3.1 | Animal Instinct ✓

16 | queen

"I'm not explaining anything to the rest of you," Dimitri returned smoothly, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. But then he paused, before glancing over to where Jed and I were standing. "Only to them."

Jed and I exchanged a wordless glance. I could see the caution in his eyes, but the flicker of curiosity on his face was also impossible to miss. He wanted to know the truth as much as I did, and I had no doubt that he could protect me if things went wrong. So I offered him a faint smile and nodded.

Determinedly, Jed eased back and glanced over at Adrian, who stiffened. "But Alpha – " He started, only to let out a resigned sigh and signal to Lance and Spike. "We're leaving."

Lance's eyebrows shot up. "What – "

"Now."

Reluctantly, Lance and Spike trailed Adrian out of the diner, casting suspicious glances over their shoulders at Dimitri, who was still standing in a perfectly calm way that betrayed nothing. Were it not for the way he subconsciously had his thumb pressed over the ring on his index finger to hide it from our view, I would never have guessed that there was anything amiss with him.

"Alright," I said, when the others had finally disappeared out of view. Meeting Dimitri's gaze squarely, I took a deep breath and continued, "Do you want to tell us what you do?"

"Don't you already know that?"

"If we did, we wouldn't have to ask you," I returned evenly. Jed had stayed motionless throughout, but the sharp glint in his eye told me that he was watching Dimitri's body language with perfect precision. He didn't miss anything. "We know you're part of a syndicate. But what do you do?"

One corner of Dimitri's lips twitched up in a sardonic smirk. "You should know. You've had first-hand experience of it. Twice – "

Another warning growl from Jed didn't faze him at all, but when he realised that I was simply waiting for him to elaborate, the smirk slowly faded from his face.

"I'm a hired assassin," He said simply. "Contract killer, hitman, whatever you call it. In your case, I was hired by Malthus Trevino as a bounty hunter to bring you back in one piece." His lips quirked up in a wry smirk when he saw the way Jed and I both froze. "You thought I couldn't figure out the link?"

I shrugged, trying to keep a calm composure. "Bianca knew him as Mattheus Norvil."

Dimitri rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows him as Mattheus Norvil. But when you told me about that room in headquarters, I realised that his modus operandi was far too similar to the way Claudius Trevino used to work. On a larger scale, mostly, but – "

"Wait," I stopped him, catching the faintly alarmed gaze that Jed sent my way. "You knew about what Claudius Trevino did?"

"You mean kidnapping and raping women in an abandoned shed?" Dimitri deadpanned, arching an eyebrow at us. "Oh, yes. He was wonderfully enthusiastic about his conquests. Every member in the syndicate probably knew about his dysfunctional dick from all that sex."

Jed had become tenser the more Dimitri spoke, and by the end of it, it was impossible for him not to react. His fingers were clenched as his nails dug into his palm, and every inch of him radiated anger, frustration, but most of all – fear. I couldn't miss it. And Dimitri, of course, caught on just as quickly because a faint flicker of understanding was beginning to dawn on him, his eyes widening just imperceptibly as he glanced at Jed.

But when he opened his mouth to toss another caustic remark Jed's way, I quickly cut in. "So why didn't you do anything about it?" I asked, throwing him a pointed look and shaking my head with the slightest movement.