Page 6 of Billionaire Wolf Needs a Fixer

Bingo.

The door creaked open without warning.Garrett loomed in the doorway, his massive frame swallowing the light from the hallway.His arms were crossed and his serious expression might as well have been carved from granite."You're supposed to be asleep."

I didn't dignify that with eye contact."And you're supposed to knock."My voice was sugar-laced acid.Try harder, tough guy.

He stepped inside."Levi doesn't like people digging into his business."

A laugh escaped me, sharp and humorless."Good thing I'm not people."I spun the laptop toward him."Selene was clean.Dante had her doped up and scared.This wasn't an overdose.It was a hit."

Garrett's jaw flexed, his gaze flicking over the screen.For a man built like a human tank, he moved with unnatural precision.Like a predator who'd learned to be silent."You don't know what you're messing with."

I leaned back in my chair, arching a brow."Enlighten me."

He lowered his voice."Dante doesn't just own studios.He owns cops, judges."A muscle twitched in his temple."People disappear."

I snorted."And yet here you are, helping me."

Garrett's glare could've melted steel.Then, abruptly, he exhaled through his nose, making a sound somewhere between frustration and reluctant respect, and pulled out his phone."You want a war?Fine.But we do it smart."He tapped the screen and thrust it at me.

A photo filled the display of Levi crouched in the grass and scratching the ears of a scruffy terrier with three legs.

I blinked.What the hell?

"Levi's got a shelter downtown," Garrett said grudgingly."Strays, mostly.No press.No tax breaks.Just him and a couple of volunteers."

My throat tightened unexpectedly.The image didn't compute.I barked out a laugh."Bullshit."

Garrett's harsh expression softened just a fraction as he glanced toward the darkened hallway where Levi's study lay."Every full moon."

A full moon?When his wolf is closest to the surface?The realization hit me like a gut punch.Levi, the untouchable alpha was seeking solace in helpless creatures just as broken as he was.

I swallowed against the sudden lump in my throat."You're telling me Levi Storm cries over abandoned huskies?"

Garrett didn't blink."First time I ever saw him break."

I couldn't believe it.Levi Storm, Hollywood's resident temperamental bad boy, crying over rescue dogs?Of course, the bastard had a bleeding heart.It explained why his words were so sharp.He didn't have a temper because he was an asshole.He was protecting himself.

Silence stretched between us, heavy with the weight of something I wasn't ready to name.I exhaled."Fine.I'll use it.Humanize him."I met Garrett's gaze."While you what?"

His hand drifted to the holster under his jacket."Pay a visit to Selene's old dealer."

He turned to leave, but I couldn't let him go without asking."Why?"The word came out softer than I meant it to."You don't even like me."

Garrett paused at the door."Levi trusts you."

The door clicked shut behind him, leaving me alone with the hum of the laptop and the weight of what we'd just agreed to.I rubbed my temples, exhaustion gnawing at the edges of my focus, but sleep wouldn't come, not with Selene's ghost still whispering in my ear.

The night bled into dawn without mercy, my thoughts chasing each other in circles.When I opened my eyes, the clock displayed 5:47 AM, the bright numbers swimming in my vision.I blinked at the first glimpses of daylight stabbing through the curtains like a taunt.My muscles were stiff from hunching over my computer all night, and it took all of my energy to drag myself upright in search of my morning dose of caffeine.I pulled on a wrinkled pair of jeans and an old sweatshirt.After my sleepless night, I was too tired to care that I looked like I was dragged out of a gutter.The rich, bitter, and tempting scent of freshly brewed coffee lured me downstairs.

I stopped short in the kitchen doorway.Levi stood at the counter, shirtless, muscles flexing as he poured a cup.Sunlight glinted off the hard planes of his chest, the black ink swirling in intricate patterns along his ribs.Above his hipbone, there was a jagged white scar that stood out against the rest of his skin.

My pulse kicked.Focus, Fortune.

He didn't look at me."Black.No sugar."

I froze.He remembered how I liked my coffee.Since I never told him, he must have observed me enough during our meetings to learn how I made it every time.The realization sent a rush of heat pooling in my stomach.

I snatched the mug, our fingers brushing.A spark shot up my arm, and I jerked back.Coffee sloshed onto my wrist.Levi's gaze snapped to the spill, his nostrils flaring like he wanted to lick it off.

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