“Are you going to read me my rights now too?” she asked instead, her tone frigid. “Just who the hell are you guys? The feds?”
No point in lying. She’d figure it out soon enough.
“P.I.A. Preternatural Investigation Agency.” He sat down across from her in the driver’s seat. “We’re a special investigative unit that works unofficially under the feds.”
“Oh my God…” Disbelief flickered in her eyes. “You’re serious? The government knows about those things in there?”
Knew and barely tolerated. Which was why they kept as few humans as possible involved with the agency. His mouth slashed into a grim line at her use of the word things.
“I’ll explain later.”
She stared at him hard, before she glanced away. “Don’t bother. Look, you really need to let me go, Warrick.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Like hell you can’t.” Frustration snapped in her voice.
Warrick’s gaze was instantly drawn to her chest. In her anger, her breasts rose and fell rapidly beneath the bodice of the dress. A hot current slid through his blood and he forced in a slow breath.
Six years ago, Sienna had just barely been a woman, only eighteen. The memory he’d never managed to forget forged through his head. A night when she’d almost pushed him over the threshold of temptation.
She’d been so young then. And so damn naïve. He’d wanted her that night. Had wanted her with a ferocity that had shaken him to his core. But he’d forced himself to refuse what she’d so innocently offered. And now he could see that she still resented him for it. But God, she’d have hated him if he’d accepted. She couldn’t have handled the aftermath of what would happen once they had sex. Sienna didn’t really know him. She hadn’t six years ago, and she sure as hell didn’t now.
The memory of how he’d let himself for the briefest moment consider taking her—taking her innocence—that night still had the ability to rattle him.
He’d always been very careful with his relationships—or lack thereof. Oh, he enjoyed having sex with women. Loved the power of knowing he could sleep with them and walk away. Especially when in some cases he had no option but to walk away. Not that he’d ever been tempted in the slightest otherwise.
But he’d known Sienna would be different. Had known walking away from her wouldn’t be quite as easy. So he’d turned her down.
Warrick scrubbed a hand down his jaw as he eyed her. The nearly full moon outside cast a small amount of light into the car, showed her twisting her hand in the cuff as she glared at him. He bit back the regret that slid through him.
“Dammit, Warrick, talk to me.”
He jerked his thoughts back to the present and blinked. What the hell were they even talking about?
Realization came back, reminding him what could’ve happened to her and dousing his memories like a bucket of ice water. Shifting the concern to her. Shit. Sienna didn’t even realize what she’d done yet, did she? Just how over her head she was.
“You betrayed your employer tonight. They’re not going to be thrilled.”
“Come on, Warrick, you know me better than that. Do you honestly think I’d be that stupid?” she scoffed and her expression took on a hint of smugness. “They won’t have had any idea I was the one who released them. I disabled all the cameras.”
No, Sienna wasn’t stupid. Shit, she’d done pretty well for an amateur, but pretty well wasn’t going to cut it in this case. “Not all of them, kid.”
Her body tensed, even as her gaze flashed with skepticism. “Look, I know I took all the cameras off-line before you tackled me like I was some skeevy shoplifter.”
“Yes, you took all the cameras off-line. But there’s one camera that’s not online,” he informed her quietly, taking no pleasure in the soft cry she made. The realization that sank in. “There’s one camera maybe they don’t want their employees to know about. Hidden in the corner. Not hooked up to any computers.”
She shook her head back and forth. “No.”
“Yes, Sienna. They may not be aware of what’s going on now, but you can bet your ass they’ll be reviewing that tape later when they realize the cell is empty.”
She stared at him for a long moment. Then her full, succulent lower lip began to tremble. Her icy blue gaze turned glossy with shock and drifted away to stare out the windshield.
Finally she slumped back against the seat and closed her eyes. “Oh, no. I totally screwed up,” she whispered. “They’ll fire me.”
He grunted softly, not quite convinced she would get off that easy. Feloray Laboratories had no reason to have shifters locked up in their lab. Only a handful of people even knew about the existence of shifters—with the government being most of that handful. The lab had some sinister motives for what had been happening in that run-down, piece-of-shit building, and Sienna was going to be one helluva liability to them now.