Without warning, he bent down and threw me over his shoulder. I could feel the breeze on my bare bottom, and my braid flipped down and swung like a tail as he made his way through the kitchen.
“What the hell… I didn’t see a thing,” a man quickly said. “I’m not looking. Just minding my business.” His voice was full of fear, and I knew Lorenzo must have looked like one of those bulls in Spain.
“Put me down, Lorenzo.”
“Keep quiet.”
“Put. Me. Down.” I laid down my orders with every ounce of authority I could summon, resisting the temptation to strike him with my fists.
I became light-headed when he lowered me to the floor in front of the elevators. I rubbed a few stray hairs away from my face. “There are mirrors in the elevator.”
He slammed his hand on the button and the doors opened. Lorenzo laughed contemptuously. “As if that would put a blush on your cheek.”
I slapped him. “Perhaps that will put some color on yours.”
I limped into the elevator and winced away the pain. After a moment, he slowly turned around and entered, his left cheek red.
Lorenzo leaned his forearm against the wall over my head and glared down at me. “You dare strike me in front of my packmate?” he hissed.
As soon as the doors closed, I sucked in a deep breath. “I won’t apologize, and if you wish to take it up with my Packmaster, then I’ll stand behind my actions. I appreciate the kindness you have extended me, but don’t you ever insult my modesty again.”
“Your tongue is both wicked and sweet. You should take care how you speak to a Packmaster. I have seduced women with far less class who have given me more respect.”
I unabashedly lifted my eyes to his. “If this is your attempt at seduction, then you’re a terrible lover. I am no man’s conquest. You can’t control my words any more than you can my desire. Now let’s sit down like two rational Shifters and discuss what my father had to say.”
Chapter 10
While Lorenzo lit another fire, I switched on a dim lamp on the dresser before taking a seat in his leather chair. The intricate carvings on the bedposts caught my eye, and I studied them while he sat on the edge of his bed, his hands on his knees.
He glanced behind him. “Did you make up the bed?”
“The bed doesn’t get made up by itself.”
Lorenzo threaded his hair back. “I have someone who does that.”
“One of your pack makes up your bed?”
“Something wrong with that?” he asked in irritation.
I swallowed down the urge to drift from the matter at hand. “How did you know about the attack?”
“Caleb called with the details. I would have made it here sooner, but the police pulled me over.” He kept an accusatory gaze on me, his eyes briefly lowering to my flannel shirt again.
“Tell me what my father said.”
“Ivan confirmed only one of the men in his pack left with Fox, so it looks like he picked up rogues along the way. Unless he was already friends with them in Oklahoma. I heard he associated with panthers.”
I shrugged. “He’s been known to have a drink at the bar with them. Maybe here it’s no big deal, but up where I came from it was. People were paranoid about attacks, and our local Council was good for nothing.”
“I made your father aware of your condition.”
“What else did he say?”
My words hung in the air for what seemed like decades.
“That Fox is a cunning man who can’t be trusted. I’m concerned because he took the next strongest pack member with him, and he’ll have a beta to support him in this motley group. I can’t fathom why anyone would follow a wolf who is not an alpha. It won’t be long before there’s dissension and they try to take him down.”
I rubbed my thumb over a cut in the the armrest. “And?”
Lorenzo threaded his fingers through his hair and stood up. “I don’t think Fox will try it again. Caleb has everything under control with his checkpoints. We took out three of his men, so if that’s half his pack, then we’ve gained the upper hand. Either way, that’s not a number to sniff at.”
Lorenzo was avoiding my question and knew exactly what I was asking. I was glad my father had given him any information at all, because that man had a temper and sometimes people never got past introductions. Not to mention Lorenzo was Native American, and my father had been known to say derogatory remarks about them. Never around my mother when she was alive—that behavior had started soon after her death. But what I wanted to know was why Lorenzo had incinerated me with his gaze when he barged in through the front door.
I glanced up at the skull and crossbones tattoo prominently displayed on his upper left arm, thanks to his dark green sleeveless shirt.
“Tell me why you really got that tattoo, Lorenzo.”
He faced the fire. “Humans use this symbol on warning labels of poison. I want people to look at me and see danger. I don’t want my pack to think I would hesitate in punishing those who betray me.”