Collecting the black leather overcoat he’d retrieved from the locker he maintained in Sanctuary’s enforcer quarters, he followed her through the door, closed it and locked it securely as she stood back and watched him.
“Where are we going then?” he asked.
“Dr. Morrey has ordered me to the labs for a checkup,” she told him, not in the least pleased by that fact. “Jonas seems to think I should have X-rays, and my parents are having conniptions because I didn’t want to. To keep Mom from sobbing on the phone, I promised I’d do it immediately.” She headed for the stairs.
“We could take the elevator.” Reaching out, he caught her wrist before she could take the first step. “It would be easier on your ribs.”
“They’re sore, not broken,” she informed him, that displeasure turning on him now.
“Sore enough that you willingly took the elevator when we arrived yesterday morning,” he reminded her. “The only reason you didn’t end up with a broken rib was sheer luck, Mica.”
Her lips thinned as she tucked her hair behind her left ear and glanced at the stairs uncomfortably. “If I give in, then it’s like admitting they hurt me,” she muttered. “I hate that feeling.”
It was a feeling he and more than a thousand Breed males could fully relate to. The Council had had enough power over them that even the thought of showing their pain could fill them with fury.
“They’re not here to see it,” he assured her as he drew her back from the elegant curved staircase of the historic old Southern mansion and led her to the end of the hall where the private elevator was located. “No one is here to see it but me.”
He pressed the down button, then waited as the doors slid smoothly open with a soft hiss before he stepped inside. He almost grinned at the encouraging tug he had to give to her wrist.
Once they were closed within the small cubicle, he pushed the button for the medical labs, and restrained the tension that suddenly wanted to enfold him.
Even as it began to whip around him though, he felt those wisps of warmth that were already becoming much too familiar, as they seemed to reach out to him unconsciously, wrapping around him, and he swore, blocking the rising wariness he felt as the elevator began to slide far below the main floor of the house.
She was staring at the elevator doors with a frown, her expression still mutinous. As Navarro watched her through her reflection in the shiny steel of the doors in front of her, he knew those tendrils of emotion, of warmth, radiating from her had to be subconscious.
Was this the reason Dash rushed this young woman to his daughter’s side whenever Cassie’s life seemed to be spinning out of control? Because the empathy that seemed to be such a natural part of her reached out instinctively to those she cared for?
“I hate elevators,” she sighed. “And this one has always been so slow. When is Callan going to update it to one of those nice fast little models that doesn’t take all day to reach the labs?”
“I believe he may have mentioned something about hell freezing over the last time Jonas asked that question,” Navarro answered ruefully. “You know Callan. He hates changing the interior of the house any more than he has to. He knows all its quirks and all its faults. Says he doesn’t want to learn new tricks.”
“That is just so wrong.” She moved to cross her arms over her br**sts, then dropped them to her sides once again with a careful sigh.
“How did they catch you?” It was a question he had avoided asking, uncertain if he really wanted to know the truth of who to begin the killing with.
“A weasel,” she finally answered with an edge of self-disgust. “I was working on a story with one of the reporters at the newspaper. The contact I’d been working with left me a message to meet him, said he had some information.” She looked up at him with an edge of anger. “I should have known better. They were waiting on me when I stepped into the hall that led to the back exit where I was supposed to meet him.”
“Who was your contact?” he asked carefully.
A soft little puff of exasperation met his question. “You really think I’m going to answer that question, Navarro? Don’t you think I’ve been around Breeds long enough to know exactly what happens when someone is dumb enough to cross you? You would run and tattle straight to Dash and Dad, then all hell would rain down on his weaselly little head. Forget it.”
He stared straight ahead. “I promise not to call Dash; I simply need to know who to keep tabs on if we resolve this situation.”
“I’m not stupid.” The elevator eased its descent, halting as she finished speaking, the doors sliding open smoothly. “You would just kill him yourself.”
His jaw clenched. He wanted the name of her contact. The man wasn’t a weasel, he was a f**king little mouse and Navarro was the Wolf Breed that was about to go hunting.
The sight that met his eyes as the elevator opened didn’t help his mood any. The Wolf Breed assigned to lab security was one he hadn’t expected.
“Mica, it’s about time you got down here.” Josiah Black stood just outside the elevator, his gray blue eyes narrowed on Mica as she stepped from the elevator. “Dr. Morrey has been waiting most of the morning for you. She actually expected you last night.”
“Last night I was dead to the world.” Stepping into the steel-lined hallway, she leaned into the gentle hug Josiah gave her, his arms wrapping around her as Navarro sensed, as well as scented, the stink of his arousal.
“It’s damned good to see you again, Mica.” Josiah’s tone, his whole demeanor, was one of tenderness.
Something Breeds were not noted for.
Navarro didn’t growl, but it was close before she stepped back from the other Breed’s hold. He told himself he had more control than that. His fingers didn’t form fists, and he didn’t jerk her away from the other Breed.