She wondered if now would be the time to tell him that she felt safe with him. It was the first time she felt safe with a male in two years. The first time she wished she could trust him with so much more than just her body.
She opened her mouth to tell him that so, but a knock interrupted her. Rome groaned and extracted himself from her, planting a swift kiss on her lips before answering the door in only his shirt.
He answered it and spoke to someone Alison couldn’t see. "Yeah, yeah, give us a minute," he said and closed the door harder than necessary. He turned to her, his eyes taking her all in.
He shook his head as appreciation filled his eyes. "Looks like the Kategans are here to visit, and they bring news of Conlin." He was already pulling on his pants and the shoes he'd toed off. "Get dressed baby. I can't think when you look like your waiting to be ravaged."
Alison smiled a soft wicked curl of her lips that had him stopping dead in his tracks. He licked his lips, his eyes falling to her hardened nipples and open legs, her pussy bared fully to him.
"God you're beautiful."
Alison smiled widely at his compliment. She stood and snatched her clothes off the floor and gave him a quick kiss before sprinting to the other room to dress.
Chapter 12
The Kategan family took up more room in the tiny one bedroom cabin than was available. It looked like some scene out of a Disney movie, Alison thought.
"So DNA results are back from our guys at the lab. The bedsheet from the apartment is a match to Conlin. Ninety-nine percent accurate,” said Sarina.
"What did they match it against?" asked Rome.
"Conlin's DNA was already in the system from four years ago. The lab guys couldn't tell me what it was for though."
A hard knock interrupted the conversation. Rome was closest to the door and opened it.
"Hey, it's about time you showed up. You need to work on your punctuality man. Something happen?" Rome stepped aside so a tall male with a short military-style haircut could come through. He didn’t just look around the room, he searched it. Alison had a feeling he was taking in everything in that one look. His eyes lingered on Rome's sister Vera for a second longer than necessary.
"I got held up at the office, sorry."
Nodding, Rome turned back to the room. "Vane, Darien, you've met my old comrade in arms, Jackson." The men came forward to shake hands. "Jacks, I don't believe you've met Vane's mate Sarina." She came forward, welcoming him with a smile and a handshake. "The lounger over there is my sister Vera and this is Alison, the reason I called you here."
The man—the very human man—stayed near the front door. The man didn't just stand, he looked ready to move at a moment's notice. His eyes seemed to see everything. He was quite unusual for a human. Alison wondered if he stayed near the front door as an emergency exit and if he didn’t it knowingly. He reminded her of a man who’d been through war.
"We were just catching up on the latest details of the situation," Rome said to Jacks. Turning back to the room he said, "I asked Jacks here because he's the best investigator I know, and more importantly, I trust the bastard. We got the DNA results back and it's a positive match to Conlin."
"Sarina also told me there was an interesting run in with a woman today," Vane added.
Alison stiffened, but Vera smiled at her and that somehow made her feel stronger.
Rome broke the new tension. "It was my ex Sandra. Right before she left she said Conlin wants Alison back."
"So she's working with him then." Jacks didn't ask a question, merely stated the information as cold fact.
Rome nodded and said, "Yeah, a man like Conlin has a lot of power, a lot of money, and too much charm.”
“How do we know the woman wasn't just saying that to cause some chaos?" Jacks asked.
"It doesn’t fit. She didn't even know I was seeing someone else. She had no idea I was with Alison until she came in the cafe," Rome said.
Alison turned to face Rome, confused. "How did she know you were there anyways? Was she following you?"
Big shoulders shrugged. "Probably, she's called nearly once a day since I ended things."
"And when was that?" It was Vera who asked. Her soft, husky voice was soothing. Alison could easily see her having a great seeing voice. Bluesy and jazzy music thick like a humid night.
"Four weeks ago."
"So she sought out Conlin just to, what, sabotage us?" Alison nearly blushed at the connotation of us. Though Rome didn't seem to notice the slip.
Rome took a seat next to her. "My guess is he found her. He has cops, lawyers, all kinds of people who can gather him information. He found her to use against us is my bets." Alison wrung her hands together, wishing that if she just squeezed tight enough all of this would go away. These people didn't deserve to be cleaning up her problem.
"The bigger problem is Conlin. If he actually said that he's going to take her back then he's going to try and find a way to do it," Vane said looking everything the military commander with his knees spread and elbows resting on them.
"There's no way he's coming back on Kategan lands, and we have extra guards lined up and watching the perimeter," Sarina said, shaking her head.
The human was shaking his head no. "If he wants her, he'll find a way and he'll get her. The best you can do is have a personal guard on her at all times and have some kind of alarm planned that can be triggered when he finally attempts."
"How can you be so certain?" Vera's voice was no longer soft but cutting and cold. She stared at the human like she wanted to see his insides.
He stared right back at her. "Because it's my job to find people like this."
"Lay off, Vera. He's the best, that's why I brought him here." Rome turned to his friend. "I want you on Conlin. We need eyes on him at all times, can you do that for me."
"Done," the human said.
Alison spoke up with a question that had been nagging her. "Can't we just go to the Justicar's now that we have evidence?"
"The only thing they're going to do is tell him to back off. The Justicar's restraint orders are as useless as human's restraining orders. They're bullshit." Alison had never seen Rome speak so violently, like he was having a hard time suppressing his anger.
Vera pointed a long-nailed finger into the air. "No, no, no. She definitely needs to make a report with the Justicars. We need to keep building evidence against the bastard."
"She's right," Darien said, speaking up for the first time. His body shadowed the corner like a statue. "Rome should stay with her."
Alison protested immediately. She had enough problems on her hands and some of them were due to the handsome lykaen. The last thing she needed was to have him permanently at her side. Hell, she'd already slept with him way too much.
"I think after today's warning that's our best option right now," Rome agreed.
"I can stick around too," Vera offered. "I have some vacay time I can use from work. I can even bunker down in the spare cabin so I'm close."
"It would be better if Darien occupied the guest cabin instead," Jacks said, his arms crossing across his big chest.
Alison's mouth fell open at Vera's thunderous expression. She leaned forward from her slacked position, her hands straddling her thighs. "Are you saying I'm not as strong or capable as my brother, human?"
The man didn't flinch at her icy tone. "That's exactly what I'm saying." She growled, a loud vibrating sound in the cabin.
"Vera can take the cabin, Darien will stay near just in case," Vane ordered, all alpha in his voice.
Alison watched the human tense but then his shoulders relaxed. He cut his eyes away from Vera.