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Julian smiled harshly as he focused on a picture of Jaden, her lean body barely covered by a bikini.
He exhaled slowly and glanced up at the Irishman.
“We wait.”
Chapter 6
“Where’s Tank?” Nico’s harsh tone grabbed her attention as Jaden accepted a folder from one of her staff members. She turned toward the elevator that led to her private suite.
It had been a long morning. She’d been hard at work for hours. Running a huge resort was not for the faint of heart. Coupled with her secret duties, lack of sleep was something she’d learned to deal with early on.
And she was definitely tired. Jaden was not quite back to full strength and had only slept a few hours on the jet, if that. Demon poison usually took a few days to dissipate fully, and she was still feeling the afteraffects.
She pursed her lips together tightly. What now?
Night Sky Resort and Casino was her baby, the one good thing in her life, and running it, as well as being the head of her own special branch of PATU, was tiring at the best of times.
Her senses flared as her eyes swept the entire lobby. Tank, her shifter guard, was always at the elevator, and his absence spelled trouble. She felt her muscles bunch instantly, felt them tighten in anticipation.
“Miss DaCosta?”
“Yes,” she answered as she continued to scan the immediate area. Nico had already moved from her side and was halfway to the elevator.
“There was a man asking for you. I thought you’d want to know.”
She looked at the girl sharply. “Did he leave a name?”
“No, he said you were expecting him.”
Jaden glanced back at the elevator. This was not good.
“Thanks,” she said softly, and turned away.
She joined Nico, who stood near the large palm tree that hid the elevator. The warrior was tense, the corded muscles in his neck a testament to the state of mind he was in.
“Something’s off,” he spit out, his eyes flat and black as his nostrils flared wildly. “Tank would never leave his post unless it was covered.”
Jaden felt a whisper of energy in the air, an echo of something frenetic, something dark. No one had ever been bold enough to attack her within the resort, but times were changing, and the stakes were so much higher.
She should have seen this coming. She’d been leading a double life for the past several years, and borrowed time eventually expired. If anyone in her family or any of their nasty alliances discovered she worked covertly for PATU, she’d have a bull’s-eye tattooed on her ass for the rest of her life.
Maybe her time was up.
She looked at Nico. “Call Security and alert Finn; we’ll need an overhead search just to be on the safe side.”
She moved toward the private lift and was reaching for the control panel when Nico grabbed her arm, his grip firm, his tone harsh.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Jaden glanced down at his hand on her flesh and suppressed the quick anger that scratched below the surface. Christ but she was getting tired of his attitude lately. She needed no one’s protection.
“Nico, you need to back away.” Her words were low, controlled, but the tension between them rose sharply.
The shifter took a step closer, and she looked up into his eyes, feeling a snag of remorse as she caught a glimpse of the pain that lingered there. She knew his history, knew the damage that lived inside him, and, because of that, she would tread carefully.
“I don’t need the caveman routine, seriously, I’m a big girl. You know I’m more than capable of taking care of myself. I’m a warrior, same as you.” If his overprotective attitude continued, she was going to have to make some difficult decisions.
Nico’s grip held firm. Why was he making this hard?
