Page 47 of Why Cruise

Ren belly-laughed, the sound rich and deep. “Oh honey, the police don’t care so long as you don’t fuck with the wrong people.”

Honey.He called me honey.That warmth shot straight down to my toes. I looked down at my plate and concentrated very hard on my appetizer.

Justice

Angry flirting. We were not angry flirting. What the fuck does that even mean? Angry flirting? You don’t flirt with someone you hate. The fucking audacity. To look that good. Push all my buttons. The buttons only you know exist. And my name on your lips. The name I never let anyone use. Only you. Only ever you. And you sandwich these two omegas between us. The two omegas I can’t get out of my head. The omegas I follow around the ship like a lost puppy. But I’m too cool to command them to hang out with me. Omegas I can’t have. They’re all light and goodness. And they feel so fucking good. And I’m a fucking a leech. Finding reasons to touch them. My hand on Theo’s back. Mackenzie’s fingertips in mine. I can’t stop myself. And I don’t even have a fucking phone. I can’t take their picture, which might help. I can’t crack into their phones and drop a tracking bug to know where they are when they go off ship to know they’re safe. I can’t fucking do anything. Maybe they’re right. They’re all right. I’m losing it. Rut. Rut?Is this fucking rut? This place is too dark. Dark wood. Dark carpet. Dark like a closet. Door closing. Dark. No air.

“Just.” Again, he said it like a check, reached out to grab me by the throat. Gave me a shake. I inhaled and rejoined sanity.

“It’s gross, but the Port Haven elite can get away with a lot.” I said smoothly.

“I sort of thought you’d say Ren is exaggerating.” Mackenzie laughed, but it was a nervous laughter.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat, Mackenzie. If you have enough money or power or name recognition, official people will not ask a lot of official questions.”

I reached for the wine and topped off all our glasses, even Ren’s. Not because they needed it, but I needed to move and I couldn’t fucking pace the restaurant. No, because I’m Justice Twill, CEO, and I have to have my shit together.

“There’s a pack lead that’s missing right now with a few of his packmates,” I said, smoothing out my tie and sitting back down. “Nolan was challenged for pack lead at Fight Night. He and a few members of his pack haven’t been seen since.”

Ren crackled at the end of the table. That was the only word for it. Crackled. Mackenzie and Theo didn’t seem to notice.

“If Nolan is found, and his packmates are not.” I shrugged. “He’s pack lead, which in a way means he owns his pack.”

Ren continued enjoying his Wagyu skewers.Maybe it had been my imagination. What the fuck was I saying? Why am I talking about this?

“Nolan was born into a pretty prestigious pack, so his name alone carries some protection.”

That got a snort out of Ren. “Unless your name is Knightbridge, that does not hold true in Port Haven.”

“Your name…” I said.

Ren cut me off. “Case in point.”

Our dinners arrived and were placed precisely by the careful staff. Theo seemed pleased with himself, more pleased than an omega with a T-bone should be. He had that gooey omega look about it. If I touched him now? It might knock me on my ass. Next to him, Ren was… lying. He had promised Mackenzie, and that absolutely had been a promise, so every word out of his mouth was probably true. But he was still lying. The casualness, the nonchalance. That was a front. And I didn’t know what that meant.

And Mackenzie? Her fork danced around her plate, aligning the tiny glazed carrots, but she didn’t actually take a bite. She whispered something, but the sound didn’t carry.There’s something wrong here. Something I missed.

I took a breath to ask her what was wrong, but Ren stopped me. Not with a sound or a shake of the head. His face was neutral, but his eyes said“Don’t.”I broke eye contact first.

You’re reading too much into this. You don’t know these two. You met them days ago. You don’t know Ren either. Eat dinner. Be pleasant.

Now I was whispering to myself. Great.

Ren and Theo chatted softly about reverse sear techniques of all things while I mechanically ate my steak. It was fine, delicious probably. It was like my tastebuds shut down. Like my mouth knew I couldn’t deal with anymore sensory input. Mackenzie had only made it a quarter of the way through her pork chop. I looked up at the ceiling. They had scent dampeners, for sure. I took a deep breath, hoping to pull in their scents. It was faint and touched with black pepper.

“So,” she said around a sigh and put her elbow on the table. “We’re dying to know.”

“What?” I asked.

“You want more angry flirting?” Ren said with that wicked smile.

“Yes, please.” Theo added.

“This,” she waggled her finger left and right, between me and Ren.

He leaned into her like a teenager with hot gossip. “Do you want the long story or short?”

“Short.” I said. “We used to know each other, now we don’t.”

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