Page 71 of Wild Thing

This guy is way smarter than he seems. Powerful men always are.

All the smells suddenly disappear—beer, old wood, food, cigar smoke. The only smell is danger. It’s thick, hanging in the air.

“I’ll stop by tomorrow.” Raven’s cold voice cuts through the silence. He motions to me with his head toward the door and takes a slow step to the side, his body too rigid.

Thank you, Raven.

“It was nice to meet you,” I say, nodding to Butcher, whose smile doesn’t falter a fraction of an inch, his eyes unblinking.

“Oh, yes, yes. Definitely.”

Slowly, he locks his hands behind him and turns in his spot, watching us as we walk out.

As Raven and I walk through the tavern, the guard walks backward and doesn’t turn until we are out the door. When we are outside, he spits on the ground. Raven lights a cigarette then pulls his phone out of his pocket and dials.

“I’m sorry.” He exhales a cloud of smoke into the phone. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. We’re coming back.”

He cuts the phone call when we approach the car. James, the Sleeping Beauty, glares at me, his nostrils flaring.

Yep, I fucked up.

The proof is a missed call from Archer and a text,What’s happening???

Only when we reach the port and board the speedboat, no one saying a word to me like I just betrayed my own country, do I dial Archer.

“Are you alright?” he asks in a curt voice.

“Yes. Arch, listen, I’m sorry. I kinda—”

“We’ll talk when you get back to Ayana,” he cuts me off and hangs up.

I’m in trouble.

I know that as soon as I walk into Archer’s office when we arrive at Ayana.

His gaze is cold, pinning me down as he slowly gets up from behind his desk and walks toward me.

“Listen,” I try to explain, “it’s all my fault. Raven had to do business, and I didn’t listen, and—”

Archer passes me his phone.

Oh, shit.

It’s a picture of Butcher kissing my hand, taken about twenty feet away from the bar counter at Coco Jumbo.

“Would you like to know what else he said in the message?” Archer asks coldly.

I swallow hard. Butcher sent a message?

“He said,‘Can’t wait to have a closer acquaintance, Mr. Crone. You have fine taste in women.’”

Shit. “Archer, I know you are mad at me. I know I messed up—”

“Kat, listen to me.” He takes a step closer and takes my face between his palms, too gentle for the anger that’s burning in his eyes. “When I ask you not to do certain things, it’s not because I want to control you, but because I want you to be safe.”

“I know.” Shit.

“I don’t want you to find yourself in a situation that jeopardizes your safety.”

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