She didn’t even try to see what he looked like, she knew better. The war paint that marked his face was done in such a way as to make it impossible to distinguish his features, no matter how close she came or how hard she attempted to find a distinguishing angle.
She spread her hands out from her body and gazed back at him mockingly. “All in one piece.”
Literally. Even her virginity was still intact.
Which was all he was probably worried about.
“I had no doubt. But now, I wonder,” he assured her, the confidence in his voice grating on her already heightened nerves.
“Then why check on me?” Moving from the window, she strode across the living room to the kitchen, glancing back as she passed the counter that divided the rooms. “Want a drink? I’m having one.”
“No, thank you.” His answer didn’t surprise her.
Pulling the refrigerator door open, she snagged a long-necked bottle of her favorite beer and twisted the cap off in disgust before taking a long drink.
“You’re twenty-four years old, aren’t you, Whisper?” He spoke as she swallowed the bitter brew.
“What does it matter?” Turning to face him, she leaned back against the fridge, seeing the gleam of hazel eyes. The last time she saw him, they looked blue.
“You’ve remained a virgin for nine years in order to work with us. You’ve had no lovers, you have few friends and you began separating herself from your family even before Mark’s funeral. Tell me, how long do you think you can remain isolated among the people who so love you? Or this Breed who seems intent on having you?”
She lifted her brow in a deliberate attempt to convey unconcern. “I walked away.”
“You ran away,” he retorted knowingly. “There’s a difference.”
There was a difference, and she knew it.
She simply didn’t want to discuss it.
“When I can’t run from him any longer, I’ll let you know,” she promised, tipping the bottle to her lips again.
“And what would happen to you if you stopped running?” Compassion filled his voice. “If you suddenly found you needed more than a drink to sleep on the bad nights?”
He nodded to the beer she was lowering.
“You think I drink to sleep?” she asked, amused. “Tell me, have you ever slipped into my apartment and caught me asleep?”
She knew he hadn’t.
His head tilted to the side as he watched her, dissected her.
“Never,” he finally admitted. “But I haven’t tried to.”
“Then try,” she suggested. “But don’t stay long if you do catch my eyes closed, because it never lasts.”
She and sleep were not close personal acquaintances. But she and the nightmares that followed her were.
“That Breed won’t be easy to turn away,” he told her. “And getting the information we need will be impossible if you ignore him.”
“Getting the information you need will be impossible if I sleep with him, remember?” she said, mocking him. “If I sleep with him, then you’ll no longer answer my calls.”
“I have voice mail. Leave a message. I’ll always listen.”
Gypsy narrowed her gaze on him as he slowly straightened from his position against the door frame.
“Are you rescinding the terms of my participation?” she asked slowly.
“That’s not possible,” he sighed heavily. “But should you break the terms of your participation, it doesn’t mean I’ll completely desert you. I’ll just refuse to work with you further.”
“Have you ever considered how ignorant that would be?” she asked him as she shook her head, disbelief reflecting in her voice now. “The information I pull in for you in a week’s time amazes even me. I never use a computer, I never endanger myself or my friends, but you still get more information than you know what to do with. Would you really cut me off like that?”
“Of course.”
Disbelief coursed through her. “For God’s sake, why?”
“The same reason we should have cut your brother off when he and Thea Lacey became lovers. He became careless,” he stated, his voice harsh now. “I won’t take that risk with you.”
“Mark wasn’t the one who became careless,” she sneered. “And we both know it.”
“Gypsy.” It was one of the few times he used her name.
“Don’t Gypsy me.” Anger surged through her.
Finishing the beer, she tossed the bottle in the trash before turning on the warrior furiously. “I was careless. And I refuse to discuss it. Now tell me why you’re here, or leave so I can shower.”
Silence stretched between them. A lengthy, tension-filled silence that warned her that the warrior was seriously considering continuing the confrontation.
God, don’t let him continue the confrontation, she thought painfully. She didn’t think she could bear it.
Finally, he shook his head, breathing out heavily.
“The information we suspected the Breeds have on the Unknown has been confirmed. We have a leak among our contacts, and we need to know who that leak is. We need you to find out who that leak is.”
A leak?
“How many contacts do you have, exactly?” she asked then, tamping down her anger from moments before as she stared back at him suspiciously.
“The number wouldn’t help you,” he told her, the arrogance that was so much a part of him reminding her far too much of Commander Breaker.