I took my seat, thankful most of my portion for the night was over. Standing under the watchful gaze of Turo had just about killed me. I kind of regretted my outfit tonight, especially with his parents there. Ryker nodded. "Okay, so I talked to Daphne on the way over. My mom said that she's still waiting on results from Mas' DNA sample. Or rather, waiting on something to compare it to. His results are fine, but without Amara's to test against, it's essentially useless information." He looked at Mas. "Sorry."Mas shook his head. Didn't say anything. Of all the Amatucci family siblings, I found him the most complex. He treated Corrie, Ryker's sister, with care and love. But was able to flash to full violence in the blink of an eye. I wondered what he carried around with him that made that kind of vacillation necessary. "Where are we on finding any viable DNA of Amara's?" Rafe asked. No one answered. Turo looked at me. Raised a brow. I sighed. "From everything that I can
I hit the refresh button on my computer the next morning. Nope. Nothing had changed. It was still the same information from Nik that she'd given me last night. Nothing new. No little quip or comment about my bossy ways. Just a businesslike email that felt like the social equivalent of fuck off.'I gritted my teeth. Would have kicked my own ass if I hadn't been sitting. I really needed to stop antagonizing her. Especially if I was going to get her in my bed. I might be into some power exchange, but kidnapping Nik was just asking her to kill me slowly. A knock sounded. I glanced at the clock. Wondered why Edi was up this early. "Come."Nik came strolling in. Her long legs were accentuated by a pair of sky high stilettos, a short skirt, a tight top, and a pair of long pigtails that dangled just over her tits on either side. She shut the door behind herself, locked it. "I've been thinking." She leaned against it, her tits thrust out, her back arched in a curve that made my mo
I slapped the phone against my forehead a couple times. What the hell had I been thinking? You okay?' Blech. I wanted to vomit. Something in the man's voice changed, gotten softer, sexier, and I'd been all over it like white on rice. Get your shit together, woman. You don't fall at the feet of men. They fall at yours. I nodded. Darn straight they do. I stomped into my kitchen, snarled at the falling snow. I was not in the mood for more of the white stuff today. I got my French press out, grabbed the beans. Walking through my morning ritual, I pushed everything else from my brain. Focused on the daily affirmations Momma's call had distracted me from. Today is my bitch. I will make it call me Mistress Nik. Today, I will do my best. Nothing less than my best will be accepted. Today, I will rely only on myself. Others can't be trusted for too long. Today, I will not take advantage of the awesome life I've been given. I pushed down the plunger on the French press sl
Just as I was getting out of the shower, my phone rang again. I strode naked across the room, scooped up my phone. I smiled as Nik's name flashed on the screen. "Hey, Cricket, -""Excuse me, can you tell me who belongs to this phone?" a man asked. My back went ramrod straight. "A woman, about five-eleven, twenty-five, red hair, hazel eyes. Where are you that you have her phone?""I'm standing next to her body on the street. I used her fingerprint to unlock her phone and dialed the last number.""Why is she in the street?" I shook my head, that wasn't important right now. "Give me your address. Now.""It looks like she was run over, man. I don't know. The corner of High and Washington. I need to call 911."Fuck. I wanted him to stay on the line with me. "Do that. Then call me right back. I'm on my way to you."I tossed the phone down and scrambled into a set of clothes. I stuffed my naked feet into a pair of shoes, grabbed my phone back up and ran from the room. As I w
Searing pain brought me to the surface of the ocean of oblivion. I moaned as I tried to get away from it. What the hell had happened to me?I licked my lips as I blinked against the brightness that was trying to stab my brain. My stomach revolted and my eyes slammed shut again. I tried to breathe through my nose, felt something in my chest snap. Shrieking screams ripped from my mouth as another burst of agony swamped me. "Ma'am, you're in an ambulance. Do you remember what happened to you?" someone asked. I couldn't answer. Everything inside me was focused on the torture. As if the pressure in my chest wasn't enough, my left hip started shrieking her pain. I wanted to curl up into a ball and die. "Ma'am. Can you hear me?" the person asked again. "You're on the way to the hospital. Good Shepherd. Your friend is following us in his car."I heard the words but could do nothing but silently scream. I had no air, no voice, no control. Every molecule in my body was angry. I d
Two burly security guards held me back as Jessa ran down the hall with Nik. The sound of her pain would haunt me forever. I'd heard animals in death throes that sounded less tortured. My phone jumped and buzzed in my hand again. Shaking off the guards, I held up my hands and backed away. "I'm good." I strode off in the other direction. Answered the call. "What?""You cut me off so quickly, Arturo. Has something happened?" her voice purred down the line. I bit back the snarl. Now was not the time to react. Now was the time to listen and plan. To learn. "How the hell are you calling me, Callie?" Her chuckle made the hairs on the back of my neck rise up. "That's for me to know.""Did you do this?" I asked. "Do what, Arturo?""Hurt Nik.""Who's Nick? How could I hurt a man I've never met?"My belly relaxed. "What do you want?""I want what you took from me. You belong to me, Arturo. I saw the way you looked at her. You're mine. She can have what's left."My so
The swirling black slowly eased away. Gone was the bone crushing pain and the struggle to breathe. I could feel my fingers and toes as my body yearned for a full stretch. I coughed around something in my mouth. Felt my entire body tense up as I realized something was hooked against my lips. It invaded my mouth, slid down my throat. A beeping went crazy behind me as my heart rate seemed to match the loud, irritating signal. Blinking away the tears of fear that flooded my eyes, I saw two familiar faces appear at the side of my vision. One of them leaned forward. The other went back out into the hallway."You've got an intubation tube in. You're fine," Willow said. She looked at something over my shoulder. "On my count, you're going to take a big deep breath." She slid her hand into mine. "Ready...now."She squeezed my hand as I took as big a breath as I could handle. My head went a little fuzzy, but I pushed that part away. "Good, Nik. And push it out." She squeezed my ha
I glared at the screen. Nothing on it made sense to me. I wasn't an idiot, but I certainly didn't speak high tech geek. Nik made it all look so effortless. Nik. My belly clenched again as I thought of her lying unconscious in the room. Willow and Tali still hadn't called to let me know she'd woken up yet. I was spinning my wheels here. Spinning my wheels and getting ready to throw my computer across the room. My phone buzzed. I snatched it up. "Speak.""She's awake. And pull that stick out of your ass, big brother," Tali snarled. Everything inside me relaxed at her first two words. I didn't even bother to comment on her barb. Nik was awake. "How is she? When's she getting released? Does she have someone arranged to pick her up?" Not that it mattered a whole lot. I was going to be the one to pick her up. "No idea. Call her yourself. After you remove the aforementioned stick. She's carrying some dark stuff, Turo. Don't crawl up her ass about it."I stilled as I r