The male came around the island, its yellow eyes staring at her. Deep inside Godiva, Ashe shivered. She felt as if she was looking at pure evil. Her heart thudded and she had to fight to keep herself from directing Godiva to run. There was no fighting this male. He was bigger and stronger and she was very inexperienced. But she had other skills.
Godiva swished her tail and spread her tantalizing scent toward the male as she made her way to David, one sultry step at a time. The male came around the other side of the island to cut her off. Godiva swiped her paw at him but then chuffed seductively, still moving, positioning herself right in front of David’s body.
Ashe knew where the gun was. She could even see a small part of it. Godiva crouched invitingly. The male took the bait, rushing toward her. Godiva’s paw reached beneath David’s body, hooked the weapon with her claws and pulled it out. Instantly Ashe shifted partially, her entire upper body. It was sickening, and difficult to concentrate, but it was the only thing she could think of to save them both. She turned, shocked that the leopard was so close. She felt a blast of hot air, and the creature lunged.
She fired, point-blank, over and over, emptying the gun into the leopard’s brain and throat. She couldn’t stop pulling the trigger, not even when the cat was dead on the floor right in front of her.
“That wasn’t a smart move, Ashe,” Beau Tregre said from the doorway. He held a gun on her and his hand was rock steady. “Now you have no weapon. Why don’t you shift fully and come here?”
“Screw you,” she hissed, shifting. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” She looked around. Her clothes were just a few feet from her and she walked over to them and picked up her jeans.
“Where’s Evangeline?”
“I can’t believe you’re planning on killing your own daughter,” she snapped. “What kind of asshole are you?” She yanked up her jeans and glanced at him. He was staring at her breasts. Deliberately she picked up her top but didn’t put it on. Let him be fascinated while she figured out a plan.
“She’s safe. She isn’t here this morning, bad luck for you.”
Beau swore and gestured for her to walk to him. She shook her head.
“I’m going to kill you right where you stand.”
“I don’t think you are,” another voice said. Timur reached around him and took the gun from Beau’s hand. “Step inside.”
“There might be more,” Ashe warned, yanking on her shirt. She ran toward the bathroom. “Jeremiah and Gorya have been shot.”
“We’ve got medics on the way. We have to get rid of these bodies. They’re all leopard. I’ve got a crew coming right after me. Fyodor sent an army.”
Timur nudged Beau. “Where did you get your recruits?”
Beau shrugged. “Not everyone was happy to work for my nephew. It seems that Joshua can be a real hardass. He doesn’t let his men have fun anymore. They were happy to work for me.” He smirked. “A couple in Drake Donovan’s lair hate him as much as I do. I’ve got a good business. A great one. Armande Mercier will do anything I tell him, just to keep his sister safe. Rafe Cordeau and I had a deal to run opium through his pipeline. When Rafe disappeared, I went to Ulisse. Now he seems to have disappeared. I can offer you the same deal I had with them.”
“Why did Anton Lipin take a shot at me in the grove?”
Beau shrugged. He looked surer than ever because Timur hadn’t immediately rejected his offer. “I have no idea.”
Beau shrugged again. “What do you think? Let’s do business. We can double what we’re doing if we have control of the bakery as well.”
Timur shot Beau Tregre without another word. He felt nothing when he did it. Not elation, not anything at all. This man had tried to kill his own daughter. He would have eventually killed his sons for money. He was cruel, vicious and corrupt. Timur looked up at his woman standing there with her shirt in her hands. She was amazing. Amazing . And she was his.
It was Temnyy who saved his life. The cat leapt toward the surface, forcing his muscles to contort, fur bursting through skin. He toed his shoes off as he ripped at his jeans, peeling them off his legs fast. Not fast enough, but when the huge male leopard hit him, he was half leopard, half human.
The leopard hit so hard it drove him to the ground. He heard Ashe scream as if at a distance, but pain had blossomed and spread through him. Instinct had him rolling, trying to protect his neck, throat and front from the teeth and claws of the big cat. His shirt had ripped to accommodate the change, the thick fur protecting him as teeth drove for his spinal cord, but he couldn’t shake the leopard and get his legs from his jeans. It required one second, a fraction of a second, but he didn’t have that.