“And the speechless guy behind Lawrence is Thiago Zamora,” I tell her. “Zamora, say hi—”
“Mine,” he snarls instead, and I blink at him in surprise. His gaze is trained on Hannah, his nostrils flared as he sniffs the air.
“What?” she frowns at him, and when he shoves Lawrence out of the way, she backs up, clearly startled.
“Shit,” Lawrence breathes. Then he taps the button on his earpiece. “All hands on deck. Er…in the galley. Now. We’ve got a situation with Zamora’s beast.”
“Thiago?” I say. But his gaze never leaves Hannah. “What’s going on?”
“Whoa, man, wait a minute.” Lawrence spins and steps in front of him, blocking her from his sight while he waves both of us back. And slowly retreats with us.
Thiago storms across the floor, and he makes it halfway across the galley, a vicious snarl echoing from his throat, before Vaughn races into the room and steps into his path.
“Zamora,” Vaughn growls softly. “Stand down, man. Let’s talk about this.”
“Move,” Zamora snarls, and his face begins to swell as a subtle armor hardens his cheekbones and brow ridge. He’s preparing to fight.
He’s preparing to fight Vaughn.
“Okay, I get what’s happening here, but you have to at least introduce yourself first.” Vaughn lowers his voice into a whisper. “You’re going to scare the shit out of her.”
“My mate will not be frightened of me,” Thiago insists, and I’m stunned by the change in him.
Vaughn exhales slowly. “She will if—”
Thiago throws him out of the way, and Vaughn sails across the galley to crash into the cabinets. Hannah shrieks in terror as Thiago storms toward her, and I leave her with Lawrence as I race across the cargo hold behind him, to where Vaughn is crumpled on the floor.
He sits up as I reach him.
“Are you okay?” I ask as I help him to his feet.
“I’m fine,” he mumbles, rubbing a still-forming lump on the side of his head.
“What’s happening?” I demand softly. “I get that he thinks she’s his, but you weren’t like that when we met.”
“Zamora’s beast is…unpredictable. Unreasonable,” he adds, as Tirzah and a shirtless Jamison appear in the doorway. Jamison immediately races forward to help Lawrence shield Hannah from a Thiago Zamora I hardly even recognize. He’s…swollen. Part of that is a biological body armor similar to what forms on the surface of Vaughn’s skin, when he needs to defend himself. But beneath those hardened patches of skin, Thiago has literally grown in the three seconds since Vaughn tried to stop him. He’s so swollen with muscle mass that the arms of his tee-shirt have split open, and as I watch, those rips open all the way up his shoulders, where the round collar strains against his thickening neck.
He looks…transformed. As if the beast in his head has had significant luck taking over his body as well.
That doesn’t happen with Vaughn. Or with Captain Sotelo, that I know of.
“Sotelo!” Vaughn shouts. Then he turns back to me. “Take Hannah upstairs, and no matter what happens, stay out of Zamora’s way.”
“I’m not going anywhere!” I insist, frowning at the blood welling from a cut on Vaughn’s forearm, from where he slammed into the open crate. A normal man’s arm would be broken, from that impact. “And anyway, I don’t think he’s going to let her out of this room.”
Sotelo appears in the galley, and he takes in the situation with one glance. “Zamora! Stand down!” he shouts.
Instead, Thiago shoves Jamison aside with one hand and jerks Lawrence off his feet with the other. As if they weigh nothing. And I swear, he’s gained six inches in height and what looks like half his body weight in pure muscle in the time it took him to cross the room.
Hannah screams as he bears down on her, and I race across the now-crowded galley, trying to get to her. But something wraps around my waist and lifts me off my feet before I’ve gone even half the distance.
“Stay,” Vaughn growls as he sets me down, and I can only watch as Thiago backs Hannah past the table. Her chest hitches with every terrified breath, with every shaky step, until her spine hits the far wall.
Thiago stops a foot away, and silence descends across the galley as we wait to see what will happen. Whether or not he needs to be stopped. Though at this point, I doubt any of us could do that.
Jamison and Lawrence regain their feet in silence, rubbing bruises and a couple of cuts while Thiago inhales deeply, holding Hannah’s frightened gaze. He’s so close to her now that there’s hardly any light between them, yet he hasn’t reached for her. He’s holding himself back. Waiting for something.
“Mine?” he says, his beast having evidently reduced his vocabulary to that one inadequate syllable. That one desperate query.
“No.” Hannah’s voice is stronger than I expected. “Not yours,” she insists.
Thiago growls softly. He doesn’t reach for her, but he doesn’t back away either. “Mine,” he repeats, and this time it isn’t a question.
“She said no, man,” Lawrence says, and Thiago turns on him, snarling. “Don’t start that beast shit with me. You asked and she answered. So back the hell down, before we have to—”
Thiago snarls again, and I flinch when he lunges at Lawrence, somehow much larger than the other men, in his beast’s fury.
But then Hannah reaches out and lays one hand on his arm. “Stop. Please,” she says.
And miraculously, Thiago—the beast—stops.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I have to give a HUGE shout-out and thank-you to Bex McLynn for reading an early draft of this novel and giving me the BEST advice. You’re seriously the best, and I’m so fortunate to have met you through my SFR endeavors.
Thanks also to Honey Phillips, to Elizabeth Taylor (CE extraordinaire and friend), and again to Bex McLynn, for last-minute brainstorming and active panic-aversion. I only hope I can be as much help to you all as you are to me.
A NOTE FROM EMMY
Thank you so much for reading Vendetta, the second Project Vetus book!
This story is about six months overdue, and I’m sorry it took me so long. I kept having to put it aside to meet other deadlines, but each time I went back, it was a pleasure to return to Vaughn and Grace, and their fight for true love!
If you liked the story, I hope you’ll decide to review it, wherever you review books. And if you want more, let me know! Obviously, Thiago and Hannah are up next!
If you’d like more information about me or my books, you can find me on my FB group, my Facebook page, Goodreads, BookBub, and at www.emmychandler.com. For alerts about new releases, please sign up for my newsletter!
Emmy
ALSO BY EMMY CHANDLER
The Prison Planet series:
Guardian
Hunter
Champion
Dirty Lies
Hostage
Traitor
The Project Vetus series:
Escape
Vendetta
ABOUT EMMY
Emmy Chandler likes tee-shirts and lattes. She firmly believes every woman deserves an armchair in front of the window, near an outlet close enough to charge an e-reader and power a mug warmer. Her perfect afternoon includes cold weather, thick blankets, warm soup, and a good book.
Emmy has another career under another name.
For more information about Emmy Chandler’s books…
www.EmmyChandler.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Copyright
About The Project Vetus Series
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
A note from Emmy
Also by Emmy Chandler
About Emmy
Vendetta (Project Vetus Book 2) Page 32