"If you see anything, if you learn anything, then let me know." Jonas nodded, still watching Angel closely.
There was no detecting a lie with these Breeds. Like Jonas, they had been taught how to use their emotions to trick other Breeds or animals. How to lie, to manipulate and deceive.
They nodded quickly before disappearing. Between one blink and the next, they were gone. Silently, blending in with shadows, moving quickly, taking advantage of the slightest weakness--that was what they were trained for before escaping into the pre-dawn darkness.
Moving quickly to the bedroom door, Jonas removed the electronic lock just as the doorknob turned and Rachel pulled the door open.
"Good m
orning." Jonas arched a brow at the glare she gave him.
"Amber will be waking soon." There was an edge of concern in her voice. "I need more formula and diapers before the day is out, Jonas. Elizabeth promised they would be here by time they were needed."
"And so they are. They arrived several hours ago." He nodded. "Her formula is on the counter; the sterilized bottles are beside it."
She moved away from him, the large shirt and even larger men's sweatpants she wore bunching around her small frame as she walked.
"I need a phone," she stated as she moved into the kitchen. "I need to contact my sister."
Jonas grimaced. "Diane is still overseas." He'd met her sister once. The woman was a Breed without the genetics. She would make a man think of suicide if he had to stay around her for long.
"Get me a phone, Jonas, before she has to come looking for me," she warned him as she moved for the bottles after checking out the rather large bag of diapers the Vanderales had had delivered.
"A secured sat phone will be delivered today. It was already arranged." There was no sense in delaying the inevitable. "Baby furniture as well the office will be delivered later today. There's a spare room that leads through that door." He nodded to a door that at first glance could have been a pantry door. "We'll be running things from here for a while."
"What about your schedule?" she questioned him. "You have several appointments this week, as well as the Hampton party you're scheduled to attend."
"That's why I have my own heli-jet." He shrugged.
Hell, there were days he almost wished he wasn't a steel-hearted Breed. Days when he wished he could sort through and understand the emotions that were pricking at him now. Emotions that had been building in him since the first day her sweet scent had wafted through his senses.
She made him . . . different. There was no other way to explain it. She made him want to be different when he knew it was the most dangerous thing he could do.
"Then we'll be running the office from here?" She fixed a bottle quickly. Using the purified water that had been provided and the powdered formula, the bottle was prepared within seconds. Next came a diaper and from the bag beside it, a pack of pre-moistened wipes and a tiny blanket.
"I have a list prepared," she told him as she glanced back. "Amber is going to need at least some of her things replaced. Whoever took care of outfitting her dresser did exceptionally well, but there are still some items missing."
"Taken care of." He leaned against the heavy post that formed the doorway into the kitchen. "Everything will be here before nightfall."
She paused for the slightest second as the heated tint of anger scented the air.
"Well, aren't you just on the ball?" There was just enough of a sneer in her voice to have his hackles rising.
"I have to admit, I think I did rather well," he stated mockingly.
Rachel's lips thinned. The look she shot him was heavy with irritation.
"You're not her father." The words were brisk, decisive, when she spoke again.
Jonas tensed. He knew what she was referring to. A slip of the tongue, no matter how slight, could be deadly in his world. He'd made a hell of a slip the night before.
"Now isn't a good time to push me, Rachel," he warned her as he straightened from the post, his body tightening as he fought back the need to go to her, to mark her, to force her to accept the desire that he'd known for months raged between them.
"Don't push me." Armed with a diaper, wipes and a bottle, she glared at him as though they were her battle armor. "You've drawn me and my daughter into one of your vicious little games . . ."
"You think I'd pull a child into this?" Incredulity rushed through him. She'd accused him of it the night before, but he hadn't thought she'd meant the words. "You think me so heartless, Rachel, that I'd use my mate and the child I've already claimed as my own in this battle against Brandenmore?"
"I believe you'd use whatever weapon you could grasp," she bit out, though she knew a part of her didn't truly believe that. She'd fought with herself over the months where Jonas was concerned, always certain that she would be safe, that Amber would be safe, simply because no one truly wanted to piss him off.