She sipped at her latte and wondered why neither Ashe nor Evangeline seemed resentful of their partners insisting on knowing where they were at all times. She felt like an errant child, asking permission to go to work or to the bakery. What of her street racing? Sometimes she was just so restless she needed an outlet. Racing had always been that for her. It also kept her reflexes sharp.
Ania found it strange that Mitya seemed to know when she was right at the point that she needed to grab the keys and go find a race. He appeared out of nowhere, and wherever they were, right then and there, he was wild and crazy. The sex was always unbelievable. He wrung so many orgasms out of her that sometimes she couldn’t even stand upright and would lie on the carpet naked, her breathing ragged, shocked at the way he could make her body feel. The need to race faded far into the background until she could barely remember she’d been thinking about it.
Did he know? Could he read her that easily? A suspicion came to her and she found herself frowning. Her female occasionally reached out to her, but rarely. She’d told Ania that her name was Jewel. When Ania was upset after seeing her father in the evenings, mostly because he was unresponsive then, she would murmur to her softly to comfort her. Often, Ania couldn’t even understand what the cat was conveying. She communicated in images rather than words.
Do you talk to Dymka? She knew Mitya’s leopard’s name meant “smoke” or “haze.” He’d been named that because he could move unseen among enemies. He was that stealthy.
At first, she was certain the female wasn’t going to answer. She seemed lazy, wanting to retreat back to the safety of their body. Ania didn’t think that was very fair since the leopard had gotten her noticed by Mitya in the first place.
Yes. He likes to talk to me.
A purring accompanied the images, as if Jewel was so enamored with the male leopard, she couldn’t think of him without a sensuous shiver.
It was all Ania could do not to roll her eyes, but at the same time, she understood. Mitya made her want to purr every time he touched her. Do you tell him when I’m restless? Or upset?
I do not like to see you upset.
That wasn’t an answer, and yet it was. Mitya’s leopard warned him when Ania was thinking of racing. Or maybe he didn’t know what she wanted to do, but he could guess. Was he using sex to manipulate her into doing the things he wanted her to do? She groaned and put her head down on the table.
“Ania?”
The voice was deep. Strong. Very familiar. She raised her head to find herself staring into Alessandro Caruso’s dark eyes. He was the oldest of the four Caruso brothers. She’d met him, over the years, quite a few times, but to her knowledge, she’d never noticed how good-looking he was. Her leopard, Jewel, was looking at him as well, making Ania’s heart kick into overdrive. If Jewel was interested, it meant she was looking at Alessandro because he was a shifter.
“How is your father, cara?” He asked, toeing around the chair Ashe had vacated and sitting down without an invitation.
Vik moved closer, and his phone was in his hand. She tried a slight shake of her head, to stop him, but she knew, no matter what, Mitya was being informed. For some reason, that set her teeth on edge. She didn’t need babysitters.
“He’s in hospice,” she admitted. “Thanks for asking. Most people have forgotten that he was hurt so badly there was no recovery.” But the Carusos always remembered. What did that mean? Did they have a stake in finding out if her father died? She needed to know.
“I’m sorry, Ania. I know you were very close to your parents. This has to be hard on you. My father informed us you were selling your business.”
She nodded. “It’s a lot of work for one person. Even with employees, overseeing to make certain every job is done to our standards is difficult.” She rubbed her temples without thinking. She had that headache again. Her skull felt a little too tight. Her skin hurt.
“My younger brother is very interested in cars. He’s more of a hands-on person, and driving is his passion. The moment we heard, Donato was extremely interested. That’s one of the reasons we came to San Antonio. I had a meeting with Jake Bannaconni and had hoped to get a meeting with you, but your lawyer said that wasn’t possible.”
“She was right. I rarely come into town because I don’t like being away from my father, but I hadn’t been out in a week and I just needed to breathe a little.”