Hunting Ember (Pride of Alphas #1) - Milly Taiden Page 0,48

filming of the competition had been put on hold while the police investigated the poisoning. As unfortunate as that had been, it had set a fire under the network’s ass. They couldn’t just turn a blind eye as they had done with Greg.

The man had been questioned by the police twice already, and short of pissing his pants, he had nothing of interest to say. He really was only after good ratings for his show. He was an opportunistic prick like the rest of the F&D Network.

Bottom line: someone was after his mate, but he didn’t know who.

Kai hated feeling powerless. He was the leader of his pride, he ran a security business, and he couldn’t even catch whoever was after his mate? It was a ridiculous notion. One he hated.

He slammed his car door and raced up his parents’ front porch. He would feel better just as soon as he had Ember in his arms again. He opened the front door, taking care to lock it behind him. Silvester immediately latched himself onto his leg, begging to be dragged across the floor. Sophie plopped down on his other foot in a fit of giggles. Kai picked up both kids, one in each arm.

“What am I gonna do when there are three of you? Uncle Kai only has so many arms.”

“Auntie Ember said she would help me hide the baby forever,” Silvester whispered with a mischievous grin.

“Oh, you kids. Come on, you have mustard all over your hands, and now you’ve gone and dirtied your uncle’s clothes.” Mom took Sophie and scrubbed at the little girl’s face with a washcloth. “Sorry, Kai. They were halfway through their sandwiches. They’re faster than me.”

“It’s fine, Ma.” He brought Silvester back to the dining room and put him into his seat, pointing to the ham and cheese sandwich. The little terror picked up a chip instead. Kai looked around, searching for his lady. “Where is everyone?”

“Well, Carmen went into labor, so your brother took her to the hospital. Your father is putting a load of laundry on the line, and Ember left.”

Everything stilled. “Excuse me?” he growled.

“Don’t take that lion tone with me, Kai Mason. She got a call from her boss. There was a fire at her bakery—”

“Fuck,” he raged, heading for the door.

“What’s happened?” Mom shouted after chiding him for swearing.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Silvester and Sophie chanted as Kai slammed the door behind him.

There was no fire at the bakery.

Ciro was after Ember.

Chapter Eighteen

Ember

Ember slowly came back to consciousness. Her head was ringing from the hit, but she knew exactly where she was.

The basement of the bakery.

She had spent too much time in the bakery’s stock room not to recognized the stained floor and stocked up shelving. Her hands were tied behind her back, rope digging into her skin. Ciro was pacing in front of her, running his hands through his greasy hair over and over again.

The man looked unhinged. Nothing like the high-strung professional she knew him to be.

“Ciro, what the hell is going on?” she snapped. “Let me go.”

“No! Shut up. Let me think.”

Ember shook her head, completely surprised. Had she expected this from her boss? Absolutely not. He was not even supposed to be in the country. The last time she had spoken to him was to tell him that she had been selected for Bakers Gotta Bake. He had been congratulatory, but he had also warned her that she couldn’t win.

How that translated into tying her up in the bakery’s basement, she would have loved to know.

“Help!” she shouted with all of her might. “Help!” She yelled it out again and again.

Ciro backhanded her. The hit was a shock to the system.

Who the fuck was this guy? She’d worked for him for years. Never had he given any inclination that he could be violent.

“I said, shut up.” His eyes, which had always been cold and judgmental, were downright murderous. “I closed the bakery. There’s no one up there to save you.”

“What is your plan here, jerkwad?” Shut up, brain. He’ll straight up kill me if I don’t stop goading him. “You called me. Your phone number will be in my call log when the cops come looking for me. You’ll be in big trouble.” Plus, my mate is a lion who will eat you like a human cannoli. No! This is wrong. Be quiet for once in your life, Ember!

“It would have all been fine if you had just stopped trying to compete. Why couldn’t you just