Page 7 of Mates & Mercenaries

“Hasn’t my father told you everything you need to know?” I say, unable to keep the anger from my voice.

“He has, but we’re here for you, so I want to hear from you. See what you have to say.”

Clay and Rex genuinely look like they have no idea what’s happened between Creed and me, and Sam didn’t say anything either, but I don’t know if that helps.

“I can’t think of anything right now, but I will let you know.”

There is a thick tension in the air as me and Creed stare at one another. I don’t know how long we’re looking at one another like this, but it feels like forever. I’m sure his guys must wonder what the hell is going on. He’s definitely going to have a million questions when we’re done here.

“Creed?” My father’s voice booms through the house. I don’t know how he’s managed it, but he seems to consume the whole building. I swear that’s a part of his power. “Ah, there you are. Sorry about that, I just got caught up with some business. But now I’m ready to show you around. I see you have already met Skylar.”

As soon as he sees what I’m wearing while I talk to these men, he frowns. He’s going to hurry them away, get them as far away from me as possible, as if they can corrupt me. Little does he know that I’m the one who wants to corrupt them.

4

REX

Clay takes his patrol through the house, as Sam runs outside to make sure no unwanted people slip onto the grounds of the mansion. Creed is at the front of the house and I remain on the roof, taking in a much bigger view of the surrounding areas. So far, so good. All I can hear is raucous laughter from inside.

Skylar has some music thumping in her room, probably to try to block everything else out. I can tell she’s pissed off for not being included, but I have to admit I’m glad. She seems too sweet to be mixed up withthem.

Creed didn’t give us many details about this job, but we all know who we’re working for. A mob boss and all his criminal friends. Definitely not ideal. Especially for Creed. I know he wants to get involved with the criminal world because he sees it as the quickest way to get rich. I don’t like it really, it doesn’t feel right to me, but Creed isn’t the sort of man I can make see sense. All I can really do is be there for him and hope he doesn’t fuck up too bad.

“Rex, you there?” I jump as Creed’s voice ricochets through my ear. It’s almost as if he knew I was thinking about him. “You see anything?”

I touch the ear piece. “Nah, it’s all looking good. You need anything?”

“I want you to come down here if you have a moment so we can talk.”

I sigh. If he’s got some dangerous plan, what the hell am I going to do? I mean, I know what I’ll do because Creed is the alpha and there’s no going against his word, but I don’t like it. We’ve all spent years in the military putting our lives on the line. Personally, I don’t see why we should do it again. I’m happy having my guys around me, but I don’t want our lives at risk. Maybe I will try to talk some sense into Creed. This might be the time that works.

“On the way, boss. Just give me a second.”

I check on Sam’s location before I slide down carefully off the roof, making sure I slip past Skylar’s room on the way, just to make sure there aren’t any worrying sounds coming from there. I spot Creed a short distance away from Evan’s men with a worried look pinching his face. This isn’t good.

“Creed, you good?” I actually have to rest my hand on his shoulder for him to know I’m there.

“Oh, yeah, right.” He shakes his head. “I’m just feeling really uneasy about all of this and wanted to know if you’re feeling the same way. Like it’s the calm before the storm, you know?”

I nod, because I know what he means. I feel it too, like there is something really bad about to happen. I know we can face it, though, we can tackle anything, I’m sure of it. Even if this involves some of the most dangerous people in the city.

“We shouldn’t be on this side of things,” Creed suddenly announces, shocking me. “We should be the ones inside that meeting hall, talking with the bosses.”

“What do you mean?” I ask. He’s talked a little about this before, but never quite as seriously as he sounds right now. “You want to be with Evan Santorini? In that meeting? I didn’t know that was the dream.”

Creed’s cheeks redden as he nods. I know he’s impatient, but this seems wild. Why did he take this job if it’s going to piss him off?

“I don’t just want to make a name for myself in this town for being a military vet. I need to make Santorini trust me so we can take our place where we rightfully belong. Among the elites of this city. Weneedthis higher standard; it’s going to change everything for us. That’s why we can’t fuck this up, no matter what. Everything has to go perfectly.”

“Right…yeah, course.” I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. I don’t know if any of us knew that Creed had started taking all of this so seriously. I need to find one of them to find out. “Well, I’m sure we can impress Evan. He already seems to like you a lot, right? The main thing we need to do is keep Skylar safe, then we’ll be all fine.”

He sighs heavily. “Yeah, sounds easy, doesn’t it? I don’t know if it will be, though.”

“You think one of these guys is going to try to do something to Skylar?” Why would Evan give us such a good paycheck if this wasn’t going to be a really dangerous job? Skylar has to be in danger.

“I won’t let anyone near Skylar,” he growls, his wolf bubbling to the surface. That’s definitely an overreaction. What the hell is going on? I can only assume it has to do with Evan. “No one is going to do anything to her tonight. Not with us on it. She’s too special.”

Special?He doesn’t even know Skylar. Does he? We only met her earlier in the day. But I guess it only takes a couple of moments sometimes. When you know, you know and all that. I wonder how he’s going to manage his feelings for Skylar with his desire to impress her father. That’s going to be a really tricky one.

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