Page 61 of Shadow Blind

Which was a shame. Because O’Neill was exactly the kind of man she wanted. He was sexy enough to join the clone club. And he was kind—at least to her and Trident. Plus, he worked with Cosky, so he was home nights, weekends and holidays. And judging by Kait’s comments during previous conversations, it didn’t sound like Cosky and his teammates, which included O’Neill, were sent on many dangerous missions. Kait said their lives were drama free.

Too bad O’Neill didn’t curl her toes like Aiden did, or make her palms sweat. But nope, her libido had given him a hard pass, and she needed the tingles and belly flops, along with the proximity. It was the only way to build a future.

Chapter twenty-five

Day 10

Denali, Alaska

Frustration seethed so thickly inside Aiden, he felt like he was drowning. With a low growl, he threw himself into the chair next to Rawls. This meeting was in the same room Wolf had led him to three days earlier. He was even sitting in the same damn chair, which felt a little too déjà vu for his liking after the complete blindside Benioko had pulled on him earlier.

If he’d trusted WARCOM, if he was certain they weren’t behind this clusterfuck surrounding him, he’d have left Shadow Mountain on the spot and returned to his old command. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option, not until he knew for sure who was behind that damn bot weapon, and the testing on his teammates.

In the meantime, Shadow Mountain had all the tools he needed. He just had to man up and ignore the old shaman’s attempts to bully him into joining the tribal cult.

The chairs circling the enormous table were filling up fast. A white noise kind of murmur filled the space thanks to the dozens of conversations taking place between the hard-faced men loitering around the room. Most of the dialogue sounded foreign. Kalikoia, he’d bet.

His gaze landed on the coffee table and froze. Christ, he could use a cup of that steaming pick-me-up. But the string of men waiting to grab and fill their cups dissuaded him. He’d wait until the line waned and hope the pump pot still had some servings left.

The decision just kicked up the frustration.

Rawls swung his chair around until it faced Aiden and did an exaggerated double take. “From that black cloud smothering your ugly mug, I’m guessin’ the interrogations ain’t goin’ well?”

Aiden shot his buddy a seething glare and faced forward again. He should have paid more attention to where he’d sat. The last thing he needed was Rawls’s inability to keep his pie hole shut.

Unfortunately, the southern asshole had good instincts. Those two fucking clowns he’d gone to the trouble to fly up to Denali knew nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Goddammit.

A frown knit Rawls’s sandy eyebrows. “Seriously? You got nothin’ from them? Shadow Mountain has some of the best shit available to force hostiles to sing and dance.”

“Even the best shit on the market can’t make someone talk if they don’t know jack shit.” Aiden tried to keep the snarl at a minimum. It wasn’t Rawlings’s fault Demi’s attackers had turned out to be disappointments.

The only contact number they’d revealed was already disconnected. According to Shadow Mountain intel, their bank accounts had vanished, leaving no transfer or deposit information to track down who’d paid them. Hell, the morons didn’t know who hired them. Their rambling answers to all his questions had led to nothing.

“Shit, bro,” Rawls said, sympathy slowing his drawl to a crawl. “That’s fucked. Your luck’s all upside down, ain’t it?”

Aiden scowled back. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Was it some subtle dig about Demi? Did everyone know he was on tap for a Dear Aiden letter?

“Rumor has it you got a bounty on your pretty head.” A wicked gleam lit Rawls’s blue eyes. “Two million, they say.” A smirk joined the gleam. “Have to admit, I’m disappointed in you, son. You’re slippin’. The bounty on my noggin’s five mil.”

Ah…

Aiden relaxed. This wasn’t about Demi. This was Rawls’s batshit crazy competitiveness coming out. The dude liked to bet on the most bizarre shit.

Aiden scoffed. “Was on your head. You boys killed everyone who had a stake in liquidating you. And that five spot was for the whole lot of you, which means I’m worth double what you were in your prime.”

Rawls reeled back, like he’d been mortally injured, only to lean forward again and peer around Aiden. “You hear that, Zane? This ass here thinks we’re past our prime.”

“Not Zane,” Aiden drawled, filling his tone with mockery. “Just you.”

Zane shook his head, then lifted his eyes to the ceiling in a lord help me gesture. “Rawls been running his mouth again, has he?”

“Now that’s just hurtful.” Rawls plastered a wounded look on his face.

After another long-suffering look at the ceiling, Zane turned to Aiden. “Cos says you got hold of Devlin Russo?”

Aiden simply nodded. Dev was the only person in a leadership role at HQ1 that he trusted. Plus, a recent promotion to commander of ST4 had given him the contacts and authority to find out what Aiden needed to know.

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