Page 72 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

“How many?” Logan asked as he pushed away from the table and headed for the door.

“Two shifters and a demon so far,” Gray said, following him down the long hallway into the living room.

“Where?” Logan asked as he grabbed his shirt off the couch and pulled it on.

“Across the street,” Gray said, letting him know that they were respecting the boundary.

For now.

Then again, since he’d chosen a building packed with humans right next to Central Park, they weren’t really left with much of a choice in the matter. That, and the last time they tried to storm one of his properties hadn’t ended well for them. After they attacked his safe house in Boston to get their hands on Izzy Williams and left him with no choice but to allow the Sentinels to capture him, he’d made sure to express his displeasure as soon as he escaped.

He took his time finding the Masters, Alphas, and demons that were behind the attack and dealt with them one by one, reclaiming his stolen territory and property. He took his time, focusing on one target at a time, ensuring that word of hisactivities reached everyone on his list so that by the time that he came knocking, they were more than happy to hand everything back to him with interest.

“Double the guards on the building,” Logan said, barely resisting the urge to glance towards Jill’s room and-

Wondered how he’d fucked this up so badly. He had Pierce where he wanted him and all he could think about was just how badly he wanted to hold his angel again.

He’d worked too fucking hard to throw everything away for a moment of weakness, Logan reminded himself as he forced himself to walk away. He really needed to stop thinking about just how fucking good it felt to have Jill in his arms, Logan decided as he made his way to the front door.

Without a word, Gray joined him as he left the penthouse and made his way into the hallway past the two shifters that he had guarding the door and pressed the elevator call button.

“I did it as soon as I caught your scent,” Gray said as they stepped into the elevator.

“And the brownstone?” Logan asked as he pressed the button for the lobby.

“No changes,” Gray said as he leaned back against the elevator wall.

After a slight hesitation, Logan asked, “Do they know about the children?”

“They don’t seem to know that the children are here,” Gray said, looking lost in thought.

“Keep it that way,” Logan said, slowly exhaling as he counted down the floors until the elevator doors finally opened, revealing an opulent foyer heavily guarded by shifters.

“You want to tell me why you waited to tell me about our unwanted guests?” Logan drawled, wondering if any of them could scent Jill on him or if Tomas was right about her scentmatching his as he made his way to the glass doors that opened up to Central Park and stepped outside.

“Because I had it handled,” Gray said as he paused on the sidewalk and took in the incredible view of Central Park, the humans making their way past them on the sidewalks and cutting across the park, and the cars driving past them before he took in the shifters, demons, and vampires trying to blend in among them.

“It looks it,” Logan drawled as he slowly inhaled, taking in the crisp summer night air saturated with the cloying scents of cologne, perfume, body odor, and a thousand other scents surrounding them until he caught the familiar overly sweet scent meant to entice him.

“Has anyone tried entering the building yet?” Logan asked the large demon guarding the front doors as his gaze shifted from the shifters and vampires trying to blend in with the humans before shifting to the men and woman randomly positioned between them.

“They tried, but the Sentinels pushed them back,” the demon said as Logan took in the new group watching his every move, easily picking out the Sentinels from their demon and shifter counterparts.

“They’re protecting the building,” Gray said, standing by his side.

“Yes, they are,” Logan murmured absently as his gaze locked on the large Sentinel glaring at him from across the street.

“What are you going to do?” Gray asked as Logan shifted his attention to the shifters and demons crossing the park to join the group watching his every move.

“Make a choice.”

CHAPTER 36

Why did he have to make everything so damn difficult, Jill found herself wondering with a heartfelt sigh as she typed “Angel” into the cellphone that she’d helped herself to when Logan was distracted. That was followed by pulling the comforter that she’d wrapped herself in after the cold shower that she’d been forced to take so that she could think straight again tightly around her before rolling onto her side as she found herself wondering what the hell she was doing.

She’d worked so hard to forget about her mother and did everything that she could to make sure that she didn’t end up like her. Every decision that she’d made since she was fifteen years old was to make sure that she didn’t turn into Candy. She wasn’t perfect, far from it, but she was nothing like her mother and that was enough.

Until now.

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