**CatalinaI was glowing with body glitter under the streetlamps as The Pound's guards shoved me in the back of a limo. I remembered the last time I'd been in one of these. Mateo had been bringing me back to Efrain.Goddess, how I missed him. It ached in my soul.A sleazy middle-aged Italian man was sitting in the back of the limo already. His shirt was unbuttoned to reveal a forest of springy chest hair. "Hey, babe."I swallowed. "Mr. Russo?""Don Russo, but let's not quibble over titles," Russo said. He ran a fingertip down my shoulder, staring at my see-through camisole."Are we… doing it here?" I asked, sniffing the air and realizing he was a shifter. I wondered why he preferred "Don" instead of "Alpha." All the Alphas I knew were dons, but they preferred "Alpha."Russo leaned in and licked my neck, groping my breast through the diaphanous fabric as I felt the limo pull away from the curb. "You smell nice, and you taste good."I choked back a sassy retort. After see
**ArenaI gulped and scooted into the car, hearing the naked Mateo get in behind me. I thought, if Jeeves hadn't been the one to close the door, Mateo would have slammed it shut."I… I think I need to explain—" I started.Mateo didn't let me finish. He took me by the shoulders and shook me as I felt the town car begin to move. "Why?!" he barked. "Why did you do this?!""Alpha, if I may…" Jeeves said from the front seat.Mateo glared at him. "Close the partition, Jeeves.""Alpha, it's a two-hour journey. I'm not sure…" Jeeves tried."CLOSE THE PARTITION, Jeeves," Mateo repeated.Jeeves sighed and closed the partition.Then Mateo turned his focus back on me and gave me another shake. "What the HELL were you thinking, Arena?!""I just wanted you to have your daughter back," I whispered, feeling a tear roll down my cheek.Mateo groaned and pulled me against his naked chest. I could feel his light spray of hair tickling my breasts through the lace I wore. "Never, ever,
**ArenaMateo moved beneath me, and I peeled my eyes open. "Mateo?" I asked groggily."It's alright, mi tesora. We've just arrived at the safehouse," Mateo replied, kissing my forehead.The safehouse. I looked out the window and had to bite back a laugh. It wasn't as big as Mateo's other home, true, but it was still a mansion, not some bunker in the woods."Jeeves," Mateo said once his trusty driver had come to our door, "would you mind going in and getting us a couple of robes? I'm not sure my Arena wants to parade naked in front of our guests."Jeeves nodded and headed into the mansion."Guests?" I looked at Mateo as he got us sitting upright, with me in his lap.Mateo kissed my nose. "Well, we weren't the only ones in danger.""Oh." I wondered who was inside.We waited in companionable silence until Jeeves returned. Jeeves stood next to the town car and held out the larger robe.Mateo stepped out of the car and took the robe from Jeeves, slipping it over his shou
**Efrain"So… you're saying he just came in and took her," I said, narrowing my eyes on Frank Russo, who was sitting on the other side of his desk.Russo shrugged, examining the items I kept in my office. "I wasn't about to fight him for her. She's your bitch, not mine."Catalina was my bitch. MY bitch, not Mateo's. I thought I'd made that perfectly clear at The Pound. Well, I'd tried to, anyway. Whatever supersoldiers Mateo had brought decimated my guards. It was all I could do to escape. "Thanks for nothing, Russo.""You're welcome," Russo said pleasantly. "Now, to business. I'd like to help you with Castillas. He broke into my home, killed my bodyguards, and ruined a perfectly good sex session. I'm a little put out.""Hmph." I didn't much care about his "sessions." He'd killed more of the girls from The Pound than I could count. But I was interested in an alliance against that f*cker Mateo. "My sources tell me Castillas isn't at home anymore. That asshole Armando is, but n
**Efrain"So the bastard is in Naples," I muttered, looking at my tablet screen."Italy?" Jorge asked in confusion.I rolled my eyes. "Florida. Beach. Gulf of Mexico.""Oh. Sorry, Mr. Rodriguez," Jorge said.I couldn't wait for the day when he would call me Alpha. Though I sometimes doubted his smarts, I never doubted his loyalty. "I need you to go get her.""Get her?" Jorge echoed.Maybe I wouldn't make him my Beta after all. Some days, he was too stupid to live. "Yeah, go get her. So we can use her to lure in that bastard Mateo Castillas.""Why don't we just go in with fifty men or so and kill him?" Jorge asked.I shook my head vehemently. "I won't leave our pack fifty warriors short with all the crap going on now. He's got a pack building with mercenaries, and half the packs in the Miami area are still fighting over that f*cking cantina. No, you're going to go up there with five guys and get her for me. Then that f*cker will have no choice but to come here. And the
**Mateo"Okay," I said, indicating for Lucia to enter the bedroom.She didn't."Lucia?" I asked, beginning to stand.Lucia waved me back down. She looked at the floor, biting her lip. "I… I guess I'm a little pissed off at you.""Okay," I said again, feeling my temples begin to throb. Was there anyone who wasn't pissed off at me today? "How can I help? Do you… need a hug?"Lucia snorted. "Don't even try it."Her words hurt. When she was a child, a hug would have healed everything. Now, I couldn't even touch her. "Alright, I won't."Lucia was quiet a long time, then she finally bit out, "I guess I'm pissed off at you about a lot of things.""I understand," I replied. "I—""Stop saying that! I already told you, you couldn't possibly understand!" Lucia barked.I mentally counted backwards from twenty. "I just meant I understand you are pissed off at me, and I understand why you would be. And I'm sorry we haven't worked that out yet. But I do have to go soon, and I th
**ArenaI laid on a chaise lounge out on the patio, next to an oblong pool. I'd opened up Mateo's shirt to get some sun on my skin, and was now laying topless, in my panties, on top of his shirt. It smelled like him, and that just made me more sad. I thought of tossing it in the water.The sliding of the glass door caught my attention. "Miriam?" I asked, starting to tug Mateo's shirt back over me."No." Mateo's familiar, velvet voice carried over the patio.I stopped putting the shirt back on and laid back down with a sigh. "What do you want?" I asked, not looking at him.The chaise creaked beneath me as Mateo sat down on the edge. "I want to apologize. I went all Alpha on you, and I hurt you. And I want to tell you where we stand.""Oh," I said, turning my face away from him.Mateo ran a knuckle over my cheek. "Baby, look at me."I didn't want him to see the hurt and tears in my eyes, but I didn't resist when he gently tilted my chin towards him."Oh… mi tesora…" Mat
**MateoI could still smell my sweet Arena on me as we drove back to Miami. I'd left Jeeves in Naples with Arena and the others, of course, so it was Win and me inside Win's souped up Jeep, heading away from our women and straight towards danger."Armando's assembling the troops," Win said, checking his texts on his heads-up display while he drove. "He'll be ready by the time we get there."I nodded, leaning my chin on my fist and staring out the window."You know she'll be there when we get back, right?" Win turned to me after a pause. "They're both going to be there, and we're going to have a hell of a welcome home."I chuckled. "You might. I think Arena might be angry with me, especially if I come home with so much as a scratch on me."Win shrugged. "War is war. We do what is necessary.""I know," I replied. "I just don't think Arena will be so understanding.""I thought you'd already… you know… you smell to high heaven of her," Win said, wrinkling his nose.I lift