Fighting Temptation [Brac Village 11] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Lynn Hagen Page B

his father or mine.”
    “You’d be surprised what family will do,” Carmine said. “We don’t know if Kiki has an ulterior motive. He could be blowing smoke up your ass to get you to trust him.”
    Turi didn’t want to think that his cousin was the bad guy. There were too many of them already. Adding one more to the list made him think that humanity was a thing of the past, that if he couldn’t trust a person he had grown up with, who could he trust?
    He had known at a young age not to trust his father. That was no surprise. His uncle had never held a place in Turi’s heart. He never liked the man. But Kiki had never done anything wrong to Turi. The guy played by his own set of the rules.
    What if Carmine was right? What if Kiki was here with his own agenda? He just didn’t know what to think anymore. “My head hurts.”
    “That’ll happen when dealing with deception. All I’m saying is don’t let your guard down, Turi.” Carmine rested his cheek against Turi’s head. The gesture went a long way in soothing him. Even if his entire tribe turned out to be traitors against Turi, he knew he had Carmine.
    “Do you at least have any crackers?” Kiki asked as he stuck his head around the door frame. “I could use those with the cheese.”
    “He likes to eat,” Turi said to Carmine.
    “And he’s still so skinny?” his mate teased.
    “I prefer to be called tantalizingly thin,” Kiki said. “Now can we stop talking and feed me?”
    “Be quiet before I kick you out,” Carmine bellowed. “Count your blessings that I haven’t already removed your head from your shoulders for showing up here in the first place.”
    Kiki stuck his tongue out before ducking back into the kitchen. Turi looked up at his mate. “You really don’t have any food?”
    “I could rustle something up.”
    Turi pushed at his mate’s chest. “Stay here. He’s my pain in the ass. I’ll find something to tide him over.” He winked at Carmine. “Or maybe I’ll just tell him you don’t and he’ll go away.”
    “Smart man.” Carmine smiled at him.
    Walking into the kitchen, Turi decided he was going to tell Kiki to bug off when he noticed his cousin standing by the fridge, his body rigid. His eyes kept darting to the side of the door Turi had just walked through.
    Turi caught the signal too late. His father was standing there, grabbing Turi before he could open his mouth and shimmering both of them away.

Chapter Ten
     
    “I’m going to kill that son of a bitch,” Carmine said into the phone as he drove out to the Wood elf village. He couldn’t stop thinking about how he had promised his mate that no one was going to take him. That son of a bitch Delyn had made Carmine go back on his word.
    “The Ultionem already made their decision and had told Delyn that Turi was not to be forced to mate his uncle,” Detective Lewis Keating said on the other end of the phone. “He went against their ruling.”
    “I was going to head out there anyway. Turi had identified the body from that mugging case. He told me that Grainne had been coming to the village to speak with his uncle.”
    Keating cleared his throat, but Carmine heard the censure in the man’s tone. “You should’ve told me that you filed the case differently. I could’ve helped you, Bianchi.”
    “I’m heading your way. Don’t do anything stupid until I get there.” Keating paused. “I know you want to kill him, Carmine. But remember that he is Turi’s father. Whatever you do will have a lasting effect on your mate. It’s a decision you will have to live with.”
    “I’m well aware of that,” Carmine said as he hung up the phone and shoved it down on the console. He could arrest the man for kidnapping, but Carmine knew that wasn’t what he was after.
    He wanted Delyn’s head on a platter. But Keating was right. Carmine was going to take Delyn to the Ultionem and let them decide his fate. He wouldn’t kill Turi’s father, no matter how badly he wanted