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The challenge in her gaze was intoxicating.  If I decide to go dancing with you, you wouldn t be
able to keep up with me.
 You are on, tesoro. We ll go tonight.
She raised one dark brow mockingly.  Sure your poor old heart can stand it?
His answering smile was slow. He was aware of exactly how predatory he looked as she sat back,
her gaze narrowed.  Do you want to try me?
She sighed roughly and drank some of her coffee.  What are we going to do about this?
 This?
 This  she waved her hand toward him, then back at herself,   conflict of interest.
He leaned forward.  You re going to tell me whatever it was you learned that woke you up this
morning. You and I will go interview Bryan Cranston. I called the office, and he s in today.
Afterward, we do dinner and dancing.
 And then?
He picked up his mug, stroking the curve of the handle with one finger.  Then we see what comes
up next.
She looked away, her lips twitching.  You are a bad man.
 Mm-hmm.
She blew out her breath and finished her bacon.  Fine. Want to know what my informant told me or
not?
Apparently she was going to ignore his flirting. That was all right. They needed to work, and she
hadn t said no. For Elizabeth, it was damn near a proposal of marriage. He could work with that.
 Informant?
Elizabeth shrugged.  You could call her that. She s someone who has done work for me before. I
asked her to look into Jennifer Blake s financials.
 What did she find?
 Embezzlement.
Dante blinked.  How the hell does that fit in?
 With what? She sounded nearly as confused as he felt.
He looked around the room, noting all the humans sitting within hearing distance.  I ll explain in
the car. He pointed toward her plate. He had his own information to pass on, and a warning.  Finish
up. We have work to do, tesoro.
 Do I want to know what that means?
He winked at her.  Ask me over dinner.
They concentrated on their food after that, eager to get out of the restaurant and share their
information in the privacy of his car. He paid the bill, barely remembering to wave good-bye to
Tessa.
They got into Dante s car and began the drive to Blessing campaign headquarters.  So. What did
your informant tell you?
 Jennifer Blake took seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars that Piotr Romanov had donated to
the Blessing campaign and put it in a Cayman Island account.
 Shit. Dante hated feeling that one of his Neph brothers was going to turn on them, but Piotr kept
giving him reasons to doubt his loyalty. This was just the latest in a long string of seemingly
insignificant things that tied the man to the Shemyaza, such as sharing a last name with their leader,
Ivan Romanov.
 She then used that money to purchase a house there and a Jeep in candy apple red.
 Is that all she was able to find out?
 So far. She s still collecting data for me. Elizabeth shrugged.  She s only been on this since
yesterday.
 Not bad. How did she find the account? Dante was certain he knew who the she was. Sam was
good, almost as good as Damien.
 I m not sure, but I can guarantee it wasn t illegal.
 I didn t say it was. Sam might be on the quirky side, but he doubted she d ever cross the line.
 Good.
Dante pulled up outside the campaign headquarters. The Shem stench was all over the building. It
was even worse than it had been the last time they were here.
It was inside somewhere, or had been very recently. Dante scowled as Elizabeth got out of the car.
 Wait.
 What? She tapped her foot impatiently.
There wasn t enough time to fill her in on what was really going on, damn it. He should have taken
care of it over breakfast, but he d been too damn busy getting her to agree to go out with him. If he
wasn t careful he was going to get her killed. He waved her closer, pulling the lapels of her jacket up.
He spoke softly, barely moving his lips.  There s a Shem inside, or was.
 A what?
Her confused expression was adorable.  Another Diana.
She froze, her face going bone white.  Shit, fuck, damn. She ran her fingers through her hair and
glared at the front door.  Are the civilians in there in danger?
 I m not sure. Even if they are, the Shem won t feed around witnesses.
She bit her lip.  Jennifer Blake?
 Snowstorm, no one on the streets. I m betting he saw his chance to kill two politicians with one
claw.
She took a deep breath and stepped out of his hold.  How do I kill it?
 You don t. He waited until she looked back at him and allowed the fire within him to fill his
eyes.  I do.
* * *
They stepped into the campaign office, Beth on high alert. If another one of those monsters was inside
she wanted to be prepared. She felt naked. Her gun was at her apartment rather than at her side, and
she planned on picking it up before they went much further that day.
Right now, if a...Shem?...confronted them, the only thing she d be able to do would be make frowny
faces at it. She doubted her tae kwon do would be of much assistance against a person with claws and
fangs.
The inside of the office felt like a furnace after the bitter cold outside. Beth shrugged out of the too-
hot jacket and slung it over her arm.
A sudden intake of breath alerted her. Dante was staring at the bruise the asshole had left behind,
his expression curiously blank.  He bruised you?
His voice was lethal.
Uh-oh. Dante had been ready to rip that guy s arms off just for touching her. She had to head this off
at the pass before he hunted that guy down and turned him into barbecue.  Forget it, Dante. The guy
isn t worth losing your badge.
His low growl disagreed with her.
Beth patted him on the head.  Good boy. Good boy, protecting your mistress. I ll give you a doggy
treat later. Now let s go talk to Cranston and find that fucking Shem.
 Mistress, huh?
At least the lethality was gone, but the heat in his voice wasn t much better. She had to keep her
mind on their work or they could both wind up dead.  Yup. Now pay attention or I won t skritch your
belly later.
She realized about two seconds later what she d said as his hand landed on her lower back. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]