“I’ll meet you back here at midnight.”
She left before he could stop her, but she heard him questioning Julian. Heard Julian sending Sunny and Carlos away. She ran up the stairs before she could hear anything more.
Chapter Four
Anthony waited until Sunny and Carlos left before rounding on Julian.
“Who’s the target? And why is Gia so upset about it?”
He knew she had secrets but he was almost afraid to ask about this one.
“She had a hard time. Growing up. She hasn’t told you any of it, has she?”
“Told me what?”
Julian sighed, shook his head once and grabbed a bottle of water out of the office mini fridge. As he twisted the top off, he spoke again. “I really thought when you met her…well, I thought she wouldn’t be able to hide from you.”
“You know, I’m really getting sick of the Secret Squirrel shit, Julian. She won’t talk. You won’t talk. She’s been acting weird all week.” He narrowed his eyes as the other man turned to meet his gaze. “I could take her away from here. She never takes a break. But would it do any good?”
He shook his head. “Probably not. She does this job…out of guilt, I think. Trying to make things better.”
“Why?”
“It wasn’t her fault. And it’s not my story. But if I’m right, and she’s your mate, you have to get her to talk. Don’t let her run. Make her live, Anthony. Why do you think I brought you in? If I could see it, surely you can.”
So Julian was giving care of his niece over to him? Oh, they thought he didn’t know about the relation, but he’d overheard a conversation months ago that made it clear. The question stayed the same. Why? And Julian knew he was confused.
“She needs to tell you. She’ll never trust either of us again if I tell you. Go.” He lifted his chin to indicate the door behind Anthony. “Last door on the left.”
He turned slowly, almost reluctant. It would be so much easier if Julian just told him, so he knew what he getting into when he walked up there. Was she a danger to his people? To her own?
“Anthony.”
He paused in the doorway to face Julian again.
“She’s much more fragile than she looks.”
That he believed. He nodded. “I know. I’ll take care of her.” She was his mate. He couldn’t do anything else.
“The target is her father.”
Sweet Jesus. If her father was a werewolf it was no wonder she tried to keep him at arm’s length.
“He’s a wolf?”
“Yes.”
Anthony nodded his head and walked out. She was going to be harder to woo than he’d originally hoped. He grabbed the bag of spare clothes he kept in his trunk before following her upstairs. They couldn’t go hunting in costumes.
Scowling, he didn’t bother to knock before entering. This was one hunt she really needed to stay out of. She was too emotionally involved. The chances of him talking her out of it were probably nil to none though. The woman was damned stubborn when she set her mind to it.
He reconsidered that opinion when he saw her however. Julian was right. She was fragile. He’d just never seen it before because she kept herself so tightly wound. But now she looked on the verge of breaking. She wouldn’t want him to witness that, but hell if he cared. He was there for her to lean on whether she liked it or not. Whether she admitted she needed that from him or not.
Chapter Three
Gia thought he would follow her and she had to admit she kind of wanted him to. She was tired of her life. She wanted, needed something to shake it up. But she was also relieved that he didn’t follow, because the very thought of taking that step terrified her. The fact that he was a werewolf made it about fifty times scarier.
God, why had her father come back? Why this week of all times? Was it remorse? Or had he come to finish off his family? She didn’t want to think about it. She’d come up here to change and clear her mind. Focus on the coming job, not the target. She was better off thinking about Anthony, trying to figure out how to put an end to the craving she felt for him. She’d dressed up to get his attention, had sex with him. That should have gotten it out of her system.
It so did not work.
She nudged the door shut behind her softly, approaching the vanity with its big old-fashioned mirror, and studied her face in the glass. The strain was starting to show. Hell. She should have known better than try to do something normal. She wasn’t normal. Never would be.
With a grin, she pivoted a little to check herself out though. She looked good, even if she did say so herself. Even if it wasn’t PC. The corset was black vinyl, zippered up the front and laced up the back. She’d had to get Julian to tighten the back laces and he really hadn’t pulled them tight enough, but she got that. He was her uncle, her mother’s brother. He didn’t want to see her sexy, and damn it, in this thing she was sexy.
She didn’t have much in the boobs department, just a B cup, but the corset cinched everything in and then pushed it up. She even liked how it made her tattoos look. Big and full. On total display. She took a deep breath and reached for the zipper, tried to pep herself up.
So what? Who really cared what he thought of her? Between the anniversary of her mother’s death, her father’s reappearance, and a near constant want for Anthony, her emotional walls were battered. She started to tug it down and
