Break the Day - Lara Adrian Page 0,25

Devony was out there in the city alone.

She might be a daywalking Breed female, but that didn’t mean Rafe wanted to imagine her being confronted by his old friend Nathan’s wrath.

If something happened to her now he would never forgive himself.

That feeling had nothing to do with gratitude for what she did for him in the museum, either. It went deeper than that, which disturbed him all the way to his marrow.

Devony wasn’t his to worry about or protect. Caring about her wasn’t part of his mission, and there was no place for compassion when his quest to destroy Opus Nostrum demanded only cold, lethal focus.

One misstep, one careless miscalculation, could cost him everything.

Like letting his concern for her ignite a reckless rage inside him tonight with Cruz.

The ferocity of his anger shocked him. It had shocked Devony too. He saw that in her stricken expression when he’d leapt on Cruz. When her voice had been the only thing that reeled him back from the edge.

Fuck.

It was obvious to him what he needed to do, before he let things get more complicated than he already had.

He could not risk his mission by bringing her into the equation. Not in any form.

Which meant he had to remove her, the sooner the better.

While he considered the unpleasant task ahead of him, Cruz walked over with the rest of the gang. “We’re getting ready to roll out in a few. You coming along, or what?”

“Another time.”

He didn’t offer any further excuse before heading out to his bike. The rain had finally stopped, and the storm had thinned the nighttime traffic. He didn’t know where Devony lived, but he knew the distinctive purr of her Triumph. His Breed hearing was acute enough to zero in on that sound amid the rest of the vehicles moving through the streets.

He followed his ears until he spotted her taillight heading north toward the affluent neighborhood of Back Bay.

Rafe stayed about a mile behind her, watching in curiosity as she made one stop along the way. Parking outside one of the city’s homeless shelters, she jogged up to the donation box and dropped all fifty grand in cash into the slot.

What the hell?

After risking her life to earn it, she just gave her entire share of the theft away.

Rafe hadn’t imagined she was participating in Cruz’s gang out of personal greed, but this was a revelation all on its own. It was an unexpectedly tender side to the tough-as-nails Breed female.

That she was harboring other well-guarded secrets as well, he had no doubt.

Tonight, he intended to unwrap them all.

CHAPTER 9

Devony felt eyes on her.

The prickle of awareness had settled at her nape on the drive home to her brownstone and hadn’t let up in the ten minutes since she had arrived.

Which is why she hadn’t yet changed out of her lug-soled boots, fine-gauge turtleneck and stretchy, form-fitting black tactical pants.

The semiautomatic pistol she’d carried with her into the museum job tonight was still holstered on the belt around her hips, too, although she doubted the weapon would be much use against the intruder she knew was currently inside her house.

Breed.

She stepped out of her father’s study and found Rafe standing in her foyer.

He had slipped past the deadbolts and security system in silence, and now had the audacity to give her a wry smile. “I was in the neighborhood. Sorry I didn’t knock.”

Outrage burst through her veins. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She couldn’t believe the arrogant male had actually found where she lived and barged in as if he owned the place. “Get out of here right now. Or I’ll throw you out.”

There was no need to pretend she wasn’t fully capable of doing exactly that. Or at least willing to try.

“We need to talk, Devony.”

Was he serious? She glared at him, her vision snapping with amber sparks. “We already did that earlier tonight, remember?”

He slowly shook his head. “No. You haven’t told me anything yet. I need to know what you’re doing in Cruz’s gang. I mean what you’re really doing.”

So, he had followed her all the way from Ocho’s garage. Tailed her. Spied on her. Right before he broke into her house.

“I don’t think you’re actually with them at all. You’re only playing a role, using them for some reason. So, what are you after? Not money. I saw you leave yours in a charity box in town.”

She swallowed as he took a step toward her. “I said you need to leave,