Purrks of the Job: Paranormal Ex-SEAL Surprise Pregnancy Mafia Romance (Chicago Catastrophe)

by Anya Nowlan

  “Why, Miss Walker, I didn’t know you cared,” he declared in that over-exaggerated manner of his that seemed to be reserved only for making fun of her.

  “What she was doing could be considered sexual harassment, you know,” she muttered mostly to herself, feeling the embarrassment starting to set in.

  “What was it that you said to me once? Thanks for defending my honor?” River replied, chuckling.

  He is enjoying this way too much.

  “Okay, I’ve had enough,” Dornan announced, picking up the glass in front of him and sending it crashing into the wall. “Someone better start talking. What the hell is going on?”

  So a fiery temper runs in the family, Kate thought, quirking a brow at the shattered glass on the floor.

  Diamond yelped, covering her ears. Gunner popped into the room, head on a swivel and a scowl on his face. The man was taking his duties seriously if he dared run into a confrontation between the Royces that easily. After a quick shake of River’s head, he disappeared again.

  Walking over to Kate, River tucked his hands in his pockets, looking casual as ever with a smirk on his lips. With a small snort, Diamond turned her attention to Kate, giving her a scornful once-over that would make most women feel instantly self-conscious.

  Kate remained unaffected, mostly because she didn’t care what Diamond thought of her.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Diamond asked, looking like a kid who got their Christmas present yanked away from her. “They’re sleeping together.”

  She whiffed at the air and her pupils dilated.

  Not her too…

  It was comical how Dornan’s eyes bulged out of their sockets as he looked from her to River, his expression changing from shocked to disgusted.

  Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag.

  Twenty-Eight

  River

  “You really have lost it!” Dornan shouted, the vein at his temple throbbing and his face turning red.

  Okay, that’s it. He may be my father, but that doesn’t mean he can disrespect me.

  “I will not be yelled at in my own home. Sit down and lower your voice or get out,” he countered, draping an arm over Kate’s shoulders and pulling her into him.

  He had never seen his father so out of control than at this moment, sputtering and cursing to himself, red in the face. Finally, he managed to get it together enough to form a coherent sentence.

  “Son, think about this for a goddamn second and you’ll know what the right thing to do is. You’ve had your fun with this woman, now it’s time to do what you should have done from the start – kill her. And then unify the Royces and Montgomerys by marrying Diamond.”

  A roar started in his chest as River listened to his father suggest that he kill his mate, the woman who was carrying his child. Dornan didn’t know that – not that he couldn’t have figured it out, had he used his damn nose instead of his ego for a change - but that didn’t quell the rage starting to bubble in his veins.

  If it was anyone else talking to him this way instead of Dornan, he would already be squeezing the life out of them. Since this was still his father, he did his best to suppress those instincts.

  “You are wasting your breath, father. There is nothing you can say that will make me change my mind. I will not harm Kate and I will not marry Diamond. The sooner you get that through your skull, the better off we’ll be.”

  Kate edged even closer to him, melting into his side and wrapping an arm around his waist, before giving his midsection a quick, encouraging squeeze. It felt good to have her there, supporting him without having to say a single word. It seemed to be a day of firsts and River certainly didn’t mind.

  Dornan gave up on trying to reason with him, his voice rising again as he gave the dining table before him a powerful shove, sending glasses spilling over on the white tablecloth. Seeing as River wasn’t listening to him, Dornan turned to Kate.

  “I don’t know what you’ve done to my son, but you’re not going to get away with this!”

  Stepping away from Kate, River closed the distance between himself and his father until they were face to face.

  “That’s enough. You can leave on your own, or I can make you leave. The choice is yours.”

  Dornan stared at him, insulted and obviously slightly surprised. They’d had their spats before but River had never been this resolute about not taking his father’s bullshit. Usually, Dornan’s rage won out in the end, but this time River was having none of it.

  “Fine. I’ll leave. But this isn’t over,” he hissed.

  Dornan turned and walked straight out of the room.

  “You are making the biggest mistake of your life, choosing that psycho bitch instead of me,” Diamond declared with a huff, before hurrying after River’s father.

  Her cheeks were red with anger and River couldn’t help but think that his rate of acquiring enemies was going up by leaps and bounds.

  River’s tiger relaxed as soon as the two were out of sight.

  He didn’t enjoy fighting with his father. Dornan was the one who had raised him after River’s mother died when he was little more than a cub. But the way Dornan was acting was inexcusable, family or not.

  River was a grown man, fully capable of making his own decisions and it was time for his father to come to terms with that. Hell, it was time for River himself to come to terms with that as well, come to think of it. Too many times had he allowed the desires of the Royce kin to shape his life.

  Well, that was about to change.

  Kate appeared at his side, gently touching his arm.

  “That couldn’t have been easy for you.”

  “It wasn’t easy, but it had to be done.”

  Not wanting what happened with Dornan to ruin their whole night, River turned to her. He smiled as he recalled the way Kate had pulled Diamond off him, looking as fierce as he’d ever seen her.

  “What about you? You seemed to have a tough time controlling yourself this evening,” he teased.

  Kate scowled at him, but the look didn’t pack as much of a punch as it usually did because of the way the corners of her mouth were tugging upwards. River would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit the response Diamond’s attempt at seduction drew from Kate had pleased him.

  She reacted just as I would have in a similar situation, if less violently.

  With all the conversations they’d had about what exactly was going on between them, it was good old-fashioned jealousy that ended up betraying how Kate really felt. Actions really did speak louder than words.

  Maybe there was a future for them in the cards after all.

  “She was pawing at you like a piece of meat and you were being too much of a gentleman to shove her off your lap,” she said with a huff before pausing for a second. “That is what you wanted to do, right?”

  Something told him he better choose his words carefully when answering that question.

  “I appreciated your assistance. But there is something that strikes me a little bit odd…”

  “What’s that?”

  “With all of your insistence about not being my mate, tonight you acted exactly like a mate would when someone threatened their claim.”

  Before she could argue, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, his whole body sighing when it made contact with hers. Her pulse quickened and instead of pulling away, she leaned in, angling her face up at him.

  River brought his mouth down on hers, gently at first, testing the waters. She still tasted exactly like he remembered, sweet and fresh and just a bit spicy. A purr tickled his throat when Kate pulled away to nibble on his lower lip, a dangerous glint in her eye.

  Apparently she wasn’t going to answer him with words, but this was a very close and tantalizing second option. River didn’t mind one bit.

  That was all the invitation River needed to deepen the kiss and slip his tongue into her mouth. Her lips parted for him easily, her hands sliding up his arms to rest on his shoulders as she got
on her tiptoes, pressing her breasts against his chest in the process.

  A soft sight escaped his mouth as he enjoyed having her body against his, their tongues rubbing together with slow and deliberate sensuality. He wasn’t sure if it went on for minutes or hours as they got lost in each other, her Ice Queen thawing under his touch.

  Kate pulled away to smile at him, looking radiant and warm now, her cheeks flushed and her skin practically glowing against the white fabric of her dress. It had only been a kiss, but it marked something more.

  Or at least that’s what he hoped.

  Taking her hand in his, he suddenly felt eager to get out of the house, to take her somewhere where it would be just the two of them, no distractions and no worrying about the future. He had just the place in mind, and a way of getting there that was sure to get Kate excited.

  “Come on, I want to show you something,” he said, gently tugging her towards the door leading into his garage.

  This is going to be a night to remember.

  Twenty-Nine

  Kate

  Letting herself get dragged along, Kate squeezed her fingers around River’s hand. She felt lighter now, much less on edge than she had this morning. They still weren’t short on problems, but at least things were more honest between them now.

  I’m not ready to be his mate, but I’m ready to admit there is a connection between us. That’s a start.

  The air turned cooler and slightly damp as River pushed open a large door and led her down a short flight of stairs. Surrounded by the smell of metal and oil, they were enveloped in darkness for a second, until River clicked a light on. Suddenly, the large, underground space was bathed in overhead light, bouncing off a row of shiny motorcycles.

  What the…

  Looking around the room, she could see it wasn’t just a garage they were in. There was a workstation set up, with boxes and parts stacked around it. The wall adjacent to the door was entirely magnetic, holding a vast array of tools, some which she hadn’t even seen before.

  Wow.

  River was standing beside her, studying her reaction.

  “This is where I come to relax.”

  Kate’s feet slipped across the cold concrete floor as she moved deeper into the room, eyes fixed on the machines before her. They were quiet and still now, but she could already imagine the purr of the engine around her and the wind in her hair as she took one of these bad boys for a ride.

  Bikes had come in handy in more than a couple of her jobs, when the hit had to be public for some reason and she needed to make sure she got away without anyone following. A car could only go where the road was, but on the saddle of a Suzuki Bandit, a girl could go wherever the hell she pleased.

  Grinning at the memory of speeding down the streets of Chicago, she ran a finger over the cool metal of a silver Kawasaki, followed by a red Honda with a customized body and then a Harley Davidson Sportster… the list went on.

  “Impressive collection you have here. I gather the customizations are your own?”

  River nodded with a grin.

  “I made my allowance helping out at a local bike shop when I was a teenager. I fell in love with the bikes and the work almost immediately. In the beginning, it was all about the speed and the rush, to maybe get to test drive one when the guys were done with their repairs.

  “But then I realized working with my hands was really satisfying, even calming. I haven’t stopped since.”

  There were so many things Kate didn’t know about him, and the more she found out, the more respect she had towards him. River was a lot more complex than she had initially thought. An unforgiving, uncompromising leader, but also someone who had felt pressured to fit into a certain mold all his life.

  She could understand that.

  When he had told her about his motivations for founding the Crimson Claws, she found it easy to relate to his reasoning.

  Shifters were not a secret in society, but they weren’t accepted with open arms, either. With their animalistic instincts and predatory sides, people felt threatened by them. Their intimidating statures and impressive physical abilities only added to people’s fears.

  And shifters were different from regular humans. They followed their instincts, however primal, and got restless when shoved into a boring nine to five. All of these factors meant that shifters usually kept to themselves and were somewhat alienated from humans.

  She could understand River wanting to give himself and those like him somewhere to belong.

  Yet even he couldn’t deny things were getting out of hand. And he didn’t exactly have completely innocent plans when he started the Claws either, using the innate desire to control and conquer that all shifters had against the city of Chicago.

  The power the Claws held and the fear they incited in those around them had clearly gone to some of the members’ heads, though. Whole neighborhoods were being drained dry with unreasonable demands for protection money.

  Not to mention how everyone who had the guts to stand up to the Claws kept conveniently disappearing.

  When Kate was still living in Chicago, rumor on the street had been that River himself was distancing himself from the operation, letting his lieutenants take over. She had discarded that idea when he had showed up in New York.

  There was no reason to leave his base of operations behind to track down someone when you could easily send a whole squad of competent goons after them. Unless that was the way he handled things – up close and personal.

  Or maybe there was another reason… He basically admitted to his father that he had been hiding his heat from people. He could have come to New York to get away…

  With the hum of excitement in the air, a mixture of being in the middle of all these powerful machines and an equally powerful man at her side, she didn’t want to be thinking of the Crimson Claws right now. There were a lot more thrilling ways to spend her time.

  “When’s the last time you took one of these babies for a spin?” she asked.

  River hesitated for a moment before answering, turning his back to her as he opened a locker behind them and pulled out two helmets.

  “It’s been way too long,” he grinned, tossing the black one to her.

  Next, he fished out a couple of leather jackets and handed the smaller one to her. The way his fingers brushed against hers made her heart flutter. The kiss they shared was still replaying in her mind and she had to force herself to focus on the moment.

  She pulled the jacket on, inhaling his musky scent clinging to it.

  Kate’s face lit up as she looked around at the bikes like a kid in a candy shop. It had been way too long for her to let loose with one, as well. Most of the time it was still more convenient to use a car when going on a mission, especially if it involved a stakeout.

  And it’s tough balancing a sniper rifle on your back.

  “Can I pick which one I take?” she asked.

  Sweeping a hand across the room, River wore a carefree smile that made him look at least a couple of years younger. He usually looked so tense, ready for anything. Seeing him relaxed and in his element was a welcome sight. Letting his guard down didn’t come easily for him, nor did it for her.

  Maybe we’re just fucked up enough to be perfect for each other…

  “Whatever the lady pleases,” he said with a little bow.

  Biting her lip, she considered her options. There was a cherry red little troublemaker that was all but calling out to her. She pointed to the Honda Hornet, already walking towards it while admiring its sleek lines and shiny curves.

  “That one.”

  “Hop on, then,” he replied, pulling his helmet on.

  River had gone for the Harley, and looked right at home straddling the bike, like he was a part of it. He was also wearing a backpack now. She hadn’t even noticed when he’d put it on.

  Damn stealthy shifters.

  The Hornet looked even better the closer she got to it, tempting her to let loose.

  I’m g
lad I decided to wear flats, Kate thought as she hiked up her skirt and threw a leg over the seat.

  River pressed a button tucked away behind a shelf and the whole magnetic wall groaned to life, lifting up from the ground and exposing them to the evening breeze. A small ramp led to the backyard, draped in shadows.

  “Follow me,” he said, his voice muffled through the helmet.

  Feeling giddy, Kate put her helmet on and zipped up the leather jacket, before twisting the throttle and revving the engine. The loud rumble that erupted around her stretched her mouth into a wide smile.

  River pulled out of the garage first, leading her out of the property and then the whole neighborhood. Wind whipped around her as she followed, whipping past the houses and feeling adrenaline flow through her veins as she sped up in order to catch up with River.

  This is what I’m talking about.

  Soon, the only illumination came from the headlights of their bikes as River turned onto a dirt road and the trees around them started growing thicker and taller. He kept glancing back every once in a while, making sure she wasn’t falling behind.

  Don’t you worry about me, Kate thought, enjoying the way her heart thumped in her chest. I can keep up.

  The road turned jagged with old roots sticking out of the dirt as they climbed a small hill just outside of town. River slowed down as they came up to a clearing, standing on high ground and bordering on a steep cliff.

  Cutting the engine, River climbed off his bike and took off his helmet, with Kate following his lead. She wasn’t ready for the ride to end, but there was the whole way back to look forward to.

  The air was fresh and brisk and a pale moon hovered over them, spilling down its yellow light now that there were no more tall trees hiding the sky. It felt a damn bit better being outside than being cooped up in that tension-filled house. Kate breathed in deep, letting the fresh air fill her lungs.