supposedly vacationing in an undisclosed area. Knowing Timur, wherever they were, no matter how fun, they were locked down tight and very safe. Gorya had elected to stay and help protect Mitya, Ania and Sevastyan.
Sevastyan forced himself to stop pacing, ignored Mitya and faced his cousin Gorya. “I appreciate that you stayed behind, Gorya. Rolan’s hired quite the force to send against us. Most are mercenaries, not shifters. I’m fairly positive he’ll send in those men first to test our defenses. Or while we’re fighting them off, his shifters will try to come in quietly under cover of their fire. Mitya and Ania have a safe room that’s hidden and well supplied. They could live there for well over a month if necessary and they have three escape routes for both leopard and human from that room.”
“What will you do with your woman?” Gorya asked. He was draped on the wall, tall, lithe, even a little lean, all muscle, looking deceptively lazy. He was all muscle and flexible spine, a fighting machine, but he appeared to be easygoing, until one looked into his eyes—eyes that right now showed his concern for Sevastyan. He was always the peacemaker for his more volatile cousins.
Sevastyan sent Mitya a glaring challenge, one that betrayed the fact that Shturm was extremely close and furious. His eyes were all cat, pure amber, gleaming with malice at his cousin, daring Mitya to allow his leopard out.
“I had planned to have her go into the safe room with Mitya and Ania, but that’s impossible.” Even as he threw the accusation out there, he knew it wasn’t really Mitya’s fault. Part of his anger was the fact that he was beginning to think Mitya was right in that Flambé was never going to feel anything for him but her need for sex.
He turned to stalk out before Gorya could try to appease him. He didn’t want to be appeased. He wanted to let Shturm loose to fight the way he needed to fight. He could taste the rage in his gut now, a dark red that spread through his body, flowed in his veins, consuming both of them.
“Sevastyan.” Mitya stopped him at the door. “Wait. I know I’m acting crazy. I can’t seem to calm my leopard. He’s furious no matter what I do.” He sat at his desk, his head in his hand. “There’re things that have been going on that we need to talk about . . .” He broke off as someone knocked on the door.
Sevastyan was standing beside it and recognized Ania’s scent immediately. He opened the door and caught the unmistakable fragrance of his woman too. She was farther down the hall, standing several feet away, not even looking their way. She looked small, alone, too alone. The hallway was wide, the walls tall to accommodate the high ceilings, emphasizing her small frame. She kept her head turned away from Mitya’s office even when Ania spoke.
“I’m taking Flambé out to my garage to see my project, Mitya. Is it really necessary for us to have to wade through, like, seventy-five shifter guards to just get from here to my workspace?” There was a hint of amusement in Ania’s voice.
Sevastyan wasn’t amused. “Ania, Mitya doesn’t have a say in who is guarding you right now, only I do. We’re under lockdown. Just accept that anywhere you go on the property there are going to be guards. Lots of them. At some point, you might be told not to leave the house. If you can’t accept that, you might be forced to stay in a room. You know me. You know I don’t fuck around with your safety.” He liked Ania a lot—okay, if he ever used the word love, he could admit he had that emotion for Ania. He didn’t like to be harsh with her, but he’d rather be harsh than have her end up dead.
He knew Flambé liked Ania. If Flambé had allowed herself any friend from inside his circle, it was Ania. Now that he actually thought about it, he’d never seen her with any other friend. She didn’t talk on the phone to other women. She didn’t tell him she was going to go meet someone for drinks. When she did get calls, and those calls were numerous and could last for long periods of time, she was all business. He didn’t want to alienate Ania, not against him and certainly not against Flambé. Still, her safety and Flambé’s had to