still on her face. She swapped the leggings for a black skirt with mesh tights beneath it.

My cock loves her all-black attire. It’s edgy, and I want to fucking devour her. I could rein her in, putting an end to all her mischief.

And I won’t budge.

She deserves a man who won’t falter, who will chip away at the stone castle she’s erected around herself. I’ll explode the fucker, and then I’ll be her castle.

If she’ll let me.

I smooth my hands over my black dress shirt, unbuttoned at the collar to show my chest. I’ve lifted too much not to show it off. I make my way through the crowd of sweaty bodies, reeking of alcohol and heavy cologne or perfume.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Cher shoots me a glare that might be her most lethal one yet.

I smile at her, trying to be appealing—hell, I spent a full ten fucking minutes on my hair. “Your shift is over in an hour.”

She opens her mouth to protest, I’m sure, but her blue-haired, drug-dealing friend beats her to me. “Who is this tall, ginger drink of water?”

Cher is stone cold. “My brother’s friend.”

“Wow—”

“You can have him,” Cher cuts her off and flips her towel over her shoulder. “In fact, please take him.”

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