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He had waited for her to appear in the hallway outside the kitchen, even as he nodded and smiled at the right places while Dylan spoke.
If Brynne had so much as glanced his way even for a second, nothing would have stopped him from going to her right then and there. He would have taken her aside without a care for who saw them, and he would have demanded she be honest with him, instead of hiding behind the chilly, untouchable facade she seemed to put up so quickly whenever anyone got too close to her. Especially him.
Not that he had any room to point the finger when it came to honesty or honor. She had been right about him not being the type to stick around. He couldn’t argue that, especially when Dylan was living proof of his life’s most shameful failing.
If either woman knew the truth about his cowardice where Dylan’s mother was concerned, they both might turn their backs on him. And rightly so.
But Brynne didn’t seem to need any convincing to ignore him. She’d stepped past the kitchen entry without blinking or breaking her stride. He didn’t even know if she was aware he was there.
Something told him she had been, and the fact that she sailed by without the slightest acknowledgment had burned him more than he cared to admit.
She had since disappeared with Tavia somewhere in the mansion. Zael couldn’t deny that despite his agreement to give her space, there was a part of him that refused to bow to a lie.
She wanted him, just as he wanted her.
And yes, the sex was great. Hell, it was so incredible he was of the opinion they should be doing it again as soon as possible, not trying to pretend it was some kind of mistake both of them should regret.
But even more than that, something was happening between them that went beyond attraction. It went beyond the fact that they lived in two different worlds, from two races that had been enemies for longer than either of them had been alive. This connection he and Brynne had shouldn’t make sense and it damned sure wasn’t anything he’d planned on, but it was real.
It was genuine and powerful, and it wasn’t going away, no matter how much she wanted to convince both of them that it didn’t exist.
That alone should have been enough to make him bolt. Great sex was one thing. He’d never been the kind to walk away from physical pleasure. But this was something else. And for some idiotic reason, instead of taking Brynne’s rejection as the gift it should be, he felt compelled to get to the real reasons she was so determined to push him away.
And the longer he waited to get those answers from her, the more her silent treatment was going to drive him insane.
Making his excuses to Dylan and Rio, he slipped out of the kitchen and headed toward the Order’s command center, the direction she’d gone with Tavia a short while ago.
Gideon practically slammed into him, coming out of a room with his head down and tapping madly on a tablet screen.
“Oh, shit. Sorry, man.” The warrior glanced up distractedly. His spiky crown of blond hair was disheveled and intrigue lit his eyes behind the pale blue lenses of his glasses. “I’m working out a new protocol to see if I can find another way through Opus’s server encryption. Got no time to waste, especially now that our best lead on Crowe turned out to be a dead end.” He winced as he said it. “Bad choice of words.”
Zael paused. “What do you mean?”
“The woman in Ireland,” Gideon said. He tucked the tablet under his arm, his expression sobering. “Rafe and Aric called it in a few minutes ago. Crowe’s mistress was murdered in her home right before our team arrived to drop a net on her. Opus apparently knew we were on to her. Sounds like they made quite a statement in killing her.”
Zael didn’t want to ask what constituted making a statement, but having seen some of the other violence Opus Nostrum’s followers were capable of, he could easily imagine. “So, how were we able to confirm that this woman, Iona Lynch, was in fact Crowe’s mistress?”
“We have a witness who’s corroborated our hunch—Lynch’s roommate. Her name’s Siobhan O’Shea. She was in the house at the time of the attack earlier tonight. To make matters worse, the friend is a Breedmate.”
“Jesus. Was she harmed?”
“Got knocked on the head pretty hard by the two men who killed her friend, but she obviously wasn’t their main concern. She says Lynch knew the men. She let them in and things turned ugly pretty fast. When the roommate tried to intervene, they shoved her into the bathroom and knocked her out while they finished what they came to do.”
Zael exhaled a low curse. “She’s lucky they didn’t finish her too.”
“Extremely lucky,” Gideon agreed.
“That’s not to say this woman isn’t still in danger,” Zael considered. “From all I’ve heard and seen of Opus’s tactics, they don’t have a very good track record of leaving loose ends behind.”
Gideon nodded grimly. “She’d be in Order protective custody even if she wasn’t a Breedmate, but the fact that she is makes her safety a top priority. Not to mention we need her to tell us whatever she can about Crowe and Iona Lynch, and about the men who killed her.”
Gideon’s tablet chimed and he glanced at the screen. “Damn. So much for that brilliant idea. Whoever put the locks on Opus’s network is one shrewd son of a bitch. Looks like I’ve got more homework to do.” He hooked his thumb in the direction of the corridor. “If you were on your way to see Lucan, that’s where I’m heading now.”
Zael hedged. “Ah, actually, I was looking to talk with Brynne. She went this way with Tavia a few minutes ago.”
“Yes, she did.” Although he was already tapping on his tablet, Gideon’s brows rose with blatant interest over the rims of his glasses. “But you’re too late. Brynne’s gone now.”
“Gone?” The newsflash hit Zael like a blow. “You don’t mean back to London?”
