Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 128380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Havana gave a slow nod. “Most people go catfishing for the latter reason. It’s usually nothing personal to whoever they’re posing as, so it could be that—”
“Okay, here we go,” Bailey all but sang. “We’ve got a name, an email address, a physical address, and a phone number. Quick warning, Hammond: It would seem you were right, you do know them.” She twisted the laptop to face him.
Deke ground his teeth as betrayal knifed through his chest. Son of a bitch. His cat unsheathed his claws with a furious hiss. Neither the feline nor Deke were anything close to friends with this male, but it was still their pride mate. That clearly meant nothing to this asshole.
Havana frowned. “AJ?” She looked at Deke. “Didn’t you once beat him up?”
His fingers contracting like claws, Deke gave a curt nod. “It happened years ago, way before you joined the pride.”
“What brought it on?” asked the devil shifter.
“He cheated on my cousin, who was more like a sister to me.”
Aspen let out a soft whistle. “So he has a hard-on for you big time, then?”
“Yes. And not only because I worked him over. I forbade him from going near her again, so he blames me for her now being mated to someone else in another pride. He’s also convinced that the reason he didn’t get an enforcer position is that I requested he be turned down, which isn’t true.” As Bailey twisted the laptop back to face her, Deke asked her, “How long has this profile been live?”
“Just over three months,” replied the mamba, drumming her fingers on the outer side of her thigh—the movements slow, sharp, somehow menacing.
He had the feeling that she was imagining slicing them down AJ’s face. Well, Bailey might not be the most ethical creature, but she would never condone betrayal.
“He wasted no time in finding himself an online girlfriend,” Aspen mused.
“No, he didn’t.” Tate licked his front teeth. “We need to have a chat with AJ.”
Deke couldn’t agree more.
Bailey pointed at the phone number on the screen. “Is this the one he used to contact Maisy?”
Deke dipped his chin.
For a long moment, she merely stared at the laptop. “Huh.”
“Huh, what?” Deke pushed.
She scratched her cheek. “It’s weird. The profile info, I mean.”
Deke felt his brow pinch. “In what way?”
“Well, he used a fake phone number. And the email address features your name, so that’s obviously something he created purely for the profile. AJ has clearly taken those measures to protect his true ID just in case the Maisy thing came to light and his account was hacked. Why would he do that … but then include his real name and physical address? Why not type in your name and address, or some bullshit details? Why point a finger in his own direction? It makes zero sense to me.”
Deke blinked twice, and his cat paused in his pacing.
“You know,” began Havana, folding her arms, “it is weird. He could have as easily used a fake name. Why didn’t he?”
“Maybe he did,” said Bailey.
Deke frowned down at her. “What?”
“Maybe this guy here isn’t really AJ,” Bailey elaborated. “Maybe someone is using him as a scapegoat, counting on you to be so blinded by your dynamic with him that you’ll find it simple to believe he’s at fault.” She shrugged. “It’s just something to consider.”
Deke had to admit—though he wouldn’t aloud—that she made a good point. Why only make a half-assed attempt at hiding your ID?
“We’ll get a better idea of what’s happening after we speak with AJ,” Tate stated. “He’s never been a good liar.” The Alpha male looked at Bailey. “Whoever this is, I doubt he’s virtually wooing other women as well, but I need you to go through his inbox and check his messages to be sure. Also, it would be helpful if you could hack into his email address to check if he’s been communicating with women that way.”
She gave a lazy salute. “Will do.”
“Can you get it done before we’re back?” Deke asked her. “He’ll deactivate the profile and the email address once he realizes we’re onto him.”
She waved his concern away. “I’ll change the passwords before I skim through the content. That way, AJ can’t log into them, so he’ll be unable to deactivate them.”
Tate gave a satisfied nod and then sliced his gaze back to Deke. “Let’s go pay AJ a visit.”
The breath gusted out of AJ’s lungs as Deke slammed the male against the wall, fisting his tee. His eyes wide with fright, AJ lifted his hands, trying to lean away from Deke even though there was nowhere to go. “What the hell, man?”
A growl sawed at the back of Deke’s throat—a sound that came from both him and his cat. “I don’t know where you got the idea that you’d get away with what you did, but you were dead wrong.”