“No. Just being realistic.” She slid to the edge of the bed. “Now I need a shower, and then I have to meet Saul.”
Theo crossed his arms, his gaze implacable. “Oh, lady. Your entire life just changed. Accept that now.”
Her head snapped up, and she stood. In her bare feet, looking up at least a foot to his hard gaze, she barely held back a telltale shiver. “Excuse me?”
“You’ve been tagged like an animal to get to me and my family.” His arms uncrossed. “You stole a file that could ruin us.” He moved toward her and took both arms in his, lifting her up on her toes. “You just became my responsibility, whether you like it or not. Get on board and now.”
* * * *
Theo kept his gaze stoic when all he wanted to do was punch a wall. To think she’d lived with this pain for an entire decade without anybody to help her. That ended and right now.
Her gaze softened. “You can’t save me, Theo.”
The fuck he couldn’t. “Take a shower. We’ll talk after you’re feeling better.” His doorbell rang, and he released her.
She jerked. “Who’s here?”
“Reinforcements. I called my brothers the second I recognized the planekite. Shower. Now.” He turned her and patted her ass to get her going. She slapped his hand. Good. Her spunk was coming back. “You have five minutes and I’m dragging you out of there.”
She paused at the doorway and flipped him off.
He grinned and grabbed her suitcase to drop outside the bathroom. Then he headed for his front door, bypassing his sprawling living room with the quiet brick fireplace. Reaching the front door, he opened it just as Jared was about to bust through. “Geez. Give me a minute.”
His brothers both stomped inside, brushing snow off their leather jackets. Jared had black hair and even blacker eyes, while Chalton had blond hair and black eyes and much more angular features. They were both about Theo’s height at six-foot-five, and right now wore matching frowns.
“She has a planekite band on her ankle?” Jared snarled, slamming the door behind himself.
“Yes. She’s worn it for a decade and is now being blackmailed to hurt us,” Theo said, jerking his head at the computer bag over Chalton’s shoulder. “Did you bring anything that will help?”
Chalton shrugged. “I don’t know. Let’s take a look at the anklet.” As the computer genius for the entire Realm, Chalton had the best equipment. “Though aren’t you the one who hacked me last month?”
“I am.” Theo grinned, unable to help himself, warming that his brothers had come immediately to help. It was good to be back in each other’s lives after too long of a time. “But I don’t have the hardware the Realm is using. You have it.”
Chalton nodded. “Fair enough.”
Jared ran a hand through his shaggy hair, taking note of Theo’s bare chest. “Anything you want to tell us?”
“No.” Theo gestured them into the living room, with its dark sofas, before pressing a button on the wall. The blinds lifted to reveal the New York skyline just coming awake.
“I can smell her on you,” Chalton muttered, sitting and unpacking his bag. He looked toward Jared. “Is this going to be weird?”
Jared dropped into a leather chair. “Theo is always weird.” He scrubbed both hands down his face. “I wasn’t in love with her, and now I know that fact since I’ve mated Veronica. But I do like Ginny, and I hate that she’s been used against us like this.”
“Me too.” Theo rolled his neck and remained standing. “Saul is coming after us.” God. He had to keep the Green Rock file away from Chalton. Jared had known about the file way back when, but Chalton needed to be protected. “Has anybody heard from Uncle Benny?”
Jared exhaled loudly. “Yes. He’s coming home from Russia to kill us. If we go quietly, he’ll leave Mom alone.”
Chalton winced. “All we did was blow up two of his homes and get his private data stolen. Does that require death?”
“Yes,” Theo and Jared said in unison. They weren’t kidding, either. Theo looked around his high-end place. “Is there anything we could offer Benny?”
“Just our heads,” Jared said grimly.
Damn it. Spare him from thousand-year-old vampires who just couldn’t relax and find humor in a good explosion. “One thing at a time,” Theo said. “When Saul attacked Ginny through the anklet earlier, she texted him that she’d meet him at rendezvous pointBtomorrow at midnight. So I’m guessing it’s somewhere she has to travel to reach.”
“Guessing?” Jared sat back, his gaze narrowing. “She hasn’t told you?”
Theo crossed his arms. “She’s not going to trust us completely, especially with her dad’s life, until we show we can help. She’s been on her own a long time, Jar.”
