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  "Who the fuck were you calling earlier, then, because I'm pretty damn certain that was another man. Another leopard." He spat the words at her, knowing each time she got close, shattered him, owned him, he used his temper to pull himself back together. And there was always something he could get angry about. His leopard leapt for the surface. Savage. Fierce. Demanding to bring her back to his bed and force her to acknowledge that he owned her. Because, by God, she wasn't owning him without it going both ways.

  She turned her head to look at the bits and pieces of her phone lying on the floor beside the opposite wall. "You broke my phone. You threw it."

  "Who were you calling?" He knew damn well who she had called and he knew she knew he knew. Still. He wanted her to acknowledge that it had been another man she'd turned to. Another leopard.

  "Let go of me before I smack you over the head."

  "Who. Were. You. Calling?" He bit out each word, his temper rising.

  Siena didn't seem intimidated. She reached down with her free hand, picked up a pillow and hit him in the head with it. Yeah. He lost control of her. She knew she'd reduced him to a marshmallow. Self-preservation was an ugly need rising like a tidal wave. A leopard's fury mingled with his own, both determined to dominate. To control. He needed control. It was the only way he survived. She had stripped him bare, and now she was defying him.

  He yanked her down onto the bed so that she sprawled across his lap, facedown on the mattress. Before she could move or speak, his hand came down hard on her ass. He smacked her five times in rapid succession. Hard. Making it count. Letting her know he wasn't going to be led around by his cock. Snarling. Growling even.

  She began to struggle and he held her down, his hand on her red ass, smoothing over the handprints there, realizing his fury was about fear. Helplessness. She hadn't only stripped him bare and exposed that only soft spot, the place he could be killed; now he was terrified of someone hurting her. He needed complete control over all things in his life, especially Siena, and he feared there was no controlling Siena.

  "You hit me. You bastard. I can't believe you hit me."

  She stopped struggling and lay across him, shaking, her body soft and pliant, no sound emerging. He thought she was crying but he couldn't tell. Then a small sound, muffled by the mattress slipped out. Quiet. He was certain soft little sobs shook her body, but her face was turned away from him.

  Remorse hit him hard. It wasn't about Siena at all; it was about him. His fears. His needs. His desire for complete control. No. It was even worse than that. He didn't want her to know just how far she'd gotten in. He continued to rub her bottom, trying to soothe away the hurt he'd caused.

  "Baby," he began. There was nowhere to go with it. He wanted to kill Paolo for hitting her. This hadn't been an erotic spanking leading to other things. It wasn't about bringing her pleasure in any form. This had been a punishment. For what? What had she done but show him love? She'd done that. Given him a precious gift, and he'd thrown it back in her face because he was terrified. What the fuck was wrong with him?

  He moved her body off of him. She didn't turn over. She didn't look at him, but kept her face averted, the long hair effectively hiding her from him. Hiding her expression. Hiding her tears. His stomach knotted more. Brutal. He was disgusted with himself.

  "You aren't fucking leaving me over this, Siena. You're not leaving me. You're going to get past this fuckup too." His voice was harsh. Strangled. Savage, just like the savage beast raging inside him. He made it a dark decree. "You aren't leaving me. You try running and I'll hunt you down, bring you back and tie you to my bed until you see reason. Don't think for one minute I won't find you."

  He didn't care if he sounded like the stalker man from hell. She gave him nothing. Siena was always an open book, but she just lay there, body shaking, spread across his bed like a fucking gift, a miracle, and he'd broken her because he was scared shitless of loving her so much it hurt. It fucking hurt.

  He'd forgotten fear. He'd forgotten the taste of it in his mouth. The way it crawled up his throat and lived there. He hadn't felt fear since he was six years old and his grandfather shot one man, beat a second man to death in front of him and then when he cried had turned those fists on him.

  Before he could utter another word, the muffled sounds grew in strength. She jammed her fist into her mouth, but they kept coming. Her body was really shaking now. Strangely, the noises she made, even muffled as they were, didn't sound like tears. At. All. He scowled and reached down to slide the veil of hair away from her face.

  Siena rolled over. She was laughing. Laughing. At him. She sat up, pushing at the heavy fall of hair, still laughing. "Did you just try to spank me? Like as really a spanking, or was that some attempt at an erotic spanking, because I tell you, it didn't work. It was too funny. Really, Elijah? You spanked me? Like I was a child?" Using both hands, she moved them down the length of her body. "Newsflash, genius. Woman right here. Not child. Woman. All grown up. Spankings went out a few centuries ago. And another newsflash, you won't be spanking me for some erotic kink you have going, or for some misguided attempt to punish me or our children because, right now, I can tell you after that, it wouldn't work."

  She burst out laughing all over again. "Seriously, Elijah, you have to get over these little tantrums you throw. I feel as if I'll be raising two children, not one. You act out again, and I'll be putting you on time out."

  Relief mingled with his anger. She wasn't planning on leaving him. Still, having his woman laugh at him wasn't a good sign. Seriously, the entire world was afraid of him. His name made grown men shake. If he couldn't control his woman, all that would change and the vultures would begin to circle and then he couldn't protect her . . .

  "Elijah."

  She said his name softly. Tenderly. Wrapping him in love. So much he had to close his eyes. He heard her move close to him, and her hand went up his chest to his neck. Her fingers curled around his nape.

  "Honey. I get that you're a macho man. I totally get that. I get that you're having a hard time with this, but you solving our problems with your temper isn't going to work. It just isn't. You promised me you'd talk about things that upset you. Going off like an idiotic savage, beating your chest and declaring your woman is going to mind you, isn't going to work. Not with me. You want me to know what I'm getting. You were honest about who and what you are--well, you need to see the real me. I'm not a woman who would for one second put up with a man who won't share himself with me. Not just his body, but all of him. You have to be able to talk to me."

  He dropped his head to push his forehead against hers. "Baby, you terrify me." He made the admission without thinking. Before he could examine the words, before he could think what she might read into that.

  "I know," she replied.

  Just as softly as before. Just as gently. Making his heart turn over.

  "You have no idea the danger you're in. Because of me. Because of my lifestyle. I can't have that. I can't have anything happen to you. You have to get that, Siena. It can't happen. I've only got so much decency left in me. That's all you now. All for you. You get taken from me, I got nothing left and I'm one of them. I'm dark and ugly and not fit to live. But I would, baby. I would live and I would be a monster."

  "Elijah."

  Just his name. He couldn't look at her. "I'd kill them all. Whoever touched you. I'd wipe them out. Not just them, everyone they loved would die first. I'd take everything and everyone from them before I killed them. I'm capable of that." She'd better fucking believe him. She'd better take what he said seriously. Did she think he wanted to admit that shit to her? Hell no. He didn't want to see her look at him and recognize that killer in him.

  "You have to know me, Elijah. I'm not the kind of woman to ever put my man in jeopardy. I won't flirt with other men. I would never defy you in front of others, although I might kick you hard under a table. I will have your back always. If I don't understand what you're doing, I'll wait until we're alone and ask you,
but honey, you have to know I'm going to ask. You can't pretend I've got an empty head, because I don't. I lived with secrets all my life, and I don't want to live that way any longer. So you make up your mind to talk to me."

  "You strip me bare." What the hell was he going to do with her? He'd just handed her that last little piece, the one that she could use against him.

  "That's a good thing, Elijah," she said.

  His gaze jumped to hers. His heart pounded. He tasted the bitterness of fear in his mouth.

  "Because you strip me just as bare. No one else in this world could tear me up the way you could. But I trust you won't. I'm safe with you. You have to know you're safe with me. I get that you have never trusted anyone in your life. That you couldn't. Everyone you loved betrayed you. I get that. But you have to get to a place where you know you're safe with me if what's between us is going to work."

  "Not 'if,' baby. It will work. We don't have a choice anymore." He took a deep breath and gave her more. "I told you I have a sister. I don't talk about her much because she's safe now. She's married and happy. And she's finally safe. I don't like anyone to remember she exists. She never betrayed me. Not even when she thought I put a hit out on her." There was pain in his voice.

  Siena put her arms around him and lay her head on his chest. Over his heart. Holding him close to her. Her body fit into his as if born for him. And she was, he was certain of that. "I've got you, Elijah. I'll always have you."

  "All right, baby," he murmured, and brushed a kiss on top of her head. "Go take that bath. I'll take care of business and then fix you dinner."

  She pressed a kiss over his heart and dropped her hands, turning toward the bathroom while he reached down to snag his jeans from the floor.

  "You know, baby," he said, just to see her catch fire, "I think we should try again with the spanking. I could make it erotic. Make you love it."

  "I could hit you over the head with a frying pan in your sleep too," she said. "Make you love that."

  He laughed as he dragged on his jeans, and listened to her soft laughter coming out of the bathroom. Then the water was running and the scent of honeysuckle and jasmine drifted through the open door. He figured he'd love just about anything she did to him. Even the fucking frying pan.

  14

  "WE'VE got a visitor, Elijah," Drake announced. "He's been cooling his heels for a while, and I can tell you, he isn't happy. He's been pacing, and he's dangerous. He's leopard, no mistaking that, and he's pushing the edge of his limits."

  "Name," Elijah demanded tersely.

  "Alonzo Massi. He's big and powerful. Be careful, Elijah. I've come across some very dangerous leopards and I can tell you, this man is extremely lethal."

  "Yeah. I've met him."

  "Not like this. Not with his leopard riding him hard. You okay to do this, or you want me to take care of it?"

  Elijah knew Drake was telling him he needed to keep his leopard under control. Was he that edgy now that he had Siena in his home? Out of necessity, he'd learned to stay in complete control, expressionless, an enigma, his features sheer stone. Now his woman was laughing at him and his friend was warning him.

  "I can handle Massi."

  "We don't know if he's an enemy yet," Drake pointed out.

  "He worked for Siena's grandfather, and she suspects that he covered for Paolo killing him."

  Drake shrugged. "I got genuine concern, that he was looking out for her, but he shut it down fast, so who knows?"

  "How'd he get inside the compound?"

  "Came over the fence as a leopard. My men swept him up but it wasn't easy. In the end they used the threat of putting a bullet in the leopard's head to make him shift. To his credit, he didn't kill anyone, and he could have. He let that be known. He could have. He doesn't look worried, Elijah. He didn't then and he doesn't now."

  Elijah nodded and headed down the hall to his office, Drake flanking him. Joshua dropped into step behind Drake as they entered the room. It was empty, but the door hidden in the wall was cracked open. Drake took the stairs down to the small interrogation room. The room had no windows, thick walls that were soundproof and was clearly built for intimidation.

  Drake hadn't bothered to cuff Alonzo, and the man paced back and forth in the small room. Joaquin and his brother Tomas, Elijah's personal bodyguards, both were leaning a casual hip against the wall, neither saying a word, not unusual for them. Joshua closed the thick door softly and leaned against it. Drake stepped to one side, taking the spot by the wall so Alonzo was surrounded. Elijah walked right up to Alonzo.

  "Heard you invited yourself to my home," Elijah greeted.

  Alonzo stopped pacing and turned toward him. Up close, the man was scary dangerous. He was built solid. All muscle. Elijah was fairly certain he didn't have an ounce of fat on him. He'd lived hard, fought hard. It was there in his face, although he was fairly young. Maybe even younger than Elijah, but he'd grown up in a hurry and he'd been around violence all his life. Elijah recognized that trait. Alonzo was comfortable with it. Violence was a friend. He knew that. He lived with it. More, he was aware that all five men in the room with him were leopard. That didn't appear to faze him in the least.

  "Where is she? She tried to phone me and then she didn't answer when I called her back. I texted her. Nothing. For hours. She wouldn't try to call me unless she was in trouble."

  He had known Siena had tried to call Alonzo before he got to her and he'd thrown her phone, breaking it. He didn't blink, his gaze fixed on Alonzo with the focused stare of a leopard. "What exactly is your interest in Siena?" He didn't ask a question. He was giving a warning, and the way Alonzo's head came up, his eyes going cat, Elijah knew he got it.

  "What the fuck kinda question is that?" Alonzo demanded. He took a step toward Elijah.

  Instantly Joaquin and Tomas straightened, the room filling with dangerous tension. Elijah held out his hand, palm up to warn them to back off. His bodyguards had been at his side, growing up with him, and they were more than bodyguards to him. They'd tear Alonzo apart if he tried to lay a hand on Elijah. And they'd do it before Joshua and Drake moved.

  "It's the kind of question a man asks when his woman has been beaten so badly she had to be hospitalized. It's the kind of question a man asks when his woman has been betrayed, raked over by a leopard so fucked-up and out of control, it would tear a woman's flesh from her body. That's the kind of question I'm asking you and that's why I'm asking, so fucking answer the question."

  Alonzo stared at him for several long moments. He was as good at keeping all emotion from his expression as Elijah was.

  "She matters to me," Alonzo answered. "I've been looking out for her since she was fifteen years old. She's a good woman, and she got hurt on my watch. It isn't going to happen again." There was a hard edge to his voice. "You keep saying your woman, but I need to hear that from Siena."

  "You saw her in my bed. Did she look like she wanted to leave? The cops were here. She didn't tell them she wanted to leave."

  "I need to hear that from Siena. I want to see for myself she's safe and happy. Calling me like that means maybe she isn't. Not answering my calls jumped that possibility. You putting me down here in this room tells me that probability just got higher. So no, her sitting in your bed doesn't make her your woman. I need to hear her say that to me without a hint of coercion."

  The man didn't have any back-up in him. More, he didn't appear in the least bit concerned about being locked away with Elijah and his men, and that meant he had all the confidence in the world that he could take them down, which was another thing Elijah knew about. Elijah never had much to lose so he was never very worried about what could happen to him in any given situation. Alonzo clearly didn't feel he had much to lose. Elijah knew that made him doubly dangerous.

  "Your man, Paolo, he wants her in order to take over Arnotto territory. You looking to do the same?" Elijah watched him closely for any signs that suggestion hit a nerve.

  "Is that what you're doin
g?" Alonzo countered, his eyes every bit as flat and cold as Elijah's.

  Yeah. Alonzo Massi recognized exactly what he was facing, but he wasn't going to back down, and that said a lot about him.

  "I have enough territory to worry about," Elijah said. "I'm looking to keep her safe. I don't think being with you is going to do that."

  "I think you're right about that," Alonzo agreed unexpectedly.

  His expression didn't change, nor did the cold eyes. They didn't blink and Elijah could see the leopard staring at him. Sizing him up. Judging him. Alonzo didn't like the idea of Siena anywhere near him, but then, Elijah couldn't blame him for that. He'd built his reputation carefully. Preserved it. He'd earned it. Elijah waited. He'd learned the value of silence, and most leopards had patience, but they didn't like silence when they were fishing for information.

  "I'm hunting Paolo. He's in strong right now and has surrounded himself with Tonio's soldiers. They believe him that you murdered their boss and you've got Siena here under duress. He says you beat her into submission."

  That didn't surprise Elijah in the least. He'd expected it. After the visit from the police, he knew the direction Paolo was going. He would have insisted Siena make out a formal complaint, but Paolo was leopard and he couldn't live after what he'd done. The laws of the shifters were very different at times from the laws of civilization.

  "You thinking you'll take his place once you take him down?"

  For the first time Alonzo looked annoyed. He glared at Elijah. "You're a king. You know what that looks like. And that isn't me. I don't aspire to be king. I'm not the kind of man who wants to be noticed. I live in the background, and I'm good with that. My leopard is difficult and makes life a living hell sometimes. I get up in the morning and I do what I have to do to get us both through a day. I'm a soldier. I didn't like the fact that Siena was afraid of me, but she's intelligent enough to know I'm not a nice man. My leopard would never accept her and more than that, she's always going to be the granddaughter of a famous winemaker. That puts her in the spotlight."