He flicked on the light over the kitchen table and sent a scowl in her direction. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t think you really want me here any more than I want to be here.”
“What difference does that make?”
She shrugged as if none of this was any big deal to her. “I’m just saying I have other options. I know plenty of other people I can call for help if I—”
“No one else can help you, Naomi. Only me now.”
He looked so certain, so gravely serious, even she was tempted to believe that. She crossed her arms over her chest to stifle the shiver that swept over her. “Not even the Order?”
His jaw tensed as he studied her. “I can get word to them right now, if you prefer. There’s a command center near Tahoe. They can probably have someone here to retrieve you in a couple of hours.”
“No.” She shook her head, cursing herself for even bringing up his earlier threat to pack her up and ship her off to the Order without her consent. “I’ll stay.”
At least for now. She told herself it was a reasonable enough plan, at least until she got the all-clear from Michael. The farther they stayed apart for the time being, the safer it would be for both of them. Once the jackpot check from Casino Moda was in his bank account, their lives could resume.
She could handle a day or so here at the ranch with Sam and his domineering vampire housemate.
It was the thought of staying overnight that gave her more than a little pause.
“You will take the master bedroom,” Asher informed her tersely. “I don’t need the bed. Besides, I’ll be on watch twenty-four-seven now.”
She scoffed, leaning her hip against the counter as he turned on more lights. “On watch to make sure I don’t finesse the lock and escape again?”
He pinned her with a sober stare. “I can make sure you stay inside, but I’m more concerned about keeping anyone else from getting in.”
The gravity of his voice took her aback. He was more than concerned. He was grim with a certainty that shook her. “Who do you think will be looking for me? Slater?” She lifted her shoulder, considering. “He doesn’t know I’m the one who’s been repeatedly hitting his casinos this past year. I take care to always look different, never like myself. And last night was the first time I ever got caught.”
Asher’s face looked thunderous with building disbelief—and fury. “How many times have you crossed him?”
“I don’t know. Ten or twelve, I suppose.”
“Christ.” His mouth pressed flat. “Using your Breedmate gift—what do you call it,finessing?”
She nodded. “With a touch, I can manipulate metals and magnetics. Simple gears, machinery. Locks.”
He grunted. “And casino slot machines.”
“Sometimes I hit the roulette tables too. For variety. All I have to do is rest my hands on the casing in order to make the connection with the moving parts and bend them to my will.”
“For how much, Naomi?” His brows furrowed deeper, his big body radiating a heat she could feel all the way on the other side of the kitchen. “Holy hell. How much have you already taken from him?”
“Before tonight?” She licked her lips, her mouth going dry under the blazing force of Asher’s stare. “A couple hundred grand. It’s how Michael and I have kept the shelter open at his house. Without the money, those kids—”
“Damn it, woman.”
His snarled interruption cut her off sharply. He stormed up to her, his face a mask of rage. And something else too. Was it . . . fear? He looked as if he wanted to take hold of her and shake her until her teeth rattled. Either that or kiss her again, although if he did that, she knew there would be no tenderness in it now. It would be punishing, brutal in a way that shouldn’t have made her heart race the way it did now.
But he didn’t take hold of her. He raked a hand over his hair, then glanced at the windows and sliders that looked out over the property outside. Nothing but endless blackness on the other side of the glass, yet when Asher’s gaze swung back to her, it was bleak with dread.
Suddenly his cryptic statement that no one but him could help her now—not even the powerful warriors of the Order—came rushing back to her like a chill wind.
“What is it?” she asked him. “Something happened tonight back at the casino. You know something, don’t you? Asher, what aren’t you telling me?”
“I ran into Slater’s chief of security right after you took off. His name is Cain. He’s Breed, Naomi. Worse than that. He’s a trained assassin.”
“Oh, shit.” Her head felt light, as though all of the blood had drained away. “An assassin. Are you . . . are you sure?”
