Page 66 of Don't Bait Me (Nora Jacobs 3)

I glare at the woman and point at Henry again. “Why would you let him out? He deserves to be in jail. He kidnapped me! Oliver was left to die!”

Director West’s calm expression never falters. “It was the mercenaries that kidnapped you and left Oliver in the cold.”

“At Henry’s request!”

“It’s not as bad as it seems. His orders were simply to bring you to him and not harm anyone. And he had every intention of letting you go unharmed.”

“Not as bad as it seems?You’ve got to be kidding me!”I know I’m throwing a temper tantrum, but I can’t stop shouting. I can’t believe she’s defending the bastard. “Director West, whether he intended to hurt me or not, he still had me kidnapped. And Oliver was attacked because of him! And hedidhurt me! Heviolatedme! Again! He compelled me so I couldn’t move, forced his way into my mind, and stole a bunch of my private memories!”

I guess Henry hadn’t told Director West that part, because she shoots Henry an exasperated look. He stares back without a shred of shame. The bastard.

“Has he ever forced his way into your head, Director West? Has he ever compelled you?”

Director West eyes me warily. “No. He hasn’t.”

“Well, it’s likerape.” Director West flinches. “It’s terrifying, and violating, and it hurts like a bitch. It’s despicable—a grotesque misuse of his power—and he deserves to be punished for it.”

Director West places a hand on my arm, trying to calm me down. “And he will be,” she promises. She couldn’t be more patronizing if she tried. “I promise you, I will take care of Henry. But for tonight, we need to work with him and his security team. It’s his casino we’re going to, and if you haven’t noticed, we’re a small agency. We only have a handful of field agents. We don’t have the manpower for the operation you’re trying to execute. We need Henry’s men.”

I still say this is bullshit. Maybe we need to use Henry’s casino and maybe we need the help of his security team, but we don’t needhim. We could still run this op with Henry behind bars.

I grind my teeth and stomp over to the corner, where my guys are all silently seething. My guess is that they’ve already had this exact argument with Director West and got about as far with it as I did. “Unbelievable,” I mutter. I stop in front of Illren. “I should have just let you kill him.”

Illren slides a calm glance across the room. “I can still do it, if you’d like. I could take out the Director as well, if you wish.”

Henry hisses at the threat.

“Henry!” Director West snaps. “For heaven’s sake, get a hold of yourself!”

I don’t think she’d be as annoyed with him if she’d heard Illren’s threat. I glare at Henry some more and tell my assassin, “No, thank you. But if he ever touches me again, you have my permission to do whatever you want with him.”

Henry clenches his jaw and narrows his eyes at me. My threat was definitely received, and I think he understands that I’m not kidding. Not at all. If he touches me again, all bets are off. In fact, if he doesn’t quit staring at me, I might let Illren off his leash here and now.

As if they can sense me losing it, my guys hold me back. Parker gently wraps his arm around me from behind. “Take a deep breath, Nora. We need you to focus if you’re going to be safe tonight,” he murmurs softly.

His warm voice tickles my neck, and my eyes flutter shut. I do as he says and take several calming breaths. When my heart has slowed and I’m no longer seeing only red, I open my eyes. Henry is still in my direct line of sight, and he’s glaring with red eyes at the man holding me. His hatred for Parker is astronomical. “Illren,” I say, locking my stare on Henry. “Just so we’re clear, the free for all on Henry applies if he or any of his vampires so much as touch any member of our clan, not just me.”

“Understood,” Illren murmurs.

I stare Henry down a few moments longer, then ask, “Did you at least find the man you stole from my memory? Did you see him on any security footage?”

Henry takes his sweet time answering me. The glow leaves his eyes and he puts the fangs away, becoming all business. “Not that we can confirm. We found a potential, but he was wearing a cap and had his head down the entire time, as if he were purposefully avoiding his face being caught on camera.”

Figures. “So it was all for nothing.” I scoff. “You kidnapped me and forced yourself into my head again fornothing.”

Henry mulls over my words a moment, then slowly says, “I wouldn’t say it was all for nothing. I found it very informative.”

I’m not sure if he’s talking about seeing in my memory that I’m with all three of my new boyfriends, or that I have the power to control him with my siren’s song. Probably both.

His lips move at the corners just a millimeter. But it’s enough to make him look smug. His voice turns taunting when he says, “I also found it to be verypleasurable. We should really do it again sometime.”

Aaaannnnddd my bitch switch is flipped. I lunge forward, ready to tear the bastard’s head off myself. “You son of a bitch!”

Both Parker and Rook grab me and hold me back. I fight against them, spewing curses and insults at Henry until Nick steps between us and shouts, “Enough!” His attention is on me. “I need your head in the game tonight, Nora. Can you do this or not?”

I sober instantly. He’s right. There are more important things going on than my problems with Henry. “Yes. Sorry. I’m calm now. I can handle it.”

Nick, still as serious as I’ve ever seen him, nods. “Good.” He pulls his badge from his inside jacket pocket and hands the leather case over to me. “Then this is for you.”

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