Page 16 of While She Sleeps

He laughs. “Didn’t you say nothing happened in that room?” He raises a brow at me.

“Fucking isn’t the definition of the word.” I roll my eyes. “What about my usual work?”

“I have a special assignment for you, seeing as you’ll be more preoccupied than usual.” He reaches into his desk and pulls out a manila folder, pushing it across the desk to me. This time, I don’t hesitate to pick it up and flick through the few sheets of paper inside.

The Hunter.

Distributer of all illegal drugs into the Americas.

My brows shoot up as I lock eyes with Lucas. “What is this?”

“I want information on him.”

“On the nameless, faceless man that has a trail of dead bodies of people who have tried to unearth his identity? This is a fucking suicide mission.”

I snap the folder closed and shove myself to my feet. I can’t do this tonight, not when I’m already grappling with my ability to live my life alone, missing the only person who ever loved me.

“The Hunter is the one who killed your brother, Ember. He was driving the car that ran the two of you off the road that night.”

My entire body stills as panic slams into me so hard I barely catch myself before I land on my ass. Not only does he want me to track a man that clearly doesn’t want to be found, but he’s also the reason my entire life has fallen apart.

I take a deep breath and slip back into my chair, not trusting my shaky legs to hold me up. “What do you want me to do?”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ORION

Asking to see Ember again is a risk for a lot of reasons.

The first being that by showing an obvious interest in the girl, that asshat Lucas is going to know she means something to me.

The second is that I’m not ready to drag her into my orbit yet. There are things outside of my control that I must get in order before I can bring her into the fold and claim her as mine.

And the third is that I don’t know how long I’ll be able to sit in the corner without needing my hands on her. I’m a man known for patience. I’ve had to have a lot of it to get to where I am. But there’s something about my little flame that makes it hard to remember why I need to be patient. She makes me reckless, and that’s not something I can afford to be right now.

But I can’t stay away anymore.

The months of patience I’ve had to this point have been hard fought, but I need to have her in any capacity I can manage.

I slide my car into an empty parking spot behind our main warehouse, where I conduct most of my business, before double-checking the cameras. At this time of night, there shouldn’t be anyone here, which means I can forgo the mask. But I’mnot willing to risk it. I’ve gone too many years without anyone knowing my identity. I’m not about to fuck it up now.

Once I’m sure the only person in the building is Killian, I slip out of the car and use the side door to enter the warehouse. There are pallets in the center of the huge space and a forklift parked beside them. It’s a new shipment of fentanyl that’s just arrived from the Middle East, but I want to check the quality before we start distribution. I haven’t gotten to where I am today without knowing to be wary of new suppliers.

I find Killian in the small control room that overlooks all of our warehouses across the city, his eyes locked on one screen in particular. “Hey.”

He doesn’t bother looking up from the screen, sparing me but a grunt in acknowledgment. “Where have you been?”

I chuckle and fold myself into the spare chair by the door. Only he can get away with talking to me like that, and he knows it. I answer to no one, but Killian is as close to a friend as I have, making me much more likely to answer his question honestly.

“I was at The Velvet Room,” I tell him honestly, which finally tears his attention from the screen.

“You were at a strip club?” he asks incredulously. “What the fuck were you doing there?”

I consider my answer for a beat before deciding I’ve already come this far. Why not go the whole nine yards? Killian may not have an interest in getting a woman of his own, but he knows I’ve longed for a queen for years and has helped me anytime I needed it to make that happen.

There’s a chance Lucas will become suspicious by how often I demand to see her, and that means she’ll soon need another layer of protection that I can’t offer by myself.

“I saw Ember.”

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