City of Sins

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Aegis Security had its main office off Bonanza Road in the downtown area. Not too far from the Fremont Street Experience and the casinos that populated it, but not so close they had to deal with the traffic and masses of tourists on a daily. Taking up half an entire floor of the building, it looked like a big corporate hub with glass walls and lots of chrome with an ultra modern feel. Adam Lawson’s office sat in a corner, big and opulent, with an insane view of downtown after dark. A large modern desk sat in one corner, a soft, heather grey sofa grouping in front for meetings with a large screen directly in front so all could handle video briefings as a group. Over in the corner was a data station with a half dozen peripheral network stations for internet security jobs and updates. The light from a large fish saltwater tank helped soften the entire feel, but the man behind the enormous expanse of wood wasn’t having it today.

Adam dropped the phone on the desk, a thunderous expression matching the raw pulse of power that touched every lion in the room with a painful, prickling sting. The lower level shifters blanched and stepped back as if distance would reduce the fiery bite, but the King in a mood meant everyone suffered. Glaring at the innocent device for a moment, eyes streaked with lion gold, pinned his second in command, tone one level above the snarl. “Tell me again what she wanted?” It never failed. Bella just seemed to ignore every nicety for dealing with him. A trend he was bound and determined to stop.

Colin swallowed nervously. “Just into anything underground that the clan heads and alphas might not know about.” Last thing anyone wanted was Law in a mood.

When the other man stopped, Law just raised an eyebrow, the one with the scar that twisted in an almost sinister way. “And that’s all the details you have?”

“Christ Law you know her, she doesn’t….”

Law cut him off with a hand motion. “Then you find out. You see her, you tell her to call me.” He stood, knocking the chair back with a bang into the wall, not leaving a mark on the line of sideboard height cabinets, thank goodness, considering how much they cost. “I have other avenues to explore.”

Stalking out into the hallway, a few employees skittered out of his way. Not a small man at all, Adam Lawson came in at five inches over six feet and a hefty 224 pounds. With his beard a little on the long side and wavy brown hair that skimmed a couple inches below the shoulders, he looked more Viking than executive even with that hair pulled back in a neat ponytail. Now, with that scowl and pulse of angry energy around him like a cloud, the entire vibe held menace, and most who knew him understood that out of his way was the best place to be.

There was no jaunty wave at the receptionist, nor flirty comments with the cute women he ran into in the elevator. Adam was on a mission and finding out what the wayward Queen was up to sat high on his list.

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Bella’s office sat across town, the neighborhood a far cry from where Aegis sat nestled. Stuck in a quasi-modernized warehouse east of I-15 and west of Russell Road, three other units shared the same space, a computer repair shop, a guns and ammo store with a range and, oddly enough, an Arabic bakery called Scheherazade’s. He knew Bella’d done work for all of them and shared a special give and take, but he didn’t have time for niceties. When Shawn from Running Guns waved, Adam barely acknowledged it, shoving the door to Talos Investigations open with a bang.

Behind the only desk in reception, two women looked up. Willowy and slender with dark hair and even darker make-up, Ashley stared while the larger of the two in a dayglow spandex club dress rolled her eyes and snapped her jaw down on a gum pop that would have deafened a lesser man.

“Well, what do you know…. the Lawman done got lost in the hood?” Bri, Bella’s occasional secretary and partner in crime didn’t blink, giving Adam a once over than would have put a man to shame. “Why you slummin’ big boy?” Fingers tipped in lime and orange rolled a curl around like a corkscrew while she waited for the response.

Any other day, he would have found her antics somewhat amusing. Only Isabella would have hired a part-time hooker as her receptionist and Bri’s snide sense of humor well matched in his own. They never failed to trade quips, but anger trumped it all today and his green eyes swirled with streaks of lion gold. “What’s Bella up to?”

Bri made a face. “Client privilege, Mr Lawson….” Drawing out the last syllable, one eyebrow shot up. “Surely someone in the same business could understand that.” I mean, you could leave her a message….”

Something primal took over, and the urge to rend and tear that made Adam lower his lashes, fingers convulsing on the wood of the desk he leaned on.

“I’m not amused Bri…you tell her….”

“Tell me what?” That voice, the scent that perfumed the tendrils of air she’d stirred up when opening the door.

Standing to his full height, Adam turned and scanned Bella with a simmering well of anger just below the calm facade. She stood there, worn jeans clinging lovingly to her curves, a cotton tank stuck to the skin from the punishing Nevada heat and an expression of fury darkening her features. “You can’t answer a phone call?”

Arms crossed protectively over her chest, the dark-haired female just shifted her weight from one foot to the next, her own eyebrow reaching into her bangs. “When I’m working? No.” Again that weight shift, the sinuous roll of her beast holding an edge of raw anger. “You’ve ignored me a hundred times if my memory serves me right.”

Both lions had forgotten the two humans who had taken what could only be described as spectator positions, Bri and Ash passing a bag of ranch corn nuts between them. “That’s right gurl….you tell him.” Bri gave a fist pump as she muttered encouragement around a mouthful of them.

Adam took a step forward, the menacing pulse of his beast responding to the powerful slap of Bella’s. It never failed to amaze and infuriate him just how much of a queen this little spitfire was, the scorching power of her beast hotter than the desert sun. “It’s not the same……”

Snorting in amusement, Bella pushed past him towards the inner office. “Yeah, you know as a lowly PI all I do is dig in the muck right?” Opening the door, she’d left it open, a sure sign that their conversation could continue but in private.

“That’s not…..” Adam slammed the door shut behind him, flexing his fingers but ignoring the urge to grab Bella and shove her through the nearest wall.

Bella turned when she’d reached her desk, not sitting behind it but leaning against it casually. “Yes, it is Law. This case is LVPD’s. I’m just helping them out. Our people aren’t involved.” Again with the crossed arms and defensive posture, the mulish expression on her face a clue as to just how this was gonna go. Her lioness sat there too, just under the surface, with hungry eyes and the stillness just before the pounce. No matter how hard he pushed her, she’d just drawn her line in the sand. If he crossed it, there was no telling just how far she’d go to shut him out.

And for some asinine reason, he just couldn’t leave without the last word. “If and when they are, you had better remember just who you answer to….”

Before he could finish the sentence, he could see her shut it down. It went from all tooth and claw to nothing but the whir of the AC and the staccato sounds of their combined heartbeats. “Not to you.”

Standing, feet shoulder width apart and arms loosely at the sides, Adam tamped down his own beast with barely concealed irritation. “I’m still your king…..”

Rounding around the desk to drop into the chair, Bella leaned back and crossed her arms over her midriff. “And I’ll reiterate, not pride business.”

A moment of silence, Adam struggling with the urge to cross the expanse of wood and strangle her before getting baser feelings under control. “Then don’t call me for help.”

Without a pause, he spun and stalked out the door into the blazing heat, breathless in anger and reaction to the searing summer sun.