Seducing a Wolf: Moonbound Series, Book Five (8 page)

Her heels clicked on the floor as she walked slowly to the suite main entrance. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped into the small lobby with seven strangers.

At least the guns were in their big, black bags, and no longer pointed at her. Alex stood the furthest away. His eyes were pained and his face was drawn tight. When he tried to move toward her, the large blond waiter she’d hired this week, Nicholas—they’d called him Niko—stepped out to block his advance.

In a way, Julianna was thankful they were keeping him at a distance. She couldn’t deal with him in close proximity right now. Just being in the same room with him made her heart hurt.

She wanted him.

Still. After all this. All the lies.

Maggie jabbed the elevator button, and a few moments later a set of doors slid open. Everyone moved for the bay.

“Just you.” Julianna pointed to Maggie. She was armed, but the handgun was well hidden beneath a short leather coat. “The rest of you need to figure out how to not disrupt my hotel with your presence.”

Maggie waved off the others and entered the elevator with Julianna. “Head back to the room and get the handguns. Then meet us in the hallway outside her room.”

Julianna’s eyes widened. “How do you know where my suite is? Nevermind,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I suppose you know everything about me.”

The doors closed and the woman turned to face her. “Everything except where you keep that damn tablet.”

Julianna’s lips curved upward. She couldn’t help it. At least she’d managed to outwit these people in one thing.

“Where is it?”

“In my suite.”

“We searched from top to bottom.”

They’d been in her home. In her things.

Alex had been inside her…literally. “You know, you could’ve just asked.” Julianna sighed and leaned against the cold steel wall of the elevator. It rumbled as it dropped from floor to floor.

“You’re his daughter. Why would we have asked you to help us take him down?” Maggie crossed her arms and huffed. “If Alex had just kept it in his pants and found the damn tablet the first night, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Alex would never have found the tablet.”

Maggie’s eyes narrowed to slits.

The level of distrust was obvious, but the disrespect was intolerable.

“You are despicable. You come into my home. My business. My personal life and wreck it, for what? I’m sorry my father is an asshole. On some level, I’ve always lived with his unreasonable narcissistic tendencies. He’s a multi-millionaire who tries to control every aspect of my life he can and I don’t need anyone else
telling
me how things should be.” She took a step toward the small woman and glared down at her. Gun or not, Julianna was through being intimidated. “I’m sorry for your friends who died in my father’s penthouse. It took every favor I was owed to contain the situation. And that is the only reason I’m still in charge of this hotel. Because
I
can contain his messes. If he didn’t need me, I’m quite sure I would be fish food within the week.”

The corners of Maggie’s lips curved upward. “I see why Alex likes you.”

“Goddammit! Don’t you get it? If he so much a gets a hint that you are looking for him, he’ll take it out on me. On the staff. We will suffer for your carelessness.”

“That’s why we need to do this before he comes back from his little island hideaway. We can’t be in this hotel when he arrives. He’ll know we’re here the second he steps through the door.”

Deep breath.
The elevator stopped at the lobby level and Julianna stepped off first with Maggie keeping pace as soon as they turned the corner out of the lobby.

Everything she’d heard upstairs in the room was starting to filter through her mind. She’d been so shocked by it all when it was happening, she hadn’t really processed what they’d said. But Maggie had mentioned Guadalajara thirty years ago and that he was doing it again.

Doing
what
again? She’d been born thirty years ago in Guadalajara. And they’d said she
wasn’t
her father’s daughter.

That she was human. Why wouldn’t she be human?

She’d missed something. Or they were certifiable and this whole thing was a joke. Except the blood in her father’s suite was not a joke. And she’d paid dearly to make sure no one knew anything about it. If they hadn’t been there, they wouldn’t know.

Julianna pressed the button for an elevator in the main tower lobby. One of four opened immediately and they climbed on with several other guests. The ride was silent.

After the last guest got off at floor twelve, she used her keycard to request level thirteen. The top three floors of both towers were limited access.

The doors opened again on her floor, and she walked down the hallway and let them both into her room. She locked the door again behind her and pointed to the living room seating. “It’s in the coffee table.”

“
In?
”

“Yes.” She crossed the room and knelt beside the table. Reaching beneath the maze of driftwood, Julianna pressed the button that released a hidden drawer.

“Damn.”

Maggie’s awe made her feel some satisfaction. “I always turn it off, too. So even a scanner wouldn’t have picked it up.” She pulled the tablet from the drawer and sat on the couch. After turning it on and inputting her personal passcode, she handed it to Maggie. “I’m not sure what you think you’re going to do with this. But here it is.”

“There are security feeds running in this hotel that don’t have camera’s assigned to them. At least not cameras on this property. We’re hoping he has feeds on the island that will give us an idea of what we’re going up against.”

“I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“You wouldn’t. Direct access is only going to be available in the security room on the penthouse level.”

“How do you know it’s there?”

“We tracked the lines.”

“I don’t have access to his floor except when he grants it. I certainly can’t make keys to his rooms without him granting access.”

“You don’t have to,” Maggie said. “I can get in with your tablet. I can hack it and make the key card for that door.”

Air rushed from Julianna’s lungs. This was real. All of it was real. “Who are you people?”

“We’re here to stop him.” Maggie looked up from the tablet screen. “You’re either with us or against us.”

“How do I know you didn’t all lie to me?”

“You vetted Alex. You hired Dani and Niko and Andrea as staff. We didn’t lie about our identities.”

“Fair enough.” Julianna sighed. Maggie was right. She’d done extensive backgrounds on most of the group. There wasn’t much of a reason for the rest of them to be lying. “I have to change clothes.”

Maggie nodded and Julianna slipped out of the room. She needed distance from this mess, but that probably wasn’t going to happen until they got what they wanted and got out of the hotel. The faster the better. Her father would be back any day now. He rarely stayed away more than three or four days at a time.

She closed her bedroom door and stripped out of the sexy black satin. Kicking off the four-inch stilettos, she wandered into her closet and found a plain black suit and white blouse.

Julianna was safe in these clothes. Invisible and unimportant to her father. The staff just thought she was an uptight bitch. It worked.

After dressing, she sat down at her vanity and wiped away the tear-streaked makeup, replacing it with a neutral palette. Then she pulled her curls into a tight bun at the base of her neck.

This was who she was. This was how she survived.

A
lex paced
the hallway outside Julianna’s room. The rest of his team had packed the weapons away and mostly ignored him, though they were all on edge. Maggie had been in the thirteenth-floor suite with Julianna for too long.

He needed to see her, talk to her.

“You can stop that anytime.” Andrea’s twang stopped him in his tracks. “We’re all waiting, y’know?”

“I need to get in that room.” Alex pushed his fingers into his palm.

“You need to settle the fuck down,” Dani said, glaring at him. Her dark brows pulled together. “You’re the reason all this is happening, anyway.”

“Dani.” Niko’s tone was patronizing, and he gave a small roll of his eyes. “We talked about this.”

“You
talked
about me?” Alex rounded on the broad-shouldered Chicago wolf.

Hannah stepped between the two of them, putting a hand on each chest. “Knock it off, both of you.”

“What did you expect?” Andrea was leaning against the wall beside the suite door, her feet stretching into the walkway. She picked at something on her fingernail. “We’ve spent days sitting around waiting while you ate fancy food and slept with the enemy.”

“Julianna isn’t the enemy.” Maggie’s voice cut through the fighting like a disciplining mother. She hung out the open door and pointed at Donovan. “I need your help.”

Alex stepped toward the room. He couldn’t see Julianna, but he could still feel her magick.

“Nope.” Maggie held out her hand to stop him. “
You
are not allowed in this room.”

He stepped to the side as Donovan slipped past him, but Alex kept Maggie’s gaze. She was shaking her head, but he knew her well enough to know she’d stand her ground.

“I just need to talk to her.”

“She doesn’t want to talk to you. And right now, since she’s helping us, her opinion is the one that matters.” Maggie pulled on Donovan’s shoulder and then closed the door.

Alex stared at the ceiling. He should’ve told Julianna when he’d had the chance. He’d wanted to take her out to the pool and relax, see if he could find a way to bring up the wolf thing, and then her father. Then, the mating. Only he’d been enjoying her so much, he didn’t even feel his team approaching. He’d been too focused.

What if it had been Adrian Rossi?

His fist slammed into the wall and everyone jumped. There was a dent in the plaster, around his hand, and he closed his eyes. What he wouldn’t have given for a punching bag.

“You need to settle,” Dani spat. “We’re all on edge and you’re not helping.”

“Sit down, man.” Niko put a hand on his shoulder, but Alex resisted the push to the ground. He didn’t want to sit, or settle. He wanted to fucking hit something.

Hard.

The suite door flew open and Maggie rushed out. “Niko. I need you to go down to the desk with me.”

“I’m going, too.” Julianna’s icy voice cut into Alex’s insides like a machete through water.

“Then I’m going,” Alex said. He met Maggie’s gaze and set his jaw. She could try to order him around all she wanted, but she wasn’t his boss or his alpha. Nora had been their team leader, and she’d given her power to Rain, and both of
them
were gone, too. So the team had no leader. Maggie was not his boss.

She gave a brusque nod. “The rest of you, go back to the room. As soon as we have access to the security room, I’ll text you so we can all meet up there.”

They were in the elevators and back in the lobby before Julianna spoke again. She had her arms crossed, and the ridiculous suit she’d changed in to was almost masculine. She looked…not like herself.

“If you don’t let me handle the staff, they’ll know something is up.” Julianna pulled her keys out of her pocket and Alex reached out with his wolf to see if he could sense anything.

Nada.

“Fine.” Maggie handed over the tablet. “But I’ll need to get back in to the mainframe to get the key card code.”

“Fine.” Julianna put the key in the main office door. She gestured for Niko to go ahead of her. “Go find the box of blank key cards,” she whispered. She touched Maggie’s shoulder and nodded toward the reception desk, which was buzzing with clerks helping new guests check in.

Maggie stood at one of the empty stations.

Niko brought the box and Julianna opened her tablet.

Alex stood in the back of the room like a bodyguard, his hands crossed, his feet wide.

But he was watching Julianna.

She made a good study of ignoring him. Her movements were almost fluid, except when he felt the magick tense between them, then she went stiff. Either she could compartmentalize well, or she really hated her father and Alex and the world, and she was very good at masking her feelings.

He’d rather have the knock-down-drag-out than the silent treatment.

Julianna and Maggie hovered over the tablet, with their backs to the rest of the clerks, and Niko inserted the key card into the reader. A light turned on in Maggie’s eyes.

Success?

She nodded at him, no more sympathy than before, and he backed out the door. If anyone asked questions of Julianna, she’d have to come up with a convincing lie as to why a couple of non-staff people and one of the waiters were in the reception area, but he didn’t imagine Maggie cared much what would happen to Julianna as a result of her helping them.

Alex cared.

They all breezed by him. Back to the elevators. They rode up to the penthouse, just like they had a week previous. Only, that’d been Tomás and Lani and Zolin instead. And when they rode the elevator down that night, one of them hadn’t come back alive.

Alex couldn’t let that person be Julianna. He had no doubt they’d lose someone—Adrian was too ruthless to leave people alive—but he couldn’t imagine losing Julianna.

A quick side glance found her doing her best ice princess. What he wouldn’t have given to be able to feel what she felt. He should’ve bonded her before she had a chance to think about it.

They reached the very top floor and the whole elevator took one big collective breath when the doors opened.

The last time, Alex had been forced to engage right away, but this time, there were no guards outside the door. Not for long, of course, because they had a feed inside the room that watched the hallway outside Adrian’s penthouse.

He’d seen the feed with his own eyes.

Julianna stepped to the door opposite the penthouse entrance before Alex realized what was happening. She had her hand out, ready to put the key card in the door.

He reached for her. “Stop,” he said. “Let us do that.”

She shook her head. “I started this, I’m going to finish it.”

Maggie put her hand on Alex’s chest. “Just stay here.”

He kept trying to walk after Julianna, but Maggie’s grip was hard.

She held her ground and stopped his forward progress. “I mean it, Alex. Stop.”

With pain choking him, Alex met her eyes. “You don’t understand, Mag. She’s my mate. I can’t leave her to do this on her own.”

The edges of Maggie’s brows came together and she sighed.

He heard the click of the door opening. In the corner of his vision, he saw someone raise a big black gun, aimed straight at Julianna.

A
lex’s body
slammed into Julianna’s, knocking them both clear of the doorway and the breath from her lungs. Between the sensation of falling, mixed with the heady sensation of his touch, she relaxed into his embrace. He also managed to rotate and take the brunt of the impact, keeping her safely tucked against his chest and sheltered from the hard marble floor.

A couple of gunshots, yelling, and some heavy thuds came from the room she’d nearly walked into.

“Why did you—”

“One of the guards was pointing a gun at you. I couldn’t lose you. Your mine.”

“I’m not.” Julianna pushed against his chest, but he held her fast.

“You are a gift from Fate Herself. I should’ve told you what was going on as soon as I knew I was falling for you. I should’ve trusted you and I’m sorry.”

A gift from Fate?
Was this guy from some Lord of the Rings novel?
Wait

Falling for me?
So it hadn’t
all
been a lie?

“It doesn’t matter, Alex.” God she loved the sound of his name on her lips. The scent of him when they were this close, and the way she felt enveloped by warmth.

The way his eyes sparkled with flecks of gold when he got caught up in the moment. Everything about him was mesmerizing.

She’d forgotten over the course of her weekend with him how trapped in her life her father made sure she was. Julianna had forgotten she couldn’t have a
normal
life.

Alex had made her forget. Alex had caused her to make mistakes.

That couldn’t happen.

She couldn’t make mistakes.

Not around her father.

“I love you, Julianna. I went into this looking for a way to get to your father, but I came out of it knowing we belong together. I’ll spend the rest of my life proving that to you, if you’ll let me.”

Julianna didn’t respond to Alex’s declaration. She couldn’t. Not right now. Too much pain and anger fought for authority in her mind.

“It’s safe now.” Niko’s voice sliced through her thought processing. “Guards are dead.”

Alex released her and they both climbed to their feet. She entered the small security room ahead of him and froze for a second, at the sight of the two guards lying on the floor. One near the door, holding it open like a prop, and the other behind the bank of screens.

More death. How many more people were going to die this week because of her father and…these strangers?

Maggie was in the main chair tapping at the keyboard like one of those computer geeks in an action movie, rushing to beat the evil villain before they blew up the world.

God! Her father was that villain.

They said they were trying to save people.

Her eyes flew to the monitor screens. The dock at the hotel. The dock on what had to be the island. A view of the ocean from another perspective. An enormous house/mansion compound. The last monitor was split into nine boxes.

“Here are the feeds I couldn’t get to,” Maggie said. “It just looks like a big barracks…let me rewi—”

The blurred lines rewound across tiny, bouncing bodies when the lights came on.
Nurseries. Children. Old women in white uniforms
.

Julianna swallowed to keep the bile from entering her mouth. It was too familiar. She remembered living like that. There had been lots of children. Several older women. Her father had always said her mother died and that nurses had cared for her.

It wasn’t a lie.

“They’re his kids,” Maggie whispered. “They have to be his kids.”

Julianna’s palms dampened. “Wha—Why would you say that?”

“Julianna?” Alex’s fingertips brushed her hand.

She jerked away. “Why would you say that?” she demanded. “Why would you think all those children are his?”

“If not all, a lot of them are. It’s what he did in Guadalajara. He’d be able to feel them all. Keep tabs on them. Marco’s mom was flippin’ out because she was worried Adrian would find them. It’s the familial bond. That’s probably how he found Elise’s mom in Lousiana. But these kids are a second generation.”

All eyes in the room turned toward Maggie.

“Meaning what?” Niko asked.

“Meaning not only can he keep tabs on the mothers. He can keep tabs on the children. He would’ve learned from the escape at Guadalajara.”

“Guadalajara?” She looked from Niko to Maggie, her stomach churning. “You said this happened thirty years ago? That he’s done this before?” Julianna pointed at the monitor with a shaking hand. “I remember growing up like that, but I would’ve remembered if he called those other kids his. He told me I was his only child.” Julianna gasped and grabbed for the countertop. Alex was supporting her in an instant. His arm wrapped around her waist. “What does this all mean? How—? Is he some kind of cult polygamist?” Her breaths turned to short pants.

“Worse than that,” Maggie said over her shoulder.

Worse?
“What could possibly be worse? Who the hell are you people…really?”

“Think about it. Where are the mothers?” Niko said, catching Julianna’s gaze as he stepped closer to Maggie.

Julianna’s eyes flew to the monitors. There were no women on them. The nurses were too old to be mothers to the children in the nursery rooms. Her father had told her for years that her mother was dead. What if she wasn’t? What if she really wasn’t who she thought she was?

She straightened her shoulders and breathed deeply. She needed to know what her father was doing. “I can get you onto that island, but shouldn’t we just call in the police? They can arrest him. We have proof with these feeds now.”

Maggie swiveled in the computer chair. Her face was grim and her eyes flashed with the same gold flecks she’d seen in Alex’s.

Strange.

“No police. It’s not safe,” Maggie snapped.

Not safe?