Rogue Wolf by Heather Long Page B

floor. “We have work to do. Your job, remember?”
    He half-expected her to lunge across the room at him. Instead, she trembled and his resolve to keep her at arms-length diminished. She blinked, then straightened and pushed away from the wall. Had he not been watching, he would have missed the brutal way she shut herself down, the control she possessed both incredible and terrifying. No wolf should close itself off in such a manner.
    “You’re right,” she growled as though the admission cost her, then closed her eyes and took another breath. The scent of arousal warmed the air, her release and his desire tangling together in a musk he wanted to saturate her and himself in.
    When she snatched the laptop from his hand, her gaze glittered, but they lacked her earlier defiance. Without looking at her machine, she said, “Would you excuse me a moment?”
    Salvatore paused, then nodded his head once. She didn’t quite flee, but her rush from the room tugged at him. Did she even realize she’d asked his permission? His wolf stretched, then raked claws along the inside of his skin. He wanted to go after her, finish what they’d started.
    Tempted, he took a step and his phone rang. Clenching his fists, he calmed his breathing before he answered. “What?”
    “My apologies, Alpha, for interrupting.” Giuseppe sounded a million miles away, despite the number of bars he had on his connection. The fact he’d apologized said more of Salvatore’s mood leaked than he cared to admit.
    “It is fine, Giuseppe. What is wrong?”
    “Nothing is wrong, but your mother received a message from Luciana. She refuses to disclose the contents of the message, however, and sent the Centurions guarding her estate too far away to listen in when her phone rang.”
    He didn’t curse. “Thank you Giuseppe. Put a trace on the estate’s phones. If Luciana called her once, she may call again. Then tell the Centurions they are under my orders, not my mother’s. They will stay on the property and near enough to protect her at all times.”
    “Of course, Alpha. I will take care of it.” He paused.
    Knowing Giuseppe well enough, Salvatore waited. His use of the titular Alpha and the deep notes of respect had already warned him of some other discovery.
    “Alpha, we have one other piece of information and I hesitate to share it because I know you believe your sister the victim in this.” Which spoke volumes to Giuseppe’s opinion.
    “Tell me anyway.” He kept his tone even. “Her innocence is not yours to decide, nor is what information you share with me.”
    “Yes, sir.” Contrition and submission wound into two simple words. “Luciana married Signor Barrows in Florence. They paused there on their run north before they flew out of Switzerland. We have confirmation of both.”
    Married?
    Keeping his grip on his temper, Salvatore locked his jaw. Mates sometimes married, sometimes they didn’t. It mattered little in the pack, unless they wished to avoid issues with the local Catholic population. “Find the certificate, then track any video footage. I would be very interested in seeing them before and after.” Not waiting for Giuseppe’s confirmation, he hung up the phone.
    A soft scuff of a footstep told him Margo returned. “So I should be looking for a Luciana Barrows, not Esposito?”
    No comment on their shared moment. No tart challenge to his sister’s choice. Glancing sideways, he found a rough sympathy in her expression. “Yes.”
    “I’m on it. Do you want to go over this tonight or would you like to get some sleep?”
    What he wanted was to fuck them both into oblivion and satisfy the craving he’d tasted in her and continued to experience. If they spent any more time together that evening, it was exactly what he would do. “You need sleep. Go to bed, Margo. We will continue this in the morning.”
    Surprisingly, she didn’t argue with him. Disappointment curved through him when she pivoted and walked out of the