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CHAPTERTWELVE
GIANNA
Gianna was awoken from her slumber by a horrific shriek. She initially thought that she had been dreaming, but after frantically sitting up, she realized it had been Rex.
He, too, was sitting up and had accidentally tossed her off of his chest as he rose to scream. She felt her body surging with panic
Is he having a heart attack?
Instead, he just sat there, staring into the void. Gianna waited for a few moments, then reached out to touch his shoulder, which was damp with sweat.
“Are you okay?” she asked softly.
Rex breathed heavily. It took him a few seconds, but eventually, he turned to her, his head swiveling on his body like a doll.
“Yes,” he said.
Gianna sat up on the bed and began to stroke his skin with her thumb. His eyes gazed away from her and fixated on the window beyond her. Even in the dark, the majestic shade of green stood out like fireflies on a pleasant summer evening.
“You don’t look okay,” she said, her voice firmer this time.
He looked back at her, and she felt her stomach sink. He looked serious, the playful man she had met the day before completely vanishing.
“I said I’m fine,” he said.
Rex turned away from her and whipped the comforter off his body. He said nothing more as he stomped into the bathroom and shut the door. Gianna listened as he turned on the faucet of the shower.
Gianna lay back and crossed her arms, confused as all hell. She turned to look at the clock and saw it was almost seven in the morning. She had slept like a log after having two spectacular orgasms and hadn’t moved from her lover's chest the entire night.
She hoped moody Rex wouldn’t be something she had to deal with very often.
Then again, am I even going to commit myself to the guy? What if I’m just a plaything for the night, perhaps a few nights more … a mere conquest to be discarded when the novelty fades?
Gianna was still dazed from their frolicking, lying there in the dark. It began to rain as the sun rose over the horizon, painting a wash of a rusted orange shade peeking through the sliver of the hotel curtains.
She sighed to herself as she rose and put on the robe from the night before. She would shower after him, no longer feeling like sleeping.
When he finished, he spent a few good minutes getting dressed again in the bathroom. Gianna made some crappy hotel coffee in the meantime and picked up her laptop to check her emails.
When he emerged, he was wearing the same clothes as the day before. Gianna hadn’t thought of it, but he didn’t have anything else to wear. The sight of him made her giggle, and his reaction satisfied her.
“It’s the newest Jackson Pollock look,” he said playfully.
His face was beaming again, his demeanor having returned to the jubilant spirit she had adored when she met him. She stood up from the bed and moseyed over to him, planting a light peck on his cheek. She saw him close his eyes, reveling in her touch.
Rex reached out a hand and touched her cheek softly. His gaze did not leave hers as she stroked her skin with his thumb.
“How long will you be in town?” he said in a low tone.
Gianna was thrown off, wondering if she should tell him the truth or feed him a lie. She had genuinely enjoyed their time the day before with the vineyard and the spectacular sex. But there was still Voren to consider, and how close Rex's relationship to his business was still a mystery to her.
She smiled and crossed her arms, pushing her breasts up to create some alluring cleavage.
"About a week or so,” she said with a grin. “I’ve got another story that sprung up from the charity event to work on.”
Rex looked satisfied. He took a step closer to her, bent over, and gently placed his mouth on hers. It sent Gianna into another aroused frenzy to the point she was unsure whether she’d ever remain dry around this man.
When they parted, she elicited an unconscious moan. She covered her mouth as she smiled down at her.
“I would like to see you again,” he said softly. “If you would like that.”
Gianna would love nothing more than to be in Rex’s presence again. Her body, her mind, and something much deeper pulled her to him like she was attached by an invisible string. But there was her work to focus on, which she should make her chief priority.
She nodded at him, trying desperately not to bite her lip.
“I would like that. Don’t forget that we still have Voren’s dinner to attend,” she said.
Rex stood, his smile fading. He adjusted his body as if the skin he wore was ill-fitted. Gianna noted how uncomfortable he often looked at the mention of Voren.
“Of course,” he said, putting on his sunglasses. “I’ve called room service, and they should be up here in a few hours to change your sheets. Plus, I ordered you some breakfast.”
Rex spoke nonchalantly, but it still made Gianna quiver. No one had ever been so proactive when it came to her well-being.
“Thank you,” she whispered and smiled.
Rex turned away and opened the door. The rain fell in thick streams as the sun rose beyond him, framing him in a beautiful glow.
I could just take him now, she thought. Just grab him by the shoulders and rip his clothes off.
Rex smirked, then lowered his sunglasses. For a moment, Gianna thought he was capable of reading her mind.
“Don’t have too much fun without me,” he said.
He finally left, and Gianna melted onto the bed, her bones a pile of dust.
“Jesus Christ,” she whispered to herself.
She decided that she would work on the Voren story since she was awake. She took a quick shower, trying not to get stuck on the various dirty thoughts that ran through her mind. She booted up her laptop, and instead of digging deeper into Voren, she decided to look up Rex.
He’d had a nightmare as he lay next to her. Gianna used to have nightmares as a child and would often wake coated in a thin sheen of sweat. Why wouldn't he just tell her what was wrong? They had been intimate in more ways than one the night before.
It made Gianna think he had something to hide.
As the rain poured outside, Gianna came across an article that detailed the events of a plane crash. Rex was the most famous person involved, and there had only been a few fatalities, no one he was related to as far as she knew.
Gianna supposed that surviving a plane crash could be traumatic for anyone. The article described the abrupt nature of the tragedy and how the engine had halted and sent the entire plane downward toward the Pacific Ocean. The pilot was able to land safely with only a few fatalities.
Gianna tapped her fingers against the desk and ruminated. Why couldn’t he tell her about the crash? It seemed so simple, yet he had bristled at any attempt at comfort.
She decided to close her laptop and make her day useful. It was nighttime now, and government offices should be closed, so she needed to secure her strategy for the upcoming break-in.
The sex from the night before had made Gianna’s brain a little fuzzy, so she went for a quick jog in the rain to regain her focus, her drive, her unnamable resolve. She wanted to let go of what she was feeling for Rex, just for a bit, so she could get the job done.
Gianna ate ravenously, thankful for the meal Rex had sent her as well as the dinner she bought herself. She wore a sleek black outfit and a winter hat as she went out that night with all of her proper equipment.
Agrippa’s office wasn’t too far from her hotel. She liked it that way. She decided to park in a convenience store parking lot, then snuck into the government building like a stealthy cat.
There wasn’t much security at his office, as no one believed there would ever be any reason. Gianna went through a side door that was for the chefs and restaurant staff as it had no cameras and was easy enough to jiggle the lock pick into.
Gianna crouched as she moved through the kitchen and climbed up the stairs. She needed to be fast, just in case they had hired a security guard or installed a security system since she had last checked.
She used the faint light of her phone to find his office, once again applying her crafty lock-picking skills to get in.
The office was dark and dank. Papers looked like they had been thrown into the air in a flourish and left to fall where they lay. Gianna listened as the soft tap of rain against the window lulled her into a sense of ease, moving through each drawer and cabinet like she had been invited in.
She thought she was making headway when she heard the groan of an opening door. She froze on the spot, her rummaging fingers hovering midair. The rain suddenly sounded thick and fast in her ears as she listened hard.
Gianna pressed the button on the side of her phone to make the world around her black again. Just as she did, she saw a large shadow curl around the corner, holding a bright spotlight in his hand and casting light on the floor below it.
“Fuck!” Gianna whispered.
She crouched, instinctively placing her phone back into her pocket. The shadow was coming toward the office, and she felt like her heart was slamming in her throat.
The doorknob turned, and then there was a hesitation. Light streamed onto the desk she had been searching through as she hid, squeezing her calves and thighs tightly to remain hidden behind the furniture.
Gianna glanced to the window behind her, taking note of the fire escape she had spotted earlier when the shadow took a giant leap over the desk. She was suddenly face-to-face with a shifter, his red eyes and fangs gleaming under the relentless shine of his flashlight.
“Who the fuck are you?” he snarled.
Gianna had no time to think. She tumbled backward into the shelving unit, toppling textbooks and binders to the floor. The shifter reached out for her with long, dark green shaded claws, catching her by the end of her T-shirt.
“You’re not going anywhere!” he hissed.
Gianna made haste and jumped onto the side table resting against the window. The shifter was taller and strong than her. Plus, she wasn’t an idiot. She knew that he could easily rip her throat out like it were the prize at a carnival, so she wasn’t going to linger.
He grabbed at her legs and dug into her jeans, sinking the nails deep through the fabric and penetrating her skin. Gianna let out a scream of agony before she was able to get the window open and fire herself out into the damp air.
Gianna followed her instincts and turned her body back to the window after slamming down hard onto the cold iron of the fire escape. She grabbed the edges and smashed it down with all of her might just as the shifter's nasty claws tried slipping through the opening.
He let out a gurgle of pain and annoyance, which gave Gianna time to flee down the rickety steps. She did not look back as she fled, shimmied down a ladder, and sprinted back toward her car.
When she closed the door, her heart was crashing into her ribs. Adrenaline made her muscles seize. Fear made her tremble. She was able to look up at the fire escape and see nothing but rain continuing to smack against the iron.
The streetlight above made her nervous. She felt like every inch of her plan had somehow been exposed.
The absence of the shifter made her calm a bit, but she still put the pedal to the metal and ripped away from the scene. She drove away fast, tears swelling in her throat as she gripped the steering wheel.
Her thoughts were raging in her mind like an angry storm. She did not recognize the shifter, but she knew that he was there for a reason. Did someone find out about her plan?
Gianna hadn’t realized, but her hat had fallen off during her scuffle with the shifter. He held it in his claws as he watched her flee in the dark, blood scabbing over his knuckles at a rapid pace.
