Dark Awakening (12 page)

"So DNA results are back from our guys at the lab. The
bed
sheet
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
h
e
ld 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 h
er 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. S
he 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 goin
g
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 sh
ould 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.

"Don't worry, we're going to make sure he ne
ver gets his hands on you again,
"
Rome said.

Alison's gut tightened. A throbbing pain was beating at her temples
like
it was trying to get out. She just wanted to be alone. She didn't want to think about
Conlin or Sandra or her life
or anything at all.

Sarina caught her gaze from across the room and gave her a soft nod. "Baby, are we done here? I'm feeling tired." Instantly the male looked concerned. Vane grabbed her hand and practically hauled her to the door.

Rome laughed
and
Vera snorted
and rolled her eyes
;
Darien ju
st stared at Vane and his mate, a
peculiar
look in his eye.

Rome hollered before everyone was out of earshot.
"If anyone gets news of any kind yo
u pick up the phone and call me.
"

"Y
e
ah, y
e
ah, y
e
ah, Roman. We know the drill." Vera lifted off from the chair, the move fluid and graceful. She swooped down and gave Alison a quick, startling hug before heading to the front door. The male Jacks didn't move as she stared at him. They stayed in that staring contest for a few more seconds before she finally puffed out a sigh and sauntered out of the cabin. Jacks gave a nod to Rome and left after the fuming female.

Alison breathed a deep sigh when everyone was gone. Rome came up and leaned down over her, his hands braced on the arms of the seat. Her heart beat faster. Only he could do that to her. It scared the shit out of her.

He cocked his head at her, studying her, taking everything in. From the frown of her mouth to the stressed furrow of her brow and her
now
rapid pulse beating against the thin skin of her neck.
Yup
, she was definitely stupid.

She'd been hurt so bad once.
It wasn't the
physical
pain of the beating that Conlin gave her that scarred her.
It ran much deeper than that. It festered and bled inside her.
She'd actually loved
him. The sickness in her gut permeated throughout her body making her body feel heavy and sick.
Who could love someone like that?
Why couldn’t she see it then?

"Hey, stop it."
His voice wasn't gentle. It was hard and heated.
He cupped her chin in his hand and gave her a bruising, punishing kiss. "Don't think about it, don't think about him. He doesn't deserve to be in your thoughts." His words surprised her and brought her back from the sick feeling. It was still there but it was only simmering inside her.

Stupid, stupid, that's what she was. She'd
made the mistake of loving someone like him
before and
look
where that had ended up.

Life had a cruel way of circling
in on
her.

"Tell me what's wrong
.
" It w
as a command spoken from an A
lpha. She was helpless to answer it.
He gave her a
nother punishing kiss before she could breathe again.