“Hey, where’s Lucien?” Gavin greeted her when she walked in.

She rolled her eyes. “He needed to be alone.”

“Oh? What’d you do?”

Hands on hips, she said, “Why do you think I did something?”

He put his hands on his hips, too. “Because I know you. Does it have to do with you looking at Scotty and Nick like they were creampuffs you wanted to devour the other day?”

“What?” she asked, her voice rising. “I did not.”

“Yeah, you kind of did.”

Shit. No wonder Lucien was so pissed at her. She had given him reason to be jealous without meaning to. Now, she had to find a way to make it up to him when he returned. A knife twisted in her gut, worse than any wound she’d ever suffered at the hands of a rogue. What if he didn’t come back?

Gavin didn’t let her wallow in it for long. “So what was that picture you sent me?” he asked. “One was Tess but who’s the other guy?”

“One of the rogues who tried to kidnap Mom.”

“The son of a...” Gavin began.

“Exactly. Can you figure out who he is or find out anything more about Tess?”

He stared at the picture on his screen for several seconds. “Let me see what I can do.”

“Scotty and Nick are on their way to get this photo, too,” she said.

Gavin stopped typing and shot her a glance. “Oh, that’s what you did.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You invited them to the office to get the picture rather than just texting it like you did to me? No wonder he’s mad at you.”

“Who said he’s mad?” Sweat broke out on her forehead and her gums itched as if her fangs wanted to descend.

He sighed. “Because I know you.” Then, ignoring her, he turned back to the computer.

She paced behind him, waiting for him to find something or for the guys to arrive.

“Can you please stop that?” he asked in an exasperated tone. “Find something else to do. Go take a cold shower.”

“Yeah, me naked and wet when they arrive is probably not a good idea,” she said. Instead, she went into the kitchen, cleaned out the coffee maker and made a fresh pot of coffee. Then, she washed and dried the mugs and plates sitting in the sink. Any activity was necessary at this point.

A knock came at the door as she put away the last mug. “Perfect timing.”

The two cops came in and filled the space with their larger-than-life presence. “What have you got for us?” Nick asked with a smile that could melt her panties right off.

But she was determined to fight any effect they would have on her. Lucien could walk in at any moment and she didn’t want to give him any more reasons to be jealous.

“This,” Gavin declared and turned away from the computer, leaving the picture of Tess and the rogue visible on his screen.

“Oh, it’s the rogue from the spring,” Scotty said. “Tess Michaels. Who’s the guy?”

“One of Mom’s would-be kidnappers. Do you recognize him?” Ryenne asked.

Both men shook their heads. “But we can check the computer at the office. Do you have a copy of this for us?” Scotty asked.

Gavin printed them a copy of the picture.

“Do you have any information for me?” she asked.

“Nothing new on your dad,” Scotty said.

She paced around the room again. How would she ever figure out what had happened to her father? “Oh hey, what happened with your shifter with the gunk in his wound?”

Nick and Scotty shared a glance. “We haven’t solved that one yet,” Scotty said. “The dead shifter was the owner of a store on Tenth and doesn’t have a record. Tried to fly under the radar. That’s all we know at this point.”

“Do you know something we should know?” Nick asked, his dark eyes boring into hers. Damn, they weren’t going to make themselves easy to resist.

“Just curious,” Ryenne said with a small smile. “Anything that happens in the shifter world piques my interest. It’s kind of our business.”

Scotty nodded, but she couldn’t tell if he believed her or not. “Okay, thanks for this photo, we’ll see what we can do with it.”

Once they were gone, Gavin said, “Give me an hour. I’ll hack into the facial recognition software on their network and get us some answers.”

Ryenne gave him a big smile and kissed his head. “I love you, Gav.”

“I know.”

***

Less than an hour later, Gavin whooped in victory. “I’ve got ‘em!”

Ryenne jumped up from her computer on the other side of the room where she had been writing up a report for a client. “What have you got?”

“He’s Joseph O’Brien. He has a brother named Liam and a sister named Tess,” Gavin said, a smug grin splitting his face.

“Tess O’Brien? T.O. She sent my mother the letters.” Ryenne paced the room, her mind whirring and sparking like one of her mother’s stun guns. “They tried to get to Mom by pretending to give her information about my dad, strung her along until Mom agreed to meet them, and then tried to kidnap her. Tess is a Fang, so this is confirmation that the Fangs want my mother.”

Gavin nodded along with her, stretching his arms over his head after so long at the computer.

“Do you have an address for any of them?” Ryenne asked.

Gavin turned back to the computer and tapped on the keyboard. “Yeah, I’ve got the last known address in Brooklyn for all three, based on DMV records.”

“You are brilliant, Gav.”

“I know.”

She grabbed her long-sleeved shirt from the back of her chair and checked her weapons.

“You’re not going there now, are you?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Why not? They tried to kidnap my mom. They’re Fangs. Now that I know who they are and where, I don’t want to waste another minute before meting out the punishment they deserve.”

“At least wait for Lucien,” Gavin said. “Please don’t go by yourself.”

“He’s not answering my calls or texts.”

“Are you surprised?” Gavin asked, standing and striding over to the kitchen and pouring himself a cup of coffee. “You really hurt his feelings.”

“I tried to apologize but he won’t respond.”

Gavin went back to work without another word and Ryenne dropped onto the couch. She wouldn’t push her luck by going by herself. Protecting Mom was more important.

At the end of the day, she walked up to Mom’s office building. Her phone rang as she crossed the last side street.

“Hey Scotty. What’s up?”

“We’ve got names for you. The O’Briens.”

“Yeah, I already know.”

“How?” he asked.

She only smiled, even though he couldn’t see.

“Never mind,” he said on a sigh and terminated the call.

Still smiling, Ryenne glanced around at the people in front of Mom’s office. Lucien. Staring at her.

The smile dropped from her face.

“Talking to one of your other boyfriends?” he asked.

“It’s not like that,” she said. At times like this, she wished she were better with words. She didn’t know how to make him see that she couldn’t help flirting with other men. It wasn’t something she wanted to do. She only wanted him.

“I’ll move out of your apartment tonight,” Lucien said.

“What? Why? Can’t we get through this? Couples have fights all the time. It’s no big deal.” How much she wanted it to be true.

“I don’t know, Ryenne. But right now, I can’t deal with you and help you with this job, protecting your mom, while I have all of these negative feelings inside, and I think some distance will help.”

“Where will you stay?”

“Maybe at the office with Gavin or in your mom’s empty place. Maybe it will help flush out the Fangs.”

“But what about...?”

“Satisfying your urges?” he asked in a monotone. “Now’s the time to learn to control them without giving in. We did the giving in thing, it didn’t curb your appetite. Eventually, you just have to figure out how to get through life with the female equivalent of a hard on every minute.”

What he said made sense, but it still hurt. “It’s not just that,” she said in a small voice. “I love you.”

He ran a hand through his hair and she wished she could do the same. But she was afraid he’d push her away. She couldn’t take another rejection from him.

“I love you, too,” he said and stormed away.