The Maverick Pride Tales - Chapter 176: Chapter 176

Toni was on cloud nine. She was deliciously sore, and so freaking happy she could burst. Pierce was one heck of a lover—and that was putting it mildly.
The man was a total sex god. For a Lioness who’d been categorized as off limits to her entire Pride for being any number of things, ranging from prudish to ice cold, it was something of a revelation.
He made her feel sexy, desired, wanted, and cared for. His aqua colored eyes had never left her, not once the whole time he was making love to her—and yes, that was how it had felt.
It was tender and empowering, soul shaking, truth be told. She supposed this was why Uncle Uzzi was so famous. He’d barely spoken to her before he set her up with the man of her dreams.
Magic works in mysterious ways, she supposed. But she was not questioning it. Toni was too damn happy to care how it worked. She turned her head to catch a glimpse of Pierce.
Gods, he was so handsome. Good looking in that way all Shifters had about them, he was more than that though. He wore his dark hair longer on top and shorn on the sides. It was thick, wavy, and glossy, like he used the good stuff to wash and condition it and did not care who knew.
His nose was strong, his teeth straight and white, thin lips that somehow turned into the most wicked grin she’d ever seen. He seemed to possess a chronic case of five o’clock shadow that made him look just disreputable enough to merit bad boy hotness.
And those eyes—gods, did she mention his eyes? Pure aquamarine that belonged on some male sea lord in a fairytale, or one of the dirty fantasy romances she loved to read.
Naughty boy. Sexy boy.
He was tall and well-muscled, the kind of physique obtained from working, not preening in a gym. She appreciated he knew the value of hard work, and the results were drool worthy. But he was not all brawn, the man had brains, too. And wasn’t that something?
Matings were not always about love. Toni had learned that lesson when she was just a cub, overhearing her mother and father go at it over the years. Oh, they’d tried to hide it from the kids. They were not bad people. Honestly, she loved her mom to bits. But her dad's leaving was the best thing to happen to any of them.
Toni was not going to borrow trouble now. Uncle Uzzi must have foreseen at least some of this when she’d finally asked for his help. So, no, matings did not always equal love. But if she were being honest, and she always tried to be, Toni was already there.
She was just about to say it, too, figuring she had nothing to lose and everything to gain by the confession. Only Toni did not have the chance. No sooner did Pierce
“That’s her, officers, Antonetta Golden. Arrest her!”
Pierce’s chest rumbled, a snarl threatening to escape his lips. She scented humans, instinctively placing her hands on him.
“Shh, normals,” she whispered.
This was wrong. All wrong.
“Excuse me, miss? Can you please exit the vehicle?” an armed officer brandishing a Burlington County Sheriff’s Department badge asked warily.
His partner, a smaller, slighter female officer, had her hand hovering just above her weapon, and Toni frowned. She smelled fear in the air, and it made her Lioness angsty.
“Mr. Bixby?” Toni gasped.
“Excuse me, Officer? My name is Pierce McDowd. I am the legal counsel for Maverick Development. You are trespassing on private property, and I must insist you leave without the proper court orders or a search warrant.”
“Mr. McDowd, I’m Lieutenant Langley, this is Officer Duluth. Apologies for coming here without notice. We were not aware this was private property, and since the house was unlocked and the front door opened, we went inside and found this in the open,” he said, indicating a plastic evidence bag with a laptop inside.
“That’s my work laptop, but I left it in the office,” Toni said, shock and confusion warring inside of her.
“Miss Golden, we found that computer sitting on the counter and with it sensitive information. You could be charged with corporate espionage⁠—”
“I am sorry, this is ridiculous. You can’t just barge in on private property and conduct a search—” Pierce interrupted, his anger palpable in the air.
“Excuse me, sir. But that is something you can argue in court. Right now, Miss Golden, you need to come with us,” Officer Duluth said, opening a pair of handcuffs.
“Mr. Bixby? I left that laptop in your office. I didn’t steal anything. I wouldn’t!” Toni yelled, panic damn near crippling her.
“Toni! Toni, look at me,” Pierce said, his deep voice strong, demanding her attention. “I am going to figure this out. Don’t talk to anyone until I get there except to say you are invoking your right to counsel. Alright? Just stay calm, pretty girl. I got you, okay?”
Toni’s gaze flicked to his glittering eyes. Pierce was holding on by a thread, and she knew instinctively what he was really asking of her. His Tiger was threatening to burst right out of him and shred these fuckers, and that would mess things up for everyone. All supernaturals would be outed, and keeping their secret was huge in their world.
“Okay,” she said, nodding and wanting nothing more than to set him at ease.
Why the fuck did Bixby bring humans here? Something was not right with that male, and she should have seen it a hundred times before today. His nasty little face was scrunched up like a rat’s, and he watched her with raw hatred blazing in his eyes.
But why? What did she ever do to him? Shit. There would be time to figure it out later. Right now, she needed to calm down and get back in control. If not for herself, then for Pierce. If they were ever going to have a chance, they could not start with the murder of a couple of human law enforcement officers.
“Toni?” he growled, his whole body tense.
“I’m okay. I will be okay, I swear. Pierce, easy now,” she whispered the last, waiting for him to really look at her.
Aquamarine eyes filled with turmoil met hers, and she could have cried for all the emotion she saw there. She pulled away from the officer, cupping Pierce’s face, keeping his gaze on hers before she bared her soul to him.
“I love you,” she said softly, without frills or any extras.
It was just I love you, plain and simple and true. What else did there need to be? That confession was for his ears only. Fuck Bixby and the two normals.
They could hang for all she cared. Uncle Uzzi was right. Toni was deserving of something more than just working a thankless job for a boss who was out to get her for some unknown reason.
“Fuck. Here? You tell me you love me here, now? Dammit woman,” he mumbled, then caught her lips in a hard, fast kiss. “I love you, too. So fucking much already. I’ll have you out in no time,” he promised.
Toni’s heart squeezed inside her chest, and she tasted her own tears on her lips when they finally pulled apart at the lieutenant’s insistence. Pierce’s lips were drawn in a tight line. She watched him watching her, his whole body frozen, as the female officer cuffed Toni and guided her to one of the two Sheriff’s Department cars sitting there.
The officer remained outside the vehicle, waiting until her boss told her to get in. They were stuck behind his car, so Toni was still able to follow the conversation. She listened, trying not to give in to the panic.
“Here’s my card with the address where she will be interviewed⁠—”
“You will not interview her until I arrive, and I will be right behind you,” he said, but the last part was spoken to Toni, who could hear him fine through the glass.
“Fine. But since we have the evidence in hand, we are going to arrest and charge her today. Mr. Bixby has already signed the complaint for the company.”
“Toni, it will be okay. Just don’t say a word without me. I’m grabbing my wallet and phone and I will be right behind you,” he told her.
“You are charging her, right?” Bixby asked the lieutenant as the human male walked to the passenger’s side of the car and held the door opened for the man.
Smart of him to get a ride, Toni thought, If he were paying attention, he would have seen the danger lurking behind him in Pierce’s Tiger bright eyes. The moron didn’t seem to realize he was the hunted one now.
She watched Pierce for as long as she could see him, his aquamarine gaze glittering in the early evening haze. She turned her body, trying to keep him in sight as they rounded a bend, but then, poof, he was gone.
Toni closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip. This was all wrong. She replayed her last day in Bixby’s office. He’d instructed her to leave her work computer there, and she did, only taking some personal effects from her desk.
“Excuse me. Was there a warrant?” Toni asked, completely flummoxed by the whole thing.
“Didn’t your lawyer tell you to be quiet?” the officer retorted.
The nasty woman was right, but something was really bothering Toni. Like where the hell were they taking her? The cabin was located in Burlington County, but the Eat Well Live Proud offices were in Maccon County. This made no sense.
“Where are we going?” she asked, trying to figure out the direction.
“Oh, just to processing,” Officer Snarky Pants said.
“But we’re going the wrong way. The lieutenant gave Pierce his card, and I am pretty damn sure this is not how you get to the Burlington County Sheriff’s department,” she said, mildly panicked.
Toni was meticulous about details, especially when it came to driving places she had never been. So, before setting out to Mount Maverick, she’d googled the directions, checking all the relevant points, including the location of the local police and sheriff’s department.
Call it a quirk, but just in case Uncle Uzzi set her up with a serial killer, Toni had wanted to know where to run. When they reached the end of the mountain road, Officer Duluth should have stayed on the highway, headed west. But she didn’t. Duluth got off, circled back east, and started taking back roads. Now Toni was all mixed up.
“It was a good performance, wasn’t it? Now, why don’t you go to sleep,” the woman, clearly not an officer, said, placing a gas mask on her face just as a sour smelling mist filled the back of the police car.
Toni’s eyes went wide. She slammed on the windows with her fists, but the handcuffs didn’t give her much leverage, and the windows must have been reinforced or something. She started to feel dizzy.
Shit. Now what?
Her eyes burned, and she closed them, sinking to her knees on the floor of the cruiser. Maybe if she got low enough, the mist wouldn’t get into her lungs. Toni tried to call on her beast for strength, but her Lioness went silent.
Panic gripped her then. Even as she tried to take shallow breaths, the gas was already working. Her eyes and body grew heavy, and Toni slumped forward, her face against the old car mat. The last thing she saw was an old bloodstain with some clumps of hair still sticking to it, but her thoughts were on Pierce.
Only Pierce.