Maiden and the Lion (Lions of Manhattan 2)

“Curiosity killed the cat, Cat.”

“Hey, my nickname is Kitty. It’s my nature to be curious.”

“Stay out of this one.”

“Uh-oh. Sure.”

“I mean it.”

“Yeah, yeah. Geez, mister, have you got a bug in your ass?”

“No. You tend to nose around where you don’t belong. I just don’t want to rescue you from a trunk of car. Again.”

Her lips tightened. Ever since he’d known her—the past few months—Cat had shown she had knack of being kidnapped or ending up in a foreign country. She wriggled her hand exasperatedly.

“Fine. I thought as your sister-in-law, I’m entitled to know what happened to you after I found you naked in my office. You know, family bond thing? Since I married your brother?”

“All I can say right now is that I’m doing damage control.” Alex wiped his mouth with the paper napkin. “I need to borrow your car.”

Cat reached into her purse and fished out her keys. “That must be one hell of a damage control.”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

“You know, since you don’t have your wallet with you, technically, you’ll be driving without your licence. And that would be illegal. Maybe I should take you home and…”

“No. I don’t think so. Stay put, Cat.”

“I’m hurt.”

“Don’t call Gabe about this. I’m going to tell him myself.” Alex snatched the keys from her hand and got up.

“Fine. You owe me the door.”

“Send me the bill.”

“It’s going to cost you an arm and a leg.”

“Let my accountant worry about it.”

“I hate your accountant.”

Alex snorted a laugh as he walked past the ruined door. He cocked a finger in her direction one more time. “Like I said, stay put.”

Chapter Two

Her boss hadn’t gone to work today.

Bea had tried his cell phone, several times, but it had gone straight to voicemail. She had asked Ms Krueger if she knew why he was absent and Ms Krueger had said Mr Larousse was simply indisposed at the moment. Bea should reschedule all Alex’s meetings until further notice.

Alex was in trouble. She knew it. Her boss had never gone away without informing her where he would be and what he would be doing. He was a stickler for his appointments. What had happened last night wasn’t only her imagination. She had proof. Alexandre Larousse could shift into a lion, absurd as it sounded. And someone had shot him.

Was he hurt?

Not knowing if he was okay was driving her nuts. She couldn’t concentrate at work. Every ten minutes she itched to dial his cell phone, hoping he would pick it up. Did Gabriel and Renaud even know their brother had been shot? She knew Renaud was in London right now and Gabriel was in some kind of important meeting where he couldn’t be bothered even if an earthquake shook the entire city. Ms Krueger had said so. Bea wondered if Ms Krueger knew the very nature of her boss.

Since she had left her father’s house, Bea preferred to stay late in the office where she could surf the Internet and use the break room for free coffee and snacks. Today, she couldn’t wait to get out of work fast enough.

In her van, Bea took out Alex’s wallet from her purse and stared at it for a while, thinking about what she should do.