Page 21 of Cops and Robbers

“Why go through the trouble and leave me a note?” he asked huskily.

“No one had ever caught me before. Think of it as occupational curiosity.” That was a lie. She’d wanted him to chase. And now that her suspicions about him were coming to fruition, she just needed to find proof that he really was one of the secretive Dragon SEALs before confronting him. His home was the best place she could have hoped to search.

Raz sighed. Turning toward the refrigerator, he ran his hand through his hair and opened the freezer. His lifted arm showed the bottom of his tattoo, a being with wings she couldn’t quite make out carrying a trident and an anchor. She’d seen similar tattoos on Navy SEALs from the research she’d done. Stepping closer, she saw the animal wasn’t an eagle like she’d seen.

It was a dragon.

Her heart skipped.

“What’s with your ink?” she asked, attempting to hide the breathlessness in her voice.

He glanced over and pulled his sleeve up. “It’s something I got with my friends after we served.”

“Navy SEALs, huh?”

“Hooyah,” he said, voicing their battle cry into the fridge.

Kate licked her lips. The fullness in her chest made her want to ask him, but she paused. First, she’d try to do some digging around his house and find out what the Dragon SEALs were working on before she made her move.

With deft, quiet fingers, she unpinned the note she had left him from the board. When she turned, eyes stared at her from under a pair of pointed ears. For some reason, the judgmental eyes made her feel as if the cat had read her every thought.

Rogue, the tabby stray he had taken in, normally hid when guests were over, but today he lay purring on the kitchen counter as Kate pet him. Damn traitor, Raz thought, trying not to stare at the twins, Kate’s fox hood still over her head.

“Wouldn’t have pictured you as a cat person,” she said, delight sparkling in her gaze as she looked at Rogue.

Raz sighed. You still think this is a good idea? He pointed his thoughts toward his screaming instincts that told him to trust her and bring her to his home. Sharing his personal space might lower her guard, and it was the safest option for confronting her about her Fallen side. After all, he understood they were both supernatural and played by different rules.

What was he supposed to do with her? And why, for the life of him, could he not treat her like a criminal? He still didn’t know if she was Midnight, though another strike went against her for being from Japan like Matsuda, but he’d forfeited the handcuffs without a second thought, his dragon pushing at him to protect. He’d given her the opportunity to run away without a second thought. He just needed answers; then he could figure out what to do next. First, according to his training, he needed to work up a rapport before confrontation.

“Are you hungry? I’m hungry,” he muttered, twisting back to find something to eat, the freezer door still in his grasp.

“Oh, you’re going to cook for me?”

“Don’t get too excited, princess.”

“Please stop calling me that.” The sincerity in her voice pulled him to turn toward her.

She pet Rogue with slow movements as a serene darkness crossed her expression.

“Why?” he asked, though he had to wonder if her aversion had something to do with her being an orphan.

She looked up at him from under her thick eyelashes. “It’s not sexy? How about kitten…that’ll suit me.”

More like foxy in that sexy…He squeezed the fridge handle. Onesie? Come on, Raz…you’re losing it. An image of her naked on that aerial silk flitted across his mind, performing as she had earlier. Warmth built in his groin. Shit. Get your head straight.

He forced his brain to remember the WWII black market auction Midnight had struck to steal Lucifer’s Bell, leaving Lukas to die in Raz’s arms. Matsuda could afford the piece ten times over, but he had sent Midnight to send a message. To whom—the Dragon SEALs still hadn’t figured that out. Raz had been searching for that Bell ever since he’d…he’d abandoned what was left of his clan. And now another evil had it.

Time to play good cop. He grabbed a large frozen pizza from the freezer with tight fingers. While he fetched a tray from a cabinet and preheated the oven, Kate meandered to his fridge. From the clanking sounds, he believed she was messing with his magnets.

“What’s your kitty’s name?” she asked.

“Rogue.”

“Nice to meet you. You’re such a cute little guy,” she cooed. “Okay, well, bye, Rogue.”

A plop echoed behind Raz as the cat jumped off the counter. After Raz stuck the pizza in the oven, he walked to the refrigerator. Cold beer tempted him, but he took a water bottle instead. Closing the door, he eyed Kate’s refrigerator masterpiece. She had placed the hotel note he had pinned to the board onto the fridge with his magnets arranged in a heart around it.

This woman!