Authors: Lora Leigh
It was only the first of October and already temperatures were dipping into the freezing zone. She could feel that cold clear to her bones.
“I understand Vanderale’s concerns, Miss Rodriquez…”
“Oh please, call me Ria.” She smiled back at him blandly. “There’s no need to stand on ceremony. After all, I do know your family quite well.”
His expression went blank, but his silver eyes flared with sudden animosity.
“I very much doubt that,” he growled.
She blinked back at him. “But I do. Your father and your brother looked after me after the death of my mother. They’ve been quite kind.”
His eyes narrowed as she literally rubbed his nose in the fact that he couldn’t exactly treat her like an employee. And he certainly didn’t seem to accept the fact of his parentage very well. Unlike Callan, Jonas’s mother hadn’t been Leo’s mate. Only Leo’s sperm and another scientist’s egg were used in his creation.
Mercury shifted dangerously in the chair beside him, his gaze turning on Jonas, the amber darkening before he glanced back at Ria.
“Ria.” Jonas smiled back at her with heavy mockery. “As I’m certain you know, I’ve investigated you just as well as Dane,” he growled the name, “has investigated Sanctuary and all its inhabitants. The Vanderales didn’t adopt you. And you aren’t a treasured daughter.”
Ria set the cup back on the table, folded her hands in her lap and stared back at him placidly. He wasn’t telling her something she wasn’t already aware of.
“Mr. Wyatt, I never hinted at any such thing. I said I know your family quite well. I’ve worked for Leo and Dane since I was eighteen years old, as you know. They paid for my education, and before that they paid for my upbringing.” She leaned forward just enough to let him know she wasn’t intimidated by his heavy stare. “Never doubt, I am a cherished
friend
of the Vanderale family, and as such, my loyalty to the family, the company and the job I’m sent to do is above reproach. I have been sent to catalog, categorize and, in essence, determine whether or not Sanctuary is secure enough to continue to receive all the handy little toys we make certain Sanctuary gets to play with first. Do not doubt that my opinion carries weight. And do not doubt that my job is secure, no matter the protests you make. Now,” she sat back against the couch, “shall we do this in a civilized fashion or do I get to listen to you growl and snarl and flash those wickedly sharp canines in my direction, as your brother does, when he’s unreasonably upset?”
Jonas growled.
“Jonas.” Mercury leaned forward, almost protectively.
Ria kept her gaze on the dangerously shifting colors in Jonas’s eyes as Mercury drew his attention.
“What?” Jonas asked carefully.
“If you break any more furniture in this office,” Ria looked around the room, speaking before Mercury could, “then Callan may begin limiting you on your office account. I was going over the office supply records just last week. It appears that in six months this office was refurbished with two different walnut coffee tables, as well as a very sturdy metal one. You’ve lost three secretaries in one year, and the glass in your apartment has been replaced twice. You have quite a temper, don’t you, sir?”
“Or something.” His smile was tight.
Ria waited for the truth as he stared her down. She knew the truth. The windows in his apartment were due to several attempts on his life. The metal coffee table had taken an uncontained blast from an explosive that had slipped past their security, a highly advanced explosive. The two wooden tables had most likely been temper, though.
Finally, she allowed her gaze to flicker, as though she understood his alpha position. He hadn’t researched her enough. She didn’t even bow down to Dane.
“Very well.” She breathed in deeply. “I truly don’t wish to antagonize you. But it’s best that we know up front why I’m here. It’s my job to determine if the funds Sanctuary receives should continue, be raised, reduced or halted all together. It’s your job to make certain I have complete access to all your files involving any purchases, payments, contracts or outside services provided by Sanctuary in both electronic and hard-copy form. I’d like to get to work tomorrow if you don’t mind.”
She bent, picked up her coffee and sipped at it as she crossed her knees and waited.
He was obviously restraining his snarl, while Mercury was watching her with a flash of amusement in his eyes.
Jonas, unfortunately, was too much like Dane. Unfortunately for him, because Ria had learned how to deal with Dane years before. She received bling in the form of jewels from around the world in payment for allowing him to manipulate her. And he did so manipulate her.
She smiled back at Jonas. “I’m really a very nice person. Plenty of coffee helps.”
Mercury snorted. Jonas glared back at her.
“Dane Vanderale is behind this, isn’t he?” He lifted his lip in a sneer. “That’s why the Leo is suddenly so interested in how his money is being spent.”
Ria frowned. “The Leo cannot be manipulated, Mr. Wyatt. Once you get to know him, you’ll learn that.” Perhaps the hard way, just as Dane often did.
Jonas was suspicious, though, and that did not bode well for Dane. Or for her. Leo wouldn’t fire her, but boy, would he make sure she’d wish he’d done something so humane as simply firing her.
Leo knew her. He knew how to guilt her. And he could use it with shocking strength.
“What exactly do you need?” Jonas asked her from between clenched teeth.
“As I stated, hard-copy and/or electronic-copy information regarding purchases, contracts, sales or negotiations concerning those. The only things I don’t require on individual Breeds are lab files or sensitive mission reports. Anything concerning the business of Sanctuary should be made available to me.”
“And this will take you how long?” he snapped out.
Regret shimmered inside her, because she knew she was close to antagonizing him, perhaps making an enemy of him. And he did remind her so much of Dane. She was very fond of Dane, even if he was a manipulating, calculating coldhearted male for convincing her to come here.
The Leo was going to kill them both, but the danger Sanctuary faced terrified her. She looked from Jonas to Mercury and let her demeanor soften marginally.
“Hopefully, not too long,” she told him. “Truly, Mr. Wyatt, making an enemy of you isn’t my wish, but neither is it something that will sway me in my job. Though, I promise you, the viability of Sanctuary does mean something to me, as well as to Leo and Dane. I’m not here to risk your safety, I’m here to gather the information. All I need is your cooperation. No matter my determination, I know Leo and Dane will be willing to work with Sanctuary to continue the relationship Sanctuary does enjoy with Vanderale.”
Even if they were leaking money like a sieve, Leo would never contemplate cutting them off. Sanctuary could leak till hell froze over and he would still pour money into it. But that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t money that was leaking, it was something much more vital.
“You’ll have what you need.” Jonas stood to his feet. “In the morning.”
She rose as well, aware of Mercury straightening also.
“I look forward to it.” She set her coffee on the table and extended her hand once more. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you.”
He shook her hand firmly, but he didn’t strengthen his grip; he didn’t attempt to show her his strength, and her estimation of him rose. Because she knew he was furious.
“Mercury, show her back to her cabin. You, Lawe and Rule will be her personal security. Make sure no one kills her. Because she doesn’t seem to care much about her own welfare today. And she’s to be in Ely’s lab in the morning for testing.”
Ria paused. “There will be no testing, Mr. Wyatt. I supplied the necessary samples before my arrival. There will be no more given.”
He paused and stared back at her, a muscle ticking at his jaw before he smiled tightly. “You do like to play with fire, don’t you, Ms. Rodriquez?”
She let a light laugh escape her throat as she looked up at him. “Mr. Wyatt, Dane often says that’s exactly what I do best. I think my mother accused me of it several times as well. But you’ll find I’m truly not the enemy.”
“I don’t consider women my enemies.” He shrugged and in his quick smile she could see the charm he was capable of. “Combatants maybe.”
That told her. She inclined her head in agreement before turning to her personal bodyguard. It was enough to make a woman wish the word had a whole other connotation. Like naked and in her bed.
Too bad relationships and her just didn’t mix. Besides, she knew Breeds mated. They were playful, erotic and wicked, but loving a woman always came with a mating. And mating was almost instantaneous.
So far, she had no uncontrollable urges where his body was concerned. Irrational maybe, but that didn’t count.
She fought to restore her equilibrium as Mercury once again escorted her from the estate house to the limo. Sliding into the back, she watched as he moved in opposite her before the car began moving from the driveway.
They were both silent as they rode through the gates and the crowd of protestors that chanted outside them.
The gossip rags fueled the protests. Rumors of forced sexual desires due to a virus the Breeds carried were in the rags again. There was also the story of the serial killer/cannibal who was linked to the Breeds. The rags kept protestors at the door, and suspicion swirling around the Breeds both here and at the Wolf Breed compound Haven.
“You pushed a line with Jonas. I’d suggest not pushing it again for a while,” Mercury stated as they headed back to the cabin.
She glanced back at him silently before speaking. “Jonas, like Dane, requires a certain understanding to deal with. If he believed I was easy to run over, he would spend his time denying what I needed and blocking my attempts.”
But that didn’t change the fact that facing him hadn’t been easy. Her heart had been in her throat more often than not, and controlling any hint of fear had been almost impossible.
“Dealing with Jonas is nothing like dealing with Dane Vanderale, Ria. Don’t fool yourself. He can make a hard enemy.”
“As can Dane.” She shrugged.
She looked back at him, the sprawled position he preferred tempting her. She wanted to curl into his lap. She wanted to warm herself against him.
Illogical. Irrational. Insane.
The night before had been filled with dreams of him. He had been outside patrolling the area around her cabin, she knew that. It was too close. Too tempting.
At least he hadn’t actually been in the cabin. She didn’t share her space very well, no matter how much she was attracted to a man.
She was a die-hard loner. She had decided that a long time ago. People left too easily. They walked in, got you used to their presence, then left, leaving you alone. It was a hard lesson to learn, and one she reminded herself of whenever she happened to wonder what it would be like to actually share space with someone.
“Why don’t you have a lover?”
Her head swung around at the question.
“Excuse me?” She blinked back at him in shock, and her body nearly sizzled at the look he was giving her.
His expression was decidedly sensual.
“Why don’t you have a lover?” he asked again, spacing out the words as though she might have trouble understanding English. “You’re pretty. Single. And you’re alone.”
“I don’t see a woman hanging on your arm,” she snapped out. “Perhaps I left him at home.”
He shook his head. “There’s no scent of a man on you. If you had a lover, the scent of his arousal would linger around you for weeks, even if you were separated from him. So you don’t have a lover.”
“And I don’t consider it your business,” she told him, striving for calm.
“I do.”
Her heart slapped in her chest, blood rushed to her head, and she wondered if the reaction was a precursor to a stroke. Because it had never happened to her before.
“I don’t.” She watched him warily now.
“Dane shouldn’t have sent you here alone,” he told her, his voice quiet, too soft, dangerous. “You’re tempting, Ms. Rodriquez. And you’re a challenge. Two things a Breed has a hard time ignoring.”
And she was going to melt into her seat. Tempting and a challenge? She was plain and she knew it. She tried to spice it up with sexy underclothes and the bling Dane brought her. Not always jewels. Sometimes a scarf, sometimes something as simple as an odd piece of art found in an unknown market.
She liked pretty things around her, because she knew she wasn’t so pretty. She wasn’t tempting. And despite his claim, she wouldn’t be much of a challenge if he decided he wanted into her bed.
“You needn’t play with me, Mercury,” she told him, aware she couldn’t cover that small hint of sadness that slipped free. “I do my job. No matter the temptation not to.”
And he could tempt her. He could be her downfall.
CHAPTER 3
He watched her. That ridiculous bun her hair had been twisted into at the nape of her neck was trying to unravel. When she glanced at him, her brown eyes, almost the color of dark chocolate, were irritated. Her softly rounded, creamy face and stubborn chin were intriguing. But there were other parts of her making him crazy.
If she kept twitching her ass like that, he was going to fuck it. So help him God, he was going to take her to her knees, hike that plain brown skirt to her hips, and show her the folly of teasing a fully grown, hungry male Lion Breed.
Mercury Warrant leaned against the wall of the small office Gloria “please call me Ria” Rodriquez was using, and fought to maintain the same cool facade he’d held over the past month.
It wasn’t easy. Especially when she moved from the desk to the table set up across from it to go through the files stacked there. She would lean over, sometimes studying each file’s contents before choosing one, and the ugly brown skirt would mold to her ass like a loving hand.