Page 5 of Softer Than Stone
My fear spiked as I realized what that meant. Waru wasn’t running. He was staying, likely to deal with whatever fallout hit his restaurant.
“Damn it,” I muttered, reaching for the hatch door.
“Chris?” Lucas asked sharply.
“Waru’s not leaving,” I said.
There was a beat of silence.
“Keep him alive,” Lucas ordered finally. “Team’s almost there. Don’t engage unless you have no choice.”
A burst of static followed as Michaels’s voice chimed in. “For the record, Waru staying behind doesn’t surprise me. Stubborn chef. Hot chef. Kind of fits his whole vibe, doesn’t it?”
“Not the time, Michaels,” I snapped.
“Oh, but it is. You’re makingthatface again, Chris.”
I ignored him and the fact he must be staring at me through the camera feed and pushed through the hatch, my focus narrowing on Waru. He turned as I approached, his jaw set and his eyes blazing with that fierce determination that looked far too hot on him.
“We’re clearing out the staff,” he said before I could open my mouth. “But I’ve got patrons still on the floor. I’m not leaving until everyone’s safe.”
I stepped closer, lowering my voice. “Waru, this isn’t your fight. Kole’s not someone you want to cross. If she gets here?—”
“If she gets here, I’ll deal with it,” he interrupted, his tone clipped.
“No, you won’t,” I said sharply. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with. Kole’s not just dangerous—she’s lethal. If you stay, you’re putting everyone here in even more danger.”
His gaze hardened, but I didn’t miss the flicker of fear beneath the defiance.
“I’m not leaving them,” he said firmly.
And damn it, I knew he meant it.
Fuck.I had to move. I leaned in close to Waru, close enough that I could feel his warmth, smell the faint, clean scent of him that made my chest tighten. Steel hardened my voice. “You stay safe. You stay away from the front windows. And so fucking help me, if you die before I get the chance to finally kiss you, I’m going to kick your arse.”
His breath hitched, red touching his cheeks, but I spun around quickly, unable to make good on the desire pulsing through me to capture his lips with mine.
The tiger was my target. Incapacitate but not maim, plus I needed him to walk out of here. Me carrying the man out wasn’t on my bingo card tonight.
I moved fast, crossing the space between the kitchen and the restaurant floor in measured, deliberate strides. My focus zeroed in on the tiger shifter now standing at Brax’s side. He was tall, broad, and looked like he bench-pressed small cars for fun—but big didn’t mean fast. I’d dealt with his type before.
“Agent Flint,” Waru hissed behind me, but I didn’t slow. “Chris” followed, but there was no turning back.
The tiger shifter didn’t catch my movement until I was already on him. My elbow slammed into his solar plexus, driving the air from his lungs with a wheezing grunt. Before he could recover, I pivoted behind him, locking his arms in a vice grip and sweeping his legs out from under him. He went down hard, the crack of the floorboards echoing as his head smacked against them.
Jenna screamed, the sharp sound cutting through the restaurant like a blade. Brax flinched, paling so rapidly, I thought he might pass out on the spot.
The tiger writhed beneath me, his growls of anger quickly turning to pained snarls as I pressed a knee into his spine,keeping him pinned. “Don’t move,” I ordered, voice flat and uncompromising.
The tiger froze. Smart move.
I glanced up, locking eyes with Brax. The man was trembling so badly, I could see his hands shaking where they gripped the edge of the table.
“Here’s how this works, Brax,” I said coldly. “You’re coming with me. You’re going to spill every goddamn piece of intel you have on Prue Kole and her network. Every name, every location, every transaction. You give us what we need, and you might just walk out of this alive.”
“Might?” His voice cracked.
I bared my teeth in a humourless grin. “Might. If you don’t take the deal, here’s what happens: I arrest you, drag your sorry ass in, and you get to watch Kole’s people take you apart piece by piece once you’re sent down. Or option three—you end up dead right here. Your call.”
