“You little bitch . . .” He sneered furiously.
“Enough!” Linc’s voice was a lash of command that had Cat’s brows lifting in surprise when Raymond immediately silenced the harsh words.
“Impressive,” she murmured, actually impressed by the sharp tone and underlying strength of it.
“That goes for you as well,” Linc informed her sharply, shooting her a brooding glare. “We’re here to talk. I’m not in the mood to listen to insults between the two of you.”
He wasn’t her alpha either.
“Then I suggest you take him and leave,” she informed the man she’d once called brother. “Because as far as I’m concerned, he’s nothing but an insult to the human race. It’s rather hard not to point that out at every chance.”
Jerking the door open, she threw both men a hard look before stomping through the entryway to the kitchen at the back of the house. She’d already had enough of this particular discussion.
“Stay here, dammit,” Linc ordered his father as he ignored the open door and gripped her wrist firmly. “I can’t believe you’ve pissed her off like this. Where the hell was your mind? You were supposed to protect her, not antagonize her.”
Cat inhaled sharply. Well, that answered one question. She’d always suspected Linc was part of the group called the Unknown, whose job it was to protect her from the Genetics Council should Raymond fail to adequately convince the world of her identity as his daughter. She had never been completely certain until that statement. Only a member of the Unknown or those present that night, would have known that information. Cat allowed him to pull her across the foyer, more interested in what he wanted than scratching Raymond’s eyes out at the moment.
Turning, she faced him as he entered the kitchen. He was taller than his father, easily six two. His black hair was cut close, a midnight shadow over his scalp as his black eyes watched her with inscrutable mystery. A mystery she’d always seen in his eyes whenever he’d been around. Linc had been kind to her whenever he was home, but unlike others he hadn’t pretended a love or a connection that wasn’t there. She’d wondered if that was merely because he was years older than his sister, or if he had known the truth.
At least he hadn’t lied to her as everyone else had. He hadn’t led her along that gilded path that led to the belief that she might belong somewhere. “Why are you here?” she demanded the second he cleared the kitchen doorway. “After all these years you suddenly find an overwhelming need to play brother? Where were you when Claire needed you?”
When it had been Claire he faced within Cat’s body. During that time that Cat had slept, protected by a spirit that walked and talked within her body.
Anger flashed in his dark gaze. “I’m not here to discuss Claire, Cat. I refuse to discuss Claire.” Something painful and dark filled his expression for a moment. “This is about my father. He may be an asshole, and he may not have always been kind . . .”
She had to laugh at that.
“Dammit, Cat, I won’t let Wyatt railroad him. If he was as terrible as those charges claim, then he would never have helped you.” Loyalty was something that dug sharp, merciless claws clear to the heart and soul of who Lincoln Martinez was as a man. Like his uncle and his grandfather, he was a man born to lead, one born to shelter others and it was evident Raymond had convinced him of his innocence.
Who would he believe, she wondered. His father, or the woman his sister had sacrificed so much to protect?
“It is inconceivable to me that you’ve allowed him to fool you,” she bit out in disgust, infuriated that such a smart, intuitive man couldn’t see the evil that infected his father. “Let Wyatt railroad him? Linc, if I could get away with it, I’d kill him myself. As a matter of fact, if I could have convinced several Breeds to let me, I would have murdered him, gladly, years ago.”
Linc stared at her as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. After several seconds his expression hardened, became emotionless.
“He wouldn’t have betrayed his daughter nor his sister like that.” The hard iciness in his voice was something to be wary of. It was dangerous, a warning of retribution if he felt it warranted. “I admit he wasn’t always kind . . .”
“Kind?” she sneered in disbelief. “There wasn’t a day that Claire didn’t feel his hatred, and once I became aware once again, there wasn’t a day that I didn’t feel it.”
Sometimes blood was thicker than water, it seemed. Funny, Linc had managed to surprise her. She’d expected him to at least be curious why she hated Raymond so deeply. Why she wanted to kill him, would have killed him, easily.
“Believe what you want to. Why are the two of you here?” Pushing her fingers through her hair, she reminded herself that she shouldn’t have been surprised.