"Gumdrop," Zed barked, stomping his grumpy ass back into the kitchen. "Don't you have shit to do?"
Lucas dragged his full lower lip through his teeth, his heated gaze locked on my face as his hands caressed my breasts through the thin lace bra I wore. "Hell yeah, I do," he murmured, and I didn't suspect for even a second he was referring to his schoolwork.
Zed gave an irritated sound. "Dare—"
"Dial it down, Zed," I told him in a cool voice that only slightly implied violence. "Don't forget your place."
His mouth snapped shut, but his glare intensified until I huffed and slid out of Lucas's embrace.
"Raincheck," I murmured before rising up to kiss Lucas quickly, then I stalked toward Zed with my shirt in hand. "I take it Alexi wasn't calling for a friendly chat?"
He gave a tight headshake, but his eyes were glued to my chest. Fuck’s sake. In an attempt to redirect the energy, I tugged my shirt back over my head.
"Right," he muttered, shaking his head. "Let's talk in the office."
He led the way, and I didn't argue. I got the feeling he was only relocating to the office to help his own head shift gears into work mode, not because he didn't trust Lucas and Cass overhearing what we spoke about. So I took his cue and gave myself a quick mental slap before we got to the office. Compartmentalizing was my sharpest weapon.
6
Zed didn't sit down at his desk, which was a smart choice. My patience was running thin with his attempts at bigger dick energy than me. It was a competition I had no interest in coming in second place for, so he was wise not to fucking test me.
Instead, he stopped in the middle of the room and spun around to glare at me with blazing eyes as I closed the office door.
"We need to talk," he snapped, "about what happened upstairs."
I shook my head, the denial strong. "Nah, I'd rather not. What was Alexi calling for?"
Disbelief flashed across his handsome features, and a frustrated frown creased his brow. "That's childish."
"Is it?" I retorted, my face carefully expressionless and cold. "Luckily, I don't give a shit. What was Alexi calling for?"
Zed glared at me a moment longer, then swiped his hand over his face. "He got a tip about a situation down in Arizona, some botched smuggling job that got busted by the feds."
"Okay, so what does that have to do with us?" I folded my arms over my chest and stiffened my stance so I wouldn't be tempted to pace nervously. As it was, I could barely focus on keeping my game face on so Zed couldn’t catch me checking him out.
Zed grimaced. "The shipment was girls. When the job got botched, someone must have tipped the smugglers off because every single girl was dead when the feds got there."
I stiffened, ice forming in my gut. "Dead how?"
"Alexi's guy didn't have the specifics but said it looked like they'd been poisoned." His gaze was hard, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.
Closing my eyes, I swallowed back the furious scream that threatened to rise in my throat. "Chase."
Poisoning the human cargo with lethal gas was an initiative Chase's uncle had come up with. No witnesses meant no one could link them to the trafficking. If any of their "shipments" were ever threatened, there was a remotely triggered gas canister stored in every container.
"That was my thought," Zed agreed. "This was out of state, so it could be a copycat. Plenty of scum have stepped into the void left by the Lockharts and your father’s Timberwolves."
I sighed. "Could be, yeah. But you know what I think of coincidences."
Zed jerked a nod. "I told Alexi to keep his ear to the ground and report back if he hears anything more."
"Good," I muttered, biting the edge of my thumbnail. "We need to start getting proactive with Chase. My plan with Cass is long term, but we need to start cutting Chase off at the knees now. Otherwise, none of us will be alive to play the long game."
His eyes narrowed. "Why haven't you filled me in on this plan?"
I bit my nail harder, accidentally nipping skin and tasting blood. No response was needed, though.
Zed just gave a short, bitter laugh and shook his head. "You don't trust me."
I cringed. "I do trust you," I whispered. "But—"
"I get it," he cut me off, giving a bitter smile. "Believe