fucking escapades that could easily leave the other person hurt. My sister is not one of your playmates. She’s not some whore for you to screw any way you like.”
And there it was, X thought with growing fury. Since he’d had his first shift at the age of fifteen, X had known he was different. He’d felt it in the air he breathed. When he began feeling the gnawing sexual urges of the
“It was consensual, you bastard. And I’d never hurt her,” he told Nick through clenched teeth once he’d gotten right in the shifter’s face.
“She doesn’t deserve to be treated like that,” Nick retorted.
Rome stood then, moving to separate the men. “All right, let’s take it down a notch. X is right, Nick. Caprise is an adult and she looked just fine to me when she strolled out of here.”
“That’s not the point,” Nick said.
“It’s the point for now,” Rome told him. “What they do is their business.”
X didn’t back down, but he did look away. He hadn’t wanted this confrontation with Nick, hadn’t wanted to walk down this road with him. But not touching Caprise had not been an option. So he’d deal with the repercussions.
“I asked you to look into her whereabouts for the last five years. Did you do that or where you too busy thinking about how quick you could get into her pants?” Nick asked tightly.
“I’ll find out where she was and what happened,” X said. He’d already decided that would be his priority today, especially after he’d seen that text message on her phone. But that was before Wilson had made his appearance.
“And keep your hands off her,” Nick stated adamantly before walking to the door. “Don’t talk to Wilson without me present, either,” he yelled on his way out.
The door slammed again and X ran a hand down the back of his head.
“You’ve had one hell of a night,” Rome said, his voice much lighter than Nick’s had been.
“Tell me about it,” he said, sinking down onto the couch.
Rome looked down at him. “It had to be Caprise, huh?”
“Man, I couldn’t have prevented that even if I wanted to. You ever had someone that just got under your skin, instantly, like a disease?”
Rome smiled, nodding. “Yeah, I’ve had someone like that.”
“No,” X replied quickly. “Don’t get it twisted, I’m not falling into the mate and joining trap like you and Nick have. I just meant, it was like a hunger that I had to feed.”
“And are you full now? Have you had your fill?” was Rome’s question.
X didn’t reply. Something told him that whatever he said wasn’t going to be perceived the way he meant it, so he remained quiet.
“Look, you know how Nick is. And I know how you are. We’ve got some serious shit going on around us, so I’d like for you two to keep this personal thing on the down low while we figure out what to do about Sabar.”
X nodded, understanding that as the FL, Rome had priorities. “Diamond died at the hands of a Rogue. Probably someone close to Sabar’s camp because she had a lot of that savior drug in her system. She didn’t look like she was carrying the type of money needed to buy it. I’ll try to talk to those other females at the club.”
“No,” Rome said quickly. “You stay away from Athena’s. That’s just ammunition for Wilson to get that warrant for your arrest. I’ll have a couple of other guards start hanging around down there, see what they can find out.”
“And I’m supposed to do what? Sit around here and wait for Wilson to make his next move?” X asked, not liking the sound of that.
Rome nodded. “I’ve got a hearing at ten, then a meeting with a client this afternoon. You call Bas and find out if his captive has started talking yet.”
“I can do that,” X told him. He’d make the call to the Mountain Faction Leader, Sebastian Perry. Afterward he’d head out to Havenway because the answer to Rome’s question was—X hadn’t gotten his fill of Caprise Delgado.
Chapter 10
The ride back to Havenway seemed ten times longer than it ever had before. Caprise sat in the back of Seth’s silver Jeep Wrangler, which had been redesigned and fitted with top-notch technology and weaponry on Nick’s orders. It wasn’t just for her safety; all the guards were now being given these vehicles complete with tracking devices and self-destruct commands in case any of the vehicles should ever fall into the wrong hands.
Nick was in charge of security for the East Coast Faction and because Rome was now the head of the Stateside Assembly, his ideas were usually implemented throughout the four zones. The Shadow Shifters were assuming a strategic role in the States, unbeknownst to the humans who believed they were the ruling species here.
Laying her head back on the seat, Caprise fought to push those thoughts from her mind. She didn’t give a damn what the shifters did. She wasn’t one of them. Or at least she’d never wanted to believe she was. It hurt too much to be different. Having your classmates hate you because you can outrun them in gym class, or because you could smell their backstabbing lies before they had a chance to catch you in their traitorous trap, wasn’t fun. The decision to stay to herself after tenth grade was one Caprise made to keep her own sanity, as well as to keep from hurting someone with the unnatural instincts she possessed.
As time progressed she realized that being different caused pain on more levels than she ever could have contemplated. Her parents, for instance, died young. In a car accident—which seemed innocent enough, but there were secrets and whispers and reasons for Caprise to believe that their differences were what had really led to their deaths. After the funeral she found herself despising her genetics even more than before.
Which was why the fact that she’d run to the Gungi was still a mystery to her.
The jeep came to a stop and she hurriedly pulled on the door handle to get out. Seth was at the door when she stumbled from the backseat.
“A lot of help you are. Leaving me with crazed shifters when you’re supposed to be my guard,” she was muttering to him as she stalked up the stone path that lead to the side entrance of Havenway.
The front of the facility looked like an old abandoned warehouse, even though it had been almost completely rebuilt from the inside. Discretion was key, so they’d opted against remodeling the outside. Nobody entered through the front door, and the place was secured by an alarm system as well as being sensor-protected. There were two side entrances and one underground entrance accessed from the back.
Most of the jeeps parked along the back side, or went underground to the garage there. But Seth had parked in the trees. Caprise knew this was for her sake, so she wouldn’t have to walk the distance to the door or take the elevators from the garage. Still, she was too pissed off to even thank the guard for that consideration.
For all intents and purposes she had no problem with Seth. He was just above six feet tall, with a strong, wiry frame and dark, intense eyes that she figured some female would find alluring one day. Right now, however, he wasn’t so alluring as he followed her up the walkway.
He didn’t reply to her remark. He never did. Which kind of irked her because Caprise loved a good argument, or even just a heated exchange at least once a day. It made her feel like her life wasn’t as out of control as it really was. When she was close to the door she heard him mumbling and figured he was speaking into the two-way communications link all guards wore in their ears 24/7. There was a loud click and then what sounded like a boulder being dropped slowly from a cliff as the heavy reinforced steel door opened.
