Warrior Wolf (Protection, Inc 4)

A brief silence fell. Nick, who had opened his mouth, no doubt to defend her, closed it again.

“Also,” Raluca added in a final knife-twist, “I can afford to replace any number of couture gowns. A spoiled one is of no importance to me. It’s sad that the same is not true for you. But since you were so generous with your own clothing, in the future I will give you all my hand-me-downs. I have them often; I never wear last season’s styles.”

Raluca closed her mouth, satisfied with that devastating series of insults. She waited for her enemy to cringe in humiliation, or perhaps even flee.

But Fiona did not seem crushed in the slightest. Bizarrely, she looked pleased. Her eyes brightened with a golden sparkle, like summer sunlight falling warm on grass. She gave Raluca a smile that seemed absolutely sincere. “Good. That’s all I needed to hear. You and Nick enjoy your evening. Call me if you need back-up.”

With a graceful wave to her teammates and a wink at Nick, Fiona went out, shutting the door soundlessly behind her.

Raluca looked at Nick, but he seemed as baffled as she was. To the room at large, he asked, “What the fuck was up with Fiona?”

“Rough mission,” Destiny said. “Sleep deprivation, stress, the works. Don’t take everything so personally.”

Emerald fire blazed in Nick’s eyes. He opened his mouth, then caught himself and took three deep breaths. “Right. Right. Okay, me and Raluca are going to grab something to eat. We can be back before you leave if Raluca wants to get a dance lesson.”

“I do,” Raluca said. “Thank you, Destiny. Nick, let’s go.”

She opened the door and fled before anyone could say anything else. Nick followed her.

Once the door closed behind them, Nick grabbed her hand. “Let’s get out of here. Unless you want to change first.”

Raluca hesitated, then decided that she’d rather wear Fiona’s fatigues than risk meeting Fiona again. “I’m fine. These are comfortable.”

She was immensely relieved when they made it into Nick’s car without running into anyone else. Now she understood why he hadn’t wanted to reveal their mating. Hal and Rafa had obviously found it hilarious, and were undoubtedly just waiting for Nick to confess it so they could tease him. She wondered if Nick realized, but a glance at his face told her that he hadn’t. She considered telling him, then decided not to. He seemed stressed enough already.

And no wonder, with the bizarre behavior of his teammate! Fiona’s sudden switch from blistering hostility to apparently genuine friendliness, for no reason whatsoever, was even more unsettling than if the woman had been consistently unpleasant. If Fiona continued to be nice, Raluca would never know if she might be secretly plotting against her, or might turn around and insult her again for no reason.

“Does Fiona often change her opinions so quickly?” Raluca asked.

“Not at all. I have no idea what got into her.”

“But the sofa...” Raluca began.

“The entire team had a grudge against me. Fiona was just a little bit more memorable about it. Anyway, she had a good reason to be pissed at me then. She had no reason to be mad at you. And the way she dropped it was really weird.” Nick frowned. “Maybe I should go back up and make sure one of the paramedics checked her. She could’ve been drugged or something on the miss

ion.”

“Could anything like that escape Hal’s notice?” Raluca asked. “If she returned acting strangely, surely he had her examined already. Or is having her checked now.”

Nick relaxed. “Yeah, you’re right. If it was a rough mission, he’d definitely have had Ellie or Catalina or Shane give her the once-over. I bet Destiny was right and Fiona was just really sleep-deprived. That can make you do weird things. Rafa and I were on a mission once where neither of us could sleep for three days, and by the end of it he was hallucinating pretty pink butterflies and it took me half an hour to figure out that the reason a door wouldn’t unlock was that I was holding the key upside-down.”

Raluca decided to give Nick’s teammate the benefit of the doubt, for his sake if not for Fiona’s. “In that case, I shall give Fiona a second chance. Perhaps she will not even recall this first meeting once she’s slept.”

“Speaking of sleep.” Nick settled a casually possessive hand on her thigh. “We overslept big-time. Can I take you to lunch? To make up for Big Bacon?”

“Of course.”

Nick still hadn’t started the car. He took a breath, clearly edgy, as he said, “There’s a place I’d like to take you. It really is my America. A neighborhood joint. Casual. American food. Good, but nothing fancy.”

“That sounds lovely,” Raluca said. “I did mean it when I said I wanted to see the real America.”

“Okay.” Nick started the car. As they began speeding with traffic, he added, “You don’t have to like it. Don’t pretend for my sake. If you hate it, we can leave.”

Raluca now recognized the signs of Nick laying down his defenses against some impending hurt. “Is this a place that means something to you, Nick?”

“Yeah,” he confessed. “Sorry. I should’ve told you up-front. It’s owned by one of the wolves from my old pack. They all hang out there. Their mates, too. I’ve never brought anyone there before but my teammates.”

“Ah-ha,” Raluca said, smiling.