Nick shrugged. “I can only hope.”
X disconnected the call with Nick and instantly got out of bed. Caprise, of course, was right behind him. They hadn’t been asleep, far from it actually. After their lovemaking, which she was intent on calling it no matter what X said, they’d showered together. When he’d had that shower designed, he never imagined he’d enjoy it so much more with a female beside him. But not just any female; it only worked because it was Caprise. He knew that now without any doubt.
“What’s happening?” she asked, standing in front of him as he tried to make his way to the door.
She was gloriously naked, not a modest bone in her entire body. God, he was crazy about this woman.
“Rome got a tip about Sabar making a deal tonight. We’re going to head him off,” he told her honestly. There really wasn’t any other way to be with Caprise. For a woman who hadn’t wanted to tell him about her own past, she’d been like a pit bull trying to get the details of his, and she hadn’t done background checks and phone searches like him. She’d simply gotten in his face and hadn’t backed down. He had to respect a woman for that type of tenacity.
“Okay, I’ll get dressed,” she said immediately.
Her bag that Seth had brought over a week ago still sat in the corner of his bedroom. X had a feeling more of her things would soon occupy the space and miraculously wasn’t bothered by that fact.
“Caprise, this is going to be dangerous,” he told her, reaching for his own jeans out of the closet.
“I know. I’ll get my gun.”
X hadn’t been facing her, but he turned quickly at her words. “Your what? You have a gun?”
She nodded as she pushed her leg into her jeans. Her breasts were still bare and for a minute distracted the hell out of X.
“Yeah, I carry a Glock 19. I don’t like to carry heavy. This fits my hand like a glove. Don’t worry, I’m good,” she said after pulling the weapon from her purse.
He was already shaking his head. “No.”
“No, what?”
“No. You’re not going. Take my truck and go to Havenway. I’ll get Nick or one of the guards to swing by here and get me.”
“That’s ridiculous. We’re going together,” she said, pulling a shirt over her head.
Oh, hell no, she was out of her mind if she thought she was going to this fight with him. And wearing no bra at that. Shit, he’d never keep his mind straight knowing that.
“Caprise, listen, you’re not a trained guard.”
“I’m going with you,” she said simply, pulling her hair back and twisting it into some kind of knot with one of those elastic bands she had a ton of.
“No, you’re not,” he said adamantly.
“I am.” She nodded and turned away from him to pull boots out of her bag. She sat down to lace them up, and X moved closer to her.
“Look, we’re cool on the mating thing now. You’re a part of me that I don’t want to lose just yet. So I’m asking you nicely to go to Havenway and wait for me there.”
She looked up, a smile spreading quickly over her face. He liked seeing her smile, liked the way her dark eyes lifted with the action, how her teeth were all white and straight, her pert nose spreading only slightly. She was fucking beautiful. But hardheaded as hell.
She kissed him quickly on the lips. “I’m going. If you’re coming you better hurry up and get dressed.”
X was still standing there wondering what he was going to do with her when she’d left the bedroom.
Chapter 27
Friday, 11:45 PM
They’d driven through a neighborhood that looked like it had seen better days. Even in the dark of night Sabar could see the remnants of urban decay. He picked up the scent of alcohol and urine and cringed. Sitting in the back of his Hummer he admitted only to himself that this headache he’d been carrying around for the last two days was a bitch. Not to mention the bouts of memory lapse he was suffering. Anything before two days ago was crystal clear. It was the last forty-eight hours that seemed like he’d walked around in a daze. He remembered meals and he remembered Bianca—nothing and nobody else. When he’d climbed into the vehicle tonight he’d caught a glimpse at Darel. The man barely looked at him, and his scent was of pure hatred. That wasn’t out of order for a Rogue, but tonight it seemed more along the offensive lines than ever.
He’d asked Bianca to come along, but she’d declined. In the back of his mind he knew he should be suspicious about that, but had decided to focus more on closing this deal. On the seat between him and Darel were two suitcases. Both were filled with cash, proceeds from their drug operation that had been growing steadily. Even in the midst of the raid on Athena’s, they were still receiving orders for shipments. Norbert Hanson was still running the lab back at Sabar’s headquarters on the outskirts of the city. Their facility there had been a steady work in progress. Darel had put a lot of time into the structural issues, picking up the security, while Sabar had planned the layout and financed the entire project. Now their lab was fully functional and they were shipping about half a million dollars’ worth of merchandise each week. The savior drug was the drug of the future and Sabar was going to make a fortune as the only supplier.
However, his plans to rule needed to be bigger, their territory expanded. Hence this deal with Kensington and his boys with the guns. Once he made this purchase he’d probably have to get rid of Kensington—that guy definitely knew too much. And he wasn’t above running his nasty mouth about Sabar and his plans and their existence. Not that Sabar was against having the existence of the Rogues known—it would happen in due time anyway—still, everything had to be planned perfectly.
“We’re almost there,” Black, the huge dark-skinned shifter that now traveled everywhere Darel did, said from the driver’s seat.
“Good,” Sabar heard himself replying. He shifted in his seat, his clothes feeling more than uncomfortable. It had been like that the last two days: Clothes were too much for him to bear. Each time he’d been awake he’d worn his silk robe and nothing else, the cool softness rubbing against his skin in a soothing manner that turned him on and baffled him at the same time. “When we get inside I’ll do all the talking,” he said.
Darel nodded.
“You carry the money and don’t give it to anyone until we see the product.”
Darel nodded again.
“And stop acting like a fucking mute!” Sabar screamed, his patience wearing thin.
When Darel’s head snapped around and he glared at Sabar, not with human eyes, but the dark green- rimmed eyes of his cat, Sabar growled back. He was sick of Darel’s bitch-ass attitude. If he had a problem with Sabar or this operation, the shifter could very well walk out the door. He was tired of giving a damn.
The corner of Darel’s mouth lifted, his eyes glinting. “Sure thing, boss,” was his reply, his New York accent a little more fluent than Sabar had ever heard it before.
It was about fifteen minutes to midnight when they pulled up to the eight-foot metal gates that looked like they surrounded the entire premise. When the Hummer drove slowly up to the speaker, everyone was quiet. Black pushed in the code that Sabar had given him, and they drove through without any problems. Kensington had given Sabar a detailed list of things for them to do tonight.
“Wasn’t the gate supposed to close?” Thunder asked, looking back as the vehicle continued forward.
“Probably staying open to let us out afterward,” Black said.
Five minutes later, after they’d parked as close to the door as they could without running up on the sidewalk, the four Rogues were entering the building, using a side door entrance that had also been outlined in Kensington’s notes. Thunder reached for the doorknob. When it turned and the door was open, Black went in first with Darel right behind him. Sabar went in next, and Thunder locked the door before following them.
It was dark and chilled in the open space. Darel used a penlight from his pocket to illuminate the way to the elevator they’d been told was at the far end of the left hallway. They boarded the elevator without any issues. By
