Free The Shifter's Conspiracy (Paranormal BBW Werewolf Romance Novella) by Cassie Laurent

remained on his computer screen.
    “41X?” I asked hopefully.
    “Yes, that’s the one,” he said, still focused on the laptop screen.
    “Elias. I came across that place in my preliminary research. Remember? You said it could just be coincidence. Are you telling me that the mob owns this place?”
    Elias looked up at me and I saw his eyes light up, their shade of cool blue gaining in brightness and vibrancy. I could practically feel energy flowing from his body. His eyes locked with mine and we stared at each other a few seconds before he spoke.
    “I told you we were close to something. This is that something,” he said, reaching across the table and touching my hand.
    I shied away slightly, blushing. He was absolutely magnetic right now, teeming with life. It was only then that I realized how much this case meant to him, how much his happiness hinged on solving it before another girl went missing. But the more I looked into his eyes, the more I saw something else, too, some other emotion I couldn’t quite read. There was something passing between us, something without a name, deep and incomprehensible, but very, very real.
    Part of me wanted to make a move at that moment. I’d fantasized about him before. I knew that I wanted him. And right now I felt like he would be receptive, that he wanted it, too. But I held back, knowing I had to remain professional. Just then a change came over his face, a new seriousness that changed the entire tone of our exchange. It appeared that he had something to say to me and I had no idea what that might be.
    “Tess, there’s something you should know.”
    “What? What are you talking about?” I asked, my voice quivering slightly.
    His eyes had changed now, exuding a new seriousness, expressing some previously unknown danger.
    “You’re not safe anymore.”
    “What? Why? Elias, you’re scaring me.”
    “Tess, you’re a target now. They saw you in Arturo’s. You know you’re their type. You’re on their radar now.”
    “You think I’m going to be kidnapped? You’re crazy,” I said, disputing his claim, and trying to reassure myself in the process.
    “No, this is real. Now that we know they’re active at 41X, we know this isn’t coincidence.”
    “Elias, I’m fine. I can fend for myself. I’ve got a good head on my shoulders, I’ll be on the lookout.”
    “You don’t know these people. You don’t know what they’re capable of.”
    “What am I supposed to do? Lock myself away until the case is solved? You can’t expect me to do that.”
    “I don’t expect you to do that, but I’m not letting you out of my sight. You’re sleeping at my hotel room tonight. I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer,” said Elias.
    I paused. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I found this proposition slightly tantalizing. Not that I thought anything would happen between us necessarily, that anything could happen between us. But sharing a hotel room, that increased the odds, didn’t it?
    “OK,” I said. I decided I wouldn’t fight him on this.
    “Good. I’m glad you see things my way.”
    “Can we go now? I’m so damn tired.”
    “Sure. Let’s get some rest. We can get back to this in the morning.”

CHAPTER 11
———
    The next day I woke up as the early morning sun streamed in through the window of the hotel room. I blinked my eyes and looked over to find Elias sleeping peacefully next to me. Well, not exactly right next to me. He was sound asleep in the other bed a few feet away.
    When we’d gotten in late last night, we were both exhausted and had fallen immediately asleep. Nothing had happened between us. And despite whatever secret fantasies I nurtured inside myself, this fact wasn’t surprising to me. Sure, I thought I’d seen a sign of his affection in the looks he gave me, but what reason did I really have for believing him to be interested in a girl like me? He was gorgeous, after all, and could probably get any woman he wanted. Besides, we were