Break the Day - Lara Adrian Page 0,41
You’re mistaken about having no family left. You’re a daywalker, Devony. That means your mother was unique too.”
“Yes. She was born Breed, a Gen One who could also walk in daylight. Her early years were hideous. Brutal. She told me a madman raised her as part of a program for genetically designed Breed females.”
Rafe nodded as if he knew. “She was one of Dragos’s experiments. Your mother, along with the half-sisters who were also part of that program before the Order put a stop to it.”
“Half-sisters?” Devony murmured, her heart lurching to think that others had been subjected to the same awful torture her mother had endured.
“You didn’t know there were others?”
“No. I didn’t even consider there could be. Neither did my mother, I’m certain of that. She rarely spoke of that period in her life, and never that she knew of others like her.” Devony swallowed, a strange kind of hope coming to life in her breast. “How many do you think there might be?”
“I know of several personally. And the Order is working toward finding the rest. Tavia Chase is leading that effort, along with Brynne Kirkland. Until the time of the attack in London, Brynne was actually working in that city for JUSTIS.”
Devony gaped, but she couldn’t help it. “My mother had a half-sister in JUSTIS? In the London office? My God.” She sat back, feeling as if a train had just slammed into her. “She never knew. My mom was covert her entire career, rarely home. All that time, she had a sister living in the same city, working in the same organization?”
Rafe nodded. “Which means you have two aunts—one of them right here in Boston. You also have a pair of daywalker cousins, Carys and Aric Chase. They’re both working with the Order now.”
“My cousins.” She could hardly contain the bubble of excitement that swelled in her. Or the sudden flood of uncertainty. “Do you think . . . do you think they would ever want to meet me?”
He chuckled. “I have no doubt about that whatsoever.”
“Will you help? I know that’s asking a lot, especially considering the way things are between you and the Order—”
“I’ll make it happen for you, Devony. Whatever it takes, as soon as you’re ready to.”
His reply was so sincere, so resolute, she couldn’t resist wrapping her arms around him in a fierce embrace. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I haven’t done anything.”
She drew back and drank in his handsome, solemn face. “Thank you for telling me about them. That’s more than enough right now. It’s everything.”
He tipped his head and pressed a kiss to her mouth. “You’re not alone, Devony.”
“Oh, God, I want to believe that so badly.” She stared into his penetrating eyes, watching their oceanic color begin to smolder with fire. His gaze felt like a promise, one she was afraid to trust, no matter how desperately she wanted it.
“You’re not alone anymore,” he uttered, his deep voice raw with tenderness . . . and desire.
“Make me believe it, Rafe.”
She kissed him back, letting her lips linger against his. On a growl, he dragged her off her seat and onto his lap, capturing her mouth in a deep, fevered kiss.
In the next second, he lifted her, his hands sliding beneath her backside as he pivoted and swung her up onto the worktable. They undressed each other with impatient hands, eager to be skin-on-skin. Some of the papers and stacks of files tumbled to the floor, instantly disregarded.
She hardly noticed or cared.
There was no room for thoughts of vengeance or loss or pain when Rafe had her in his arms.
There was only this moment. Only this man.
And the craving for him that seemed to be growing more demanding, more insatiable, each moment they were together.
CHAPTER 14
Rafe returned to his apartment in Southie as soon as night fell.
He needed a shower and a fresh change of clothes. Even more than that, he needed space to think and put his head back on straight, because the hours he’d spent with Devony were beginning to scramble his ability to focus.
As he soaked under the showerhead in his studio’s bathroom tub, he realized it wasn’t only his physical interest in Devony that disturbed him—although that was more than enough cause for alarm—it was his interest in her happiness that was the greater problem.
What the hell had gotten into him, promising he’d make introductions for her with Tavia Chase and the twins? Bad enough if he’d stopped there, but he’d also dragged in