Page 17 of Unruly Hearts

"Fine." My head feels clearer now. "But first, I need to talk to Serenity."

Talon laughs. "Good luck. Human females hit hard when they're angry."

I rub my head, remembering her swat from earlier. My brother doesn't know how right he is.

I track her scent to her office, and my heart clenches at the smell of salt — tears. She sits surrounded by paperwork, her eyes red and swollen, her golden hair a mess from running her hands through it. The sight breaks something in my chest.

"Get out," she says. Her voice shakes. I watch her hands grip the desk hard.

"Not until we talk." I block the door with my body. The room feels too small for an orc my size. "Please."

She looks up finally. The hurt in her eyes makes my stomach twist. "Why? To tell more lies?"

"No more lies." I move closer, but carefully. Humans spook easy sometimes. "I gamble. I lose money. I do bad things. But everything about you and me is real."

"How do I know?"

"Because you feel the mate bond too." I kneel beside her chair and make myself smaller, vulnerable. "You feel it inside, like I do."

Her lip trembles. "That's not fair."

"I know." I take her small hand in mine, but I half-expect her to pull away. She doesn't. "I want to be better. For you. Let me show you."

"How?"

I tell her about the games, the cards, what I'm good at. What I plan to do. Her eyes get big.

"That's insane," she whispers. "And dangerous."

"Yes."

"You could get killed."

"Yes."

She stares at me. The bond pulses warm between us, like a heartbeat. "Teach me poker."

The words hit me like a punch. After everything—the papers she found, all my secrets, her tears—I didn't expect this. But there's fire in her eyes now.

"If we're doing this, we're doing it together," she says, hands clenched at her sides. "He killed my parents. He's trying to steal their legacy. I want to be part of taking him down."

"No." The word comes out like a growl. My chest rumbles with it. "These games are dangerous. These men kill people."

"So does Ethan." Her voice is steel. "And I'm your mate, remember? That means we're partners. In everything."

I want to refuse, to protect her, but the bond tells me what she needs most is to fight back.

For two days, I show her the cards. How to read faces. When to bet. She learns fast, like she does everything.

"We need insurance," she says on the third morning, pushing a thick folder across the table. "Mom kept records of everything.The equipment tampering, strange bank transfers, threats Ethan made. Enough to interest the police."

One hour later, we sit in the police station. It smells strange. Like humans and paper and coffee. Detective Morris has a shiny head and wears a gray suit. We put all our proof on his desk—the writing, the pictures, the money papers.

"Let me get this straight," Morris says, studying the documents. "You think he killed your parents over the land?"

"The chemical residue on their equipment matches industrial compounds used in his other developments," Serenity explains. "And now he's running illegal games and using them to pressure people into selling property."

"We can catch him saying it," I add. My voice sounds too loud in the small office. "If you let us wear the recording things."

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