Bad Cat Baby Blues (Shifter Squad Six 3) by Anya Nowlan Page A

fucking afraid, she smiled.
    “What do you have for me, Ari?” he asked, omitting greetings as he pulled a chair and slouched down on it, leaning his elbows on the backrest.
    Her throat went dry with his striking eyes on her. Spirits above, he was even more gorgeous than she’d remembered him. All hard, cut, brooding, and dangerous, he was everything she wasn’t supposed to want and everything she needed just as badly. Ari had been with plenty of bad boys in her life but she’d always known that the fun couldn’t be permanent, that it was something to pass the time with because guys like Dutch couldn’t be tamed, and she definitely wasn’t the woman who wanted to tame anyone.
    But for Dutch, she could make an exception.
    No, bad Ari! He’s a crazed psycho, even if he is Ro’s dad. Get your hormones in check.
    Ari nodded, pulling up a file on the computer. Spade had given her the go-ahead to tell Dutch whatever he needed to know, and the irony wasn’t lost on her when he told her that Squad Six had been assigned to Soyo’s detail. They were available to strike when enough data came through to pin Soyo to a solid location and they’d be the muscle extracting him.
    Even with everything she knew about Spade, Ari hadn’t thought that he’d be evil enough to stick her on the same team with the man he was using to extort her to work for him to begin with. Sitting back, she should have understood that it was exactly like something Spade would do. If not for the outcome then at least for the kicks and the giggles. Asshole.
    “Carter Sawyer. He’s a Firm operative,” she started, and Dutch cut in as soon as she’d gotten the first few words out.
    “The hell he is,” he growled, his deep voice making her skin pimple in goose bumps, remembering all the dirty things he’d told her during their nights together.
    “Yeah, he is. I haven’t met him myself and he’s sort of young for The Firm. No service time either, but they’ve been training him since he was sixteen. He’s an undercover operative, doing the same shit that I did. Supposed to infiltrate and get the dirt on the marks before either getting out of there or finishing the job.”
    Dutch took the mouse from her hand and scrolled through the file, utter astonishment written on his face. His eyes went wide and a vein throbbed on his neck, making her want to put a hand on his to calm him. But that was not her place and she was supposed to be keeping him as far away as she could, not falling right back into the trap of his arresting sex-appeal and sexy vulnerability.
    “Shit. Carter, the fuck have you been up to,” he muttered, letting go of the mouse and falling back in his seat.
    His eyes were sad and he looked at a loss for words. Ari bit her lip, her heart breaking for him and she wasn’t even sure why. It seemed like she could sense his disappointment, his hurt, now even more than last night. It was confusing and maddening and scary as hell.
    “How do you know him?” Ari asked, trying to keep the conversation on track.
    “He’s the kid of a guy I knew back in the service. Carter’s dad saved me. Me and a bunch of other sorry bums. We didn’t deserve it to be honest, but he did it anyway, and I promised I’d keep his boy safe. Looks like I failed him real fast,” Dutch said, his expression blank.
    “I don’t think it’s that bad,” Ari said, frowning slightly. “I mean, he’s a highly trained individual, especially for his age. A real natural, it seems. His trainers have all gushed about him and that’s probably why he got sent in so young, too. Because he’s special.”
    “Special enough to die for The Firm’s causes, yeah,” Dutch snorted. “I wouldn’t let him enlist, you know. I told him he was too fucking young to do it, been telling him for years. That he needs to grow up before he does it, he needs to know how the world works before he decides to destroy it. Guess he listened to me and decided to blow it apart