Page 45 of Merciless King

“You should probably answer that,” I said, and there was no missing the disappointment in my voice.

“They’ll leave…”

They knocked again, with more force this time.

He did not look happy. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

He strode off, and I watched him go. The man was insanely beautiful, dark golden skin, lean and hard, muscled. Long legs, sold thighs. Very nice butt, the kind you wanted to sink your teeth into…

Male voices drifted from the living room.

“London,” Van called. “Can you come out here, please?”

What? I was only wearing a T-shirt. It came almost to my knees because Van was tall and I was not, but still.

He filled the door. “The police are here. They’ve got some news.”

All thoughts of what I was wearing vanished, until I walked out and came face-to-face with Connor. His gaze dropped, took me in from head to toe, and his jaw started working. His gaze slid to Van and his lips curled up, but not in a smile. This was something else, almost feral, then he shook his head. It was subtle but I didn’t miss it.

“What have you got?” Van said, ignoring it completely.

“The DNA…not a match with Terrence Ferida. It turns out, Terrence has a twin brother, Owen. History of violence. He’s only just moved back to New York, which is why Terrence hit our radar first. The guy had a sealed file.” He glanced at me. “Which means Owen was underage when he was charged. Nothing for years, now this.”

“So you’re telling me it was Terrence’s twin who attacked London?” Van growled.

Connor crossed his arms. “Yeah. It’s messed up, but that’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

“Why did Terrence sit in a cell when it was his brother who should be there in his place?” Van asked.

“Buying Owen time. He knew what we’d find, knew he’d eventually be in the clear, but wasn’t in a hurry to help us out. From what I could piece together, Owen was the one who caused the trouble when they were growing up and Terrence protected him or tried to. Owen went to a juvenile detention center and Terrence felt guilty because he couldn’t protect his brother. He was trying to make up for it now.”

“You know where this Owen is?”

Connor shook his head. “No, and Terrence isn’t talking. Says he doesn’t know.”

“Where’s Terrence now?”

“Released on bail. We can get him for obstruction. But we didn’t have enough to hold him.”

Van’s hands went to his hips and every muscle in his body got tight, the veins in his forearms becoming prominent. “You got someone following him?”

Connor straightened. “What do you think?”

Van leveled Connor with a hard stare. “I wouldn’t like to guess, considering how you boys have mishandled this entire case.”

“That right?” Connor bit out. “Well, it would help if the boys at the King Agency would keep the hell out of it.”

Van took a step forward. “That’s not happening.”

I stepped forward as well. “Okay, well, thank you for letting me know,” I said to Connor before things got ugly. “You’ll keep me updated?”

He turned to me and the anger washed from his handsome face. “I’ll let you know as soon as we get this guy.”

I’d managed to shove it from my mind when it had been just Van and me. Now I knew this Owen could have come for me and gotten to me easily. The fear that I’d been working to control, to push down for so long, came rushing back. I started shaking.

Connor muttered something and pulled me into his arms, hugging me tight.

“We’ll get him, honey. I promise you that,” he said and kissed the top of my head. He gave me another gentle squeeze and pulled back a little, dipping his head, eyes meeting mine. “I’ll be in touch, okay?”