He waited until Quinn had left, then picked up the com-unit and walked over to hand it to me. "You do know he's going to check that all items were picked up from this place. Which means he'll realize soon enough this com-unit is missing."
"By which time, I'll have returned it." I kissed my brother's cheek. "Don't worry, I won't drag you into this one."
"How often have I heard that?" His voice was dry and I grinned. We both knew the answer to that particular question was "more often than necessary." He touched my elbow lightly and motioned toward the bedroom I'd woken in. "Let's go grab a bag of clothes for you."
I walked into the room and dropped the unit on the end of the bed then headed for the wardrobe. "I just hope the passwords I know will get me deep enough into the system to uncover who the hell Kade is."
"If you haven't got full codes, it might be better not to tackle the Directorate's data, but rather, go for outside sources. As his assistant, you have clearances into most Government systems."
Now there was a thought. And it was less likely to get me in deep shit with Jack. "Uncover what he isn't, you mean?"
He nodded, and walked across the cut-open window. His short red hair barely stirred in the cool breeze as he stared out into the night. Given his expression - or rather, the chilled lack of it - those creatures wouldn't want to attack a second time.
"If Kade is a builder, there'll be trade certificates, business registrations, stuff like that. And you should be able to find other pointers, like birth certificates and school reports, to confirm he is who he says he is."
"And if he isn't who he says he is, I'll beat the damn information out of him." Hey, I had to take my frustrations over fate and the shit she was shoveling my way out on someone.
Rhoan's sudden smile lifted the coldness from his eyes. "Or you could tease him, then withhold sexual privileges. That'll get the information out of him right quick."
I smiled. "Ah, but that'll be punishing myself, as well."
"There's plenty of wolves out there who'd be more than willing to cure that particular affliction."
"Not to mention a particular vampire who'd be more than willing," I muttered without thinking.
"Is that why he's still here?" Rhoan asked. "Because he's finally realized he let a good thing go?"
I snorted. "It's not the only reason, no. I'm never the only reason he's down in Melbourne."
My voice held an edge, and he frowned at me. "I thought we'd sorted all this out?"
I blew out a breath. I really should learn to shut my mouth. "We did. But I sort of offered him a compromise."
He shook his head. "That's not wise."
I shoved the com-unit in the bag and cushioned it with more clothes and a couple of pairs of shoes. "I know, I know. But if he could learn to deal with me having other partners, then I can't see the harm in it."
"The harm in it is that he won't ever change, no matter what he says."
Maybe. And maybe he deserved the chance to prove otherwise. "It's all a moot point until he says yea or nay to the compromise, anyway."
"So when did you make this deal?"
"Up on Macedon."
"And why were you up on Macedon?"
Oh God, I hadn't told him yet. I took a deep breath, and slowly released it.
"What aren't you telling me?" he said, more forcefully this time. We might not share the telepathy of twins, but in many ways, we didn't need it.
"That appointment I had was for the fertility specialist."
He was silent for a long moment. "And?"
"I'm temporarily fertile."
It wasn't the answer he'd been expecting and his shock rippled through the air. "What?"