Ginny moved into the room, feeling like a doe surrounded by hungry panthers. The Reese boys en masse managed to take over the very atmosphere with a sense of male power. Even among vampires, they had presence. Their closeness was obvious, and she clasped her hands together as she sat in a leather seat. “Rumor has it Uncle Benny is heading home.”
“Yes,” Jared said, his gaze on her bruise. “Who hurt you?” His brows drew down.
She touched the still aching cheekbone. “An idiot Theo threw out a window afterward.” She smiled.
“You can’t heal yourself?” Chalton asked gently.
She shook her head. “The anklet keeps my powers at bay, unfortunately.” Could this be any more awkward? She’d dated Jared, kind of played him a little, had stolen from their family, and now had orgasmed from Theo’s very talented mouth. Heat flushed into her cheeks, and she couldn’t stop the blush.
Theo swore under his breath and moved for her, plucking her out of the chair and sitting back down with her in his lap. “Relax, lady. Jared forgives you for the past, Chalton isn’t mad about the Benjamin file, and you and I are working together until we’re not. Same rules as before.”
Humor filled Jared’s eyes. “He’s given you rules?”
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “He likes rules, you know?”
Chalton nodded, his gaze on his screen as he typed. “Always has been a tightass.”
That easily, she relaxed into Theo’s heat. They were friends again. At least for now. “I’m sorry I can’t give you the file back,” she said, her chest starting to hurt.
“We’ll get it back,” Theo said easily. “Let’s worry about one thing at a time.”
She nodded. “Jared, I’m sorry in general.”
The eldest Reese brother gave her a grin. “It’s all good, Gin. Though my Veronica feels terrible you two got into a fistfight while you were hampered by the anklet. She would’ve never hit you had she known.”
Ginny laughed. “That’s a ‘nice to meet you’ among my people. I like your mate. Very much.”
He smiled. “I’ll let her know. Just so you know, you and I are friends and always will be. Even when you toss Theo out on his ass.”
She could read people, and if she was reading Jared right, he was greatly amused by something. Was it Theo and her? That was silly. They were temporary and would soon be on opposing sides again. “Um, okay.”
Chalton stopped typing. “Can I see the anklet?”
She nodded and stretched out her bare foot, planting it on the coffee table and pulling up her jeans leg.
Chalton leaned forward, took a look, and then started typing. “Since it can be activated remotely, it sends out waves. Let me see what I can find out.”
Ginny nodded, allowing Theo to pull her back into his heat. She settled against him, trying not to dream about what it’d feel like to have somebody all the time. To be with Theo all the time. He made her feel safe and protected, and that couldn’t last. Yet she snuggled into him anyway, letting him hold her. If she let her heart be broken by him, it was her own fault. And the ride might just be worth it.
Chalton sat back, his gaze on the screen.
“Well?” Theo asked, his breath brushing Ginny’s ear.
She shivered and cuddled closer. “It can’t be deactivated, right?”
Chalton nodded, his full mouth turning down. He always had been the quiet one in the family.
She turned to face Theo’s dark eyes, her stomach churning. “I appreciate your trying to help, but I researched this thing extensively when it was first forced on me. It can’t be removed, and the only way to deactivate it is at its source. Where Saul has it.”
“She’s correct,” Chalton said. “The technology is as good as anything we have. Saul must’ve spent decades perfecting it.”
Theo’s face remained calm, but anger poured from him to surround her. She patted his bare chest. “It’s okay. It really is.”
“It’s not okay,” he gritted out. “Where is Saul? Let’s take him out now.”
“I don’t know,” she sighed. “Believe me, if I knew where he was and where he has my da, I would’ve hired an attack force years ago. But he’s remained under the radar.”
Realization dawned in Theo’s eyes. “Until you actually stole the file. Now he has to meet you to get it.”
She nodded, her gaze dropping to his mouth. “Yes. I can’t wait much longer. The anklet is taking too much of a toll, and I don’t know when it’ll be too late for me to move against him.”
“What was your real plan?” Theo pushed her curling hair away from her face, his touch infinitely gentle even with the anger glowing so brightly in his dark eyes.
“Steal the file, get my dad released, kill Saul.” She was enjoying Theo’s touch entirely too much.
Jared sighed. “It’s not a bad plan except for the last part. Saul will be expecting an attack.”
Theo nodded. “Yeah, but he won’t be expecting us to be part of it.”
Hope flared inside her. Hot and bright. “You’ll help me take out Saul?”
“Yes, but not with the file,” Theo said. “We have to find another way.”
Of course. His family had to come first with him. She understood that. Forcing a smile, she made herself nod. “Okay. That makes sense.”
His gaze narrowed. “Don’t try to play me.”
She had no choice. “I’m not.” Why the hell was he so tough to fool? Her eyelids fluttered. “I need some protein to combat the planekite. Maybe some Vitamin C?” She’d found that oranges and turkey bacon had actually helped somewhat on more than one occasion. Almonds as well.
“Where’s the file, Ginny?” Theo asked.
She dropped the pretense. “I’m sorry.” Her phone rang in her back pocket, and she jumped.
Theo pulled it out before she could and read the face. His face went blank, and he pressed the speaker button. “Answer,” he mouthed.
She glared and then shoved him in the gut. “Hello?”
Theo put the phone down on the coffee table.
“So glad to hear you survived the reminder this morning,” Saul said, his voice nasally over the line. “You know what happens when you don’t check in.”
“Where’s my da?” she returned, trying desperately to ignore the tension suddenly choking the room.
Saul chuckled. “You’ll see him soon. But I needed to see what you’re up to now. Your GPS puts you at Theo Reese’s apartment in New York. I knew you’d do anything for a job, but Theo Reese?”
Theo’s body somehow hardened around her. Only her training kept her voice from shaking. “Did you send the attack squad last night?” What was she dealing with here?
Saul sighed. “Yes. You’ve been so difficult to work with about the Benjamin file, so I thought we’d just take it.”
“I don’t have it with me, you moron.” She shook her head. Saul really was an idiot. “More than that, you created the situation I’m in right now. Theo was angry I took the file you wanted, he defended me from your goons, and now he’s threatening to keep me under lock and key until he gets it back. I told you he’d be a problem.” She gave the man in question a hard look.
He merely lifted an eyebrow.
The line crackled. “Where is Theo now?” Saul asked.
“In the shower, Saul,” she answered, forcing boredom into her voice.
“Well now, I knew you were a loose bitch,” Saul snapped.
Theo growled low, and she shoved him in the stomach. The man had to be quiet, damn it. “Just because I turned you down, Saul, doesn’t mean I like to go to bed lonely.” She couldn’t help get the dig in.
Pain flared along her ankle, and she cried out.
Theo vibrated, reaching for the anklet, determination hardening his jaw.
She quietly slapped him away. The poison entered her bloodstream, just a small dose, and her limbs went numb. Her head lolled. “That the best you’ve got?”
Saul laughed. “Oh, you and I are going to have some fun together once you give me that file. I’ll let your father go, but you and I aren’t finished. Got it?”
“You and I never got started, remember?” She wasn’t going to let the asshole have any illusions. “I said no.”
“That was before you’d worn a planekite anklet for years,” he said slowly. “If you want that off, you’ll do whatever I tell you to do, or we both know it’s going to kill you. The long-term effects can’t be healthy. My guess? You’ll need to mate to regain your strength.”
What a complete bastard. She was going to kill him, and she was going to enjoy seeing him bleed first. “Planekite is preferable to you, asshole.” She waited for the blast to her ankle, but one didn’t come.
“I’m offering to mate you and take off the ankle bracelet,” he said easily. “I’m a shifter, you’re a witch, and we would make powerful offspring. It might be your only chance at survival.”
Bile rose in her throat. “One of us is going to die before that happens. I hope it’s you.” She meant every word. In fact, if she was going to die, so was he. For ten years she’d practiced fighting with a knife, just in case.
“Keep up your strength. You need to be free of Reese by tomorrow night to make it to our meeting spot,” Saul snapped.
She eyed Theo. “Not a problem. He’s strong but not the sharpest tool in the shed.”
He lifted his chin, his lip quirking.
The phone went dead.
She breathed out, her body aching from the planekite.
“Where’s the meet?” Theo asked.
She leaned her cheek against his chest. Just for the moment to regain her strength.
Theo tucked her close, his chin rubbing her forehead. “How did he get the band on you, darlin’?”
Sleepy. She was so damn sleepy. The planekite worked against her organs, making them fight hard just to do their jobs. “Attack squad of twelve. I gave a good fight, but…” She’d ended up with the ankle bracelet from hell.
Theo kissed her forehead. “I’ll gut him for you, Gin. Naval to neck, I’ll slice him open, yank out his guts, and stomp all over them.”
Now wasn’t that sweet? She actually loved the predatory vampire Theo kept carefully banked way down deep. “Are you courting me?” she whispered, trying to hide her grin.
“Maybe.” Theo’s breath stirred her hair, smelling like peppermint. “If I am, whatever you’re planning just became my plan. Only one of us is fighting Saul hand-to-hand, and it’s not the one of us hampered by a planekite anklet.”
Just when he was sounding reasonable, he turned all male on her. She sighed. “Maybe it’s better we didn’t—”
“Don’t finish that thought,” he warned, his mouth next to her ear. “We are nowhere near done with what we started earlier. Once you’re healthy, we’re taking some time. Some serious time.”
What the heck did that mean? She opened her mouth to ask, but she couldn’t find the right words. Just what did Theo want from her? Other than the Benjamin file, of course.
“I’ve got Saul,” Chalton said, his gaze on the computer. “Traced the call.”
Her head snapped up. Man. She’d forgotten there were other Reese men in the room. Wait a minute. They couldn’t trace Saul. She had to meet him. “What did you do?” she whispered.