Free Mating Rituals [Impulse 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Zara Chase Page B

They would both put their lives on the line for her without a moment’s hesitation. Now that he’d met Aisha, Kane understood exactly what motivated them. But would the day ever dawn when he could publicly display such territorial protection of the woman he already loved? His gut churned at the prospect of losing her, having finally found the only mate who could ever keep him happy. He knew it as surely as he knew his own name. Once again he felt it deep in his human soul, and in his leopard soul also. Determination gripped him. Somehow he’d make it happen. He didn’t care what it cost him, what bargains he had to make with the devil, there had to be a way.
    “Is Rafe upstairs?” Kane asked. “We need a word.”
    “Yeah, we just finished breakfast,” Vilas replied. “Go right on up. I’ll be along in a second.”
    “Morning.” Vadim strode into the bar from the dock, where presumably he’d just left his boat. “You’ll be pleased to know that your little gal checks out. She was raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut and graduated Connecticut State with a bachelor’s degree in meteorology. Parents divorced. Mother died of cancer before Aisha graduated high school. Father’s whereabouts unknown. Far as I could discover, she has no contact with him. Aisha worked two jobs to pay her way through college and was taken on by Cordite News and Weather as soon as she graduated. The headhunters all had her in their sights and she had her choice of jobs. She keeps a studio apartment in New York close to the television station, works twelve-hour days, and doesn’t seem to have many friends because she’s married to her job.”
    “How did you find out so much so quickly?” Kane asked.
    “Trust me, buddy, you don’t wanna know.”
    “Might not hurt to have Vadim check into the background of the woman who seduced you,” Vilas said from behind the bar. “You at least know her name, I assume.”
    “Yeah, if she told me the truth.”
    “If she didn’t, presumably the organizers of the conference will know which town council sent her,” Tyrone remarked.
    “She told me her name was Susanna Denton and that she’s from Cape Canaveral. The list of attendees backed that up.”
    “I’m on it,” Vadim said, waving to them all and heading back to his boat.
    Kane and Tyrone made their way upstairs. Rafe looked up from his laptop when they entered his sitting room, closed it down, and stood up.
    “Hey, what news?”
    Kane flopped into the nearest seat, by which time Vilas had joined them. He told them all about the Valium in his system and Mikael’s theories as to how it got there.
    “So, any suggestions?” he asked when he ran out of words.
    “Vadim’s already checking the woman out,” Vilas said. “He might find a connection to our enemies.”
    “I doubt it,” Rafe replied. “They must know we’d be suspicious, so they wouldn’t be that careless.”
    “You think the woman was a convenient stooge?” Kane asked.
    Rafe nodded. “Yeah. I’m sure she’s a legitimate delegate who was either consciously doing a friend a favor or, more likely, she was coerced without being aware of it.”
    Kane kicked at the edge of a rug. “You think our enemies messed with her mind?”
    “It’s what I’d do if I was one of the bad guys. I don’t mean to toot your horn here, Kane, but you’re not a bad-looking guy, according to Chantal, anyway.”
    Vilas scowled. “First I’ve heard about our mate eyeing up the opposition,” he said.
    “Relax, man, she’s only window-shopping.”
    “Says who?” Tyrone responded.
    An evil grin creased the corners of Vilas’s mouth. “She needs to be punished,” he said.
    “Women tend to get emotionally involved in the sort of situation you found yourself in, Kane,” Rafe said. “They’re not wired the same as us guys and can’t always be trusted to keep business and pleasure separate.”
    “You think she might ’fess up if she knew she’d been played?” Tyrone