by Thorne, Elle
She’d been able to slip out of Sanctuary unnoticed. Now if only she could make it to her place without garnering unwanted attention.
Sanctuary opened up to Vax Tiero’s nightclub called After Dark, one floor below. A glass-and-bar structure, Sanctuary took up the whole forty-third floor of one of the Tiero Towers high rises, one of two side-by-side buildings, built for, owned by, and managed by the Tiero family.
Sanctuary was a unique environment created for shifter relaxation and a bit of nature in the middle of Dallas. The shifters were on view for club patrons. Many nights Layla and the other shifters would be in their shifted form and watch the patrons, often tipsy, enjoying what they thought were wild animals on display.
Five glass-covered walkways connected the buildings, allowing Tieros and visiting shifters to travel from building to building without venturing outside. The Tiero Towers ranked amongst the most extravagant and coveted buildings in Dallas.
Shifters from afar, friendly to the Tiero family, would visit and enjoy the plush vegetation, large lagoon, and intricate cave system. An assortment of caves and tunnels gave the visiting shifters area to roam and hide. Above the caves and tunnels, the shifters, in their werecat forms, of course, enjoyed jungle habitat, including oversized boulders.
Layla’s apartment was ten floors down. She slipped out of the stairwell, more than slightly out of breath, and shoved her electronic key into its slot. The door opened immediately, and she slipped inside.
Whew.
She stripped off her soaked clothes and jumped into the shower without bothering to warm it up. The cold water hit her body; Layla let out a screech.
Serves me right for that shameless act up there.
Except she didn’t feel ashamed. She didn’t feel anything other than even more desire for Gavin.
She was going to corner him and find out what the hell happened to their friendship. If he’d decided he was still hung up on Lila, all he had to do was tell her. She’d deal with it.
Not very well, her fox snarled.
Of course I won’t deal with it very well, but I want him to be happy.
Her fox growled.
No. Fuck wanting him to be happy. I want him. Period. Happy with me. Not just happy. But it doesn’t look like I can have him.
She hopped out of the shower and wrapped a body towel around her torso, securing it above her breast by tucking it in.
A knock sounded at the door.
What timing. “Just a minute.”
She kicked her soiled garments out of the way then thought better of it. Grabbing them, she tossed them into the washer in the adjacent laundry room and turned the water on. The least she could do was dilute the sex-scent if she wasn’t going to get it out of the room completely.
On the way out, she grabbed another towel then ran to the door and checked the peephole.
Callie, Sophie, Lila, and Veila. A smile crept to her face. She liked Vax’s mate, Callie, and the Tiero tigress shifter sisters, Sophie, Lila, and Veila. She felt closer to Sophie because, like Layla, Sophie was single. After Sophie, Layla was closest to Lila. She and Lila shared the whole kidnapped-by-the-Rafferty-wolves experience. She liked Veila, but Veila was like Vax, always busy taking care of Tiero business, hardly ever around, and not one to play much.
She opened the door while she wrapped the towel around her hair.
“What are you doing? It’s Saturday. Let’s go shopping.” Sophie flopped onto the couch, throwing her legs over the armrests.
Layla had a problem. She couldn’t use her father’s credit cards. And she didn’t want to live off Tiero charity. They’d been wonderful hosts. They’d put her up, and she never had to pay for anything—a good thing since she didn’t have her own money.
I have nothing of my own. Everything I own and am is tied to my father.
What she’d give for an identity of her own, one not wrapped up in her father’s family name.
“About that…” Layla started.
“What? Surely you have nothing better to do.” Sophie pouted. She was a pretty thing, full figured like Layla, but with hair so blonde it almost looked white under some lighting. It made quite a contrast next to Layla’s deep-red locks.
“That’s the problem,” Layla huffed. “I don’t have anything better to do. And I want something.” She paused, worked her lip, chewing on it, thinking.
Standing at the breakfast bar, Veila intermittently checked her cell and tapped her fingernails on the granite countertop. “I’ll be damned.”
They all turned to look at her.
“What? Sorry.” Veila smiled sheepishly for interrupting, lowering her eyes. “Another hostess quit. Why the hell is it so hard to get good help these days? We pay well, right?” She looked at her sisters and Callie for confirmation.
“I always thought so.” Callie rubbed her abdomen, pregnant with Vax’s baby. Then she rubbed the small of her back. “I’d still be doing it, but my feet are too swollen for my heels and my body is protesting the hours on my feet.”
“Aww.” Lila hugged Callie. “We’d rather have a little niece than to have you as a hostess.”
“Bite your tongue. If Vax is around, he’s going to tell you it’s a boy.”
“I say it’s a girl.” Lila leaned closed to Callie’s belly. “You hear that, little one? You’re a girl. I’m already thinking of names for you.”
Callie rolled her eyes at the brother-sister argument their baby had spawned since she became pregnant.
Veila laughed then frowned. “I’m going to have to put an ad out for a hostess. Maybe two, so we have a backup, in case.”
Layla cleared her throat. “Uh, Veila?”
Veila turned her intense gaze onto Layla. No wonder Vax found her invaluable. She was astute, driven, and very alpha. She raised a brow. “Yes?” Tap. Tap. Tap. Veila’s nails struck granite, her French manicure beating a rhythm.
“I was thinking of looking for a job.”
“Oh. My. God.” Sophie leapt off the sofa and wrapped her arms around Layla then she pulled back and grabbed Layla’s hand, practically doing a ring-around-the-rosy dance with her in celebration.
Layla stilled. Veila hadn’t said yes. It wasn’t a given. How could she stop Sophie from the bouncing around without putting Veila on the spot?
Veila’s eyes appraised Layla with a steely look. “Have you ever done this sort of thing?”
Shit. Great. No. Of course I haven’t done this sort of thing before. I’m a damned Romanoff daughter. We don’t do “work.” We don’t do anything but let the men run the businesses and enjoy the benefits they reap.
Okay, she couldn’t exactly say that. Her fox snapped a derisive laugh at Layla for getting herself into this jam.
“No. I haven’t.”
“Oh, come on, Velia. I can teach her. It’s not rocket science. It’s just entertaining people and keeping them happy. Can’t you tell she’d be a natural at it?”
Veila nodded. “We’ll give you a shot. I’ll have someone from Human Resources…”
Layla smiled at the irony of the phrase “Human Resources,” since she wasn’t exactly fully human.
Veila smiled back. “I’ll have someone from Human Resources get the paperwork to you.”
Shit. “Oh,” Layla exclaimed. That wasn’t going to work. At all. “I can’t do that.”
“You can’t do what?” Veila looked up from tapping a message on her phone.
“I can’t have a paper trail of where I work. I was hoping for a cash-under-the-table sort of deal?”
Oh, God. I sound more like my father’s daughter than ever.
Callie, Sophie, and Lila sat down, their eyes glued on the exchange. Layla felt awkward, but she had to stand her ground on this one. It was this or she’d have to go.
“Why’s that? Are you in trouble with the law?” Veila frowned.
“Oh, no. Not that at all.”
“Then you’re avoiding someone?” Veila surmised.
Only my father. “Som
ething like that.”
“It won’t be the first time we’ve done that. Or the second,” Veila said. “We set Maia up with a position with Rafe. Same circumstance, no paper trail. She’ll be leaving for Rome soon.”
Sophie pushed her hair back, pulled it up, and secured it into a makeshift bun with a pencil. “I’m thinking of going with Maia.”
“No!” Layla’s exclamation was louder than she’d intended. Sophie was her best friend. She couldn’t imagine being here without her. Things felt awkward with Lila sometimes because of Gavin and their prior relationship, even though Lila said it was never serious.
Their heads all turned in Layla’s direction, and she scrambled for a response. “I’ve barely gotten to know you. And now you’re going to leave already?”
“I’ll be back, silly.” Sophie smiled at her, shaking her head. “I need to face a few things I haven’t.”
“Yeah, like being a chicken and running out when our father came for a visit.” Veila snorted. “You all left me holding the bag. Thanks a lot.” Her smile said she forgave them.
“Hey,” Lila said. “I went with Cy to take Petra home. I had a legit excuse.”
“Sure, sure.” Veila stuck her tongue out.
“Where is Maia?” Layla asked.
The leopard shifter, who’d been with them and also a prisoner of the Raffertys, rarely went out. She kept to herself, insisted on paying her way, and reimbursed Vax for the apartment, claiming simply that she wanted a new start in life and wanted to get the hell out.
Rumors about Maia circulated among the shifters, but none of them were concrete, and she kept to herself so much no one really had a clue where she was from, what she did, where her money came from… They had no clue at all, except that she’d been kidnapped by the Raffertys who’d planned to put her into the fighting ring.
Layla hoped they’d find the ones who’d financed the Raffertys’ abduction of shifters to fight in underground matches. The Houston Nielsen wolf shifters, Rory and Reese Nielsen, said they’d handle it.
Vax had faith they would.
Layla hoped so.
“Layla?” Lila put her arm around her. “Are you okay? You have a nasty look on your face.” Lila cocked her head. “Thinking about the Raffertys?”
“Yeah. That obvious, huh?”
“They’re dead you know. Both of them. Vax said they’d been taken care of.”
“Yeah, but they had bosses, the ones who owned the fighting rings.”
“Rory and Reese will take care of it. We’re safe,” Lila assured her.
Easy for her to say, she had a supersized Siberian tiger shifter for a boyfriend who protected her twenty-four seven.
“About to the job thing.” Veila brought them back around to business. “If you take a position here, you’ll still be in the area. Would you rather go to Europe? I can have Rafe set—”
“No!” Layla hadn’t meant to be that loud. Gavin was here. No way would she go to Europe if it meant she couldn’t see him.
Her fox rumbled in her head that it would be one step removed from her father.
Hush, Layla admonished her fox. I’m not leaving Gavin behind, don’t worry.
Her fox yapped in agreement, almost sounding like she was laughing with delight.
“So it’s settled,” Veila said. “You can start on Monday.” She pointed at Sophie. “You’re in charge of her training.”
Sophie fist-pumped then hugged Layla. “It’s going to be so much fun.”
Layla prayed the fact she had zero skills in working in a bar wouldn’t hurt.
Oh, who am I kidding? I have a ton of experience being in bars. I’ll just be on the opposite end now. How hard can it be?
She hoped she wouldn’t regret that last thought.
Chapter Five
Gavin watched her, elbows leaning on the tabletop, chin resting on his knuckles. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Not even if he’d wanted to. He was at his table in After Dark, monitoring the merrymakers, shifters and humans alike. His table was on the balcony—the VIP section overlooking the entire club.
Except something was very different now. Layla was working here. And, somehow, the dynamic of her being here as an employee, and the moment they’d shared but not shared in Sanctuary, made things different. Very different and he felt as if his head was in a margarita machine, spinning round and round.
Things had been much simpler when they’d been just friends, or at least when he’d convinced himself they were just friends.
The music thumped a primal tempo, the bass beat vibrated in his body, loud, sexy, and primeval. The rhythm made him think of thrusting. Damned if he could help thinking about anything but sex when she was around.
He watched her move around the dance floor, navigating tables, visiting with the guests, lightly flirting in a casual and professional manner. The green evening dress she wore ended just above her knees and displayed her curves in ways he wished he could hide from all the male eyes drawn to her as if by a magnetic force.
Those full hips, the low-cut front showing her cleavage, and the equally low-cut back that almost came down to her ass.
He ground his teeth in frustration when almost every man glanced at her as she passed. And every man did a double take, drinking in her curves, shiny red hair, and full lips.
She never took things to the next level, no matter how hard the males, shifter and non-shifter, tried. She remained aloof, an ice princess. Exotically beautiful and as remote as an iceberg, deep down, emotionally.
Iceberg.
Interesting thought. She reminded him of one, as in ninety percent of her lay hidden beneath the surface.
What secrets are you hiding, my beautiful red-haired ice princess? And are your secrets as bad as my own?
He doubted that.
Dane approached, striding in his stealthy, toe first manner, his walk reminding Gavin of the days in the Middle East when Dane would come in to report to Gavin on the progress their team had made on one mission or another.
He was probably coming to talk to Gavin about the trespassing shifters they hadn’t been able to locate. Gavin had gone out to the area the shifters were supposed to have been scented in but found nothing. Trackers had found nothing. Hell, Gavin had asked Cy to track and even he had come up dry.
Whoever had been in their territory had either left or passed through, though Gavin was inclined to believe if anyone had actually passed through, there’d be more evidence.
He wondered if the Raffertys had any cousins who cared about them enough to try to retaliate. He doubted it. The Raffertys were not a loyal bunch, unless it came to money. They were fiendishly loyal to money.
Who else would dare breech territorial boundaries and enter onto Tiero ground? He was still reluctant to bother Vax without concrete facts. He wondered if he should make a call to Mae. He hated to disturb her this early in an investigation. They had no definite clue what kind of shifter it was, though Cy had said his best bet was polar bear.
Gavin wasn’t close enough to any polar bear clans to be able to name them. Then again, he minded his own business, typically. There’d been two polar bears in his Sigma Eps outfit in the Middle East.
The first one was better off dead.
The other was a whole other story. Actually, the other one was a good man. Good shifter.
Malachi. If Gavin needed to, he could always reach out to Malachi for some answers.
Dane pulled up a chair and took a seat, his gaze constantly surveying the club. “We checked again. No sign.”
Gavin shook his head. “I don’t want to chalk this up to coincidence or a one-time thing, but it’s not looking like we have anything definitive to take action on.”
“Agreed. I posted a team in that area. If they come back…”
Gavin nodded. Enough said.
Dane indicated the area below Gavin’s table with a nod. “And her?”
“Her?” Gavin raised a brow.
A sneer crossed Dane’s face, n
ot unfriendly but definitely on the arrogant side. “Sure, let’s pretend we don’t know each other that well. Let’s pretend we don’t know I’m talking about Layla.”
“What about her?”
“Things any better?”
Gavin gripped the tabletop, his knuckles turning white. “There’s nothing to make any better. I don’t have the time for women. Or relationships. And you know my history. For fuck’s sake, I was a sliver away from being found guilty by a shifter court. I have other things on my mind.”
“You weren’t even going to be charged if I had my way.”
“I appreciate all you did.” Gavin ran his hand over his jaw and the itchy stubble there.
“I didn’t do anything but tell the truth when they questioned me. And I’m glad you killed that motherfucker.”
“Yeah, well…” Gavin looked away, hoping Dane would understand and drop the subject. It was still a sore point, and one his father hadn’t forgiven him for.
His gaze went back to the arctic fox ice princess whose panties and heart he wanted to get into.
She looked right at him. Her dark-green eyes appeared darker from this distance, her scrutiny steady and penetrating.
He ran his gaze over body then focused on her eyes, daring her to drop hers first.
Chapter Six
Layla had enough of Gavin’s evasion bullshit. He didn’t have to be her lover, but he had no right to take his friendship away. He was the only male she talked to in this town, and now she had no one. She grew up with males. She loved the Tiero tigresses, but Layla was accustomed to talking to her brothers. And she missed that.
At first she had Gavin, but then he had pulled that away.
Sorry I went and fell in love with you, but do you have to be an asshole to me now?
No, she couldn’t say that. Her fox laughed at her.
You got a better idea?
The fox mused, her thoughts filtering into Layla’s head.
I will not do that. I most certainly will not, Layla replied.
Her fox snarled.