“Yes.”

The only question remaining, he figured he could answer himself. Every move she’d made in the last week had been focused specifically on one target. Yet he wanted confirmation. “Bychkov killed your mate.”

Her eyes flashed and she stood. “Yes. It’s Bychkov’s time to suffer before I kill him.”

Chapter 11

Felicity settled her stance. The enforcer stood, legs braced, torso bare. Man, he was ripped. Dark hair curled at his nape, and he’d shaved in the shower, revealing the razor sharp cut of his jaw. A slight shadow already darkened his skin, all masculine.

Her vampire mate had been a kind man, much older than she, and he’d been incredibly over-protective from day one. She’d been injured and then pregnant so young, that she’d understood. But she’d never really had the chance to become the strong woman inside her until recently.

Daire treated her like a woman and not like a fragile flower. She liked that.

His green eyes pinned her in place. “Lemme get this straight.” Every once in a while, his Irish brogue broke through.

She ignored the quivers in her abdomen from the deep accent. “All right.”

“Your plan is to financially cripple Bychkov by destroying all of his mines, and you needed my records to find the hidden ones, because you figured I’d be investigating anything having to do with the mining of planekite.”

“Yes.”

Daire didn’t react. “Why take Simone’s records?”

Felicity glanced down. “She’s on the Council, which is investigating the planekite mines, so I just emptied her file cabinet.” Her heart rate picked up. “You seem angrier about her files than yours.”

“Aye. My job is to protect her.”

“That’s not all,” Felicity said.

“No. Simone is my cousin, and I’ve taken care of her since she was a little girl.” Loyalty and fondness strengthened his voice.

That’s exactly what Felicity had feared. “I understand.”

“So, you’ve blown up his mines. Now what?”

She breathed out. “I have several corporations making moves on his business holdings, and I have groups devaluing any physical property he has around the world.” She’d also implemented a strategic securities attack to destroy his stock market portfolio, as well as the portfolios of his entire consortia group.

“Is that all?” Daire drawled.

No. But telling Daire about the upcoming three bank heists for all of Ivan’s cash seemed like oversharing. “Yes.”

“Then what, Cee Cee?” Daire unfolded his body.

Her breath hitched. “Then I finish him.”

Daire gave a short nod, the sides of his eyes crinkling in realization. No amusement. “Fight to the death, huh?” he murmured.

She cleared her throat and glanced at the clock again. Plenty of time. “That’s my plan.”

Daire followed her gaze, landed on the clock, and returned. “Have a hot date?”

“No, but very soon, I must be going.”

He chuckled then. The sound pulsated against her skin, licked down, and settled between her legs. “Do you really think you’re going anywhere?”

Her nipples peaked, even as her temper stretched cautiously awake. “Excuse me?”

He blinked, slowly. Like a predator, almost intrigued, yet with lazy indulgence. “You know, you’re at a disadvantage here.”

Her head snapped up. “Oh, am I?”

“Aye. I’ve seen the real you since day one. The fighter, the strategist, the woman.” He cocked his head to the side in a curiously dangerous movement. “You haven’t seen me.”

What the heck? “I don’t understand.”

“I agree.”

God save her from enforcers talking in riddles. “I’m pretty much a straight shooter and don’t really catch subtext, Dunne.”

“Ah.” He reached her in two long strides, lifting her by the elbows, turning, and dropping to the sofa with her legs bracketing his.

She slapped her hands against his very strong chest. Outrage filled her along with a heat she couldn’t banish. “What in the hell are you doing?”

“Whatever the hell I want to.” His hands clamped her hips and held tight. “Which is something that surprises you.”

“I’m not accustomed to being manhandled,” she breathed, trying to ignore the iron-hard thighs between hers.

His cheek creased. “I’d think not.” Slowly, deliberately, he ran one hand up her side, over her shoulder, and threaded his fingers through her hair. “But here’s the thing, sweetheart. I don’t give a shit who your family is, and they sure as hell don’t scare me. I don’t care who your parents were, your brother was, or your kids are. In fact, I not only don’t see you as a mom, I don’t see you as a demon.”

She swallowed, her heart hammering against her ribs. In her entire life, she hadn’t met anybody like Daire Dunne. For so long, she’d been afraid of her siblings, thinking demons were the most dangerous beings on earth. For the first time, she wondered. Was anybody more dangerous than a Coven enforcer? “You don’t scare me,” she barely ground out.

One dark eyebrow lifted. “Then you’re not as smart as I assumed. You’re young, and you’ve been fairly sheltered from the world, Felicity. Watch yourself.” A twisting of his wrist in her hair accompanied the warning. “Any man who’d attempted to drug me would be dead. Any woman I didn’t know would be brought before the Coven Nine and probably seriously burned. And a woman I’ve fucked three ways to Sunday? Well, now. She’d be wincing every time she tried to sit down for the near future.”

The hand tethering her head kept her from moving, so she glared. “Careful, witch.”

“As I was saying, we haven’t properly dealt with the fact that you drugged me and made me chase you across the world and nearly drown.”

She swallowed, her body tensing. “You’re not serious.”

Both eyebrows went up.

She held perfectly still. Her lungs compressed. Though she was trained, and she had power, she’d seen him fight. The man was made for it. “Listen, Enforcer. When I drugged you, I didn’t even know you.” They sure hadn’t been intimate before she’d tricked him. Then she caught herself. What in the heck was she doing, reasoning with him?

“Good point.” He leaned in, his eyes an inch away. “I’ve been inside you now, and you’ve moaned my name, so that changes things.”

“No.” Regret mingled with the desire blazing through her. “I’m sorry.” Because she did see him. No way, no way, would he allow a woman he cared about to fight to the possible death, which was something she had to do. It had to be her. Forget equality, forget feminism, he was an enforcer and a protector. He wouldn’t stand by as somebody he cared about walked into danger, and if they continued to be together, he’d care. Whether he knew it or not, he acted from the heart and not the head. “What we had was one night in a blizzard. That’s all.”

“Prove it.”

“Wh-what?” she breathed.

He closed the small distance between their faces, his breath stirring her lips. “Prove you don’t want me. You don’t want more.”

Her panties dampened. She was at a distinct disadvantage when it came to experience, and she knew it. Her mate had been her first and only, and he’d been more a gentle roll and sweet trust. Although Daire had definitely tried to be gentle, there was nothing sweet about him. He was all fire and storm, and a part of her, a female part she’d denied for so long, wanted to feel the bluster and ride the burn.

His nostrils flared, no doubt scenting her arousal. “Go ahead. Say it.”

Denying the obvious was silly. “You know I want you, but I have a job to do, and if we continue, you’ll just get in the way.”

“I’m in the way now, baby.” His lips took hers.

Sparks exploded in her blood, and her mind blanked. He worked her mouth, bending her back, forcing her sex against his hard cock. Demanding, even through the jeans, it jumped against her.