Savage Betrayal: Savage, Book 2 (14 page)

Cold washed through her, draining the blood from her head and leaving her a bit dizzy. He was so close to the truth, pretty much running parallel to it now. And she’d led him right to it.

“Because it was the experimental stage. The drug was new and untried.” She tried to keep her voice casual. “No one knew the side effects.”

“Ah, right. Of course.”

Except Jocelyn Feloray. Helping the shifters had never been the woman’s intention—she’d wanted them dead. She hated the species with a passion that was unbelievable. And Grace hated her with an equaled passion. Because she’d walked in the doors of that run-down lab fully aware that she might never walk out again.

“Well, it’s a good thing Aubree didn’t find out about the experiments then. Sounds like something she might’ve been foolish to try and sign up for—kind of like her big sister. Then we would’ve had to worry about rescuing two Masterson girls.”

A good thing
was an understatement. A bit emotionally drained now, she couldn’t do much more than nod.

Darrius dropped her hand and sat up straight. “We’ve got movement.”

What? Shit, she’d completely lost focus on what was going on. Her gaze steadied on the house just in time to see a man exit the front door and make his way to the rusty station wagon.

Tall and skinny, the man definitely looked like he spent his days smoking meth out of a pipe.

“I say we tail this guy,” Darrius murmured. “See where he takes us?”

“I’m in.” Because she was betting her money there was a good chance he would take them to Feloray Laboratories.

The Doornail was packed for a weeknight, and many of the patrons were agents with the P.I.A.

Darrius slid his attention across the table to where Grace had recently sat down in one of the wooden chairs. Her arms were folded across her chest and discomfort flickered every now and then across her face.

This wasn’t her scene at all, and yet he and Donovan had convinced her to come tonight. They were celebrating, because apparently Grace’s instincts were pretty damn kick-ass.

She’d been the only one to say Thom Wilson’s suicide might not be a suicide. He’d been skeptical—hell, all of them had. She’d stuck to her guns, and tonight they were given the shred of evidence that she might’ve been on to something.

After tailing their POI, it was clear the meth-head definitely had some kind of ties to Feloray Industries, because he’d been parked outside their lab for over an hour and a half.

It was by no means a smoking gun, but it was definitely a connection they were going to further investigate.

Her gaze finally skimmed to his, and a slight smiled curved her lips. Amusement flickered in her eyes. She gave a slight shake of her head, as if to say
I can’t believe you got me to come here.

He winked. “I’m buying you a beer, Masterson.”

“You’re not buying me a beer, we’ve got work in the morning.”

“If he doesn’t, I will.” Donovan gave her a light slap on the shoulders as he stood up. “We’ve all got to work in the morning. Besides, what do you think we come here for? The food?”

As he walked off to the bar, Yorioka shrugged and said, “I don’t know. The fish and chips are pretty killer.”

They’d all come out tonight, the entire team, which was rare, but nice. Larson had even brought Alicia—the uptight socialite fiancée who looked as if she’d rather be anywhere but in a dark, loud pub. Her hands were folded in her lap, her mouth compressed, and her gaze narrowed with repulsion.

Darrius shook his head and wondered if the two would really end up mated, and if playing politics in the shifter community would really be worth putting up with someone like Alicia.

Agent Yorioka had also brought her partner, Denise, a quiet, soft-spoken Asian woman, who was currently in a quiet discussion with Larson.

But Yorioka seemed more focused on Grace, watching her over her beer with an expression of derision and irritation. Obviously, Grace still had a long ways to go before she earned the other agent’s respect.

Well, fuck it, she didn’t have to go out of her way to prove she was a good agent to the new girl. Grace had
been
the new girl, had already spent months working her ass off. Obviously he and the rest of the guys trusted her, so Yorioka was just being an idiot if she let her own judgment cloud her view.

“We’re celebrating your instincts tonight, Masterson.” Larson gave her a steady glance and took a swig of beer. “They’re not bad. Not bad at all.”

A flush filled her cheeks and pleasure flickered in her eyes. “Thanks.”

“I’ll bet you the agency will have a search warrant on that guy by morning,” Donovan added as he returned to the table from the counter. “And I’ve got your beer.”

Darrius watched her accept the beer with a laugh. She looked good. Happy, and yet maybe a bit uncertain of the attention she was getting.

His smile faded a bit and he looked away. He couldn’t quite ignore the instinct that told him she’d lied in the car this afternoon. Everyone was so eager to believe—maybe they just wanted too—that Grace had sent herself into the experiments undercover.

But he knew she wouldn’t have made such a stupid move, no matter how new she was. Grace was damn smart and cared about her career. She’d never have risked it by pulling a stunt like that.

So why was she lying? What irked him more was that she not only lied to everyone, but kept lying to
him
. Didn’t she trust him? Whatever she was hiding, she didn’t want it revealed. Which just made him all the more determined to figure out what the hell it was.

“You guys give me way too much credit.” Grace sipped her beer and shrugged. “You all would’ve done the same.”

Her gaze lifted and collided with his. He saw the pleasure leak out a bit, and the guilt that slipped in. But then, when he didn’t look away and their eyes stayed locked, her expression shifted. Heat flickered in her eyes, and an awareness appeared that he knew she wouldn’t want him to see.

She lowered her beer and her tongue flicked out to catch a drop on her lip. Hunger lashed through him, instantaneous and potent. His blood heated and his body stirred.

Shit.
Why was his reaction to her so immediate lately? It was almost violent in its intensity, and equally confusing to him.

He jerked his gaze away, urging the dominant wolf inside him to back the fuck off.

“I thought my wife said she was coming tonight,” Donovan muttered, glancing around. “Do I need to kick someone’s ass at the agency for working her too hard?”

“I work hard by choice, so stop your nagging, honey.”

Donovan, whose back had been to the door, stood and turned around, then swept his wife up into a huge hug, before planting a kiss on her lips.

“Easy with the PD-fucking-As,” Hilliard called out, but again felt that stab of jealousy at the bond they shared.

From what Darrius had heard they’d always known each other, but had drifted apart. They’d only reconnected during the experiments when Donovan caught Sienna trying to free the feral shifters, while the agency team was inside the lab trying to do the same. Though strange as it was, it was pretty cool that something so positive could come from such a horrific event.

Sienna pulled away from her husband, and her gaze slid over the table before landing on Grace. The petite blonde let out a noise of excitement, before making her way around the table.

“I heard you were here, but refused to believe it until I saw you.” Sienna gave her a hug. “I’m so glad to see you out with everyone tonight.”

“Thanks. It’s really good to see you too.” Emotion thickened Grace’s voice and she blinked hard. “I’m sorry, I just haven’t been very sociable lately.”

“I absolutely understand, and promise I’m not criticizing.” She glanced back at her husband. “Warrick, will you please get me a glass of red wine? I’m going to catch up with Grace.”

Darrius didn’t bother to hide his rumbling laugh as Donovan immediately got to his feet to go to the counter.

Whipped. A hundred percent. But Sienna was beautiful, smart as hell and pretty damn amazing so he couldn’t fault him. She was the perfect match for Donovan.

Sienna took up his abandoned chair next to Grace and drank a sip of his beer. “Now tell me, how have you been?”

Darrius didn’t mean to intentionally eavesdrop, kept his gaze scanning the bar, but it was hard not to listen to the women’s conversation.

“I’ve been better. I’ve been worse,” Grace said softly.

“Yeah, I can believe it. If there’s ever anything I can help with, please let me know.”

“I will. Thanks, Sienna. It means a lot.”

He hadn’t realized the two knew each other so well, or had gotten close. Though it made sense, now that he thought about it. He’d been aware that Sienna had checked up on Grace several times after the recovery—often bringing food and flowers. It was a natural progression to friendship.

“So, I think we should do a girls night out,” Sienna suggested brightly.

“A girls night, hmm?”

“Count me in,” Alicia called out from across the table, seeming to finally perk up. “I’m always in for some wine and a spa day.”

“Oh, yes, wine!” Sienna agreed. “Everything’s better with wine.”

Now that just sounded like trouble. Darrius flicked a casual glance back at Grace and found her watching him. Instead of blushing or looking away though, she kept her eyes locked on his.

Everyone around them seemed to fade away, and her gaze slid to his mouth. Still watching her eyes, he saw the hunger there, and the vacillation.

“Wouldn’t it be fun? Some sushi and definitely some wine. Good call, Alicia. And maybe we can catch a movie, or do the pedicures thing…” Sienna trailed off.

Darrius broke his attention from Grace and glanced at Sienna—found her watching the both of them with open curiosity. Great. The last thing they needed was Sienna getting the wrong idea. Or maybe it was the right idea, and there lied the problem.

Grace cleared her throat. “Right. Pedicures,” she said quickly, her voice a bit strained. “That could be fun.”

“Good.” Sienna nodded slowly and accepted the wine from Donovan as he returned. Fortunately her attention seemed to shift back to her husband. “You don’t mind if I just keep your seat, do you, honey?”

“What’s mine is yours.” Donovan grimaced, but moved to sit in an empty seat by Darrius.

Whipped, he thought again, but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.

Grace nodded at what Sienna was saying now—something about the new drug they were creating for shifter infants—but she couldn’t slow her heart or her thoughts of Darrius.

All too often tonight her gaze would slip to him, and most of the time she found him watching her. It didn’t matter whether he was talking to Donovan or shooting the shit with Larson and Yorioka, his gaze always seemed to stray back to her.

It was a bit unsettling. And thrilling.

How long had it been since a man had pursued her? Been interested in her? She didn’t make it easy for them to do so, and had always been more closed off from developing relationships—romantic or otherwise.

She’d learned early on that when she did open herself up, she inevitably got hurt. Maybe the ones you loved left you alone in this world by dying, or maybe they betrayed you. Either way it resulted in the same pain.

But the moment she’d joined the P.I.A. and been assigned to her team, everything had changed. Her heart had cracked a bit and she’d allowed the guys in. It’d been like gaining a bunch of protective older brothers. She’d become just as determined to protect them as she knew they would her.

Her gaze lifted and moved across the table to Darrius. He was talking to Larson, but he’d been watching her out of the corner of his eye. She could sense it.

A tingle of awareness started at the back of her neck and raced through her body.

Somewhere along the way, Darrius had lost that brother vibe. It still freaked her out a bit, this whole thing between them, whatever it was. But it was becoming harder to deny it. Despite the walls and roadblocks she put up, he seemed entirely too apt at knocking them down.

“So when should we do the girls night?” Sienna asked, dragging Grace’s mind away from Darrius again.

She put up another wall, vowing to give the other woman her full attention. At least for the rest of the evening.

The time passed by too quickly, filled with drinks, laughter and wonderfully distracting discussions.

Flushed from the two beers she’d drunk, Grace excused herself to use the bathroom.

The restroom was in the hallway of the building and was shared by several businesses. The hallway itself was cold with a faint musty smell. One of the overhanging lights was nearly out, wheezing its final breaths as it flickered on and off.

Familiarity raced through her, but not because she’d been here before. It reminded her too much of the lab they’d been kept in during the experiments. Her slight buzz from the beers vanished as darkness and fear swept through her blood.

Irritated with herself, that this is what she’d been reduced to, Grace forced herself to keep walking and eventually made her way into the bathroom.