“I’ve been known to have a lasting effect on females, but this ignoring my question is a bit new for me.”
She heard his voice, then her gaze snapped back to his. Kalina didn’t know how long she’d stood there thinking, but he had obviously said something to her. “I’m sorry, daydreaming I guess. What did you say?”
He came to her then, wrapped his strong arms around her, and she felt that sensation once more, the one where something inside her reached for him. It was a yearning that came only when he was near, and when he touched her it pumped up a notch until she could barely think beyond him. She’d been afraid of this feeling before, but now she embraced its welcoming sensation.
“I asked about dinner and you said we should talk.”
She nodded. “Right, we should.”
“So we’ll talk at dinner?”
“That’s fine,” she said accepting his kiss. “But I should really get back to work.”
“I have to ask you this again. Are you sure you don’t have any idea why those men would be following you?”
She shrugged. And wondered if she should mention what had happened to her two years ago, or even the pictures. Thoughts about those incidents being linked had lingered in her mind. But there was no telling Rome part of that story. Once she opened her mouth she’d have to tell him everything. That was her intention eventually, but there was more she needed to find out first.
“I don’t know them or why they would follow me.”
“Ezra, that’s my man,” he said matter-of-factly, “will be with you at all times.”
She moved out of his grasp, not sure she liked that idea. A trip to the station was needed, and she certainly didn’t want Rome’s man going with her.
“I don’t need a bodyguard, Rome. I’ll be fine by myself.”
He had moved behind his desk, was opening up his drawer and dropping something inside when she turned to him. “I appreciate your concern, but—”
“He’s staying with you. Until I find out who they are and why they’re interested in you, he’s sticking close.”
Kalina opened her mouth to argue, then thought better of it. He looked like he wasn’t going to be talked out of it, and pushing the issue might make him suspicious. And well he should be; she’d been sent to find evidence to have him jailed for the rest of his life. He should probably have kept her locked up when his man had kidnapped her before.
“I’m going back to my desk before Dan starts looking for me.”
“Wait,” he said, then crossed the floor to where she stood. “Go this way.”
Taking her by the elbow, he led her back into the bathroom to a door on the far side of the shower stall.
“You can take the stairs from here. That way no one will see you leaving my office.”
As she looked into the stairwell, Kalina wondered just who Rome Reynolds really was. What kind of attorney needed a hidden exit?
“Use this often?” she asked almost casually.
“Only when needed” was his serious reply. “Keep your eyes open, Kalina. Something’s going on that I’d rather you not be a part of.”
He’d rather she not be a part of it but Kalina had the sinking suspicion she already was. “What’s going on?”
Rome looked as if there were words he wanted to say, things he wanted to reveal. She knew that look because it matched the feeling brewing inside her.
He leaned forward, brushing his lips over hers. “Tonight,” he whispered. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
She accepted his kiss, let the warmth it exuded encase her for just a few minutes more, then slipped through the door.
Chapter 18
This was the last thing X had expected to uncover. He and Nick had already discussed checking out Kalina Harper. With the Elder’s accusation that she was a shifter, he’d gone directly to his office to speed up the background check. He should have known there was a reason his original search attempts had been blocked. But once he’d gotten into the correct databases, forging clearance for some higher-level areas—it was really baffling as to why this seemingly average woman’s file would be that buried—he’d hit the jackpot.
Leaning back in his chair with the sun setting through the window behind him, he cursed, long, slow, and fluent.
Rome was going to go ballistic when he found out.
And if Kalina was his companheiro, the shit was definitely going to hit the fan.
Dropping the reports onto his desk, X dragged a hand down his face, feeling tired and ragged. All sensations he was used to, but they tended to keep him going nevertheless. It was the desolate feeling, the creeping up of a hunger that worried him. He usually kept it at bay, going on with his life as normally as possible, but lately it had been gnawing at him, pressing for release in a world that frowned upon such actions.
From his hip the cell phone chirped and he hurriedly answered, welcoming the distraction of outside conversation. Trying to convince himself that he didn’t need what his body craved was becoming monotonous.
“Is this line secure?” the voice on the other end asked before X could say anything.
“Hold on,” he said. He walked to the door, locked it, and returned to his desk. There was a small radio in the corner near his computer; X switched it on and leaned forward so he was closer to its speaker. He worked for the FBI so he was well aware of how easy it was to place a bug in an office without anybody noticing. He normally swept his office every week to make sure it was clean, but he knew who this was on the phone and knew that if they were calling it was urgent. He didn’t have time to do another check, but would use precaution instead.
“I’m here. What’s going on?”
“I looked into that thing at the lab like you requested.”
There was silence on the line.
“And?” X prodded.
“It’s not good.”
He let out a breath. Was this the day for bad fucking news or what? “‘Not good’ means what?”
“It means we’re probably about six months, give or take, away from being found out.”
“How?”
“You should know. It’s the ones you’re working for that are on our backs. Somebody tipped them off so they’re looking into the possibilities.”
This was not what X wanted to hear, especially not after what he’d found out about Kalina. “The feds are looking into the possible existence of shifters?”
“You got it. They’re asking questions so I gotta think somebody out there’s giving up some answers.”
Rubbing his free hand over his bald head, X ran scenarios through his mind as if there were a central computer planted inside his brain. None of them had a good outcome.
“And X?”
“What?”
“They’re close. So close we need to be looking over our shoulders at every turn from this minute on. Tell the FL there and I’ll let Sebastian know. They need to decide what to tell the Assembly and how to prepare the other shifters before the shit goes downhill.”
As X disconnected the line, he figured it was probably too late for that.
He hadn’t slept at all last night, his own demons picking that time to come out to haunt him. But Nick wasn’t afraid of those demons, or any others, either. He wasn’t afraid of anything, couldn’t afford to be.
