Head Hunter (City Shifters the Pack #3) - Layla Nash Page 0,35

poking their noses where they don’t belong and uncovering things that shouldn’t be messed with.” Bridger managed to sound disappointed and threatening at the same time. “Good thing our tiger is rather well-behaved, isn’t he?”

“I’ve always thought so,” Persephone whispered.

Before she could say anything else, Dodge said, loudly enough for Bridger to hear, “Ms. Lawson, we need to get moving if we don’t want to be late to meet with the client.”

“Oh my,” Bridger said before Persephone could react. “Who do we have here, with such a deep and commanding voice?”

Dodge made a face but forced himself into professionalism as he freed the phone from Persephone’s frozen fingers. “I’m Ms. Lawson’s new assistant. I look forward to meeting you, Ms. Bridger. If you’ll just excuse us? I’ll make sure Ms. Lawson has a return call on her schedule tomorrow first thing.”

The loan shark chuckled, and Dodge had to wonder if she recognized his voice. They’d crossed paths before when one of the dumb kids in the pack had a gambling problem he hid from the pack. Dodge had been one of the pack enforcers that Evershaw sent to pay off Bridger and warn her away from messing with the pack again. She hadn’t taken the helpful hints well.

But Bridger almost purred as she answered. “I look forward to it, young man. Persephone, enjoy that new client. I look forward to seeing more of your work. Do keep yourself out of trouble, dear. I’d hate for that curious nature of yours to get in your way.”

“Of course,” Persephone said, though her words came out more strangled than Dodge liked.

Dodge disconnected the call and shoved her phone in his pocket, wanting to grab Persephone’s shoulders to give her a shake. What the hell had she been thinking? Things had been going so well, and then whatever it was about the tiger’s cage...

“She knows,” Persephone said in a whisper. “She has to know. She wouldn’t have said – the curiosity kills the cat thing. She’s never said anything like that before, and normally she’s so much more – more – just friendly, and she wanted to mentor me and what if –“

“Easy,” Dodge said, catching her shoulders to steady her. His frustration evaporated in the face of her rising fear. “We don’t know that. She could have been trying to make you panic, see if you reacted with a guilty conscience.”

Which she almost had.

She stared at his chest, breathing too fast, and shook her head. “She knows.”

“It’ll be okay.”

Persephone glared at him. “How will this possibly be okay?”

He almost told her because he would make it okay. That she was almost part of a pack, whether she knew it or not, and that SilverLine didn’t let one of their members deal with trouble alone. That Bridger was a common enemy and it was time the packs did something about the trouble she created in the city. But at the heart of it... Dodge would make sure she was okay. He’d do anything to make sure.

But he damn well couldn’t say it.

He arched an eyebrow and checked his watch. “We’re early, but we’ll run some errands before we head to the restaurant to meet with Evershaw, and then we’ll figure out how to fix this.”

Persephone started shaking her head. “This doesn’t have anything to do with him, or with you. She doesn’t know you were there. Why would either of you help me with this?”

He could have told her that his wolf wanted her to be safe, or that the man loved the thought of her sleeping in his bed, wearing his clothes, living in his den. He could have admitted what he couldn’t even admit to himself: their lives were intertwined because she was his mate. It was the only explanation.

But it wasn’t fair to put that on her. She’d known about shifters barely a day, and nothing good had happened to her since meeting him. Dodge steeled himself and shrugged, going to the door to check the peephole. “We know Bridger. She’s... caused problems before.”

“She can’t be behind this,” Persephone said, but she no longer sounded quite so certain.

Dodge opened the door and checked the hall, then held out a hand to her. “Then there’s no reason to worry about talking to Evershaw about her. Right?”

She still hesitated, standing there in her living room. He waited. He knew he’d wait as long as it took.

Chapter 15

Percy

I wanted to hide in the apartment after Ms. Bridger’s voice hardened and murmured about curiosity killing