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“Every Breed mate has a weekly examination, no matter what. I’ll send you the schedule for the next few months in a couple of days. ”
Taking Scheme’s arm, Tanner moved to the door as Cabal unlocked it and ushered her into the hall.
“Where now?” She had been dragged from one end of the stately mansion to another today. The century-old plantation home had had several wings added to it and, even now, was being added to by the Breeds. Its sprawling, graceful design accepted the additions easily, but made for a hell of a walk when you were being shown around.
“You said you needed some clothes,” Tanner reminded her a little too smoothly.
“Yeah. I did. But you didn’t seem inclined to go shopping at the time. ”
His hand pressed warningly against her back. As though she didn’t know how to watch what she said. She wasn’t a complete moron. She had survived betraying her father for ten years, that should qualify her as rocket scientist intelligent.
“So where do I get to go shopping?” she asked him, her voice sweet, her gaze promising vengeance if he didn’t stop with the big bad Breed routine.
“What’s your favorite clothier?” he asked as they moved into the first floor of the estate.
“Vilado,” she answered, naming the exclusive Italian designer she had a fondness for.
“Barring Vilado. ”
Now, didn’t that just figure?
“Why don’t you just tell me my choices?” She sighed as he led her to the curved staircase leading to the second floor and their suite of rooms. Behind them, she heard Cabal snicker.
Tanner named off three less than satisfactory choices. The major chains were overpriced and underquality. She pursed her lips in dissatisfaction but reminded herself that she could at least find a few outfits that would make her feel less like an orphan castoff.
“You can give me your sizes and we’ll call the outlet in Richmond. I’ll have one of the pilots fly in and pick the clothes up. The
y’ll be back by the end of the evening,” he announced as they stepped into their room.
And came up very short in surprise.
“Oh, there you are, Tanner. ” Frazzled, appearing slightly off balance and guilty as hell, Tanner’s female assistant, Jolian Brandeau, straightened from the papers laid out on a table that sat in the middle of the small sitting area just inside the room. Jolian, or Joley, was a regular at news conferences with Tanner, though she rarely had much to say.
Tanner pushed Scheme behind him quickly, his body tensing, a growl rumbling in his throat as the dark-haired assistant paled, her blue eyes blinking owlishly behind a pair of slender-framed glasses.
“Jolian, what the hell are you doing in here?” Cabal came around them, his body vibrating with anger as he faced the short, rounded young woman who stared back at him with a flicker of her own anger.
That anger rapidly receded as she blinked once more, her gaze then staring back at them with a hint of confusion.
“I was looking for the notes Tanner had done a few weeks ago on the interview he wanted to do with National News. ” She gripped her hands in front of her, her fingers twining together nervously. “He said they were in here. ” She waved her hand nervously around the room.
“And you couldn’t ask me for them, why?” Tanner questioned brutally.
She licked her lips as Scheme forced her way around Tanner and watched the young Breed.
Jolian Brandeau. She was a panther Breed that the French labs had created and had declared a failure in nearly every area she had been tested in. Scheme recognized her easily. She was always silent when she accompanied Tanner on an interview or during a news release. Barely five-four, rounded when other Breeds were lithe and well toned. Scheme believed she remembered the girl’s age as twenty-four, as well as her training: infiltration.
Tanner and Cabal obviously remembered it as well.
“You don’t have clearance to be upstairs, Jolian,” Tanner reminded her harshly.
Jolian tucked her ribbon-straight hair behind one ear, shifted and let her gaze fall to the floor. “No, sir,” she whispered before flicking a miserable glance toward Cabal.
She didn’t even act like a Breed. She acted like a soft, cuddly little coed. If this girl was a spy, then she was the least likely spy Scheme had ever laid her eyes on.
“I didn’t want to mess the interview up, Cabal. ” She turned to Cabal rather than facing Tanner. “I thought I could get the notes. I forgot them before Tanner left, and I knew he would be upset. ”
“He’s even more upset now. ” Tanner’s voice lowered to a primal rasp as the bedroom door suddenly opened and Dawn stalked in dressed in her enforcer uniform, several other female Breeds flanking her, weapons drawn.
