Page 7 of Matched into the Mob

“What’s the problem, Dad?”

The room blurred, and my head was filled with the most delicious perfume. I blinked and focused on a heavy gold bracelet around his wrist, a broad chest, dark jacket, no tie, shirt unbuttoned to reveal a sliver of skin, an unshaven chin with scruff, piercing gray eyes, and a mop of black hair.

Rudy’s son took my breath away and shoved the scary thoughts into the back of my mind. His expression was so cocksure he had to be the La Luna Noir boss, though I couldn’t recall that guy’s name.

He could be the boss of me, anytime, anywhere. If he told me to drop my pants right here, I’d do it and shove my ass in his face so he could stick his fingers, tongue, or dick in my hole.

But his arrogant expression faded and was replaced with one of… agony? Or horror?

No way could he smell my stinky feet.

I edged closer to Josh.

“Oh gods… you… you’re here!” The guy put a hand over his heart. I knew CPR, and I was ready to breathe life into him.

“Not again. Not like this.” Rudy slapped his forehead. I counted the furrows, wondering if the more wrinkles indicated how worried he was.

The son, however, had lost the power of speech, and I feared he also knew me from my other life. But I would have remembered this hot, hunky, lickable… yeah, oh so lickable guy if we’d crossed paths.

Rudy was much smaller than his son, but he propped him up. Gradually my discomfort returned, despite the son’s intoxicating presence. I scanned the room for Hawk, the one who might know me not as Matt but Michael.

“And you are?” Rudy choked out. He had a bunch of stickers and a pen, I guessed to write the participants’ names.

I was torn, wanting to stay with Rudy’s son but also needing to get out of here. I liked my head and preferred it attached to my shoulders.

A buzzer sounded, and someone yelled for everyone to take their seats.

“You’re my match,” the son pronounced.

Not likely. “I’m so sorry. We’re in the wrong place. I apologize.” Steering Josh toward the exit, I slammed my fist on the elevator button, counting the seconds until the doors opened and expecting a hand on my shoulder, telling me not to go anywhere.

Josh was complaining I’d ruined the evening, but I had a vice-like grip on his hand and I wasn’t letting go.

As we scrambled into the elevator and the doors closed, I spiedhim, Rudy’s son, glaring at me, his eyes darker than when we met. There was something ancient in his stare as if he were a predator and I was his prey. A wave of fear washed over me.

But there was more in the son’s piercing gaze that turned my belly to jelly. It wormed inside me, gaining entry to my secrets, and I squealed, before the doors slammed. I rested my head against them while Josh ranted in the background about me being a spoilsport

Now what?

FOUR

RANGER

I picked up the scent of my mate’s slick. It lingered after he rushed out with his friend. Or I hoped he was a friend. If he was anything else I’d?—

Go after him. My wolf was incensed and ready to take his fur if I didn’t get my butt in gear.

That had me thinking of butts, and it seemed as though I were floating while imagining my mate’s ass. And his slick. He’d be naked, and there’d be so much slick. I closed my eyes and imagined the earthy aroma, the slippery wetness, while coating my fingers in it and trailing it over my lips.

My mate had sent me tumbling head over heels in love and blabbering like a baby just learning to talk. A human who goofed up and entered our building, snatched the heart out of my chest, and refused to give it back. Sneaky little fucker!

Dad shook me, whispering that one of the Nightfall shifters said my mate was involved with The Obsidian Circle.

Shit. That was the worst possible outcome. But as a human, he wasn’t “of” the pack. Some packs employed humans, mainly in low-level positions, but Dane was a nasty, self-centered fuckface who used fear and intimidation to control his pack.We had minimal dealings with them until now, and with the information I’d given Flint on Saturday, any relationship would be severed.

There was only one reason why Dane would have employed a human. Shifters could hear every conversation, pick up on every growl, and detect every nuance, so a human would be less of a threat.

Once again, my inner turmoil spiraled, revealing no one outside the family could be trusted. Not only was my mate human—and as I had a human brother-in-law, I wasn’t freaked out by that—but he was working for a despicable guy. Had Dane done him a “favor” and him working for the Obsidian boss was paying off the debt? Damn!

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