Dane lowered his head, shaking it slowly as he so obviously tried to control a grin.
“Works for me.” Rhyzan’s agreement was rather a surprise. “Now?”
“Not unless both of you want to be locked up.” Jonas came to his feet once again, the demand in his voice unmistakable. “The laws drafted for this society were done so for a reason. Now, by God, you can adhere to them.” He turned to Rhyzan, flashing him a savage look. “This Cabinet is adjourned, the petition that brought us here rescinded. Should you have other matters to bring before it, file the proper fucking paperwork.”
Slamming his chair back, Jonas stalked from the bench, wrenched open the door leading back to a private room and slammed it closed furiously.
Cassie turned, watching as Rhyzan gathered his files calmly, for all appearances not in the least concerned. But she could feel his fury, barely contained, boiling beneath the surface.
“He’s going to be a problem,” Dog stated, not bothering to lower his voice. “One I’ll delight in taking care of.” As he spoke, he slid a note her way.
Jonas is having Kenzi moved as we speak—Dane.
Thank God. Nodding, she turned around, her gaze finding her mother.
Elizabeth was watching her in concern, her dark blue eyes shadowed and worried. Whatever Rhyzan was up to, he’d picked a hell of a time to hit them with it. And now she had an additional worry. Someone else knew Lizette was alive.
Breathing out heavily, she turned back to Dog, her gaze glancing over the other Cabinet members as they stood talking, when it was snared by the Bengal’s. She stared back at him, seeing a warning shifting in his gaze before he turned away from her and spoke to his mate.
She didn’t know Graeme, but she knew Cat. Not well, but enough to know the other woman was more than a little concerned.
“I’m of the opinion that your life is far more interesting than I ever believed, halfling,” Dog stated, drawing a cigar from his shirt.
“You can’t smoke in here,” she told him absently, looking around, watching, sensing some undefined message as it drifted about the room. A warning she couldn’t decipher, a dark emotion so well hidden she couldn’t locate it.
“Really?” A match flared, and the scent of tobacco lighting drew her attention
back to him.
He was more than simply furious. Drawing on the cigar, he slid his gaze toward Rhyzan again before coming back to her. She could only shrug at his unspoken question. Hell, she had no clue what the other Breed’s gripe against her was.
From the corner of her eye she watched as Rhyzan gathered his briefcase and moved in their direction, finally stopping next to the table. Laying her hand on Dog’s shoulder, she stared back silently.
“I’ve filed a request that you and your mate not leave the area,” he stated, doing a good job of holding back a sneer. “The Cabinet will have the proper filings before the hour is out.”
Dog’s shoulders bunched, tension gathering in him as a growl rumbled in his chest.
Leo chose that moment to step to the table, his gaze locking on Rhyzan, the pure power of the demand in that look impossible for the Breed to miss.
Rhyzan inclined his head to the first Leo then and strode for the doors leading from the meeting room.
“He’s a problem, that one,” Leo stated as the doors closed behind the Coyote. “And he’s not finished with this.”
Dog snorted at the statement. “He better get finished, because there was no kid there that night.” He rose to his feet slowly, his arm sliding around Cassie and pulling her to him. “But he keeps on in this direction, he’s going to find himself in a mess of trouble he sure as hell doesn’t want and I’m going to make certain of it.”
• CHAPTER 14 •
Stepping into his residential suite several hours later, Rhyzan closed the door slowly, all too aware that he hadn’t closed the curtains over the balcony doors when he’d left that morning. The lights were out, leaving the room nearly pitch-dark. Not that he needed lights, no more than the Breed sitting across from him in the large easy chair needed them.
Setting his briefcase aside, he walked to the bar and poured himself a drink.
“Drink, Director Wyatt?” he asked.
“I helped myself.” Jonas lifted the glass when Rhyzan turned back to him.
He’d known Jonas for a lot of years, had seen him in a variety of moods, and he’d thought he’d seen him at his most furious. It was possible he’d been mistaken in that, because what he was facing now went far beyond furious.
Sipping at his drink, Rhyzan stared across the room, watching the Breed carefully, all too aware that the low rasping sound was claws against the upholstered arm of the chair, the glow of those eerie silver eyes like pinpoints of light.