Page 51 of No Mane, No Gain

Chaos huffed, a sound suspiciously like a chuckle, before shifting back to his human form. He pulled Olive into his arms, his body warm and solid against hers.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice hoarse with concern.

Olive nodded, burying her face in his chest. “I am now. But next time, I think I’ll just order delivery.”

Chaos laughed, the sound rumbling through his chest. “Deal. Though I have to say, watching you knock that guy out was pretty impressive.”

“What can I say?” Olive smirked, some of her usual sass returning. “I’m full of surprises. But areyouokay?”

“He threatened my mate,” he growled. “That’s the last mistake he’ll ever make.”

Her heart thudded hard at the possessive tone.

As sirens wailed in the distance, signaling the approach of help, Olive looked up at Chaos. Despite the cuts and bruises, despite the fear still coursing through her veins, she felt safe.

“So,” she said, quirking an eyebrow. “I guess Thai is off the menu tonight?”

Chaos laughed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I think we’ve earned ourselves a pizza. Extra meat toppings.”

“Mr. Amato,” the doorman showed up with a trench coat. “Here, sir.”

She was wondering how they were going to get him down the street naked.

“Thank you, Samuel.”

“I heard the commotion and came as quickly as possible,” Samuel said and handed Chaos a big trench coat he immediately slipped on.

“I’d like to know who I pissed off, though.”

He frowned as they walked back to his building. “What do you mean?”

“One of those guys said I had really pissed someone off. I guess they were hired to hurt me.”

“What?”

“Who would hate me that much?” She eyed Chaos. “You don’t think-”

He growled, the sound low and deadly. “I’m going to find out. I promise.”

TWENTY-FIVE

Olive stared at her computer screen, her heart sinking as she refreshed the page for the hundredth time. The familiar layout of her website, filled with book reviews and vlogs, remained stubbornly absent. In its place, a stark white page with an error message glared back at her.

“This can’t be happening,” she muttered, running a hand through her strands. Her website, the cornerstone of her brand and livelihood, had vanished without a trace.

With trembling fingers, she dialed Chaos’s number. He answered on the second ring, his deep voice instantly soothing her frayed nerves.

“Bella mia, what’s wrong?”

Olive took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady. “My website’s down. Completely gone. I don’t know what happened or how to fix it.”

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line. When Chaos spoke again, his tone was calm and reassuring. “Don’t worry, I’m on it. I’ll have my best guy look into it right away.”

True to his word, within an hour, a wiry young man with bright blue hair and more piercings than Olive could countarrived at her apartment. He introduced himself as Ziggy, Chaos’s go-to hacker.

As Ziggy worked his magic, fingers flying across his keyboard at superhuman speed, Olive paced the living room. Her mind raced with possibilities. A technical glitch? A server issue? Or something more sinister?

“Gotcha!” Ziggy’s triumphant cry cut through Olive’s spiraling thoughts. She rushed to his side, peering over his shoulder at the screen full of indecipherable code.

---