“It’s in my bag.”

“Which bag? You brought three.”

“The black one.”

“They’re all black.”

“No. One’s a dark grey and the other’s granite.”

“You’re making me mental, Blayne.”

She giggled. “You sound like Bo.”

“Dez,” Mace sighed. “Can we go, please?”

“Okay, okay. But you have to drop me off at Ulrich Van Holtz’s apartment and I’ll catch up with you at the hotel.”

“Why?”

Dez’s lips grew tight and he got the feeling she was trying not to laugh.

“All right, woman, what’s going on?”

“Uh . . . it’s Dee-Ann. She’s—” Dez snorted. “She asked me and Malone to come over and help her with the dress she’s wearing tonight.”

“Dee’s wearing a dress?”

“I think she wants to look good for Ric.”

“Ric who?”

“Ric? Ric Van Holtz?” Mace stared at her. “You talked to him about your sister? Just a few days ago?”

“That sounds vaguely familiar.”

“Forget it.”

“No!” Blayne yelped. She’d been trying to look like she wasn’t eavesdropping when that was exactly what she was doing. “Don’t forget. Tell. Tell!”

Dez laughed. “Tell you what?”

“Why does Dee want to look good for Ric?”

“Because he’s a hot supermodel type?”

“Dez!”

“I’m not positive but me and Malone think they may have made the leap.” Blayne squealed, the hybrid dog barked, and the scary hybrid sow and Mace snarled in annoyance at the sound.

“I knew it!” Blayne crowed. “I knew it! Project Wolf-Wolf is a success!” Mace opened his mouth to respond to that but Dez cut him off with one raised hand. “No.”

“Anything else?” Blayne pushed.

“Dee is also wearing heels.”

“See,” Mace said to his wife, “now you’re just making it up. You went too far. I will now no longer believe anything you ever say to me again.”

“Whatever. Blayne get your phone and keep it handy this time.” Dez kissed their son’s forehead.

“Now come on, Captain Ego.” Dez moved toward the door. “I better get over there before Dee-Ann starts killing everyone in a thirty-mile radius.”

She had a point, but really, all Mace could think about was the ending to this evening. Because once the evening was over—so was his agonizing over what had to be done tonight.

After checking into that overpriced flea trap in the middle of this horrid city, Eggie Smith had left his mate in the hands of his niece Sissy Mae and that idiot lion of hers.Although the boy could play ball, so that made up for a lot of his worst attributes and made it worth feeding him.

Once he’d done that, Eggie stole a car from outside a bar and drove over to one of the Llewellyn Pride’s homes right outside Greenwich, Connecticut.

Parking a healthy distance from the property, Eggie made his way to the lion territory, moving as quick and quiet as his old bones would let him. He found a good place to take up position, managing to get himself safely ensconced among the leaves and branches of a large oak right outside the Pride house. He checked the distance with his scope and, satisfied he had a good eye line to his target, he opened the backpack he’d brought with him and quickly put together his rifle. Once he’d done that, he sat and waited for it to get dark. These long summer days made this sort of thing take much longer than usual. But it would only be a little bit longer and Eggie could wait.

While he sat and waited, he worried about his daughter. Worried she’d made a mistake choosing that damn Van Holtz, but Darla had been real adamant about letting Dee make this decision on her own.

“Lord, Eggie. She’s grown. You can’t make these decisions for her anymore.” As if he’d made any decisions for Dee-Ann Smith once she’d grown out of her diapers. That little girl always had her own way of doing things and none of that had changed. He doubted it ever would. And as long as this Van Holtz fella understood that, Eggie would have no problems with him. But if he ever lost sight of that . . .

Eggie saw some activity inside the house and he raised his weapon so he could use the scope to get a better look. The target was on her phone and, because it was always a good idea to keep up on the skills the government had been so keen to teach him, he entertained himself by reading her lips. And Lord, but could that woman complain. Even the air seemed to annoy her. Typical cat. Pouncing on dust balls and biting at lint.

Then the tone of the She-lion’s conversation changed. She was talking to someone else and Eggie could feel his fangs slip out of his gums because the female managed to go farther—or maybe it was lower—than any of them had given her credit for. She was willing to cross a line that even Eggie would never cross. Not in this lifetime.

Lowering his weapon, Eggie took apart the rifle and put it back into his bag. He dug out the holster with his sidearm and attached it to the waistband of his jeans. He headed down the tree and ran toward the She-lion’s home, moving quickly before it was too late.

Ric stood outside one of the Kingston Arms Hotel’s luxurious ballrooms and patiently waited for Lock and Gwen to arrive. He’d admit he was nervous. Word of his relationship with Dee was spreading through the shifter community like wildfire. He didn’t mind but he wanted to be the one to shock Lachlan MacRyrie into pure bafflement. It was fun!