Before Lucas could say anything, the door behind them opened. Astrid frowned, then suddenly, her face lit up. “Zac!” She stepped around the table and quickly strode toward the door.
The atmosphere went back to normal and Sofia glanced behind her at the newcomer. “Mr. Vrost?” What was he doing here? And why was Lucas Anderson’s fiancée wrapping her arms around—oh. Now they were kissing.
“Miss me, sweetheart?” Vrost said to Astrid.
“Always.” Her smile was wide, her eyes staring up at him as if he were the only person in the room.
Sofia glanced back at Lucas, as if asking for an explanation. He didn’t give any, but again his gaze never left her. His face was completely passive, but there was a burning hatred in his eyes. She had obviously gotten under this skin. Good.
“So, who are you—” Vrost stopped when he saw Sofia. “Detective … Selinofoto?”
“Mr. Vrost.” She glanced at Astrid, who was tucked into his side. “Care to explain why you’re here?”
“I came to pick up my wife for lunch.”
“Your wife?”
“She works here,” he explained, nodding at Astrid.
Works here? So, Astrid wasn’t Lucas’s fiancée? Fuck. That was embarrassing. “I see.”
“How do you know the Detective, Zac?” Lucas asked, his voice edgy.
“She came to investigate the disturbance at Blood Moon. That night there was a fight, remember?”
“At your bachelor party,” she added.
“My what?” That finally seemed to get a reaction from him.
“Mr. Vrost told me that you were having a party at the private room in Blood Moon,” she began. “That’s why you were drunk and half-naked.”
He cocked his head at her. “We’ve met … before?”
And she knew he meant before the other night, of course. “You weren’t sober, and we weren’t introduced.”
“Lucas.” Zac walked over to him. “It was a crazy night, so I’m sure you don’t remember everything that happened.” He looked back at her, a strange look on his face. “And you, Detective? You remember everything? And you’re here to find out more about that night?”
“Of course I remember.” He seemed confused by that. “And I’m not here about that night. Your partner, Mr. Jonasson, made it very clear that you wouldn’t be pursuing any charges. I’m here about another matter.” She turned to Lucas. “So, are you sure no one else can confirm your location Thursday night?”
“Are you going to arrest me?”
She bit her lip. “Like I said, this is only a preliminary interview.”
“So you have other suspects?”
She gave a non-committal sound, hoping not to give away too much. “I should be on my way.” She got to her feet. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Anderson.”
“You’re welcome, Detective.”
“I’ll see myself out.” She pivoted on her heel and strode toward the door. The hairs on her neck prickled, and she knew he had his eyes on her. She straightened her shoulders, her spine stiff as steel as she walked out. She kept her posture rigid even as she left the office and made her way to the elevator. It was only when she was out in the street that the tension drained from her body.
She closed her eyes, ignoring the people around her. It didn’t go as bad as she imagined. Initially, she thought she’d be embarrassed if he brought up the roof deck incident. After all, she had practically offered herself up to him, allowing him to buy her a drink and take her somewhere private. But he didn’t give any indication that he even remembered her. Maybe he was drunk that night too and didn’t recall. Or he bought lots of girls drinks and almost kissed them that she didn’t even stand out.
This made things simpler. For one thing, she thought she’d have to pass the case on to someone else if it came out that she’d met him before. Of course, him not having an alibi made things complicated, too. Not only would he stay on her suspects list, but now she would have to look into all those other cases as well. Vrost seemed to think she wouldn’t remember that first night at Blood Moon. Was someone supposed to make her forget? How? Bribing an officer was a serious crime. Could it be that Fenrir was not only tampering with witnesses, but buying off cops too?
She took one more glance at the Fenrir building, straining her neck to look at the top floor. The sun blinded her for a moment, and she shielded her eyes with her hand. She didn’t mean to give them so much information about her suspicions. But her instincts were telling her something was not right and that there was more to this than meets the eye.
The idea of unraveling this mystery both thrilled and terrified her.
Chapter Four
Lucas was pretty sure minutes had passed since the detective left, but he was still staring at the door. Part of him still couldn’t believe what had happened. That after days of being haunted and tortured by slate gray eyes, orange blossoms and olives, and smooth skin under his fingertips, she had walked right into his office. His wolf whined as soon as she disappeared, its head sniffing around, trying to soak in as much of her scent as possible.
Stop it, he commanded his wolf. What the hell was wrong with his animal? Couldn’t it sense that Detective Selinofoto was the enemy? That she had dared to threaten him? And the clan?
“Uh, Lucas?”
Astrid’s voice broke him out of his trance. He glanced up at the couple, his gaze zeroing in on Zac. “Bachelor party, really?”
“You stumbled out, half-naked and delirious while I was talking to the detective,” he explained. “I didn’t know what else to say. She wanted to go inside, and I couldn’t let her see what the mages had done.”
He supposed that made sense. “Why didn’t you say it was your party? You’re the
