“Let go of my vampire.”
Nora turned her head slightly. “When I ask your people questions, I expect them to answer.”
“Do you?” His words tickled her neck.
She almost shivered. That wasn’t an unusual urge around him lately, but it was different. Instinct told her to be wary. “Yes.”
“Noted,” he said.
She released Laila. The vampire smoothed out her shirt, then immediately turned away to busy herself with the perfectly lined-up glasses on the back shelf.
Nora faced Jared. He had moved out of reach. That was disappointing. She loved it when he caged her against the bar. She loved his looming body, his radiating power, the provocative way he met her gaze. She didn’t love this distance and the apathetic expression he wore.
“Where’s Deagan?” she asked. She still didn’t see or smell him.
“Are you in need of multiple partners tonight?” The words were delivered deadpan. What the hell was wrong with him?
“It was just a question.”
“He is on an errand.”
“You didn’t answer my texts.”
“I was busy. I have heard that you were as well.”
Her wolf growled in her mind. It wasn’t easy to silence her. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means.” He took a small step toward her. “You have been lying to me.”
Apprehension churned in her gut. It wasn’t fear, exactly. It was worry and anger wrapped up into a single emotion. “About what?”
“Your meeting with Lehr.”
She stilled. She knew where this was leading. Over the past few weeks, she’d wondered if Jared had an ulterior motive for sleeping with her. It had crossed her mind that the timing was suspicious. It coincided with her father’s interest in purchasing DefenSec, the company Arcuro had been interested in for years. But Jared’s attentions, the way he’d touched her, the way he’d gazed at her with a single-minded focus, had convinced her that he wasn’t doing his master’s bidding. Had she been wrong?
She sniffed, breathing in and tasting Jared’s scent. He’d always smelled strong, charismatic, powerful, but now he smelled volatile. Hard to unravel.
“You knew I was meeting with him.”
“You led me to believe it had nothing to do with us.”
Her eyes narrowed. “It did have nothing to do with us.”
He smiled. She had never seen his mouth look so inhuman. “Not us. Us. My master’s clan.”
When I drink from him, I am ruthless and evil and cruel. Jared’s scent, Deagan’s absence, the warning from Christian all fell into place. Nora’s focus sharpened. She wasn’t standing before Jared now; she was standing before a predator. Her wolf stirred, anticipating blood and violence.
He tilted his head slightly, as if sensing the change in her thoughts.
“Be specific about what you want,” Nora said.
“Lehr recently transferred a large sum of money. What was it for?”
Her smile was cold. “The purchase of DefenSec.”
His expression hardened. “DefenSec is not for sale.”
“We signed the papers this morning.”
