years. Even though every part of Dodge insisted that no one would ever get between him and Persephone, he didn’t want to piss off Evershaw too much after the man finally released him from the cellar.
He would have preferred having Silas next to him during the nerve-wracking wait for Persephone to arrive from the hospital, but Evershaw had been clear that wolves wouldn’t be allowed in that neighborhood, even if they insisted it was a ‘husky’ or ‘wolf hybrid.’ From the way the alpha muttered it, Dodge sensed perhaps he’d tried it before and failed miserably.
Still, though. A few deep breaths the moment he stepped outside gave Dodge a fresh hint of Persephone’s scent, though it was complicated by hospital smells: pain, bleach, medications, and harsh soap. He wanted her to smell like herself again. And him. He wanted her to smell like him, like his soap and his sheets and his bed. His skin. Dodge closed his eyes for a moment to try and absorb the pain before it destroyed him completely and sent him into another spiral of madness.
He still lingered on the sidewalk when Todd, Evershaw, and Edgar Chase appeared and crossed over to stand near him. Chase shook his hand. “Dodge. Your girl is safe and sound inside with Deirdre and Mercy. They’re feeding her and giving her pain meds before Deirdre leaves.”
Some of the tension eased in his chest, and Dodge nodded to the lion. “Thank you.”
Edgar checked his watch. “There’s twenty-four hour security in the lobby as well as the garage entrance and the elevators. The concierge team has been informed that Miss Lawson has an aggressive ex-boyfriend who has threatened her, and thus we’ve upgraded the security system and require screening of every guest who enters the building. They’ve also been informed that she’s family and has access to any of the apartments and vehicles the Chases own. We’ll go back in a day or so to update her on all of this; she was pretty overwhelmed so we figured it was time to leave.”
Dodge’s heart tripped at the other man’s observation that Persephone had been tired and at the end of her rope. He didn’t want to hear that, not when he couldn’t go and help her.
Evershaw folded his arms over his chest and leveled a dark look at Dodge, as if he sensed his discomfort. “And the O’Sheas have mobile patrols throughout this neighborhood. If anyone is looking for her, they won’t be able to get to her. They won’t even get to the building.”
It wasn’t good enough. Dodge’s throat went dry at the thought. She wouldn’t be safe until he could make sure of it. “The detective was confident they wouldn’t come after her. That the threat had passed. I don’t believe it.”
Edgar nodded, his eyes dark with irritation. “Once she got to the bottom of the dirty cop who shot you and kidnapped Miss Lawson for Bridger, yes. O’Brien is confident that Bridger is gone and will not return.”
“We should have just killed the bitch,” Evershaw muttered. “Instead of giving her the chance to leave.”
“It was a very limited time offer,” Todd said. He’d been the one to work with the detective on getting rid of the loan-shark. Evershaw had been tied up keeping Dodge from going completely out of control and destroying half the city. Todd shook his head. “O’Brien found the one dirty cop and dealt with him, but it is definitely possible – likely, even – that Bridger had more on her payroll. Killing her would have raised too much of a fuss and kicked off an investigation. We gave Bridger twenty-four hours to leave the city and O’Brien locked down all of her bank accounts. Bridger is gone. Smith set some of his friends to keep an eye on her and make sure she’s not trying something shitty to get back at you, so for now, it’s as resolved as we can make it.”
Dodge scowled and debated tracking Bridger down himself to deal with things. “A grave would have been better. It’s the only thing she deserves.”
The others grumbled in agreement. Edgar and Evershaw went on discussing security arrangements and screening procedures, but Dodge’s attention remained on the apartment building across the street. As much as he wanted to barge into the building and check on Persephone himself, he remembered the terror on her face when she’d seen him as a wolf in the hospital. He couldn’t repeat that. Seeing her afraid of him again