The image showed the human bared from the waist up, covered in bruises and lacerations. A collection of tattoos rode Mackie’s chest and arms, crosses and stars and Gaelic symbols. But there was one tattoo on the criminal’s right pectoral that made Aric’s blood run cold.
He glanced up at Rafe. “Jesus Christ. Do you see that?”
“Holy hell.” His friend’s face hardened with grim realization. “A black scarab.”
Aric nodded. “He’s one of Riordan’s men.”
“Fineas Riordan?” Siobhan’s eyes went wide at the mention of the infamous crime lord from Dublin. “I thought he was dead. I thought the Order killed him recently.”
“We did,” Rafe replied, stroking her arm. “And if this Angus Mackie turns out to have received UV weaponry from the bastard before we took Riordan out, then Big Mack is next on the list for extermination.”
Renata eased herself up from her seat at the island. “I’ll go tell Niko what we’ve found. He’ll want to alert D.C. right away.”
“Hang on, Rennie. I’ll go with you,” Mira said, more than likely an excuse to ensure the pregnant Breedmate made the long walk without issues.
The prospect of closing in on someone not only involved in the Darkhaven attack but also linked to a known Opus member had Aric’s warrior instincts itching with the need for combat. But he couldn’t dismiss the fact that Kaya was still pointedly avoiding his gaze.
She tossed her half-eaten apple into the trash. “I should go clean up and get back to work on those photos.”
Aric nodded in acknowledgment, but when she slipped out of the kitchen without another word, he couldn’t resist following her to the hallway. He reached out and loosely caught her arm.
“Kaya. You okay?”
“Sure.” Her attempt to seem nonchalant was just that--an attempt. She drew out of his grasp and folded her arms over her breasts. “Sorry my run took a little longer than I planned. I hope I didn’t hold you up.”
He shrugged. “Don’t worry about me. Seemed like you needed to sort a lot of things out today.”
“I guess I did.” She gave him a faint nod, then started to walk away.
“So, did you?” He knew he should let her go, not only right now but in all the other ways that mattered as well. But her walls had gone up like skyscrapers between the time they’d come back from the crime scene in Pointe-Claire to now.
Especially now.
She paused, turning a frown on him. “Did I, what?”
“Sort everything out.”
“I’m working on it.”
He advanced toward her, unable to stop his feet from closing the distance. He couldn’t resist touching her again, too, just the lightest stroke of his palm against her cheek. She drew away, slowly, yet resolutely.
He scowled. “Are you upset with me?”
“Of course not.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” A clipped reply, too abrupt to be believed. “I’m tired and I have the stink of the city on me. I just want to go and take a long, hot shower.”
He stared at her, certain she wasn’t being honest with him. He had seen Kaya operate at her determined maximum before, and he realized that’s what she was doing now. She couldn’t get away from him fast enough, but why, he wasn’t certain.
“Are you acting like this because of last night?” Damn it, he hadn’t meant for it to come out like a demand, but there it was. He uttered a low curse, then tried for a more controlled timbre. “Is this about you and me having sex, Kaya?”
She exhaled a sharp breath and shook her head. “Don’t flatter yourself, warrior. It was just sex. I thought we both understood that.”
“Yeah, it was,” he answered, cautious in the face of how cool she was reacting toward him. It didn’t help that some part of him he didn’t recognize balked at the idea that the time they spent talking and making love on top of that steep ledge hadn’t changed them both somehow.
“Good,” she said. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, will you please let me go?”
Damn. She really meant it. As passionate and responsive as she’d been with him when they made love, now she was shuttered and distant. Completely closed off to him.
Aric stepped back without another word, giving her space to leave.
And she did.
Pivoting on her heel, she left him standing there stonewalled and confused, like the idiot he apparently was.
CHAPTER 17
The shower hadn’t helped at all. Kaya’s guilt and fear about her past and the people in it was a pain that clung to her no matter how long she’d soaked or how hard she’d tried to scrub it all away.
Seeing Leah after four years apart had confirmed everything she’d been dreading--that her sister was still living among lowlifes and killers like Angus Mackie and his criminal associates. She was still one of them, even after all this time.
Worse than one of them--she was also going to bring a baby into that toxic, violent environment.
The reality of that fact put an ache inside Kaya that she felt to her marrow. She and Leah had been so close once, albeit a long time ago. As little girls, they had been as entwined as identical twins could be, two halves of one soul. But then Leah grew up too fast and life continued to pull them further and further apart. That slim tether that had connected them was severed, and Kaya had worked hard to convince herself that she was okay with that loss. Even now, she desperately wanted to divorce herself from caring for the sister whose life seemed destined to become a tragic repeat of their mother’s.
But she couldn’t do it.
As much as she wanted
