Wolf Untamed

by Paige Tyler

  She had no doubt Diego had played a huge part in that.

  She and Diego, along with Kevin’s parents, had sent the kids to Brandon’s bedroom so they could talk in private. Diego filled them in on the details Brandon and Kevin hadn’t known anything about, specifically the part about an undercover officer getting a call to him just in time. After that, they’d all talked about the best way to handle what the kids had done. Deciding it wouldn’t do either Brandon or Kevin any good to forbid them to hang out since they were each other’s only friends, they settled on grounding both kids until school started.

  When Kevin and his parents had left, she and Diego had told Brandon he was grounded for the rest of the summer. He and Kevin could hang out at the apartment or at Kevin’s home and play video games, but would only be allowed to go other places if she, Diego, or Kevin’s mother or father were with them. Brandon must have realized he was getting off easy because he didn’t try to argue.

  “I think it helped that we presented a united front last night,” she said, giving thanks for what had to be the fiftieth time she had Diego to help her with Brandon. “There’s no doubt in my mind that the maturity he’s displaying right now has a lot to do with you being in our lives. He knows how important you are to me. And I think you’re just as important to him.”

  It was impossible to miss the effect her words had on Diego as his eyes blazed vivid yellow-gold and his fingers moved across the table to intertwine with hers. For a moment, she thought dancing might be off the agenda for the night, although she certainly wouldn’t have minded if he wanted to go home and spend some quality time in bed. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

  Diego took a deep breath, the glow fading from his eyes as he visibly fought to get himself under control. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little disappointed.

  “So,” he said slowly, and Bree felt a moment of glee knowing her words had discombobulated him so badly. Big bad SWAT werewolf tripped up by a little romance. “How’s your investigation going? Any progress in figuring out how Dave’s investment firm is involved in those robberies?”

  She didn’t think about keeping the newer details of her case from him. As soon as she had the complete picture of Ken’s involvement in the case, it would all be getting turned over to the cops anyway. She wouldn’t mention her little meeting in Dave’s office, though. She had no doubt Diego would be upset if he found out she’d been alone with her psychotic ex-husband. The part about Dave taking his anger out on an innocent paperweight and dripping blood would have Diego sprouting fangs and claws right here in the middle of the club.

  “I did find the link between the robberies and Dave’s investment firm, though I’m not quite sure what it means yet,” she said. “It turns out the connection is Ken Reed.”

  Diego frowned. “As in the Ken Reed from the diner who took you hostage, then shot himself?”

  She shrugged. “Yeah, that one. Don’t ask for the details because I don’t have them yet. All I know for sure is that he was the investment advisor for every one of the victims in my robbery cases, along with some that aren’t mine.”

  “What do you mean, some that aren’t yours?”

  “Until today, I’d been working on the assumption there were four robberies and that the victims were all LMG clients.” Thank goodness for Jerri at Garrett, Wallace, and Banks. Bree wouldn’t have learned anything if it wasn’t for the other woman. “But on a hunch, I got someone at the firm to give me the full list of Ken’s clients. I showed that around to some other insurance investigators I know, and it turns out there’ve been three other robberies with very similar MOs. That means in the past month or so, there have been seven high-end home burglaries with a total insured value of over forty million dollars.”

  Diego let out a low whistle. “Have there been any robberies since Ken shot himself?”

  “None that I know of,” she said. “Which reinforces the idea he was working alone, as difficult as that is to believe. I’m hoping once I do some more digging, I might be able to figure out where he hid the stuff he stole. If not, there’s going to be a lot of insurance money getting paid out.”

  Bree didn’t mention that doing more digging involved getting into Ken’s apartment to look around. Diego might frown on that, especially if she had to pick the lock to get in.

  “Speaking of cases, have you figured out anything new about delirium yet?” she asked. “Did you ever get a chance to do any poking around?”

  Diego sipped his drink. “Yeah. I followed your advice and did a little digging myself. But we’re not quite sure what to make of what we discovered.”

  “Maybe I can help.”

  He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “It looks like this delirium thing started in Coffield Unit state prison with a scientist type who was an inmate there. It gets confusing after that, but the bottom line is that Ernest Hobbs might be involved as well.”

  “The reporter?”

  Diego nodded. “He was at the prison looking into another inmate around the time the delirium attacks started in Dallas.”

  Bree blinked. This was big. “I’d like to say I’m stunned a reporter would sit on information like this, but even though I’ve only met Hobbs once, I think I can safely say this seems right on track for him.”

  “No kidding.” Diego snorted. “He probably saw this story as a way to make himself famous and decided to sit on the information until the right time. Trey and I spent a good portion of the day trying to track him down with no luck.”

  Bree was more than ready to talk some more about Diego’s case and help him come up with a plan to find Hobbs sooner rather than later, but he shook his head with a laugh, then took her hand and gently tugged her up from her chair.

  “I know exactly what you’re doing,” he said, leading her onto the dance floor. “You think if we keep talking about Hobbs, delirium, and people stealing stuff, I’ll forget we came here to dance and you can avoid getting out there and embarrassing yourself.”

  Bree laughed. Honestly, she had been delaying this part for as long as possible. “Okay, okay. But let’s go slow or I won’t be held responsible for stepping on your toes.”

  In the end, it wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d thought it would be. They kept to the side of the dance floor at first, Diego walking her through the steps and keeping it simple until she found the rhythm of the moves. The basic salsa was a lot like other four-step dances she vaguely remembered, and within minutes, Diego had her out on the main part of the floor with everyone else, swinging and twirling without thinking about it.

  It was easy to lose herself in the dance, her hands on Diego, their bodies occasionally coming together to slide against each other, his mouth finding hers at the perfect moments. She thought it would take all her attention to stay in step, but she quickly found she barely thought about the pattern of the dance at all.

  She was definitely thinking about Diego, though. Like how warm his skin was where they touched. The taste of his lips when they kissed. The heat swirling deep inside her as she thought about where the evening might end.

  Bree was so entranced with the way his eyes were glowing she didn’t realize something was wrong until Diego stiffened and suddenly pulled her to one side so quickly she nearly yelped in surprise. Just as she opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, a large body went flying past them, fist swinging in Diego’s direction. The attacker missed by a mile and went stumbling across the floor, aided by a well-placed shove from Diego. People scrambled and yelled in complaint as the man flipped over several times and came to a hard stop up against a set of speakers as tall as she was.

  Bree knew it was her ex before the idiot got himself pushed upright and back on his feet. Stupid could be identified from any angle.

  Dave spun around after getting his feet under him. The fall had busted open his lip, and he stood there glowering at her and Diego as he wip
ed the blood off with his hand. Standing there with blood running down his chin, eyes wide, skin flushed, and breath coming in ragged gasps, he seemed unhinged.

  “What the hell are you doing with him?” Dave demanded, pinning her with a glare.

  The music was still playing, but no one was dancing. Instead, everyone had moved to give them space, all the while staring at her nutjob of an ex looking to start a fight he couldn’t win.

  “I’m dancing with him,” Bree said as calmly as she could. “That’s what people do at a club. They don’t attack people like a psycho.”

  Dave’s eyes narrowed. “He stole you and Brandon from me.”

  She opened her mouth to set him straight about that, but Dave was already rushing them, bloody hand reaching for Diego, madness in his eyes. He’d had that same look the night he beat that man to death all those years ago.

  Diego moved to intercept Dave and got a hand on Dave’s outstretched arm, spinning her ex around and tossing him across the dance floor until he thudded to a stop against the speakers again.

  The music ground to a stop as Dave once more scrambled to his feet, face suffused with so much anger Bree thought he might explode. Then again, he’d just gotten tossed around like a dog’s chew toy and gotten embarrassed in front of all these people. Dave’s pride was one of his biggest faults.

  “You should probably stop,” Diego said, the hint of a growl in his deep voice. “There’s no version of reality that exists where you’ll get your hands on Bree, Brandon, or me ever again.”

  Bree held her breath, waiting for Dave to try anyway, right there in front of everyone. For a moment, it looked like he was about to, but then a dark-haired man in a dress shirt and slacks hurried onto the dance floor.

  “I called the cops,” he warned, looking first at Diego, then at Dave. “They’re already on their way.”

  Dave looked at the man for a moment, then stared daggers at Diego. “I will fucking destroy you for this.”

  Turning, he strode toward the door and stormed out of the club.

  Diego started to move after him, but Bree caught his arm. “Let him go. I want him out of our lives.”

  She could tell from the set of Diego’s jaw that he didn’t agree with her, and part of her wondered if it would be better to let the cops arrest Dave and send him to prison again. But she hadn’t been kidding. She wanted the drama to end. And it never would if she kept pulling Dave back into her life.

  “I didn’t actually call the cops,” the guy from the club said to them. “But I will now if you want me to. I have video footage of everything that happened and have no problem turning it over to them.”

  Diego looked at her questioningly, but Bree shook her head. Sighing, he turned to the guy, pulling his badge from his pocket and flashing it. “No, don’t call them. But if you could hold onto that video footage for a while, I’d appreciate it.”

  The man nodded. “You got it.”

  The music started up again and people slowly moved back out onto the floor, though Bree doubted the energy level in the club would be the same as it had been. Not for a while.

  “You want to dance some more?” Diego asked.

  From the way he said it, she could tell his heart really wasn’t in it, but she knew he’d stay and dance if that was what she wanted. It wasn’t.

  “No, let’s go home,” she said, taking his hand. “Brandon will be at Kevin’s house for a few more hours, and I don’t want the date to end yet.”

  * * *

  “You know you should get a restraining order against him,” Diego said as they walked into her apartment. “At the very least.”

  Bree leaned in far enough to see the kitchen counter and the dining room table. Nothing was lying on either one, which meant neither Brandon nor Beth were home yet. They both constantly left their stuff around on the first available flat surface they found. She was glad they weren’t there. She didn’t want either of them hearing this conversation about Dave. If Bree had her way, neither of them would ever have to hear that man’s name again, much less see him.

  “I know.” Dropping her purse on the couch, she flopped down on the soft cushions with a sigh. “Any chance you know the right people I need to talk to? Maybe I can go see them tomorrow in between working my case.”

  “Yeah, I know some people at the courthouse,” he said as he joined her on the couch. “I can call them and get them a copy of that video from tonight, too. That, along with describing his behavior over the past week or so should be all you need.”

  Bree hoped it was as simple as he made it sound. She didn’t want to waste any more of her life on her asshole of an ex than she had to. “Would you like something to drink?”

  “I’m not really thirsty,” he murmured, gently pulling her on his lap and kissing her. “At least not for a drink anyway.”

  Bree laughed, lifting her hand to run her fingers through his hair. “I loved dancing with you tonight,” she said softly as he tipped her head back and traced warm, tingling kisses down her exposed throat. “I hope we can go again sometime.”

  “Anytime you want.”

  His teeth grazed against the skin right at the junction of her neck and shoulder. She wasn’t sure, but it seemed possible his fangs were a bit extended, judging from how sharp they felt. The sensation sent a tingle of excitement through her core, warming her up all over. Wow. When did she start liking the whole biting thing?

  They continued making out like a couple of teenagers until Bree remembered Brandon would be home soon. For all she knew, Beth could walk in any second. She’d rather neither of them see her sitting on Diego’s lap. Brandon would probably blush so hard he’d pass out, and Beth would rag her for the rest of her life.

  Best to avoid the whole thing and move this session somewhere else.

  Breaking the kiss, she slowly slid off Diego’s lap and stood, reaching out for his hand. “Would it be okay if we take this to the bedroom?”

  “I’d love to take this to the bedroom, but…” he said slowly as he stood to join her, hand in hers. “Brandon will be home soon.”

  “I know.” She stepped closer, resting her other hand on his chest as she gazed up at him. “Brandon understands we’re together. In fact, this morning he asked why he doesn’t see you around here more often. If you’re comfortable with it, I’d like you to spend the night. That way, we can all have breakfast together.”

  Bree held her breath as he thought about it, praying he said yes. She had no idea why it was so important to her, but something inside her told her Diego was the man she was supposed to be with. The thought of going slowly and taking her time made her feel like she might burst into flames.

  He brushed her hair back from her face. “Are you sure about this? I don’t want you jumping into this because of what happened tonight with Dave. If you’re worried he’ll chase me away, you don’t need to be. I can promise you, I’m not going anywhere.”

  For some crazy reason, tears stung her eyes and she wrapped her arms around Diego, pressing her cheek to his chest so he wouldn’t see.

  “Thank you for saying that, but Dave has nothing to do with my decision to ask you to stay,” she said softly, pulling back to look at him. “When I met Dave, there was a part of me that knew I wasn’t in love with him, but for some reason, I sat back and let it all happen anyway. The marriage, moving out here to Texas, having a kid so young. I can’t honestly regret the things that brought Brandon into my life, but I do regret not making my own decisions. With you it’s different,” she added when it was obvious he had no idea where this was going. “With you, I know everything is real. I don’t have to be afraid it’s some crazy situation I have no control over. You’re what I want—in my life and in my bed. Now, it’s a matter of whether you want that, too.”

  Diego didn’t say a word. Instead, he took her hand, leading her down the hallway toward her bedroom. Nothing
she’d ever done had felt so right.

  Chapter 15

  “Did I hear you talking to someone on the phone about a restraining order?” Hale asked as he reached around Diego and Trey to push the button for the sixth floor of the Dallas Daily Star building.

  Diego threw a look over his shoulder at his pack mate. “Yeah. I was talking to an ADA I know at the courthouse to see if she could help push through the paperwork. Bree and I went to a club last night, and that asshole ex of hers attacked us on the dance floor. He was deranged, ranting and raving about how I’d stolen Bree and Brandon away from him. I wanted the idiot arrested, but a restraining order was the most Bree would agree to.”

  “Is Bree okay?” Trey asked as the elevator started up. “You could have stayed home with her instead of coming with us on the next leg of the Ernest Hobbs wild-goose chase. You know that, right?”

  Diego nodded. A part of him had wanted to do exactly that. Not because Bree was traumatized or anything, but simply so he could spend the day with her and Brandon in case Dave showed up. “She’s fine. I stayed at her place last night, and we talked for a long time. As much as he hates me, she doesn’t think Dave will try to hurt her or Brandon. I’m not sure I agree, but she insisted on going to work. Her sister is working from home today so she’s with Brandon.”

  The elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened onto the Dallas Daily Star’s bullpen, a bunch of cubicles that reminded him of a rat’s maze, with people running everywhere and the noise level only slightly below bedlam. They’d been here twice yesterday to talk to Hobbs, but he’d been out of the office. Gage’s wife, Mackenzie, who was also a reporter for the Star had called them that morning and said Hobbs was in today, though she had no idea how long he’d be hanging around.