Kingpin Bear (A Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (The Agency Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

downtown.”
    He nodded along, wondering when it was going to get to the pertinent part. Time was not on their side at the moment, but he held his breath. After all, he had ordered her to tell him everything.
    “The guy who told me he was my new boss was a bit of a creep, but I just brushed that off,” she said, following in his footsteps as he made his way back to his truck and began to toss more gear inside. “I’m used to that. There are creepers everywhere who will hit on anyone. So I reported like ordered.”
    “And then what happened?” he prodded, trying to move it along a tad faster.
    “I got there this morning, and it all just felt… wrong. Really wrong. All the men were dressed the same. They were rude and acted as if I were practically nonexistent. It got worse as I prepared to head upstairs. Then three big men were in the elevator, and something told me that if I didn’t get out of the building, I never would have left. So I freaked out, got ridiculously lucky and sneaked back into the elevator, and left.”
    Jared frowned. “So what does any of that have to do with us and you coming here?”
    “They started following me. Chasing me really,” she said, and again he got the impression she was telling him no lies, but she certainly wasn’t including the entire truth. “I was never going to make it to a police station. So I came out here.”
    “Let me get this straight,” he said. “Some guys at work gave you the creeps. So you decided to drive out to what the news is calling a terrorist hideout, and hope they could protect you?”
    Nadia’s shoulders sagged. “Yeah, when you put it that way, it sounds absolutely stupid, doesn’t it?”
    Jared barked a laugh. “That’s one way to put it,” he said mildly. He thought about calling her on her avoidance, but decided he didn’t have the time. Or perhaps he was letting her beauty, the little button nose, the slightly thicker swath of freckles below her eyes, or the thickness of her rear push aside his objections. Either way, he knew he wouldn’t be doing it now.
    “So what do you want from us?” he asked, still not positive about that.
    “Protection?” she asked.
    “For how long?”
    “As long as I need it?”
    He snorted. “That could be forever if you’ve pissed off the people that are coming here.”
    “Oh,” she said uncomfortably. “If I get away from the city, will I be safe?”
    “Safer,” he said. “Stick with me, and we’ll see about that.” He left it unsaid that she would have to come clean before that would happen, but the unhappy look in her eyes told him that Nadia picked up on it.
    “Where are you going now?” she asked, grabbing a bag and trying to lift it. “Oh,” she said as the bag barely budged.
    Jared reached over and casually lifted it from the ground and hurled it into his truck.
    “Another secret terrorist base,” he said dryly.
    The woman visibly flinched.
    “We’re not actually terrorists,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “Just people not welcome here anymore.”
    “I know,” she said, the inflection on her tone making him wonder just how much she truly did know about them.
    Jared turned as noise came from the tunnel.
     

Chapter Four
    Nadia
    More people emerged from a canvas-lined tunnel. Most of them shot her a curious look, followed by surprise washing over their faces as they saw the ruin of her car and the garage door.
    “Okay, let’s go!” the big man, Jared, shouted. “Howlers, you two first, get out of here.”
    Two people smaller in stature than the huge men Jared’s size that had been hanging in the cavernous space with her jumped into a truck and took off, tires screeching as they flew through the hole she had created with her entrance.
    “We’re good to go in here,” a woman said, the same one who had been present when Nadia first regained her wits.
    “You two, scram,” he said, pointing to two more large men. They were the size of his friends, but stood slightly aloof