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"I didn’t think it would be easy In fact, I was thinking it was going to be very, very difficult"

"Jessica, I’m bound by a very powerful client, and there’s more to this story than I can share with you now--or quite possibly ever" He broke his gaze and I took the ain with the proper use of my name, but I pushed it to the farthest reaches of , and I had to quiet her before I went on This is not the time You have to cool it "You mean somebody would’ve taken the job who didn’t owe a life debt to the Alpha of the US Northern Territories? Somebody who could’ve extracted the ‘by whatever ernails or running a silver blade acrossthere was a good chance you would have to saveyour powerful client?"

"By ‘saving you,’ I’ you to another location to obtain what I need"

"And if I refuse to give it freely?"

"The only way to do that would be to escape me" His eyes sparked

I raised an eyebrow and ranthat may be a likely scenario, Rourke But theto look abashed as he crossed his arms "Most likely in a day or two, after I’ve had some time to recover from the serious injuries you inflicted on me in your overzealousness to escape"

I couldn’t help but laugh The thought of fighting hi several octaves Damn cat My wolf yipped Quit I know you’re behind this We’re in serious discussions here and I need to stay focused Can you please keep yourto be on the insane stalkery side She growled and snapped atblows, your debts to lanced down at his boots, a lock of hair fell over his eye "Yes"

"Interrogating wo, is it?"

He looked up, surprised "No I don’t ht theht?" There were some nasty-ass supernatural women on the planet Not all were created equal

"When duty calls"

"You h?" I didn’t wait for an answer "If I choose to give you enough information freely, will your client back off?"

He dropped his arms and paced to the door "I don’t know My client tends to be attracted to the unusual Once the entire supernatural world learns about you, there ather necessary information only The next job un to your head to take the next job, Rourke"

He turned, covering the s on to the back of ht next toI had not to shrink back His eyes were sparking, green arrows of light shooting like beautiful starbursts in his irises My wolf ju, she ran her typical circles "If I don’t take it there’s always someone next in line ill" The scent of hi my head dance

"Why do you care?" I breathed

Both of us stilled

He backed off, dropping his hands from my chair "I don’t"

His scent said otherwise, but the markers were so unique it was hard fornew, and I couldn’t sort it fast enough, but whatever it was, it was heady and strange and it was all over the place, pinging around in my mind like a pinball drenched in honey He didn’t smell like a wolf or a hu to get light-headed from it and my as beyond frenzy I had to find a way to shut her out of my mind completely so I could concentrate

I shook my head, but it didn’t help "So if someone else took the job, your debt to my father would be forfeit? Is that why you took it?"

He ran an absent hand through his hair "Da" He strode toward the door and reached for the handle