So Zahara opened her practice in District 12, and many of the daywalkers had her to thank for being able to walk around in the sun for a period of time. She’d been the mastermind behind the concoction that helped them. The Council of Mages left her alone as long as she didn’t try anything against them. Kalinda didn’t know if Zahara had ever tried, as there wasn’t much more than that known about her, but Kalinda knew this: anyone the Council had to make an agreement with was powerful.
Dominic shifted in his seat and looked at Romano. “For now, Romano, keep Kalinda with you and don’t leave her. If she must travel to work, you go with her and don’t let her out of your sight. She’s kept safe until we understand what’s going on and why the Viscount Pride put on a show to take her.”
Kalinda snapped her fingers. “Hello? I’m right here. You can ask me how that may get in my way. I’m sure there are other wolves you can appoint. I’d like to be able to go home.”
“Aw, you shouldn’t have. I’d love to see your home. I could have my things moved in today.”
Kalinda ignored Romano and kept looking at Dominic. “Alpha?”
Dominic sighed. “Besides me, Romano is the strongest wolf of the Lombardi Pack. I can’t leave my mate unprotected, and I can’t in good conscience have danger so close to her when our child is in her womb. I’m giving you my right hand in order to keep you safe. Pack lands will ensure other enforcers are there and the pride won’t come there. Your home is a different story.”
“And any other wolf would find themselves looking for their teeth. But I mean, hey, go ahead and let the youth die for beauty.”
Kalinda tried, she really did, to ignore Romano’s added quip, but she couldn’t help it. She stomped down on his instep, hard. He howled, and she smiled cruelly at him. “Don’t play with me or try to rearrange my life.”
As it did earlier, his face lost all manner of joking. “And don’t think I’d allow you to ever be hurt or give your protection over to another.” He glared at her, his dark eyes piercing.
Kalinda sucked in a breath, believing him. But what would that mean for her? She had to keep her work going, and Romano was a distraction she didn’t need.
Okay, so she could admit, at least to herself, having such a powerful, sexy man around wouldn’t be the worst thing to ever happen, but she didn’t want him to assume he’d have more than just access to her for protection. She wasn’t going to lose who she was.
She loved Zoey, independent and happy soul that she was, but she hadn’t run a business and claimed a place in the world. Kalinda’s Katering had partnered with The Daily Grind, a coffee shop in the district, to sell her baked goods and to also have their coffee as part of her events. If things kept going the way they were, their partnership could go national and she’d have to be available to travel for that if she could.
She had dreams, chances, things to conquer … She didn’t want to feel, once again, like her life was changing by no choice of her own because someone else saw something in her. She refused.
“It’s me or me. Or, or me. Take your pick, then I’ll tell you what each one gives you.”
Kalinda didn’t care how good he looked—and he looked really good. She wasn’t going to just take him up on his offer. She liked her own path. “And what if I choose option number four?”
Romano arched a brow. “What option would that be?”
“Staying on pack grounds and not having you as a personal escort.” Boom! Kalinda thought that was an ah-mazing idea.
Instead of responding to her directly, Romano tossed a pointed look Zoey’s way. “I didn’t take your old boss to be a scaredy cat, Zoey, but maybe I was wrong.”
What did he just call me? Oh no.
Kalinda shifted in his lap enough so she could semi-face him and dug her nails into his collarbone. Romano winced but otherwise made no outward show of what she was doing. She leaned in, ignoring his smile and his scent to whisper in his ear.
“Don’t try to handle me. You won’t like my retaliation.”
Romano wrapped his arms around her, fisting one giant hand in her braid and forcing her head into the crook of his neck. She melded to him, chest to chest, her butt pressed firmly to his rapidly hardening front.
“Oh, Kalinda, I think you’ve wanted to be managed for a very long time; you just haven’t found someone strong enough to do it. So you get all three of me.”
Three? Oh, the options. Right.
“And you know what that means? By the end of this all, you’ll know exactly who you belong to.”
Hell. No.
But part of her, deep inside, was boiling-hot and turned on. A part of her she couldn’t deny wanted to say yes.
Chapter Three
Kalinda Thorton was unlike any woman Romano had ever met, within the pack or outside of it. She was strong, and that was saying a lot with the women they had in the pack. She wasn’t going to be anyone’s doormat, and she didn’t care he was a shifter when she threatened him.
He could get behind a woman like that—permanently. And on top of, and any other position she’d care to explore.
