Jace (River Pack Wolves 2)(28)

But she was back on point now.

The towering granite columns of the capitol building were imposing to most people—they spoke of a stately elegance that was hilarious in the face of the smarmy politics that happened inside the building itself. Pepper was a fan of democracy, but sometimes it was a wonder it could survive all the machinations of the politicians that made it run. It was certainly messy, and she had her hands in a fair share of the muck. Her work on the Senate Defense Subcommittee involved security issues and shifters—two things she knew quite a bit about—but she stayed away from the politics as much as possible. Her brother knew about her work, and he knew that envelope would point her directly here: Senator Krepky’s office.

The gorgeous marble dome inside the capitol building soared above her, adding its regal gold-trimmed gleam to the interior. Piper waved to the guard manning the security checkpoint just inside the entranceway and swiped her credentials—the real ones that had top-level clearance for the Senate building. The guard gave her a warm smile return—he was the kind that remembered faces, and he always seemed to know hers, even with her somewhat infrequent but still regular visits to the capitol.

Once past security, she strode purposefully toward the Senator’s office. She had already made an appointment with Michael, Krepky’s personal assistant—getting an appointment with the Senator himself was quite difficult and completely unnecessary. Michael had access to all the Senator’s top-secret information, the Senator’s office, and he probably knew more about what was going on in the defense subcommittee than the Senator himself. The trick in counterintelligence was always to know where the true power resided—and Piper’s radar for detecting the holders of power was as finely tuned as the radar she used to tell the good guys from the bad.

Jace River was definitely one of the good guys.

Her thoughts kept drifting back to him. She’d spent the entire car trip down to Olympia replaying that scorching kiss. She couldn’t decide if Jace actually cared about her, for some strange reason, even though he had no reason at all. Just when she was convinced that he only cared about the mission, being a hero and rescuing other shifters, he went and did something like he did at the warehouse—not the kiss, but that soft whisper in her ear, saying that he wanted her to come back. Or asking her if she was okay once she was released from her father’s custody. Or holding her when she felt woozy from the witch’s spell that forced her to relive her mother’s death. Piper doubted Jace had any idea the effect those things had on her—and she was little surprised herself at how quickly his small touches and concerned looks and hot kisses had reached inside her and stirred things around.

Whenever he smiled at her—and even worse, when he beamed that hot, smirky grin—it wasn’t just her lady parts being warmed. The man was a hot shifter determined to help find her brother, and his kisses were like a drug for her inner beast. To top it all off, he seemed to actually care about her.

It was a deadly combination. And a dangerous one. It was seriously messing with her vow not to get involved, and certainly not to mate with, anyone, ever. Period. Full stop. It didn’t matter how hot that shifter boy was or how much he wet her panties. Mating wasn’t something she could even contemplate, not after what happened to her mom.

Piper needed to stay focused on her task, which right now included checking in with her office before she wound through the long corridors of the capitol to pay a visit to the Senator’s minion. She needed to put out any fires at Civilian Defense and see if they knew about her infiltration of the Joint Base before meeting with Michael and doing what she had to do to uncover the Senator’s involvement in all of this. She glanced down the hall to make sure it was clear, then paused by an alcove with a bust of a previous governor and dialed the number of the secure line for her office.

The call operator, Shelley, answered on the first ring. “Al’s carpet installation, can I help you?”

Piper gave her access code, the 17 digit number that was her lifeline wherever she was in the world.

Shelley replied, “Piper! I was wondering when you were going to check in, girl. Your supervisor is not very pleased about your vacation plans.”

So far, so good. “Yeah, well, looks like I’m going to extend that vacation a few more days. But if you need me on the defense subcommittee, I’m available. Is there anything on the docket?”

There was a pause while she checked. “Nothing right now, but I’ll let you know.”

“Great. And is Simpson really pissed off at me? I mean, more than normal? Like does he have an actual reason I should be aware of?”