I nodded. “Sorry about the mess, but we’ve got the siren.”
He snapped his fingers and two of the cops came forward to retrieve Calista. She turned her head to me with a malicious grin that cut right through her pleasant-looking face, leaving the vicious sea creature on full display. “See you soon, love.”
“Have fun on the island, bitch,” I replied with a frown.
Detective Swanson shook his head. “We’ve classified her as a serial killer. She’ll be transported to Los Angeles and given the death penalty.”
That wiped the grin right off Calista’s face and placed one on mine.
Karma was a bitch.
13Meet the Pack
Brock hadn’t stopped glaringat Jack until the bounty hunter had driven out of town shadowing the police department’s transport. He’d even had one of his wolves collect Jack’s car from my cabin and deliver it to the gym so as not to encourage Jack to remain in town any longer than necessary. Since Jack’s orders to follow the transport van, with Calista locked inside, had come directly from Mack—the head of the bounty-hunting agency—Jack couldn’t refuse. Though I could tell he’d wanted to, if only to spite Brock.
Jack had been one big scowl since Brock had smashed his face. And though Jack had operated by the book in securing Calista instead of going after me, I couldn’t help but think that if the roles had been reversed, I wouldn’t have been able to allow Jack to die. I wouldn’t have taken the risk of him drowning at the bottom of a pool, no matter what the rules were. True friendship was reason to break the rules every time in my book.
Something shifted between Jack and me after his choice. It was evident in the conflicting emotions that had scrawled across his face. When Kenzie had finally dragged him to his car, he’d appeared remorseful, though why exactly I couldn’t be sure.
“I can’t believe you used to date that wolf,” Brock growled, not for the first time, as we sat in his bedroom. “I have no idea what you saw in him.”
I chuckled. That wasn’t true. Anyone could take one look at Jack and see the appeal. Besides, he’d kept his inner asshole at bay long enough for me to fall in love with him. But I sure as hell wasn’t about to say that.
“Yeah, well, he’s gone now,” I said instead. Reaching up, I pressed on the sides of my tender nose, pleased to see it was healing nicely.
“He almost let you die!” Brock exclaimed, again not for the first time. “What the fuck was he thinking?”
“You know what he was thinking. He was doing his job.”
“Yeah, well, doing a job means shit if you can’t think with your head out of your ass. I can’t believe he considered letting you die!”
The veins in Brock’s temples bulged, and I swallowed any irritation I had at the repeated discussion of the issue. Brock had feared he’d lose me, with good reason. Any number of things could’ve happened to secure my death—and that of our baby—in that pool.
But this was the life of a bounty hunter. It’s what he’d signed up for with me, whether he liked it or not.
I moved to his side as he pulled a fresh t-shirt over his head, allowing my eyes to skim the firm planes of his chest before he tugged down the shirt. It was a testament of how angry he was that he didn’t even react to the way my eyes hooded as I thought of taking his shirt right back off.
“I just...” he trailed off, and I placed a hand on his arm, finally pulling his gaze toward my eyes.
“I’m all right, Brock. It was a close one, but I’m fine now, and we can put it behind us. The siren is locked up and things are calm.” For now, at least. But I didn’t say that. It was unlikely that Brock would forget that as long as that gate to the underworld was cracked open, none of us were safe, especially not me.
Inching closer to him, I ran my lips across his jaw. “Thanks for rescuing me,” I whispered.
A visible shiver ran the length of his body and he groaned. Only this time it was a different kind of frustration, and the sound had my body warming up as if I hadn’t almost died just an hour before.
He whipped around and pulled me into his arms. “I should cancel the pack dinner.” His amber eyes met mine, flickering with a burgeoning flame. “I think you and I have better things to do.”
After the pack charged in and helped save our asses, Brock and I’d agreed that I needed to get to know them all. He’d arranged a big pack dinner tonight to introduce me.
Tugging me flush against him, he trailed tender kisses along my hairline.
“Mmm. As much as I’d like to see where this leads, you can’t send the wolves home. You called them here to meet me. What will they think if you cancel now?” My breath came out in short rasps as desire welled within me.
“That my woman is so hot that I can’t think straight in her sexy presence.” His kisses traveled down my neck and swept across my collarbone.
“Hmm. Well, in that case, then maybe we should cancel.”
What? I was far from a saint, and Brock made a compelling argument.
