“Speaking of problems and finding our way through them,” Dante said, his black brows knit over whiskey-colored eyes that narrowed on his warrior son. “How’s Siobhan holding up? With everything that’s happened since you and Aric picked her up, it’s easy to forget the trauma she survived.”
Rafe nodded. “She’s doing her best to put the attack behind her, but it’s not easy. Witnessing her roommate’s brutal murder and being beaten unconscious by the Opus thugs who broke in that night has taken a toll. Siobhan’s sensitive. She’s . . . delicate. She’s also the most captivating woman I’ve ever known.”
Aric shot a wry smirk at his friend. “You never could resist a pretty damsel in distress.”
“You trying to tell me I’ve got a type?” Rafe volleyed back, grinning. “Hard to recall even looking at anyone else now that I’ve met Siobhan.”
His father grunted, clearly surprised by the news. “Anyone with eyes can see how much you care for her. But I’ve gotta say, I never thought you’d find a woman to live up to your impossible standards. Did you, Tess?”
She gave the faintest shake of her blonde head, eyes the same arresting aquamarine color as Rafe’s studying her son in a curious silence.
Kaya felt a stare holding on her too.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about that private conversation you asked about,” Nikolai told her. “Anytime you want to talk, my door is open for you.”
She had to swallow past the knot of guilt that sat in her throat as she offered the commander a nod and murmured thanks. She felt the weight of Aric’s silence beside her. With dread and regret crushing down on her, it was all she could do not to bolt from the room and scream out in self-directed anger and frustration.
She had to put her past to bed and either leave her sister behind for good or find some way to bring her into the light.
All she knew was she couldn’t bear another day of holding the truth inside.
CHAPTER 25
Aric sat in the war room with Rafe, the Order elders, and all the rest of the Breed males on site at the command center, trying like hell to pay attention while they reviewed the events of the past few days and the resulting intel that Gideon had sent from D.C.
It wasn’t that he had no interest. He was as determined as anyone to chase every trail that might lead the Order to Opus Nostrum--or to the leak that had somehow opened up in the Order’s otherwise airtight pipeline of allies and informants.
And deep down, in spite of the instincts that had been gnawing at him relentlessly the past couple of days, he was hoping like hell that none of those trails led to Kaya.
After the ceremony celebrating Dmitri, Kaya had gone up to the mansion with the other women to enjoy the small feast they had prepared. Aric had been looking for the chance to get Kaya alone for a few minutes after the ceremony, but she seemed more than eager to get away from him once the sanctuary had cleared out.
So instead of chipping away at the wall of unanswered questions and increasingly troubling suspicions that stood between them, he was cooling his heels across the table from Lucan and his father on the verge of crawling out of his own skin.
Finally, he couldn’t take it.
Offering a lame excuse, he ducked out of the meeting and beelined for the mansion and the sounds of women’s laughter and conversation in the kitchen. He had let Kaya stonewall and evade him long enough.
He loved her, and if telling her that wasn’t enough to loosen the knots in her tongue, then he needed to know now.
If she wasn’t going to be totally honest with him--open to him in every way--then he needed to hear her say the words to his face. Then maybe he could get back to the business of living his life without her.
And if it turned out that she actually loved him, then by God he needed to hear that too.
He stalked through the kitchen entry like he was heading to war. “Kaya.”
All the conversation ceased. Seven beautiful female faces swiveled in his direction, not one of them hers.
He frowned. “Where’s Kaya?”
“Probably in her quarters,” his mother replied.
Mira nodded. “She said she was tired and wanted to rest for a while.”
Carys arched a brow at him, grinning. “You shouldn’t be surprised to hear that, considering you spent most of last night in her room.”
Ordinarily, he might take his twin sister’s bait and come back with a smartass comment of his own. Not now. He was too tense for his own peace of mind and Kaya’s absence pricked his suspicions more than he wanted to acknowledge. “How long?”
“What is it, Aric?” Tavia asked.
