Did she just smile for a second? Ronni studied the witch. Something was definitely off, but she couldn’t figure out what.
“The shifters are after you because of your mate?” Jared asked, his breath brushing Ronni’s hair.
“Put me down,” Ronni muttered.
“Quiet.” Jared emphasized the order with a hard shake. “Ginny?”
The blonde nodded. “Yes. It’s a long and sordid tale of families at war. You know. Typical of our people. I think I can handle it.”
Wow. Look who was all independent all of a sudden. Ronni cleared her throat, feeling like a rag doll suspended in the air.
Jared ignored her. “I can’t let you take on a shifter by yourself.”
Theo grasped the blonde’s arm. “I’ve got this. Take it as a mating gift.”
Ginny jerked free. “I don’t need your assistance, Reese junior.”
“Too fuckin’ bad,” Theo snapped. “Let’s go to the safe house, and we’ll figure it out.”
Ronni swallowed.
Ginny stopped struggling. “I’m finally trying to leave you, and now you want to get involved. Release me. Now.”
Sincere. For the first time, the woman sounded sincere. Ronnie tried to read her, to get an emotion, but everything was just too jumbled.
Theo growled. “The shifters are now after me, so we’re hitting the safe house and you’re going to tell me everything.” Anger buzzed along his voice, and he looked every inch the dangerous vampire.
“What a kind offer.” Ginny smiled, transforming her face into sheer beauty, even with the sarcasm. “Jared? Tell your brother to back off, please.”
Jared was silent for a moment. “We’ll meet you at the safe house, Theo. In about an hour.”
Ginny frowned. Theo took her arm and opened the door. Seconds later, they were gone.
Jared lowered Ronni and flipped her around, planting her on her feet. His eyes glinted a deadly black, and even barely dressed, danger oozed from him. “What the hell were you thinking?”
Chapter 9
Ronni’s mouth dropped open, and pain sliced through her heart. The man was mad at her because she’d fought with his precious Ginny? “Screw you, Jared.” She tried to shove away from him, but he manacled her biceps and held her in place. Easily.
He gave her a slight shake. “Your heart is still mending.” He bit out each word with a low growl.
She frowned. “Huh?”
He gave her a slight shake, as if he couldn’t help himself. “You’re not healed yet, and you just got in a fistfight with a four-hundred-year-old witch. Where in the hell is your damn brain?”
She blinked. “You’re worried about me?”
He looked at her like she’d completely gone insane. “Yes. One of us has to worry about you. You’re crazy. Nuttier than a fucking fruitcake. You’ve got bats in the belfry. You’re off the wall. Around the bend.” He sucked in air. “Or in the vernacular of the day, you’re fucking cray cray.”
She couldn’t think. Had a four-hundred-year-old vampire just called her cray cray? “You’ve lost your mind,” she stuttered.
“Yes. Yes, I have,” he said, his eyes wild. “One week of being mated to you and I’ve lost any semblance of sanity I ever had. Listen here, woman. I’m wild. I’m the crazy one. You will not turn me in to the voice of reason. I won’t allow it.”
She breathed out. The man was completely losing it. “Maybe you should sit down.”
He looked at the disaster in the living room and then back to her. Reaching out, he gently wiped blood off her lip. “You were fighting over me.” Amusement finally darkened his tone and brought him back to reality.
“Were not,” she snapped, her lip tingling.
“Were too.” He leaned in and licked her mouth.
Sparks zipped through her, lighting every nerve on fire. “I was not,” she murmured against his mouth.
“Pretty girls who lie get punished.” He kissed her, being gentle, making her forget all about being punched in the face. “Would you like to be punished?”
Her body did a full-on tremble that ended with her pressing her thighs together as her clit ached. She kissed him back, sliding both hands up and over the hard ridges of his bare chest. “You have got to stop threatening me,” she murmured, digging her nails into his firm skin.
He kissed along her jawline and nipped her earlobe. “Isn’t a threat if I fully plan on carrying through. Is more like a promise, don’t you think?”
She chuckled and angled her neck so he could have better access. They had so much to figure out, and yet she wanted to keep on touching him. Keep on being touched by him. “These feelings. Are they because of the mating?” There had to be a rational explanation.
“No. They’re because I’ve lost my mind and I doubt you ever had yours.” He tunneled his hands through her hair and leaned in to kiss her, still gentle but somehow insistent.
Why did she get the feeling he always held back? “Stop treating me like I’m fragile.”
“You are fragile.” He slid his tongue into her mouth. “You’ll always be fragile.”
She paused. “I won’t get stronger?”
“No. You’ll become immortal with no extra strength or powers.” He leaned back, a frown drawing down his eyebrows. “Didn’t I explain that?”
“Nope.” Shoot. She was planning on becoming a serious immortal badass. Oh, well. She could punch with the best of them right now, and she was a damn good shot with a gun. “So no extra abilities?”
He ran his thumb down her cheekbone, spreading warmth along her skin. “Your empathic abilities will increase, and you’ll gain my ability of abnormally fast reflexes, probably. But no extra strength.”
Well, it would be cool to be super-fast. That was something. At some point, he had to see her for her strengths. “I could’ve taken Ginny, you know.”
Displeasure curved his mouth. “It’s silly for you two to fight. Don’t let it happen again.”
She reared back. So much for arousal. “You have got to stop telling me what to do.” She’d ask if he still loved the blonde, but did it matter? They were temporary, and he had a right to his life again. After she’d regained all her strength. Stepping away from him, she tried to calm her raging hormones. “Enough is enough, Jared.”
“You’re my mate,” he said, his chin lowering.
“So the hell what?” She put both hands on her hips. “Aren’t you leaving town soon?”
“No.” A gleam she couldn’t recognize glinted in his eyes. “I’m staying right here to keep you alive and out of trouble. Turns out it’s going to be a full-time gig.”
Oh, he did not. “Thanks, but no way.” She reached down and started replacing the books onto the coffee table.
“Did you pack?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes. “I was a little busy throwing punches with your ex-lover.”
“Never slept with her.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “You have fifteen minutes to gather whatever you need. We’re leaving here.”
They’d never slept together? Was that why he’d never gotten over the woman? It was the curiosity? The wondering? The one who got away? “Why do we have to leave?” she snapped.
“Because apparently whomever is after you has hired hit men. Remember the guys shooting at us after our nice pizza dinner? I’m thinking staying at your apartment isn’t the wisest course of action.”
Well, when he put it like that. Even being sarcastic, the vampire was somehow sexy, yet she needed to concentrate. “My attending the retirement party did flush out somebody. What do they think I know?” Whatever it was, Walt hadn’t shared. Why wouldn’t they believe that? If she knew anything, she would’ve come forward by now.
Jared shook his head. “I don’t know, but I have a team investigating.”
She caught herself. “A team?”
“Yes. Forensic and detail team. They’re going through all e-mails from the station, tracing your movements and Walt’s. They’ll find out what hap
pened.” Jared moved toward the kitchen. “Go pack, Veronica.”
A team? “They won’t go through my patient files, right?” What kind of team could a vampire put together anyway?
Jared shrugged. “Probably.” He held up a hand when she started to lambast him. “They don’t care about your patients and won’t let any information leak. But they will be thorough.”
“Who are these people?” she asked.
“Computer experts as well as private detectives. Some vampires, some shifters, and probably a witch or two. They’re the best.” Jared put a dish in the dishwasher. “We’re leaving in ten minutes, packed or not.”
She gave him a look and hustled toward the bedroom. What exactly did one wear to a safe house?
Her phone buzzed, and she quickly read a group text message from Mabel. “Don’t forget we’re meeting at the lab tomorrow. I’m on to something.”
Good. Finally. “We’re taking my car,” she called out to Jared, tossing jeans into a bag. Then she added a couple of sweaters, some boots, a pocketknife, and her small gun. It was time to figure this thing out.
* * * *
Jared finished scoping out the safe house. Three stories made up the opulent house set on three acres far outside of the city. “This place is nice,” he whistled, making sure the windows on the ground floor were locked. Snow pelted against the darkened windows as the night pressed in around them.
“Uncle Benny owns it,” Chalton whispered. “Mom talked him in to letting us stay here.”
Jared winced. “Does he still want you dead?” Maybe staying there wasn’t such a great idea.
“Not sure,” Chalton said. “It wasn’t really my fault his penthouse got bombed, you know.” He rubbed his chin and leaned against the doorframe. “Okay. It was my fault. But I paid for the repairs and signed over my house in Barcelona for him as an apology.”
Yeah, but Benny was crazy. “Well, on the bright side, Benny is in Russia still. He won’t try to kill you until he’s back in the States.”
Chalton nodded, his gaze serious. “Yeah. That’s my analysis, too.” A grin slowly spread across his face. “Uh, Theo said Ronni and Ginny got in a fistfight over you?”
Jared sent him a look. “Theo’s a gossipy old woman.”
Chalton laughed and headed for the stairs. “I like that about him. Have a nice night.”
Jared followed suit, walking down a long hallway to a sprawling bedroom at the end. Veronica was already in bed, her back turned to the door. He engaged the lock and shrugged out of his clothes, leaving a gun on the bedside table.
Sleet slapped into the windows as the storm increased outside.
He lifted the covers and slid inside, pulling Veronica into his body. She was all softness and curves, sweetly relaxed in near slumber. Her smell of spices and woman surrounded him, and he breathed her in. His entire life, he’d remember her scent.
“Are you all right?” she asked sleepily. “Being thrown from that car had to hurt. I should’ve asked you that earlier.”
“You were busy engaging in fisticuffs. I’m fine.” He settled his face against her fragrant hair and allowed his body to relax. “I’m sorry I made you faint.”
“You didn’t have to kill that man,” she said softly.
He tightened his hold. “I explained that. Anybody tries to harm you, they die.” It really was that simple, and he wasn’t going to waver. “I’m not asking you to like that fact, but you are going to have to accept it.”
“You’re not a pirate any longer,” she muttered.
What did any of that have to do with being a pirate? “I know. Or I’d still walk around with my sword.” Truth be told, he missed his sword. Maybe they’d come back in style at some point.
She chuckled. “Your sword.”
He smiled and tugged her onto her back. Her dark eyes were somehow luminous in the night, and a tinge of sadness echoed in them. “What’s wrong?” he murmured, skimming his thumbs along her cheekbones.
She just shook her head.
“I can’t fix it if I don’t know what’s bothering you,” he said quietly.
“You can’t fix everything.” She reached up and brushed hair away from his face.
He studied her, trying to figure her out. It would probably take an eternity to understand the woman. “Are you injured? Hurt from the fight with Ginny?”
She rolled those eyes. “Of course not. Like I said, I was winning.”
Yet he could feel her turmoil and sadness roll under his skin. “Talk to me.”
“Enough talking.” She pulled him down, her mouth seeking his. Her lips molded to his, and his body leaped to life.
A knock echoed on the door. Damn it. “What?” he asked, partially turning.
“It’s Theo. I have something on Saul Libscombe.”
Jared growled. His brother had always had such great timing. He pressed a kiss to Veronica’s nose. “Get some sleep. I’ll be back.” Grousing, he shoved from the bed and yanked his jeans on, stomping barefoot into the hallway.
Theo snorted, his grin full of smart-ass as he handed over a stack of papers. “A couple of things. I hacked into Saul’s finances, and there are some interesting withdrawals and moves against Uncle Benny. In addition, we’ve been hacked as well.”
Jared’s chin lowered. “We’ve been hacked?”
“The family holdings have been. Chalton is trying to backtrack to see who’s been investigating us.” Theo glanced toward the nearest window, where dawn was finally creeping over the hill. “I haven’t slept.” Turning on a combat boot, he strode down the hallway and pushed open a bedroom door.
Jared watched him go. What the hell? He sighed. Might as well go through the documents now, considering it was almost morning time anyway. Veronica needed sleep, and if he returned to the bedroom, that wasn’t going to happen.
He read through the documents as he walked down the stairs and into the living room. A computer was already booted up, so he jumped on and started tracing through his family financials.
Hours later, a sound by the door caught his attention.
“Jared.” Ginny looked up from her phone as she swept into the room. She wore a long blue skirt, frilly white shirt, and a ribbon in her full hair.
He paused, taken back to a time centuries ago. “You’re up early.”
She shrugged a small shoulder. “I’m unable to sleep and thought I’d read a book on this phone. How clever is it that we can read on phones? Speak on phones that are portable?” Her gaze caught on his bare chest.
Sometimes he forgot how things were before modern conveniences. “True.” He should’ve put a shirt on. “I, ah—”
She smiled, showing her beauty, and moved inside to sit on the settee. “We’ve been avoiding a chat.”
He winced and stood from the computer chair to stretch his aching neck. “I don’t want to hurt you, Ginny. I really don’t.” Taking a seat next to her, he tried to think of a nice way to put his thoughts into words. “You meant the world to me so long ago.” Yet had she? Had he built her up over the years just to keep himself unattached?
She laughed, the sound high and tinkly, like bells. “That was past tense, my friend.” Looking his way, amusement filled her eyes. “I liked you, too.”
He returned her smile. “I’m sorry you lost your mate.”
“Me, too.” She sobered. “I’m glad you’ve found yours. You have, right?”
He rubbed his chest. “Yes. I’ve found mine.” So quickly, he found himself planning a life with Veronica. “She’s everything I never knew I wanted. Needed.” He’d spend eternity making her happy, and they had that now. He could court her like she deserved.
Ginny sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. “I’m so glad.” Her voice was soft and a little wistful.
He patted her arm. “You’ll find somebody to love, Ginny. I promise.”
“Forget love. I just want freedom,” she murmured with a deep sigh.
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
She turned then, her head still on his arm. “Modern life away from family and duty, of course.”
Yeah. Of course.
Chapter 10
Ronni stopped short at seeing Ginny with her head on Jared’s shoulder. A blade sliced through her chest, and she took a moment to roll her eyes at herself. Yeah, she’d fallen for the badass vampire, and who wouldn’t? But he didn’t owe her diddly squat.
She had to admit, with his size and Ginny’s petite stature, they looked good. Dickheads.
Quietly stepping away from the living room, she made her way to the side entrance, her gun safe in her purse.
“Where are you going?” Olivia asked, looking up from the kitchen with a cup of coffee in her hand. Her eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? You got shot at yesterday and you’re going back into the city.”
Ronni’s chin dropped. “I’m a cop, Olly. No way am I hiding out here and not solving Walt’s murder. Seriously.”
“You are not a cop,” Olivia snapped, standing and reaching her.
Ronni shrugged. “Maybe not completely, but I’ve done the training.” Sure, it was more for education and a bit of fun, but she wasn’t some weak woman. “Nobody knows we’re meeting this morning, and I need to find out what happened to Walt. He was a good guy, and I think we’re close. I feel it.”
Olivia shoved her coffee cup atop the clothes washing machine and grabbed her coat off a hook. “Fine. Let’s go.”
Ronni’s eyebrows rose. “You aren’t going.”
Olivia got into her face. “I am going.” Her eyes gleamed. “You asked me to be part of your little foursome of sleuths from the beginning, you know.”
Yeah, because Olivia was a hell of an investigative journalist. Ronni gulped. “Won’t Chalton be mad?”
“Yeah. He’ll be mad,” Olivia said with a bite. “So will Jared. You want to be an independent woman or not?”
“Hells, yeah.” Ronni pulled open the door and ducked through swirling snow for the car. The wind pierced her sweater right to her skin, and she shivered, hurrying inside and igniting the engine.
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