Ryan was considered quite attractive by the females. His features were well sculpted and slightly rough-hewn. His lips were a bit full, his blue eyes most often filled with laughter. And he had a horrible crush on the Leo's fair mate, Dane's mother. Dane's mother had called earlier, and rather than facing her inquisition, he had given Rye the phone to offer explanations instead. Bad choice. Ryan was so infatuated with the woman that it was all he could do not to stutter when he talked to her. He was always spilling their plans to the deceptively gentle, soft-spoken mate to the first Leo. Dane turned his head and stared back out the window at the protestors in front of the Sheriff's Department. Leo would never countenance taking Harmony from her mate. It was a good idea, and a workable one, but Dane knew his father. The old man would rupture a blood vessel.
Old man. He almost snorted at the thought. At ninety, Leo was still in his prime, as was his wife. And there was the crux of this little nightmare.
"Jonas has made his move," Dane murmured. "He'll try to bargain with her now. He may well accept the information she has if she refuses what he truly wants." He should have forced her to give it to him years ago, Dane thought. But protecting it, the thought of what would happen to the first Leo if the Council found him, had kept Harmony fighting to live. Her survival depended on her believing she was the only one who knew of Leo's existence. Dane trusted her—even more, he knew her, as no one but her mate knew her. She had fought like a wildcat to hide and preserve what she had stolen from those labs. She had fought to live, and he had wanted to help. He had needed Harmony to live.
"He wants you," Ryan reminded him.
Ahh yes. Elyiana's report that Jonas was after the shadow that kept saving Harmony's life. The old boy was biting off more than he could chew there. If by chance Jonas managed to capture Dane, he wouldn't keep him long. If Leo was possessive over Harmony, then his feelings were downright obsessive where his only son was concerned.
Not that Dane intended to let himself get caught.
"He's going to accuse her of the killings. He'll pull Breed Law on her and pull her out any minute. Leo's going to have a cow," Rye reminded him.
Dane shook his head. "He'll have an aneurysm. Not a cow."
Ryan's lips quirked.
As a partner, Ryan DeSalvo was the best a Breed could ask for. Especially a hybrid breed with the secrets Dane had. Admitting he was well over fifty years old would have shocked most people. Rye had taken it in stride.
"What's the plan?" Ryan asked as Dane watched the protestors absently.
"Must we have a plan?" Dane leaned back in his seat and placed the smoking cigar between his teeth as he smiled slowly. "Let's wing this one, my friend. I'm interested to see how far Jonas will take this little plan of his. Let's see what he's made of." Ryan stared at him in slack-faced amazement. "You're kidding." Dane grinned. "Not hardly. I think it's time I learned what my little half brother is made of, don't you? The seed the Council preserved from the old man created Jonas. Let's see if he has the same steely determination."
Harmony was a product of another patriarchal Breed line, thankfully. Otherwise, the feelings he had for her would have gotten him killed years before. Leo wasn't very understanding about breaking certain rules. That was one of them. If Dane f**ked a Breed female, then he better damned well be one hundred percent certain what her patriarchal line was. Which meant his mother did a thorough genetic typing. Not exactly conducive to a good sex life for a man when his mother was vetting the prospective lover.
It had been bad enough when Leo learned Dane had taken Harmony to his bed. The old man had raged for months, furious that Dane had dared to take her without a mating.
"And the information she has?"
"Unfortunately, we have to secure the files she stole. We can no longer allow her to keep them." Dane removed the cigar from his lips and blew a stream of smoke past his lips as his gaze wandered to the little waitress working across the room. A delectable little thing she was, and he had a need to relieve the tension growing inside him. As she glanced over at him, he winked slowly and watched her pretty little blush.
"And how do you intend to do that?" Ryan asked suspiciously.
"I won't." He shrugged. "Harmony will. We'll just follow along and relieve her of her bounty. And of course, Jonas will follow to protect her, and possibly apprehend myself. The latter we'll just have to disappoint him in."
"God, you've lost your mind." Rye sat back in his seat slowly. "The old man is going to blow a gasket if he learns of this, Dane. He doesn't like these games you keep playing with the Council and Jonas."
"Who says we have to tell him?" Dane grinned as he replaced his slim cigar between his teeth. "Ryan, I'm going to have to keep you away from my mother. That crush you have on her is going to get you killed, besides the fact it makes you too eager to spill all our secrets."
Ryan grinned. "She's a fine-looking woman, Dane."
"She's my mother." The warning glare didn't help much.
A sigh, one filled with regret, left Ryan. "There are days I wonder about that one…"
CHAPTER 20
She was pregnant. Being pregnant wasn't something that an assassin should take lightly, Harmony was certain. It was something that frankly terrified her. And she hadn't been terrified in a very long time.
As Jonas and his crew, lawyer included, left the office and flitted away in their spiffy little black heli-jet, Harmony moved to the couch across the room and sat down wearily. Strangely, she didn't feel any different. Shouldn't she feel pregnant or something?
Shouldn't the world look different or her body feel different?
As Lance stalked to his desk and threw himself into his chair, Harmony leaned her head back against the cushions and contemplated. She didn't like contemplating. She didn't like being stuck between a rock and a hard place, but that was where she was. Thanks to Jonas.
Brother. She gritted her teeth at the thought of their kinship. Then ground them as the logical part of her brain agreed with him. She would have done the same thing. Protecting the Breeds was a precarious job at the moment, and if this mating heat/aging crap got out, then they were all screwed. Hell, it freaked her out, when she wasn't one huge raging hormone intent on getting up close and personal with Lance. Not that she had really allowed herself to think about it to this point. Though dammit, she really should have thought about it by now.