Atonement (The Protectors 6)

And with that, he turned away from me and I was disappointed when he didn’t look back. I stood there for several long seconds before I pulled up my pants, my erection waning. I swung around to face the counter and then turned on the water and stuck my hands beneath it. I hated that the reason I was feeling hot all over had nothing to do with desire and everything to do with humiliation.

Thank fuck I was finally getting away from all this…from him.

I scrubbed my hands over my face and ran them through my hair, my fingers sifting through the long curls that made my hair look more like a girl’s rather than a guy’s. Luckily, my exotic features made up for it and I knew I wasn’t hard on the eyes…the exact opposite actually. Not that it did me any good with a guy like Magnus. He saw through the pretty outside to the fucked-up mess on the inside.

Hell, he had no fucking clue how ugly my insides were.

I shook my head and turned off the water. It didn’t matter. Come this time next week, I’d be on my way out of Seattle and hopefully I’d have a new case soon. In the meantime, I’d head back to Chicago to start my search anew. A few months had passed since my last trip and I could only hope there might be a new lead this time around.

My buzzing phone distracted me from my thoughts and when I glanced at it, I saw a text from my boss, Memphis Wheland.

Meet me and Ronan in the office.

Fuck, that couldn’t be good. Or, maybe it could – maybe they already had an assignment for me. It would be the perfect distraction. Nothing like killing a piece of scum to forget you yourself were a worthless piece of shit.

I knew Memphis was talking about Ronan’s personal office since we were at Ronan’s and his husband’s house on Whidbey Island. Hawke and Tate had selected the location for their wedding because of the home’s beautiful view of the Sound. The winter weather, which in Seattle meant rain, rain and more rain, meant the ceremony had taken place inside in a huge sunroom with a view of the water. The Christmas Eve wedding had truly been beautiful with the abundance of lights, poinsettias, and winter themed decorations.

I made my way back downstairs and through the crowd of men and women who were mingling in many of the different rooms in the house now that the reception was winding down.

The office was on the opposite side of the huge house and the door was closed when I got there so I rapped on it with my knuckles before I heard permission granting me entry. My eyes fell on Ronan and Memphis who were standing behind the large cherry desk in the room.

“Come on in, Dante,” Memphis murmured and I automatically closed the door behind me, my fingers trembling with excitement. God, I fucking needed a case – I needed to take out some piece of shit asshole who was hurting kids or women or whatever. Maybe then I could get rid of that goddamn voice in my ear telling me what a loser I was.

Magnus’s voice.

“You wanted to see me?” I asked, just to jumpstart the conversation as I moved farther into the room.

“We have your next assignment,” Memphis said without preamble. It was one of my favorite things about the man – he didn’t beat around the bush with pleasantries that no one really cared about.

“Excellent.”

“We need you to shadow someone for a few weeks while they testify in a trial. There’s been no direct threat, but it’s a high-profile case and with him being the primary witness…” Memphis said, letting his words trail off.

“Got it,” I nodded. I’d been hoping for a case where I could just stalk some fucker and put a bullet through his brain, but bodyguard duty was fine too.

“You’ve got great instincts, Dante,” Ronan added and I felt a rush of pride go through me, though I forced myself not to show it. I merely nodded as if I already knew that.

“Who’s the client?” I asked.

Before I could even respond, there was a knock at the door and Ronan called for the person to come in. All the excitement and pride inside of me fell flat at the sight of Magnus entering and when his eyes lit on me, my insides went cold because I knew exactly who my client was.

And from the infuriated way Magnus was looking at me, he knew it too.

Chapter One

Dante

I willed my stomach to stop rolling as I removed my finger from the doorbell and waited. No way in hell was that prick going to get the upper hand over me again. Maybe I could have overlooked the fiasco with him walking in on me getting a little bit of action in the bathroom during Hawke and Tate’s wedding reception, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to let what had happened in Ronan’s office rattle me…well, not anymore.