Zeus
Yas’ scream made Zeus step back as he immediately realized she hadn’t noticed him coming up to her car.
“Yas! It’s me!” He yelled the words, bending down so she could more easily see his face. “It’s Zeus!”
She stared back at him with wide, unseeing eyes for a long moment, then recognition clicked. A moment later, she was throwing open the door and launching herself at him. Zeus opened his arms, catching her easily, his gaze tracking everywhere to make sure they weren’t caught unawares while he comforted her.
All his senses were on high alert and had been since the first notification from her security system had hit his phone. The police were already on the way—or should be—but he’d beaten them there.
Yas clung to him tightly enough that his movement was going to be hindered if the intruder came out of the house right now. He might have already come out, which was why Zeus wasn’t letting his guard down. Any sign of movement… but the street was overall quiet. Most people either hadn’t gotten home from work yet or were inside their homes and not paying attention to what was going on outside.
He felt her breath hitch, heard her little sob, and it was all he could do not to go hunt down the person who had made her feel this way and make them pay. But being here with her, for her, was more important.
Besides, if he left her out here, he’d have to worry that the asshole would make his way back to where she was and hurt her while Zeus was looking for him. Better to keep her close and safe.
“I thought you were him.” Her words were muffled with her face pressed against his shoulder, but he managed to decipher them because he’d already known what she’d thought.
“I’m not.” Scanning the street, ears alert, he didn’t see anything, but he also didn’t let his guard down. “I got the alert from the security company and came rushing over. The police should be here soon.”
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Yas seemed to retract all her fear and emotions back inside her before she lifted her head. While her eye makeup was a little smeared, her dark eyes a little watery, she looked more in control of herself than she had a few moments before.
“Is he still in there?”
“I don’t know, but I’m not taking any chances.” Now that she appeared calmer, Zeus shifted her, turning them slightly so he could put her behind him, but he kept his hand in hers. Thankfully, she didn’t seem eager to let his hand go, and she didn’t protest at being tucked behind him.
That gave him the opportunity to give the outside of the house a good once-over. Other than the open door, there was no indication of an intruder. He didn’t see movement in any of the windows, though that was hardly definitive.
Movement along the street did catch his eye as a familiar car came tearing up it, going far faster than it should in a residential neighborhood. Claudia screeched to a halt along the side of the road in front of Yas’s house, the back end hanging out into the street. She didn’t bother trying to parallel park correctly, leaving it there, as she jumped out of the car, head swiveling back and forth.
“Claudia!” Yas let go of his hand and went running to his team member.
Zeus couldn’t stop the frown from forming on his face.
Yes, Yas had said she knew Naomi. They’d met because of The Outlands. She’d volunteered at the shelter. None of which had made him think there was a close friendship there, but she’d just run from him to the stoic sniper… and Claudia opened her arms to hug Yas close.
Claudia didn’t hug people.
She definitely didn’t hug people she didn’t know.
And what the hell was she doing here, looking so relieved as she rubbed one hand up and down Yas’ back?
Suspicion coiled tighter and tighter inside Zeus’ chest, making it feel hard for him to breathe. He tried to take a deep breath through the tension, fisting his hands at his sides, trying to not to jump to conclusions. It was really fucking hard, though.
Stalking toward Claudia and Yas, as Yas stepped back from the other woman, he could see Claudia’s gaze doing the same thing his had—looking over the house. She didn’t spare Zeus a second glance. Nor did she seem surprised to see him.
The ugly feeling of suspicion was growing stronger.
Claudia was friends with Yasmine.
And she knew that he and Yasmine knew each other.
Which meant that Yasmine had to know he worked with Claudia.
She hadn’t said a thing about it.
Hot anger burst inside him, and Zeus clenched his jaw, feeling his nostrils flare as he sucked in a long breath, trying to wrestle his emotions back into place. The sound of police sirens gave him more time as both women turned to look toward the cop cars coming up the street. Pressing his lips together, Zeus closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to shake off the sense of betrayal that had swiftly followed his anger.
There was no way Yasmine could have predicted or set in motion the entirely random series of events that had led to their meeting. She couldn’t have given Sarah a heart attack or Hope a heart issue. She couldn’t have known when Zeus was bringing Hope back and forth between the houses. Sarah did have a very real friend named Grace who was coming to stay with her.
