Page 7 of Billionaire Wolf Needs a Fixer

His breath hitched just a fraction, but I caught it.My pulse hammered against my ribs like it wanted to jump out of my chest.He clenched his jaw, making the muscle there jump under his stubble.

Jesus.I needed sleep.

I wiped my hand on my jeans, willing my voice steady."Distracted."

His mouth twitched."By what?"

By you.By the way your stupid eyes seem to glow.By the fact that beneath all that growling bravado, you had a soft spot for injured animals that couldn't speak for themselves.

I shrugged, aiming for casual and missing by a mile."Sleep deprivation."

Levi leaned in, just enough that his scent, leather, spearmint toothpaste, and fresh coffee, wrapped around me."Liar."The word was a growl and a whisper.I swallowed.He knew.Of course he knew.His nostrils flared, catching the change in my scent, and satisfaction flickered in his eyes.Bastard.

Zane's voice shattered the moment.

He barreled in, saving me from making a fool of myself.Levi didn't just step back, he recoiled like he'd been burned, his shoulders rigid.His fingers flexed at his sides.A flicker of something raw crossed his face before he locked it down.Annoyance?Hunger?I couldn't tell, and that unnerved me more than the way my skin still tingled where he'd almost touched me.

"Krista, you genius!We're viral, baby!"Zane shoved his phone in my face.The screen played a video of Levi crouching in grass as a terrier licked his scruffy jaw.

Levi's grip whitened around his mug."What the hell is that?"

I sipped my coffee, smirking."Your redemption."

Levi's silence was as loud as a roaring storm, his chest rising and falling too fast.I could see the pulse hammering in his throat.When he finally spoke, his voice was gravel."You used that?"

"It worked," I shot back, but my traitorous body swayed toward him, drawn like a magnet.His gaze dropped to my lips.For one reckless second, I thought he might close the distance between us.Then his phone buzzed, against the counter.Dean's name flashed on the screen.

Levi swiped at the phone and opened the message from his friend.The audio file played with a hiss of static before Selene's quivering, raw voice cut through.

"Levi, they're making me—"

Selene's voice died mid-plea.The silence afterward was worse.My eyes snapped up to Levi.His chest rose once, twice, too measured for a man seconds from snapping.

I hit play again.

Selene's voice echoed between us.Levi's pupils dilated, the mug in his grip exploded, porcelain shards raining to the floor.Coffee splattered like blood across the floor tiles.Porcelain shards skittered across the floor, one grazing my ankle.I didn't move.Neither did he.

My fingers itched to reach for him.To soothe.But that was a line neither of us could cross."Dante's going to pay for this," I said, my voice steady.

Levi's exhale was a snarl."Not if I kill him first."

Chapter 4

LEVI

I barely registered the French doors slamming open as I stormed onto the terrace, the ocean wind whipping through my hair.Krista was right behind me, her bare feet slapping against the stone.

"You don't get to walk away from this!"she snapped.

I whirled on her."You think I want to hear her voice like that?"I let out a chest rumbling snarl."They killed her, Krista.And now they're coming for me."

Selene's terrified voice still echoed in my skull.It would haunt me forever.

A hand closed around my bicep.Small but unrelenting.Krista.She stepped into my space, undeterred by my growl."Then fight smarter.Not harder."

I spun on her, the growl in my chest building to a roar."Back.Off."Grabbing her wrist just firmly enough to make her listen, I towered over her and stared her down."You don't know what Dante's capable of."

Her pulse jumped under my fingers, but she didn't pull away.Just tilted her chin up, eyes blazing."And you don't know what I'm capable of."She poked at my chest with each word."We're in this together, you stubborn ass."

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