Down In Flames Read online

  Down in Flames

  Elena Kincaid

  Copyright

  Down In Flames © 2021 Elena Kincaid

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  Edited by: Sandy Ebel, Personal Touch Editing

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  Cover Design & Formatted by: C.D. Gorri

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  *This story is part of the Tempted & Tantalizing NYC Author Event (TNTNYC2021) Pinched & Cuffed Author collaboration.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, places, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either part of the author’s imagination and/or used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to a person, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights are reserved. No part of this book is to be reproduced, scanned, downloaded, printed, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of any materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  About the Author

  Also by Elena Kincaid

  Down In Flames

  When Daphne Quinn’s parents were murdered two years ago, all she wanted was justice… or revenge; whichever came first. She had even closed herself off from the one man she truly desired. When she finally realized what Dante meant to her and how deep her feelings ran for him, she worried it was too little, too late.

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  Dante Pascal had a job to do, one that prevented him from pursuing Daphne, the woman he had wanted since the day he laid eyes on her. With pressure coming down on him from all sides, he finds himself unable to prevent her kidnapping. What’s a guy to do when the only possible lead he has is locked away tightly in a holding cell? Get himself pinched, of course.

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  Held for ransom, Daphne’s kidnapping could finally ignite the fire that starts a war between two rival wolf packs. It’s a race against the clock for Dante to save the woman that he loves. Will he be able to find her before they kill her, or will time finally run out on him?

  Dedication

  Dedicated to all my lovely readers. You guys rock! And to TNTNYC21. I love being part of this amazing event and getting to meet you guys in person.

  Chapter 1

  “He’s looking at you again,” Jessie taunted Daphne in a sing-song voice as she filled an empty glass with ice behind the bar. It was actually more of a whispered song, considering wolves had impeccable hearing, and they were in a nightclub full of shifters.

  Almost as equally impeccable was a wolf’s low whisper, which prevented lupine ears from overhearing annoying women who taunted their best friends. “Shut it, Jess,” Daphne replied, albeit without the operatic theatrics.

  “What?” Jessie shrugged.

  “You know what, Jess.” Daphne elbowed her friend in the ribs hard enough to evoke a not-so-quiet oof before ducking her head and walking around the bar to sit on one of the bar stools.

  She felt the blush creep onto her face, practically searing her skin. After all, Jessie wasn’t wrong. With her back turned, Daphne could still feel the weight of Dante’s stare. He’d been doing that a lot more lately. Daphne couldn’t help but wonder if he noticed how often she’d been looking at him as well. She let out an exasperated puff of air and continued poring over the contracts of the new club her uncles were about to purchase in Jersey City. She could have been doing this at home, of course, along with the pile of assignments waiting for her as a third-year law school student, but that would mean she wouldn’t see Dante for two nights in a row.

  Tomorrow was his night off.

  The QUINNtessential, on the top floor of a hi-rise in Midtown Manhattan, was owned by Daphne’s uncles, the alpha of the Greenwich Wolf Pack, Eamon Quinn, and his younger brother, Brendan, beta to the pack. The club was exclusively for shifters or humans in the know. A large dance floor was set in the middle of the club, with two stocked bars on adjacent sides. The back of the club led out to stairs to the rooftop portion of the club, which had a covered area for dining and another bar, catering mostly to the sports-loving crowd. Daphne split her time between the two floors, and her uncles ran a tight ship to keep out any shady dealings, lest they’d face the wrath of the Supernatural Council of New York City.

  Occasionally, an unsavory member would enter the club, but with the tightly run security in place, said member would get tossed out on his or her ass.

  Jessie mixed a gin and tonic and added a wedge of lime before sliding it across to Daphne. While pouring a drink for a customer, and without looking up, she added, “Are you ever going to let someone in?”

  Daphne sipped her drink and continued reading the contract as if Jessie hadn’t spoken. It was still early enough that the club wasn’t busy yet. She’d move to the back office soon enough, but for now, she wanted to at least be near what she couldn’t have and lately desired even more so.

  Knowing that Jessie wouldn’t let her question go unanswered, Daphne looked up at her friend and whispered, “It’s not like that, anyway.”

  Her comment was met with a snort and an eyeroll. “It’s not like that,” Jessie mimicked. “Not with Dante, not with Cain…” she trailed off, giving a quick wave of her hand in the air dismissively.

  Now it was Daphne’s turn to roll her eyes and snort. Cain was tall, fit, good looking, and maybe even a little smart, Daphne begrudgingly added to her mental list, but still, she wanted none of him. He was definitely interested, however. Her uncles had their eye on him for her, being that he was a high-ranking member of the wolf pack, whereas Dante, though head of security at the club, was pack-less. At least for now, Daphne secretly hoped.

  Daphne tried to hold in a snarky remark. She knew Jessie meant well and worried about her. They’d been best friends since they were practically in diapers, what with Jessie’s father and Daphne’s also being best friends since childhood. Two years ago, however, Daphne’s life was shattered when her parents were murdered, and now everyone treated her like she was a piece of delicate glass, including Dante, it seemed. He had started working for her uncles shortly after the murders.

  Daphne wasn’t fragile, nor was she broken. She wouldn’t dishonor her parents by crawling inside of her own shell like that. She had grieved, then learned how to bury her emotions. Now she just wanted justice… or revenge. Whichever came first. It was she who had found them dead, torn to shreds with their blood pooling around them in their own home, no less. Daphne had come over for her usual Sunday dinner to discover them like that. The whole thing reeked of Claw Pack, the rival wolf pack, itching to take control of her family’s territory.

  Rumors had already been circulating by then of them wanting to take out her father, Niall Quinn, the former Alpha of the Greenwich Pack. There was just no proof back then as there wasn’t now, and they had struck with no warning. Not knowing how high up the food chain the kill order went wasn’t enough to start an all-out war.

  What the Claw Pack didn’t bet on was Daphne’s father had two younger brothers who were equally formidable. Eamon and Brendan stepped in quickly as Alpha and Beta, and without obvious proof, took out some lower players of the Claw Pack to show how easily they can.

  “What are you doing here on your night off, Kiddo?” came a silky deep voice behind her, snapping her out of her haunting memories.

  “Kiddo?” she mouthed to Jessie with Dante still behind her, giving her friend a pointed look. If that didn’t scream, ‘I think of you as my kid sister,’ she didn’t know what did.

  “Just going over the contracts for the QUINNtessential II.” Daphne tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

  “What about your paper?” Dante crossed his arms in disapproval as he finally came around to the side of her.

  And now we’ve gone from big brother to dad! No thanks, she thought. He was only seven years her senior, and here he was berating her as if she was some pig-tailed schoolgirl. She just had to open her big mouth and tell him about her massive piles of coursework, which included a paper that was due in a few days. Anger practically seeped from her pores. She wanted to tell him to fuck off, but she settled for a passive-aggressive, “Excuse me,” as she hopped off the barstool and wordlessly, with her contract in hand, and made to leave.

  Dante gently held her back by her arm. “Let me at least give you a ride home tonight, Daphne.”

  “I have my car, Dante.” God, she loved the sound of his name rolling off her tongue. She loved the sound of her own damned name when he used it. Sometimes she could swear it sounded reverent. But who was she kidding? She’d been so closed off and focused on bringing her parents’ killer to justice, that when she finally could admit, at least to herself, that somewhere along the way, during their friendly banter, shared glances, a casual touch here and there, her feelings for Dante ran deep, but her outward nonchalant behavior toward him was a little too late to undo it seemed, that’s if he ever desired her at all. He might not be pack, but he was damn good at his job and had the respect of her uncles. Surely, they wouldn’t object.

  “Listen,” Dante began, “There’s been a string of robberies in the area lately, and your uncles—”

  “Oh, my uncles asked you to babysit me, did they?” Figures. She’d be having a word with her overbearing,
overprotective uncles later. Lucky for them, they were currently taking care of some pack business and weren’t at the club tonight.

  “He’s right,” Jessie cut in. “Cain offered to drive me home tonight, and I accepted. You could always come with us.”

  Daphne stared daggers at her soon-to-be former best friend, and knowing each other the way they do, she had no doubt Jessie knew she was in deep shit. To make matters worse, Cain sauntered up to the bar at that very moment. So distracted in Dante’s presence, as she often was, she hadn’t even noticed when Cain had entered the club.

  Of course, Cain’s shifter hearing picked up on the conversation. “I’d be happy to give you a ride home, Daphne. Maybe we could even grab a bite to eat?”

  Funny how that bite to eat was solely directed at her and not Jessie, whom he was also giving a ride to. Rude! She was so not in the mood to dodge advances from him tonight, although she felt a twinge bad for him—a mere twinge she’d get over quickly—at the hopeful look on his face. Meanwhile, Dante’s expression was unreadable.

  “Dante,” Cain acknowledged with a nod.

  Dante may be pack-less, but he was very much a dominant presence, far more dominant than Cain, and though the two men seemed to bristle around each other for reasons unknown to Daphne, Cain at least remained respectful to him.

  “So, how about it, Daph?”

  “She’s already got a ride,” Dante stated before Daphne could reply. He then turned on his heel and left, leaving no room for argument.

  Sure, she could have run after him to give him a piece of her mind for making decisions for her, but that wasn’t the real reason she wanted to run after him. The scent of him still lingered—warm vanilla, freshly laundered clothes, and mint—and she wanted to keep inhaling it. She also wasn’t about to behave like a petulant child when Dante was only looking out for her safety. She knew better than anyone how life could change in only one split second.

  Instead of following him, she did the sensible thing and went to her Uncle Eamon’s office to work on the contract. It was hard for her to focus at first as she tried not to read into the fact Dante seemed to think she was his responsibility, not Cain’s. She also didn’t miss the way that Jessie had looked at Cain. Maybe some alone time could spark something for them, she hoped. Her friend deserved happiness, too. And selfishly, if Jessie was preoccupied with her own love life, maybe she’d butt out of Daphne’s.

  “You ready to go?” Dante asked, standing in the doorway, startling her a little. He was a big guy. Six foot three to four, if she had to guess, and yet stealthy enough to appear out of what seemed like thin air. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  She gave him a dismissive wave. “It’s fine.” She hadn’t even realized the time. At least he’d attribute her heart palpitations solely to startling her, though she couldn’t help but wonder if Dante knew the effect his nearness had on her.

  The drive over to her apartment was met with mostly silence. He pulled into a spot about half a block away, which did not surprise her since a ride from him meant door-to-door service. She was just about to open the door when Dante abruptly asked, “Did you want to accept a ride from him tonight?”

  “Who? Cain?” Where was he going with this?

  “Yeah, Cain!” She noticed his knuckles turning white from gripping the steering wheel.

  Of course, she didn’t. She wanted to drive her own ass home, so she wouldn’t have to sit in the car pining for the man she wanted. She wouldn’t tell said man that, though. Instead, she said, “I don’t see him that way.”

  “Your uncles think—”

  And that was the last straw. She shoved the car door open and stepped out. He was in front of her in seconds. “So, what… now you’re my pimp, too?” she practically screeched, shoving him out of her way.

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  He easily kept up with her hurried pace, then overtook her to open the lobby door. They both gave a quick wave to the two guards at the front desk—wolf pack security.

  “I asked you a question, Daphne,” he said when they were inside the elevator.

  She crossed her arms, mimicking his stance. “You’re all over the place today. First the damn big brother act, now this. Is this all I am to you? Your bosses’ niece, someone to coddle and look after?”

  He shocked her when, instead of answering, he brought himself closer and bent his forehead down to touch hers. “No,” he whispered, his warm breath tickling her face. Her breath hitched, and she was rendered momentarily speechless.

  The elevator dinged, and the doors opened, signaling their arrival on her floor. Neither of them moved until the doors began to close. Dante put his hand out, stopping them, and then took her hand in his and led them out of the elevator. Her apartment was a few doors down from the elevator, and she had no idea what would happen once they stepped inside with the way the air between them suddenly electrified.

  Nothing happened.

  As soon as they stepped inside, Dante did a sweep of her apartment and looked out the window while nodding to the guards Daphne knew were out there. Since her parents were murdered, her uncles took no chances with her.

  She followed him to her door. That’s when he finally turned to face her again. “Stay safe, Daphne.” He threaded his fingers through her long, wavy red hair, the palm of his hand resting on her cheek. His usually stoic face softened. “I’ll see you at work.”

  And then he was gone, leaving her even more confused.

  Chapter 2

  “What the hell do you mean you don’t know?” Dante’s grandfather barked. Desi Pascal may have been getting up there in years, but the man was just as formidable now as he was at Dante’s age.

  Dante’s father, Damon, just shook his head and tossed him another beer.

  It was Friday night. Dante was still reeling from what happened with Daphne yesterday. She definitely wasn’t as unaffected by him as she tried to appear to be. He understood why she put up her walls, but all he wanted to do was to break through them. Until he overheard her uncles talking a few nights ago about what a good match Cain was for her. Then he just wanted to break things.

  Now his grandfather was laying it on thick again about how it was time for him to take his place as the head of the Supernatural Council of New York City—the SCNYC—representing the wolves. This was his legacy, one he’d known about and practically been groomed for since birth, his choices be damned. His father had reneged a long time ago when he took a human for a mate, Dante’s mother.

  “No matter,” Desi had remarked when Dante entered his teen years. “He’ll be even more of an alpha than the both of us combined.” Dante could still hear the pride in his grandfather’s voice. It sounded way better than the disappointment he heard coming from Desi now.

  Dante took a large swig of his beer. He wouldn’t look his grandfather in the eye. “I need more time.”

  “More time?” Desi was incredulous. “There is a war on the horizon, kid, and you want more time!”

  Exactly. And Daphne Quinn was right smack in the middle of it. He couldn’t be the grand poohbah of the wolf shifters and their alphas and still work his job for the Quinn brothers. He was getting close to finding out who the son of a bitch was that put out the kill order on Daphne’s father.

  To everyone else, excluding his family and including Daphne, Dante Pascal was hired as head of security for a nightclub. In truth, Eamon Quinn had hired Dante’s private investigative and security company to take down whoever was responsible for his brother and sister-in-law’s murder. Dante decided to personally see to it.

  His father cut in. “Any more leads?”