“No, Roni honey, you know none of those brothers of mine are going to let me bed down in their fancy-assed houses. You know how they always turned their backs on us.”
It was no less than the truth. Just as it was no less thanReginald’s own fault that his family had literally disowned him.
“The house is full at present,Reginald.” Callan finally stepped forward. “We can put you up at the barracks on the other side of the house grounds. There are a few empty bunks there.”
Reginald’s gaze never left Roni’s. He stared at her the way a snake did an intended meal. Cold, deliberate, unflinching.
“That’s right friendly of you, Callan,” he finally said softly. Taber felt a chill chase down his back as Roni stilled a flinch.
She was frightened. He could feel it, almost smell it radiating from her body. She tensed, holding herself rigidly erect as she stared back at her father.
“Don’t make trouble here,Reginald,” she finally warned him, her voice low, resonating with throttled anger. “I won’t be held responsible for what they do to you if you try to.”
Taber looked down at her, holding back his surprise. He had never heard Roni threaten anyone other than him personally. And certainly never her wayward, mercenary father.
“Why, Roni, shame on you, making these good people think I’d cause trouble.” He hadn’t even blinked at he stared at her. “You know I’m a right social person. They won’t have a peep of trouble out of me.”
Taber tensed at the veiled threat directed at Roni. It pulsed in the air around them and caused the fine hairs on the back of Taber’s neck to lift and bristle in response. Taber wanted to order the son of a bitch off the estate, cast him out into the streets and tell him to fend for himself. For as long as Roni had been old enough to hold down a part-time job the bastard had leeched every penny she could make. There had been no protecting her from him then, but by God, he could do it now.
“Escort Mr. Andrews to the workers’ bunk shed, Merc,” Callan ordered one of the burly guards. Mercury was six and a half feet of muscle with a face so closely resembling that of a cat’s that there was no way the man could walk down a public street without inciting riotous panic among the citizens now. He was stern, cold, a killing machine and one of the most loyal, honorable men Taber had ever known.
“He can have the bunk nearest mine.” Thin lips spread into a cold smile as eerie amber eyes glittered with cold knowledge. Merc wasn’t a fool.
“We need to talk soon, Roni.”Reginald smiled thinly as Merc gripped his arm firmly. “Catch up on things, ya know?”
“I think we said enough last week,Reginald,” she answered him firmly, her voice cold enough to chill an iceberg. “Enjoy your stay. But I doubt I’ll have time to visit.”
“You might want to make time.”Reginald tried to pull his arm back from the soldier escorting him from the house. “Think about it, Roni. Think hard.”
The door closed on his parting words.
Taber continued to watch his mate closely, his mind working, turning over possibilities and threats and only coming up with more answers.
“You want to explain that little meeting to me, Roni?” he asked her softly, aware that all eyes had turned to them.
Her gaze lifted to his slowly, but not slow enough for him to miss the flash of fear that she fought to hide.
“Sure, Taber.” He didn’t like that slow, tight smile that crossed her lips. “I’ll be more than happy to, the very minute you answer my earlier question. Turn about, baby.” She nudged his waist with her elbow in a deliberately forced playful mood. “You just let me know when you’re ready to talk.”
She turned then, moving quickly for the stairs again and taking them with quick, almost running steps. She was fighting to escape, to hide, just as she had always done when she was younger and rushed into the night with only her senses to guide her. More often than not Taber found her lost and frightened each time. He wondered what he would find when he followed her this time.
“Taber, we might have a problem.” Callan stepped closer, pulling a small, ultra-sensitive receiver from the pocket of his slacks. “I picked this up from the office when Merc informed me who he had.” The receiver was a handy little bug locator given to them by the U.S. military. “Good oldReginald was wired for sound to hell and back. Our only problem now is figuring out who hired him.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“The best way to figure out what he’s up to is to keep him from Roni as long as possible,” Taber told the men assembled in the large office downstairs early the next morning. Callan, Tanner, Merc, Kane and several of his brothers were watching him quietly.
“You knew him better than we did.” Callan shrugged. “What do you think he’s up to?”
Taber grunted. “Reginald is low-level sleaze. He doesn’t have the brains to mastermind anything but a good drunk and some petty theft, so I’m going to assume it’s one of two things. He wants to weasel money out of us, or someone has him on a chain. He doesn’t do too badly when he has instructions, but he doesn’t improvise well.”
Taber frowned as he considered the scrapes he knewReginald had been in throughout the past decade. He had been his most wily, his most dangerous, when working for others.
“It would be my guess he’s on a chain then,” Kane spoke up. “I pulled his record last night after Merc took him to the barracks. After that, I pulled in some favors and got a little added info from my own sources. Mr. Andrews has worked with some very heavy hitters in the past. Men who wouldn’t care a bit to use him to gain access to his daughter. If they got hold of her, I doubt it would be pretty.”
They were all aware of the fact that the Council was now desperate to learn the importance of the mark Merinus carried on her shoulder, and the significance of the tests they had managed to attain from the scientists who had examined the Breeds after their surprising announcement to the world three months before. The hormonal changes that had shown in her blood work and other tests had thrown the scientists into a tailspin. The discovery that she could conceive, despite the small amount of human sperm Callan’s body normally produced, had shocked them further.
The truth their own doctor had found would have astounded them even more. It wasn’t the sperm contained in the ejaculation of his c**k that was so potent. It was the sperm contained in the small, thumb-like barb that only became engorged during sex with Merinus that allowed the conception.