Jared (River Pack Wolves 3)(20)

Jared held the campaign office door open for her. She strode in ahead of him, heading straight for her little-used office and ducking her head to avoid Kylie’s goggle-eyed looks and Nolan’s narrow-eyed suspicion. She held the door of her office for Jared, then closed it behind him. That would hold Kylie and Nolan off for at least a minute.

She stayed by the door, arms crossed. “Are you going to talk to me?”

He strolled over to her desk, scanning the office with a calculated look. “I was waiting until we had a moment alone.”

“We’ve been alone for the forty-five minute drive into the city.” She wasn’t sure why she was poking him, or that she even wanted to talk, but his silence was driving her nuts.

“I was waiting until we were alone and I wasn’t operating heavy machinery I might crash.”

That drew a small smile out of her. “Why don’t you start by telling me your real name? I know it’s not Jared Bachman, or whatever you told my father.”

“Does it matter?” His dark-eyed stare zoomed in hard on her. “You already know more about me than you need to.”

So that was how it was going to be. “I don’t know anywhere near what I need to.” She stalked away from the door and stood close to him, staring defiantly up into his dark eyes, her hands clenched at her side. “You want me to give up everything that I have—my job, my home, my father’s love…” She stalled out, choking up. “You know he’s going to toss me out as soon as he figures out I’m not really his child.”

Jared’s hard stare melted a little, but she pressed on. She was just getting started.

“All that,” she said, getting up her steam, “and you won’t even tell me your name? Who are you really? Who are you working for? And don’t they have someone better at this job they could send to convince me to give up everything for your cause?”

The hardness returned to his eyes. “Yes, there are other people who could do this. People who would blackmail you. Use your secret to force you to do what’s right. I was hoping—no, I made the apparent error in thinking—that you might do the right thing on your own, once you understood the stakes.”

Anger was welling up inside her. “The right thing?” Her voice was rising. “I’m trying to do the right thing! I’m trying to find a way out of this. Can’t you see I want to stop my father and this terrible idea of his?”

He gave her a look of disgust. “You’re trying to remain, if at all possible, the pampered daughter of a Senator, even though you’re a shifter. You don’t care what happens to everyone else.”

She actually raised her clenched fists, as if she could pummel this large, muscular, dangerously sexy man who was demanding impossible things of her. “I’m doing the best that I can!”

His voice was cool, with a slightly raised eyebrow for her threatening fists. “I’m sure that will be a consolation to all the shifters whose lives are ruined by your father’s legislation.”

Her fists dropped, and her shoulders slumped. He was right. Her life didn’t really matter—well it mattered a lot to her, but she had spent her whole life trying to help others, and when it really came down to it, all she could think about was the fact that her mother had cheated on her father. With a shifter. And created her, this half-shifter illegitimate child.

Her life was unraveling.

His voice was soft again. “Why are we here, Grace?”

She didn’t look at him, just shook her head, staring at the floor. “It’s better if I go about my normal activities until we figure this out.” Her voice felt hollow, and her skin was too tight. There was no way out of this box, and even if there were, she wouldn’t be able to find it—her head was still spinning too much. And her heart felt like it was breaking.

Jared lifted a hand to her shoulder. His hand was big and heavy, and it felt like he could crush her with a single squeeze, but his touch was gentle and warm. Completely unlike the hard-eyed anger from before.

“I’m sorry about your parents,” he said. “I’d assumed that you’d figured it out already. I should’ve known better—you’ve been isolated. On your own. It doesn’t have to be that way, not for our kind. Wolves are built to be part of a pack, Grace. I know you don’t have one, but that’s why I’m here. To help you see what you need to do.”

She looked up into his eyes—they had turned warm. The electric feel of him touching her was even stronger now with his soft words. She leaned into him a little.

“I can’t believe my mom had an affair. It’s just… I don’t even know who I am anymore.”