GENRE: Gay Paranormal Spicy Romance
LENGTH: 66,094 words
RATING:

A werewolf exiled from his pack. An empath drowning in emotions. A missing girl binding them together.

Talon Huxley doesn’t need a partner. As the only shifter working for Iniko Enterprises, he’s used to being alone. When a teenager goes missing, his boss pairs him with Alistair Sheehan, the reclusive empath they rescued years ago. The empath Talon can’t get out of his head.

If Alistair had a choice, he’d never leave his apartment, but his bills don’t pay themselves. Shifters are rare, and Alistair has never met one before now. Talon is big, scarred, and terrifying. In other words, everything Alistair should fear, and yet he makes him feel safe.

As they search for the missing girl, it becomes clear the case isn’t what they were led to believe. Someone is deceiving them, but Talon won’t allow anything to happen to Alistair. He’ll keep him by his side night and day. For the sake of safety, if nothing else.

EXCERPT:
Note: may contain sexually explicit scenes of a homoerotic nature.

Once he hung up, he turned to Alistair. “Are you up for a visit to the coffee shop, or do you want me to go on my own?”

Ugh, a coffee shop. Alistair was exhausted, and the emotional buildup inside was reaching a critical limit. “What do you think we’ll find out from the coffee shop?”

“Not much, but I want to see what it looks like. As you said, it’s unlikely Sofia and Carla didn’t see Emma leave. But maybe there’s a back door by the restrooms or something.”

“Has anyone said anything about going to the restroom?”

“No one has been allowed near the girls, and with Sofia now back in Ridgestone too, I doubt anyone will.”

Alistair looked out the window. It didn’t add up. “They don’t want us to find her.”

“They don’t know we’re looking. Perfetti called Saxon without alerting any authorities. There is no official investigation.”

“No, the mothers. Gabriella is out lunching with a friend. Her daughter is missing, and she’s on a lunch date.” It was insane, wasn’t it? Serena is remaining at the spa getting massages, and Gabriella is hanging out with a friend. They weren’t worried about Emma. Which had to mean they were certain she was safe.

He turned to Talon. “I don’t think Sidorov has anything to do with this. I think it’s the mothers. Maybe they tried to pin it on Sidorov when they realized Kira was at the resort. They could claim she’d been his spy or something.” Or had he read too many books and was making outlandish things up?

“The mothers?” Talon’s tone told him he didn’t see it.

“Yes, the mothers.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure how, unless Serena’s husband -- do we know his name?” It was most likely in the folder. “-- and Ivano Durante is in on it.”

“Say they are, then how did they do it?”

“They had the girls go to the coffee shop, then someone came to pick Emma up and took her to her hiding place. The girls then pretended to be worried and called for help. The girls were whisked off to their fathers, where no one can get to them unless Leandro Perfetti demands it, and he believes they’re traumatized by the event, and most likely isn’t thinking clearly himself, since he’s worried about his daughter, so he won’t. The mothers stay here to avoid having to talk to Perfetti face to face, but being the spoiled trophy wives they are, they’re not content sitting waiting in their rooms, so they go on lunch dates and get facials.”

Talon chuckled. “I didn’t think empaths were allowed to be condescending.”

“Why not?” Alistair wasn’t sure if normal empath rules applied to him.

“It’s not kind. Empaths are supposed to be kind.”

Alistair huffed. “No. We want people to feel good, but it’s only you and me here --”

“And I don’t count?”

“Of course you count, but I can’t feel you, and I doubt you’re offended by me calling them trophy wives when it’s what they are. Empaths don’t lie, remember?” He smiled, which was a foreign thing to do.

Talon barked a laugh.

“Okay, but say the fathers aren’t in on it, how did it happen then?”

Alistair pursed his lips. “It’s harder, but still doable.”

“How?”

“Given the girls are in on it, about the same way, but there has to be someone else involved then, unless Emma is hiding nearby alone. Maybe it’s where Gabriella is. The lunch date isn’t with a friend but with her daughter. Has anyone tried to track Emma’s phone? Maybe no one got her from the coffee shop, but she slipped out on her own and walked to the hiding place.”

Talon sighed and grabbed his phone again. This time, he didn’t call but sent a text -- Alistair assumed to Saxon.

Talon put the phone away and stared out the windshield for a moment. “So we have to get to the girls. If we ask them a few questions, you can tell what they’re feeling, and we’ll know if they’re in on it or not.”

Alistair nodded. It was the best option. If they could get near the girls. “Maybe have Saxon ask Perfetti if it would be okay for us to talk to them. If the fathers are in on it, they won’t agree to it, but if Perfetti agrees, they’ll have a much harder time saying no.”

Talon sent another text.