by Maia Dylan
EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2018 Maia Dylan
ISBN: 978-1-77339-557-9
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Karyn White
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
For Jackson…
THEIR CHANCE AT REDEMPTION
Retribution, 2
Maia Dylan
Copyright © 2018
Chapter One
“Why the sad face, Alpha Kitty?”
Kieran sighed at the upbeat female voice behind him. The solitude he had sought out in the forest beside the pride house was most definitely now a thing of the past. Violet Riccitelli was an enigma and a force to be reckoned with, and one Kieran respected more than she knew.
“What, I can’t just sit outside and enjoy the day?” Kieran was relieved that his voice sounded normal despite his inner turmoil. “Not everyone runs at a million miles an hour, you know, Ms. Violet.”
He looked down at the diminutive woman who now stood at his side. Her size was completely misleading. She could kick the ass of anyone who dared face off against her, and if you tried to mix it up with a battle of wills or wits, then you were an even bigger idiot than what she was about to make of you.
Violet smiled, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “Well, sure! I mean Jacob and Mason are often standing out in the forest staring at nothing in particular—not.” Violet moved to stand in front of him, and her peculiar purple eyes did that strange, glowy thing they did when she was reading someone. “They certainly never have that thread of disharmony in their auras. So, I say again, and you know how I hate to repeat myself, Alpha mine, why the sad face?”
Violet had the ability to read a person’s aura. It was a fantastic strength to have in his pride, and now that the woman was mated and engaged to two of his own, she was a valued and trusted member of his senior team. The frustrating thing was that she saw too damn much, and the more time she spent with Kieran the easier it was for her to see things that he was usually able to hide.
“Just waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Kieran began, thinking to give the woman something that sounded viable without having to go into too much detail. “Santiago is dead and gone.”
“And can I get a hallelujah chorus on that one!” Violet said with a grin, her hands raised to the heavens. Kieran laughed at the picture she made. Despite the fact that Roberto Santiago was her biological father, there was no love lost between the two. Santiago had made her childhood a nightmare and had killed the one man who had been her shining light when she was twelve years old. It had taken many years for Violet to see justice served against that prick, and Kieran was pleased as hell that he had been the one to deliver the killing blow and take that fucker out of the world screaming. Just like Kieran had promised he would.
“You and I both know that Santiago wasn’t the head of the organization,” Kieran reminded her. “He was evil as fuck and ran the operations here in Chicago, sure, but he had to have been bankrolled and supported by someone higher. That means there is a replacement coming, or for all we know, already here in Chicago. We may have won that particular battle, but we have yet to win the war.”
Violet’s gaze narrowed on him, but this time not in that eerie reading aura way, but more in the manner a woman has when she knows the person she is talking to happens to employing a “divert and distract” tactic.
“Josie,” Violet said the name out of the blue, and immediately the image of the woman popped into his mind, her blonde pixie haircut giving her a look of sexy sass and, combined with her full lips and startling blue eyes, took his breath away.
“Aha!” Violet exclaimed excitedly, pointing a finger up at him accusingly. “This melancholy vibe you got going on has nothing to do with the challenges this city faces from Santiago’s douchebag replacement heading this way, and everything to do with Josie Cadman. I knew you had the hots for her, and I totally know she’s jonesing for you, so what’s the holdup? Let’s get to the mating, claiming, biting stage of your relationship so I can get me some female companionship around here. There is way too much—um, wait. What’s that look for?”
Kieran had winced when Violet had talked about mating and claiming Josie, and there was a very good damn reason for that. Josie was not his mate, at least not in the true shifter sense of the word. As soon as he had walked into that warehouse four months ago to face Santiago and help Violet rescue Josie, he had wanted Josie for his own. Everything within him screamed that she was theirs—hell, even his damn lion roared with the need to make her his. But the mating bond had not formed. Her scent, an alluring mix of honeysuckle and citrus, called to him for sure, but there was no connection within him that signaled that she was the one woman destined to be his. From what he had been told, there was no missing that when it happened. How could she be his if there was no bond?
“Fuck me sideways,” Violet said gently, stepping back with a look of pure horror on her face. “Forget everything I just said then about, you know the whole mating thing and the fact that Josie is jonesing for some lion loving, because that just might have been a breach of the damn sisterhood code. Nope, not ruining one of the only two female friendships I have, no siree! You just forget I said anything about it and—”
Kieran’s frustrated growl erupted, and Violet stopped rambling. The last thing he needed was for her to go running back to Josie and telling her that Kieran felt nothing for her. “Christ, woman, would you let a man get a word in? Josie is a beautiful, amazing, strong woman that any man would be proud to call his. I would have to be dead from the fucking waist down not to feel anything for her, and she would have to be completely blind and oblivious not to see my reaction to her every damn time she walks into a room.”
Violet frowned. “Then there is something else going on here, because I’m not stupid and have seen the way you both look at each other. Hell, there has been more than one occasion I’ve had to go find my mates for a little somethin’ somethin’ in the afternoon from the sexual tension the two of you give off, if you know what I mean. And if you don’t, I mean in the sexual kinda way.”
Kieran groaned, closing his eyes for a moment. “God damn it, Violet, there’s a visual I just did not need in my day.”
“Then what the hell is the problem?”
Kieran sighed, an ache forming in his chest. “She’s not my mate.” Violet’s eyes widened in surprise. “When a shifter finds the one the Fates have destined for them, they experience a physical reaction. Their scent draws them like nothing else, and their entire being shakes with the knowledge that they have found their mate. It is rare for a shifter who is an only child to find their mate, but I know I have one. Somewhere out there, she exists. I don’t know how I know that, but I do. But it’s not Josie. Despite wanting her with everything within me, I experienced nothing to indicate she is my mate. Without that, then I run the risk of connecting to her, coming to love her, and maybe, if I am the luckiest son of a bitch on the face of the planet, convincing her to fall in love with me. Then what happens if I meet the woman the fates have destined for me? What then, Violet? Because I am all outta answers. I will end up ripping Josie’s heart out, and probably my own at the same time. I can’t do that. Not to her. She’s lost too much
.”
Josie had lost a lot during this damn war. Both her parents had been killed and her sister was missing, presumed a victim of one of Santiago’s human trafficking rings. Kieran had been telling himself since her rescue that he had been taking care of her. That his daily visits were a chance to simply ensure the safety and protection of a woman who had helped him and his pride rid the city of Santiago. But if he were honest with himself, it was because he couldn’t stand for a day to go by without having just a slice of her in his life.
Violet took a deep breath, and Kieran hated the flash of pity that flickered across her expression. “You’re a good man, Kieran Murphy.” Kieran cringed at the words no man ever wanted to hear from a beautiful woman. Sure, she was mated to two of his pride, but the premise remained true. “No, I mean that. My experience with males hasn’t been the best. Other than my Poppa and my mates, there haven’t exactly been a huge number of male role models in my life. But I’m gonna add you to that list, Alpha Kitty. It must be hard to not act on that attraction when you have to know that it is returned.”
Kieran nodded quietly. “You have no idea.”
Every time he got anywhere near her, and took that unique blend of honeysuckle and lavender into his lungs, his body reacted in a visceral way. He knew he wasn’t going to act on that, but he had no idea how he could stop himself from just being near her. And wasn’t that just life kicking him in the proverbial balls?
****
“Well, shit,” Josie muttered as she stared at the piece of paper in her hand. Sixty-four dollars and twenty-five cents. That was the current balance in her savings account and all that stood between her and starvation. Not exactly a pleasant thought.
A gust of cold wind rocked passed her where she stood beside the ATM, and she shivered as she pulled her threadbare coat tighter against her. Sixty-four dollars and twenty-five cents. She closed her eyes as a wave of anxiety washed over her. She didn’t have to be an accountant to work out that her rent of five hundred and seventy dollars, due at the end of next week, was not going to get paid with what she had. She had already been issued with an eviction notice, so things were looking quite dire.
When she’d been attacked, she’d had a decent job as a maître d’, and things were looking up. Then, all of her money went on medication for the injuries she sustained, and with no insurance to speak of, her medical bills crippled her savings completely. She’d taken too much time off, and lost her well-paying job, and now worked as a waitress in a local diner, living hand to mouth. The only problem was when payments were due against her debts. Then she wasn’t left with a lot. She’d forgotten about the balloon payment due this month. Now she was up the proverbial creek without a paddle.
With a determined shake of her head, Josie squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. Complaining about it wasn’t going to accomplish anything. She had to do what she had to do in order to get that rent paid. She had been destitute before, and she swore she would do anything and everything not to go back there again. First thing was to talk to Mr. Underwood and see if she could take all the extra shifts available at the diner. That would help.
She turned on her heels and walked smack into the hard, muscled chest of a man standing directly behind her. She had been so lost in her own misery she hadn’t realized someone had been in line for the machine.
“Oh, my gosh,” she sputtered as strong yet gentle hands steadied her, “I am so sorry. I should have been watching where I was going. I—I um, gee…” Her voice failed her as she stared up at the handsome man before her. He had green eyes that sparkled with amusement, a strong, square jaw, and just the right amount of stubble as far as Josie was concerned. He was tall, at least as tall as Kieran. He was built big, with wide shoulders, muscular arms and although she hadn’t looked further than his chest, the fact that she was pressed up against him gave her the knowledge that those muscles continued all the way down.
The man grinned, and Josie noticed he hadn’t released her even though she had found her footing. Kind of.
“No need to apologize.” Good lord, even his voice was dreamy, with a slight Irish lilt to it that had her fighting the need to fan herself with her hand. “I love it when a beautiful woman throws herself at me like that. Makes me feel wanted.”
Josie’s jaw dropped a little. Was this tall, hot as hell, built like a dream man actually flirting with her? He must have taken her slack-jawed ogling reaction as some kind of medical event because he frowned then asked, “Are you okay, kitten? Are you hurt?”
Mortification filled her face with heat, just as her heart swelled at the endearment he used. “No, no, I’m fine, I’m okay. Nothing wrong with me.”
The man smile was wicked as he tilted his gaze to take in a little more of her body. “I would have to agree that there is absolutely nothin’ wrong with you, kitten,” he drawled, then returned his gaze to hers. “My name is Liam McMurtrie, and I reckon because I was the unwitting victim of a sidewalk collision, you should tell me your name.”
“Well, I guess it is the least I can do,” Josie said with a smile. “I could have knocked you to the ground and all, right? I mean, we are very similar in size.” Liam threw his head back and laughed, a sound that had her giggling like a schoolgirl as it warmed her completely. “My name is Josie Cadman, and it was nice running into you. Literally.”
“Oh, trust me, kitten,” Liam said on a laugh, “the pleasure was all mine. Now, all I have to do is convince you to let me buy you dinner, charm you into falling desperately in love with me, and protect you for the rest of me days.”
Josie’s smile dropped away at that. Protect her for the rest of his days? Although that wasn’t exactly what Kieran had promised her, it was what she wanted above anything else. Wasn’t it?
“Now, what’s put that look on your face, I wonder?” Liam said as he moved his hands from her arms to gently sweep the back of his fingers against her cheek before he stepped back. “Perhaps there is already someone lined up to take that honor. Is that it, Josie-girl? Are you fated to another?”
Josie sighed and shoved her hands in her jacket as she stepped back, putting a little space between them. “Yes. And no. But there might be?” Josie rolled her eyes and groaned. “God, I sound like a complete moron. I am not usually this inarticulate, I promise.”
Liam smiled gently with a shake of his head. “I don’t think you are a moron. I think you are sexy as hell, and I get a glimpse of a sweet, sassy nature that has my—me wanting to desperately get to know you better. If you are, not, maybe, already in a relationship, then what harm would it do to give me your phone number? That way I might be able to convince you that whoever this loser is who has left you feeling unsure of your place in that potential relationship isn’t worth waiting for, and to take a chance with me. I’m patient. I can wait till he fecks up.”
Josie laughed, and it felt good. He made her feel good, and she couldn’t remember feeling so at ease with a man. Even with Kieran she still suffered from nerves that had her tensing at times when she was around him. She felt comfortable with Liam, and the thought of walking away from him made her sad.
Coming to a decision, she smiled. “Do you have a pen?”
Chapter Two
“I expected to hear from you twenty-four hours ago,” Caruso practically snarled over the phone line, and Amadeo Rossi had to bite down on his tongue to keep from snapping back. Caruso might well be on the other side of the world, but his reach was far and fierce.
“I wanted to make sure I had all the information possible before I contacted you.” Rossi attempted to soothe the man, but from the anger-filled sound of impatience that came back over the phone line, he wasn’t successful.
“I thought I made it very clear to you what I wanted,” Caruso said in a clipped tone. “You have a very short amount of time to clean up the fucking mess that waste of space Santiago left behind. That includes killing his bitch of a daughter. I want to know that Chicago is back under my control as soon as fucking possib
le.”
Rossi could feel his blood pressure rising. He was aware of three sets of eyes locked on him, and because all three were shifters in their own right, they were all aware of the conversation. With a glare in their direction, because shifters or not, they were his employees, he indicated with his head that he wanted them out of his office. He didn’t miss the grin on all three of the fuckers’ faces as they stepped out of the room.
“Vincent,” Rossi replied calmly, “I know the plan, and the timeline, and I am doing everything I can to make this happen for you. You gave me six months, but it has only been four. Everything is coming together. I have Santiago’s operations back up and running, and all product movement is controlled by me.”
Caruso was silent for a moment. “I have seen the reports. In that respect your work has been acceptable.” Fucker. “But my sources tell me that little bitch who ended Santiago and cost us millions is still breathing.”
“She is. But her time is limited. I have two of my crew on her at all times. Sooner or later she will be vulnerable, or at least separated from those leopard mates of hers. When that happens, we will take her out.”
“Make sure that bitch pays for what she has cost me,” Caruso snapped. “And I want that to happen soon. I am getting impatient. If I have to come to Chicago, you will not like it. We are coming to a critical part of our plan. We just need a little more time to perfect things, and we will finally have a weapon that will deal to these abominations once and for all with limited impact on the human population.”
“Limited impact?” Rossi repeated.
“Well, when you are exterminating an infestation, there are others that may fall victim to the weapon of choice. But if the end result is the eradication of the unnatural beings that are a mutation to humankind, then anyone who falls victim to that weapon should just be considered collateral damage.”
