Jake laughed. “Eli, seriously. You didn’t have to tell me that. I can see it on your face. I know you think you need to thank me for the invite to dinner, but I owe you one. I’m watching Emma and she’s really happy. She needs a friend, especially now. I’m worried the doctor will put her on bed rest. She doesn’t like anyone else taking care of us. With your ranch right next to ours, the two of them can go back and forth and it will be especially good to have Catarina occupying her time.”
“Cat loves books. You have an entire library. I’ve ordered a number of books to surprise her along with a desk and laptop. Joshua and Trey are setting it up for me while we’re here,” Eli said, knowing Jake would know exactly what his crew was doing. Still, he liked the idea of saying it aloud – his secret surprise for Catarina. “She’ll love it, but when she sees your library, I figure I’ll be adding on to my house in a big way.”
Jake laughed. “I’ll make it clear she can use it anytime she’d like. Emma paints. She’s really good. The first time she did anything it was for my birthday present. She had the boys help her put together a studio in the barn and she painted there in secret. I was a bit of a jealous ass when I found out.” He grinned at the memory. “That woman of mine has a temper. She doesn’t let it fly often but when she does, she’s unpredictable.”
Eli accepted the cold beer Jake held out to him. “Mine’s got one too. Didn’t know that, but I have to say, I like it. She’s got attitude, and it comes unexpectedly.”
“I intimidate powerful men and other shifters,” Jake lamented. “But not my wife. She rolls her eyes at me.”
Eli smiled. “Catarina’s not there yet. She’s still finding out she doesn’t have to hide who she is, but it’s coming.” He took a long pull on the beer, his eyes still on his woman, on the child and the way the two laughed together.
Catarina straightened abruptly and indicated that the child should move away from the stove. She picked up the heavier bowls and took them to the table, preventing Emma from lifting them. She did it smoothly, so Emma wouldn’t notice. He glanced at Jake. Jake noticed.
“Your woman is observant,” Jake mused.
“Yeah. She pays attention to detail.”
“Do you think she paid attention to detail in Cordeau’s house while she was growing up?”
“That’s the crazy thing. As intelligent as I know she is, as resourceful, it wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago when we ran into your crew at the fence line and we were talking with Elijah that I realized she probably knows everything about his business and the people he does business with. Before, under Cordeau’s roof, she was off limits, and they all thought she was just an uneducated mouse. Now, they’re most likely thinking she’s a threat to them.”
“She is a threat to them if she can name names and pinpoint who’s dealing what. There’s a trail, Eli. She might just be the key to that trail.”
“I’m not using her to get Cordeau. I quit my job over that shit and it isn’t happening again.” There was a hard edge to his voice. He liked Jake, but he wasn’t going to back down. He didn’t have that in him. He’d protect Catarina even at the risk of his friendship with Jake and the other shifters.
Jake laughed. “You’re too much like me. That’s not what I meant. You’re still thinking like a DEA agent. You have to think like a shifter.”
“I’ll kill Cordeau when he comes after Catarina. Won’t lose any sleep over it and won’t hesitate.”
“I get that. Any of my boys or me would do the same. He’s rogue. He’s got to go. Probably have a couple of lieutenants that are rogue as well. We’ll have to find out which ones. I’m a businessman. I go after wealth and businesses and take my enemies down that way. If your woman knows bank accounts and partners, if she knows the kinds of deals going down, Elijah, you and I can take Cordeau’s empire apart bit by bit. The men he’s in bed with won’t see it coming and won’t know what hit them until it’s too late. They’ll turn on one another. They always do when suddenly irrefutable evidence of their guilt is all over the papers and agents are on their doorsteps.”
Jake leaned toward Eli, his eyes suddenly intent. Serious. Burning. “We hunt, Eli, just as you’ve done, but we do it our way. Join us. Let’s start with Cordeau and his partners. You can sound Catarina out, see if she’s comfortable helping. If she isn’t, we’ll still take them down. It will take a little longer, but we’ll do it. You aren’t going to sit on your ass in that ranch house, it will make you crazy.”
“You offering me a job?”
Jake grinned and settled back. “As such. It’s really Drake’s operation. I’m the information man.”
Eli knew Jake Bannaconni was far more than an information man. He was a wheeler and dealer. He was well known in business circles, and grown men cried when he turned his sights on them.
“I’ll talk to Cat, but I’m not pressuring her. She has to make up her own mind. I promised her I’d never put her in that position and I intend to keep that promise.”