Raini lifted her chin. “I don’t see how that matters.”
Maddox stared at her long and hard, and then his mouth very slowly canted up in what could have been amusement. He turned back to Tanner. “Let me guess, you’re here to ask me if I brokered the deal that got your hellcat kidnapped.”
Tanner tilted his head. “Did you?”
“No.” Maddox took the seat beside Raini. “I hadn’t even heard through … shall we call it the broker grapevine … about the deal. If I had, I’d have contacted Knox with the information, since the hellcat is a close friend of his mate.”
“Why? You have no loyalty to Knox,” Devon pointed out.
“Very true,” said Maddox. “But I like it when people owe me favors. Having Knox Thorne owe me one? Yes, that would appeal to me. But as the guilty party in this case didn’t try to contact him about the deal, I’d say you’re looking for a broker who—for one reason or another—wouldn’t have any interest in extracting a favor from Knox.” His eyes drifted back to Raini, who met that stare just as boldly.
Tanner studied the male in front of him, unsure whether he believed him or not. He’d long ago learned that Maddox was a terrific liar. “And, off the top of your head, just who wouldn’t have an interest in doing that?”
“There’s always Roth Lockwood. Knox did torture him and then kick his ass out of your lair, after all. I’m not saying it wasn’t deserved. I’d have done much worse to someone who was selling information about my lair to other Primes. But Lockwood now loathes Knox with a passion—he wouldn’t want anything from him, would he?”
No, he wouldn’t. And Roth would sooner set himself on fire than give Knox any information, whether he’d receive something in return or not.
Maddox looked at Jolene. “Lockwood has also had run-ins with your son, Richie, so he’d probably get a petty kick out of doing something that would annoy you. I’m not saying it was Lockwood. Just that he’s someone you might want to take a closer look at.”
Tanner narrowed his eyes. “It’s not like you to be so blunt.” The descendant often talked in circles. “Getting info out of you is usually more like dragging blood out of a stone.”
Maddox shrugged. “Maybe I’m not in the mood to play.”
“Or maybe you want something.”
The guy’s mouth kicked up into a smile that unapologetically said, “guilty as charged.”
“Here’s something you might find interesting. You know that one of the areas I excel in is gathering information. People frequently hire me to find intel on others. Three months ago, a male hellcat came to me requesting a dossier be done on Devon Clarke. He said he was looking for potential female hellcats to breed with, and he considered her a prime candidate. It’s not uncommon for people to do such a thing, so I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”
Devon stiffened. “Who was he?” The question was a whip.
“If you want me to break client confidentiality, you’ll need to give me a good reason,” said Maddox.
Jolene clenched her fists. “I’ll destroy you right where you sit if you don’t—that’s a good reason.”
Maddox’s smile widened. “It is. But I don’t fear death.”
Devon sighed, exasperated. “You already know what you’re going to ask for in exchange for information. You probably thought it up before we even got here, figuring we’d come talk to you sooner or later. Why not just say it?”
“Direct.” Maddox gave a short nod. “I like that.” He slowly leaned forward and rested his clasped hands on the table. “You do have something I want.”
Tanner bristled. “You’re not getting anything from her.”
“You think I’m going to demand a sexual favor?” Maddox looked affronted. “No, Tanner, I don’t operate that way. And I have no taste for unwilling women.” His gaze sliced back to Devon. “What I want is very simple. I want a few ounces of your venom.” He dipped his hand into his pocket and then placed a small vial on the table in front of her. “You give me the venom, and I’ll give you the name of the person who requested the dossier.”
Devon cast the vial an uneasy glance. “What do you want the venom for?”
“That’s not important.”
“If it wasn’t important, you wouldn’t want it.”
A smile touched one side of his mouth. “I have my reasons, and those reasons are my own.”
Tanner growled. “You can have some of mine.” He went to grab the vial, but Maddox snapped his hand around it.
“I don’t want hellhound venom. I want hellcat venom.” Maddox raised a brow at her. “Well, what will it be, Miss Clarke? Just how badly do you want that name?”
Very badly, but … I’m not comfortable giving him my venom when he could use it to hurt someone, Devon told Jolene.