Rule Breaker

CHAPTER 21

How had she given herself away?

Her gaze was locked with his, normal now, all evidence of the animal he shared his genetics with no longer present. But there was no way she could hide her response and she knew it. She was caught. She could feel it. She could see it in the flare of anger that lit his eyes and tightened his body.

“What are you talking about, Rule?” That didn’t mean she had to go down easy.

He’d already destroyed the plans she’d made for her life so many years ago. Nine years she’d spent vowing to avenge her brother’s murder and to make up for being the cause of it.

He chuckled.

It wasn’t a comfortable sound, she observed, watching him nervously. And she really wished he’d snap the band of his jeans and put on a damned shirt. Socks. Maybe some shoes too. That would definitely make her feel more comfortable. Though not in any less trouble, she was betting.

“You know.” Leaning against the dresser she’d just pulled a shirt from, he watched her curiously as he crossed his arms over his broad, naked chest. “Several weeks ago my room was gone through. A scent blocker was used, but what the intruder was unaware of is that the perspiration they left throughout the room wasn’t safe from detection when the room belongs to the intruder’s unmated mate.”

Unmated mate? It was all she could do not to roll her eyes, but she was pretty fucking tired. His bathroom sex had pretty much sapped what little energy she’d gained while she slept earlier.

“You’re reaching, Rule,” she breathed out roughly, certain there was really no getting out of this, at least without really lying to him, and that, she found suddenly distasteful.

A spy who couldn’t lie? Hell, wasn’t that one a first?

His gaze focused on her like a laser, brightening, the blue iris enlarging just enough to send her heart racing.

“Then,” he continued as though she hadn’t spoken, “when we picked up those tails last night, you knew exactly how to pull up the GPS on the Dragoon and evade whoever was following us. How did you know that, Gypsy? No one outside the enforcers who use those vehicles knows about the new systems that went in just before we left for the op in Window Rock. That, or the transponders and satellite phone trackers we carry. Especially no human civilian.”

She shrugged nonchalantly, rather enjoying the game he’d started. At least for the moment. She was certain that the time was coming, though, when he wasn’t going to allow her to deny her knowledge of where she’d gained her information for long. And God help her, she could only pray he didn’t get Jonas Wyatt involved with this.

“Someone must know about it,” she informed him, as though the subject were no more than amusing. “Because I had to have heard about it somewhere. Though it’s really not that dissimilar to the GPS and backup systems used by National Law Enforcement.”

“And how would you know about their GPS and backup systems?” He latched onto that immediately. “Last I heard, National was just as proprietary about their technical information as the Breeds are.”

“More so, actually.” She smiled. “I guess it’s all according to who you have as friends, Rule. I have a lot of friends. And remember, I do work part-time at the Navajo Covert Law Enforcement office.”

He actually grinned. Ducking his head for a moment, he stared at a point that could have been his bare feet. He was shaking his head, though, and that smile was flashing a bit more of the healthy canines at the side of his teeth than she found comfortable.

His head lifted enough to stare up at her through the veil of those thick, inky lashes. The gleam of those blue eyes, barely glimpsed for the long lashes, was entirely too wickedly sexy. It made her stomach kind of jump.

“Yeah, you have a lot of friends, baby,” he said softly, causing her heart to trip nervously. “And whoever the fuck trained you did a damned good job of it. Had any Breed other than Jonas questioned you, then I have no doubt you would have convinced them you were just the party girl you pretend to be. But no other Breed would have seen your response when you jerked that towel from my hand. And I know, only training can create the quickness you used in doing that. Just as only training could have taught you the move you used last night when Rhyzan made the mistake of touching you in that bar. And yes, one of the enforcers watching that little move described it perfectly as I was pulling in.”

Gypsy widened her eyes innocently. “That is one freaky Breed, Rule. You should keep him out of the general public if you really want to convince the public you’re harmless.”

“Is that what we’re trying to do?” he asked her.

“Isn’t it?” She kept her appearance amused, archly mocking, and prayed she could pawn off the racing of her heart and her nervousness on the simmering arousal still vibrating through her body.

“You’re not distracting me,” he warned her then. “You’re calm, giving all appearances of being slightly confused, a little nervous but game to play along. Damned good training, just as I said. But I’m probably the one person in the world you’re never going to be able to fool whenever you attempt to lie to me. I know your scent more intimately than any other Breed ever will, and I’ll catch that hint of deceit creeping out. You won’t have to say a word. I’ll know you’re preparing to deceive me before the words ever leave your mouth.”

Well, wasn’t he just damned sure of himself?

Gypsy moved across the room then, watching him warily, as though she were indeed just as confused and nervous as he indicated she was playing at. They both knew he was right, but nothing could hurt her, or him, if she didn’t admit to it.

“Look.” She gave a nervous little laugh that wasn’t entirely faked. “This has been really interesting, Rule, but I think I’d prefer you find another game to play.”

He tracked her with his eyes alone, but when she reached the door, a dark rumble suddenly filled the room, causing her to stop and stare back at him in surprise.

“You haven’t denied searching my room yet, mate,” he reminded her.

Gypsy cocked her hip, mimicked his stance with her arms crossing over her breasts and glared back at him.

“You didn’t ask if I had searched your room, Rule.” She stressed his name rather than using the title of mate in the mocking tone she wanted to use. “I did just that the first time you threw me to the bed and had your way with me, as soon as you left the room afterward. And I didn’t even need a scent blocker to do it nor did I have to break in, if you’ll recall. I don’t know what you think I was looking for, though. I wanted a drink of water, and wanted to know exactly where I could find the T-shirts when I needed one.” She plucked at the front of the gray shirt mockingly. “Is there anything more you want to know?”

“I want to know why, even while revealing that you did indeed go through my room that night, the scent of your lie is still pouring from your body?”

“What lie?” Distress filled her voice now. “What are you accusing me of, Rule?”

She knew damned well what he was accusing her of, and the very fact that he was so damned confident, and pushing a little more with each sentence out of his mouth, had her consciously battling her rising nerves.

“Jonas is looking for someone, Gypsy. An informant for a secretive sect of warriors located within the Nation that’s known to aid Breeds and humans attempting to escape and forever disappear from the Genetics Council. Finding that informant is imperative. It could be all that’s standing between life or death for Amber.”

She hated Breeds.

And she was beginning to hate this mating crap and didn’t even understand what it was. What she did know was that it was all she could do to keep from giving him what he wanted. She wanted to tell him the truth so damned bad she could barely stand it.

“And do you think if I were this all-important informant that I would stand by silently and allow Amber to die?” That really bothered her. She would never stand for anyone who would watch that child suffer.

Uncrossing his arms, he straightened from his slouch position and stared back at her directly. “I believe you would question whoever you worked for, you would ask if they had what we needed and they would lie to you. You’re human, baby, you would have no idea when an experienced liar is lying to you.”

Her fists clenched as the anger she was trying to hold inside since he’d dared to infer she would allow anything to happen to Amber began to burn inside her.

“And you think I would just accept someone’s word if I were this sought-after informant?” she charged him, feeling her expression tighten, the tension beginning to ratchet through her. “Is that what you think, Rule?”

“I think you would trust your contact,” he breathed out wearily. “And your trust isn’t easy to acquire. But if they told you they couldn’t help Amber, then they’re lying, sweetheart. They’re hiding two individuals known to have been part of the experiment that created the drug that baby was injected with. Both of them had and most likely still have photographic memories, and both of them know exactly how to help her.”

“Then why not search for them?” Turning, she jerked open the door and went through it a second ahead of him as he attempted to catch her.

And she knew why he’d attempted to keep her in the bedroom then. Sitting on the other side of the door were his brother, Lawe; Lawe’s fiancée, Diane; and the Coyote female, Ashley.

Her gaze narrowed on them. They would have clearly heard the conversation in the other room.

“What are they doing here?” she asked succinctly, fighting to hold on to her temper as she turned to face Rule accusingly. “What are you pulling here, Rule?”

Ashley stepped forward, her expression concerned as she gripped the weapons strapped to both thighs with tense hands. “I asked Lawe and Diane to get me in to see you. You must not have heard the knock on the door. When you did not answer, I begged them to allow me into these rooms to await you.”

“Why?” This was her friend, yet Gypsy had learned over the years that those you trusted the most were often the ones most determined to deceive you.

Propping her hands on her hips, Ashley stared back at her with cool gray eyes now. “I can smell your distrust, Gypsy . . .”

“I really wish everyone would stop talking about my fucking smell,” she snapped, catching the amusement in Diane’s gaze and the suspicion in Lawe’s. “I’m getting really tired of hearing about it.”

“Fine,” Ashley harrumphed. “I cannot deny I overheard that conversation and your mate’s accusation that you are the one working with the Unknown. I don’t agree with him.” She flashed Rule a hard look. “But I had to speak with you before you learned something from someone you may not believe is your friend.” Distress darkened her eyes as a hint of uncertainty filled her expression. “Tell me, please, that you know that even if no other Breed believes this, I believe you are my friend and a friend to the Breed community. Please, Gypsy.” She glanced at Rule apologetically before turning back to her.

“What are you talking about now?” This was going to drive her crazy. Swiping back long strands of hair that had fallen over her shoulder, she faced the Coyote female angrily, wondering if there was even a reason to be angry with her.

“Please, Gypsy.” There was something so vulnerable, so desperate in Ashley’s gaze that Gypsy couldn’t lie about something so elemental.

“I believe you’re my friend, Ashley,” she answered, frowning, foreboding rising sharply inside her. “And you know I’ve always considered you my friend.”

“Ashley.” Rule stepped forward, his expression, his tone gentle as though he knew what was coming. “It’s okay. I promise. I’ll take care of this.”

Ashley’s lips thinned. “This is not the time for you to weaken yourself further with your mate, Commander,” she informed him as Gypsy watched Rule’s expression with narrowed eyes. “I believe, more so now than when I learned this information, that you are the wrong person to handle this matter.”

The way he rubbed at the back of his neck and grimaced, his gaze moving to his brother beseechingly as Lawe gave him a look that seemed to suggest he was crazy for asking for help, would have been endearing if she hadn’t been certain it would negatively impact her.

“I told you, Ashley—”

“And I told you, Commander.” Ashley straightened to military stiffness as she glared back at him. “You are the wrong choice. Please allow me to take care of this; as her friend, I demand the right to do so now.”

Rule grimaced. “I’ll take care of it, Ashley.”

“Overhearing a conversation you began convinces me otherwise,” Ashley snorted. “As it does Cassie. She urged me to come here this evening and take care of the matter. She and I both agree, your attempt to protect her is worthy of you and your feelings for her. But keeping this from her has not protected her. And now, it will only harm your place in her heart. So you may take it up with Cassie if you do not like it.”

The girl’s Russian accent gave her voice, even when angry, an almost charming cadence.

“Let’s just get this the hell over with,” Gypsy suggested as Rule appeared ready to deny Ashley the opportunity to discuss whatever it was with her, once again. “I’m hungry and I’m pissed off and I really just want to kick Breaker’s ass with a little privacy, if none of you care.”

“And here I wanted to sell tickets,” Lawe murmured.

“Well, doesn’t it just suck to be you?” Who was more surprised, she wondered, when she turned on the amused Breed fiercely.

Definitely, his fiancée, or mate?—she was amused, but surprised. Lawe Justice was more than just surprised, though. His gaze narrowed, became more blue, more mocking than ever before and just slightly warmer perhaps as he glanced at his brother.

“Let’s just get this the hell over with,” Gypsy snapped before turning and leading the way back to the bedroom. “Come on, Ashley, whatever you have to spill, just go ahead and spill so I can figure out what just happened to my damned life.”

It had gone to hell in a handbasket, that was exactly what was happening to it, and it was all Rule Breaker’s fault.

Every damned second of it.

“Gypsy, I’m sorry.” Ashley closed the bedroom door, facing her with a glimmer of sympathy in her eyes as Gypsy threw herself into the chair next to the bed, slouched against the back and watched her friend with something less than patience.

“Just say it, Ash,” she sighed, knowing she wasn’t going to like it. As she understood it, any time Cassie Sinclair was involved with anyone’s life, things just happened anyway. But it seemed to her that that applied to any Breed, not just that particular one.

“The day you were here for the meeting with Jonas, along with your parents.” Ashley didn’t shift nervously or appear in any way uncertain. She stood straight, spoke quietly.

“Yes. I remember.” Gypsy nodded, her fingers tightening where they rested against the arms of the chair. “What about it?”

“Do you remember how nervous your mother was about releasing her purse?”

Gypsy straightened in her chair, leaning forward as a premonition began to tingle at the back of her spine.

“She was nervous about meeting with Jonas,” Gypsy said, remembering even at the time how odd her mother’s behavior had been. “This was more than a week ago, Ashley; what does it have to do with anything?”

“We found an audio transmitter hiding in the stitched lining of her purse, Gypsy, and her scent wasn’t one of nerves, it was one of deceit.”

Gypsy felt herself freeze inside.

There went that scent thing again, she thought distantly. Breeds were always smelling things. She wondered if they ever grew tired of having everyone’s emotions fill the air with such scents.

“You have to be wrong.” She couldn’t even look at the other woman as she whispered the words. Staring at the wall across the room, she remembered that meeting. How nervous her mother was, almost frightened as her purse was taken.

Even Gypsy had noticed her odd behavior and had been confused by it.

But this?

Her mother had tried to slip an audio device into the meeting with Jonas Wyatt? Why? Why would her mother or anyone else be interested in a simple business meeting? That didn’t make sense.

“That is not all, Gypsy,” Ashley told her. “Since that day, I, Emma and Sharone have been investigating the reason why your mother would do this. We learned that she was not unaware of the device, as we had hoped. Rather, she had agreed to have it hidden in her purse, and she and whoever she has aligned with plan to have another hidden even more discreetly at the next meeting.”

That couldn’t be true.

Gypsy couldn’t take her eyes off the wall across from her, couldn’t meet the eyes of the woman she called her friend. She could hear the sympathy in Ashley’s voice, the kindness, and knew if she saw pity in her friend’s eyes, then she simply wouldn’t be able to bear it.

“How . . . ? How do you know this?” she asked simply, wondering why she wasn’t vehemently denying her mother’s guilt in this. Why wasn’t she calling Ashley the liar she would have called her at any other time? Why wasn’t she fighting the crime her mother had committed?

“I know because Breeds are much better at hiding listening devices than are image consultants,” Ashley whispered, misery filling her eyes. “Emma, Sharone and I have the recording of your mother discussing this in her home with a male we could not identify. She intends to try again at the next meeting. She believes Breeds are responsible for her son’s death. She believes she will get away with this now, certainly, if she’s caught because of your association with Commander Breaker.”

Gypsy was well aware of Breed Law, just as she was aware of the fact that Jonas Wyatt could have had both her parents arrested for crimes against Breed Law for attempting to bring that device into the meeting. The fact that he hadn’t, and that Ashley was coming to her now, made her wonder just exactly what the director was planning, or what he would want from her at a later date.

“Is that all?” Gypsy asked then, hearing the exhaustion in her voice, the distance.

She had been in this place, inside her own mind, only one other time in her life. The night Mark had died. She had prayed to never find herself there again.

“No, it is not all,” Ashley stated. “Please look at me, Gypsy. Do not hate me for this. I demanded that I be the one to tell you these things because of our friendship. I do not want to lose the unique bond I’ve found with you, my friend. But if I must, to ensure that you are told the truth with the respect I believe you deserve, then I will risk it.”

Gypsy turned to her then, the distance still pulling her back from the situation, though Ashley’s statement forced her to return to reality.

“The respect I deserve?” she asked, confused.

Ashley swallowed tightly, her gray eyes filled with somber regret, though thankfully no pity.

Ashley’s sad little smile actually made her chest ache. “If there is any person in this nation that I know would never betray the Breeds, Gypsy, then I believe that person is you. Whatever the scent of deceit is that Rule detected, and that I have caught a hint of on occasion, I know it is not a desire to hurt or to in anyway see the Breeds harmed. That is not in your nature. You have helped me and Emma so many times during our visits here. You introduced us to friends, to those who have aided us countless times. You deserve to be given this information by a friend. By one who understands the pain you feel when you believe your honor has been betrayed by a loved one.”

“Believe it was betrayed?” Gypsy whispered past the tight ache in her chest.

“I have come to know your mother a bit in the time I’ve been coming to Window Rock,” Ashley reminded her. “Kandy’s sweet shop is a favorite of many Breeds, and many of us have spoken and laughed with her. She is not a cruel or mean person. And I can’t think she would mean the Breeds harm. But an explanation must be forthcoming. To see your mother suffer the public repercussions of her act would destroy Kandy’s store as well as your parents’ business. I believe that is not in the best interests of the Breeds, or in your best interests.”

Breeds weren’t often known for their understatements, but that one was a doozy.

Gypsy found herself nodding, making the action without a conscious decision to do so, still feeling cut off from what was happening around her.

“I’ll take care of this, Ashley,” she promised. “Thank you for being the one to tell me.”

Could she have borne having Rule give her this information? It was bad enough being aware that he knew.

“Rule was angry that Jonas ordered that you be told,” Ashley told her. “He wanted the information held back from you, just as I did as well, at first. I believed that whatever her reasons, your mother’s actions could be overlooked, as no harm was done. And I believe Jonas would have heeded our request had we not learned that for some reason, your mother was determined to slip that device into the next meeting with Jonas and that she blames all of us, despite appearances, for a death that affected us all. One that saddened so many.”

An audio transmitter? What could it do other than allow someone to hear what was being said?

A memory surfaced then. Slipping such a device that her Unknown contact had given her into a meeting with a suspected Pure Blood commander. She hadn’t been told what it was for. The meeting had been a mere business luncheon with a small advertising company that had been in Window Rock for more than a decade.

Within hours after Gypsy had left, the computers in that office had gone down and the next morning Navajo Law Enforcement had swarmed over the building, arresting not just the owner but many of the employees as well.

According to the report that had filtered out after the arrests, those computers had autonomously sent out files to the Covert Law Enforcement Agency that implicated not just the owner but many of the employees in strikes against the Breeds as well as collaborating with soldiers working for the Genetics Council to betray Breeds suspected of hiding from their former creators in the Navajo Nation.

It had confirmed the information she’d uncovered that the Unknown’s audio devices were much more than simply tools to listen in on various meetings. They were technological weapons and they were used with the utmost efficiency.

Had that device worked and Jonas Wyatt’s computers been attacked, then she and her parents would have been immediately arrested for crimes against Breed Law.

What was going on? Who was using her mother and how the hell had they managed to convince her to do something so insane, no matter her beliefs?

“Gypsy, I am not sorry I chose to be the one to tell you—”

It was that stoic, forlorn expression that had Gypsy moving. Jumping from her chair, she moved quickly to the little Coyote Breed female and immediately embraced her, barely holding back a flinch at the pain the contact brought her.

To say Ashley was surprised was more an understatement than before, but Gypsy acknowledged that she surprised herself even more. She hadn’t realized how close she had become to the Breed females until this moment. Until she had seen the regret and the fear in Ashley’s eyes that she had destroyed her friendship with Gypsy.

“Stop,” Gypsy ordered as she pulled back and released the other girl slowly. “This wasn’t your fault, Ashley, and you’re right, I couldn’t have borne having anyone else tell me.”

The knowledge that her parents had attempted to betray Jonas, Rachel and that precious baby, Amber, was ripping at her soul. Her stomach was cramping with it, building a pressure behind her eyes that she hadn’t truly felt in years.

Tears.

She hadn’t really cried since Mark’s funeral. Would the tears come now? She hoped not. The agony she remembered feeling the last time she cried was an emotion she never wanted to feel again.

“Gypsy, perhaps she has a very logical reason.” Ashley tried to comfort her, her delicate expression filled with pain.

“Perhaps, Ashley.” She tried to agree as she moved slowly to where her clothing was still crumpled on the floor and picked it up. “I’ll take care of it, though, I promise.”

“If you need to talk, Emma and I are truly your friends. I hope you will remember that and not become too angry once you’ve had time to consider what I’ve told you.”

She could only shake her head as she turned back to the girl. “Do you think I’ll change my mind and hate you later?”

“I think maybe that is how I would feel if I had a mother, and she had not confided in me over such a decision,” Ashley agreed.

“But mothers don’t always confide in their daughters, Ashley,” she told the girl bitterly, sadly. “Sometimes, things happen— Daughters make mistakes sometimes that their parents can’t forgive.”

“No, Gypsy—” The other girl moved to cross the room when the bedroom door opened.

Rule stood in the doorway, his expression heavy, torn. His blue eyes raged back at her, brilliant and concerned as Ashley turned to him quickly.

“Ashley, you should leave now,” he told her gently as he stepped inside the room, his gaze moving to the Breed female with a hint of gentle demand. “Lawe and Diane are waiting for you to accompany them to dinner, I believe.”

Ashley nodded, then turned back to Gypsy. “If you need me . . .”

Gypsy gave her a small facsimile of a smile, but she couldn’t promise to talk later. She couldn’t promise she would even see the girl later. All she wanted to do right now was run. She wanted the silence of the desert enfolding her, the solace she’d always found in the wild, barren land surrounding her to sink inside the ragged wounds that were being uncovered in her heart.

Laying her clothing on the bed, Gypsy faced the man who seemed determined to claim her now.

“Where’s my motorcycle?” She was shocked at the ragged edge of her voice as she smoothed her hands over the material of the shirt covering her hips.

“If you need to go somewhere, then I’ll take you.” He stood relaxed, but his eyes watched her too closely, and she was very much afraid he saw far too much as he held her gaze.

“How long do you think that will work, Rule? How long do you think I’ll stand for you taking my independence and choice away from me? I want my cycle in the front of this hotel in thirty minutes, and you will allow me to walk out of here alone. I need to see my parents.”

“Not alone.” His voice deepened, the growl that had seen her backing down earlier echoing in his chest again.

That growl didn’t scare her any more than she would allow anything else to scare her.

“Don’t make me run, Rule,” she warned him instead. “I promise you, neither of us will enjoy the experience.”

Fury gleamed instantly in his gaze. The whites disappeared beneath the full blue, the black pupil dilating, and she knew she was facing a Breed who was more animal than man.

“Run.” He was suddenly in her face, daring her, challenge evident in the animalistic rasp of his voice. “Go ahead, mate, run. I’ll enjoy the chase and when I catch you, I promise you I’ll make damned sure you never consider such a fucking foolhardy action again. Do you understand me?”

She backed up before she meant to. It wasn’t fear that filled her, but nerves.

Because this man, this Breed, would keep his word in ways she was sure she would never forget.