Free Temptation Rising by A.C. Arthur

would have theirs if the tables were turned.
    Nick knew there was a battle brewing, just as he knew that they would be right in the middle of it through no fault of their own. Reasons didn’t matter to Nick; that sort of understanding-and-cooperation bull was for Rome. For him, it was what it was. If their parents had botched up something in their lifetime and it was now time for their children to deal with the repercussions, so be it. It was past time they dealt with this situation anyway.
    As for Rome and his crusade, Nick supported him and would do whatever he could to protect Rome when the time came. Sometimes blood didn’t have to be thicker than water.
    *   *   *
     
    Josef Bingham’s law firm had been started forty years ago by old money and today was still thriving, making even more money. By normal standards Bingham should have retired about ten years back, but Rome had to admit that at seventy-six years old the man was still as feisty as ever.
    Next to Baxter and Henrique Delgado, Nick’s father, Bingham was the closest thing his father had to a friend. At least, that’s what Baxter had told him. Trust didn’t come easy for shifters, and came even harder when a shifter gave his trust to a human, but Bingham must have won his father over for the man to have some personal effect of Vance Reynolds’s.
    Rome found Bingham near the bar, exactly where he suspected he’d find him, drink already in hand.
    “Mr. Bingham?” he said, clapping a hand on the man’s shoulder before giving the bartender a nod to bring him a drink.
    “Ah, Roman, my boy. Wasn’t sure you’d show up tonight,” he said, giving way to a cough that seemed to rattle the extra skin at his neck and probably most of his insides.
    “I was invited,” Rome replied. “And I rarely turn down invitations like this.”
    “Yes, I believe tonight promises to be a special night.”
    Over Bingham’s shoulder Rome saw a young blonde with breasts that seemed hard-pressed to stay inside the bodice of her dress rubbing long-nailed fingers over the old man’s shoulder. She could easily be Bingham’s daughter, but Rome wasn’t naive enough to believe that for a minute. “Really? Why is that?”
    “Ralph’s making his announcement, you know. People on the Hill might not like it. Gonna stir things up on the political scene, that one is.”
    Rome couldn’t deny the truth of those words. But the kind of stirring-up he suspected Kensington was going to do wasn’t what Bingham was referring to.
    “I agree.” Rome took a sip of his drink, let the warmth of the alcohol slide down his throat. What was Kensington up to really, and how did it involve the Rogues? Numerous questions mingled in his mind but it wasn’t a problem. Rome knew how to multitask. “Did you bring it?”
    “You don’t beat around the bush, do you?” Bingham chuckled then gulped down the remaining contents of his glass. Lifting a blue-veined hand, he wiggled his fingers to signal for another drink.
    Rome caught the bartender’s eye just in time to mouth the word no. With a shrug the bartender moved on, and Rome looked at Bingham.
    “You said you had something for me, something I needed to see.”
    Bingham nodded. “Right. I do.” Reaching inside his jacket, he pulled out a disk. “Your father had a safe-deposit box.”
    “I thought all the safe-deposit boxes had been cleaned out after their deaths,” Rome said looking at the disk, not yet willing to take it into his hands. Baxter, his parents’ butler and the man who’d taken care of Rome after their deaths, had gone through all his parents’ things. He’d told Rome he’d given him all their possessions. Now thoughts of what could possibly be stored on this disk ran through his mind, causing his heart to pound with both anticipation and dread. This might put him one step closer, one clue nearer to finding their killers.
    “This one was in my name. I’d forgotten all about it until my assistant retired and the