Brawn - Laurann Dohner [123]
Chapter Twenty
Justice North, leader of the NSO, watched Tim Oberto from across his desk. Tim studied him too, a worried expression on his face. Justice felt dread at having to tell Tim the news, not certain how the man would react. Jessie, his mate, walked into the office. Justice frowned at her surprise arrival.
Jessie stared at her mate, shrugged and winked. “He’s my old boss. I know him better and I think I should be the one to handle this.”
Justice hesitated. Part of him was relieved but the other part worried the male would lose his temper. He noticed the determined look on his mate’s beautiful face though and nodded his consent. No way was he going to tell her no and have her accuse him of not trusting her. He did, with his very life.
Jessie licked her lips and her gaze lowered to his mouth. She promised silently that she would show her appreciation of his trust later. Justice relaxed in his chair. His mate could handle the leader of the human task force and the tough situation. His mate was fierce.
“Hi, Tim. How are you?” Jessie sat on the edge of the desk.
“Jessie!” Tim grinned and his body relaxed. “What are you doing here? I mean, I know you are working for the NSO and dating Justice now but why are you at this meeting?”
“I wanted to be here. Justice and I got married.”
Tim gasped. His gaze darted between them but he finally smiled. “Well, I’ll be damned. Congratulations.”
Jessie grinned. “Thanks.” She glanced at her mate. “I’ve never been happier.”
Justice chuckled. “Me neither. Jessie completes my life. When I claimed her at the bar, it was forever, Tim. Marriage was bound to happen. I respect your human traditions.”
“That’s great.” Tim nodded. “I’m happy for you both. Is this why you called a private meeting, Justice? You said it had something to do with a human and a New Species. Do you need help with more security? I’m sure when the press finds out there’s going to be a big hoopla about it and your gates are going to be flooded with reporters and protestors. We’ll handle it though.”
“No. This isn’t about that. We’ve managed to keep a lid on that secret. This is actually about a personal matter involving you.”
Tim frowned. “Me?”
Justice nodded. Jessie suddenly stood and moved to the chair next to her old boss. Her gaze flicked to her husband before settling on Tim.
“I need you to remain calm and professional. You need to hear me out before you hit the roof. Can you do that for me, Tim?”
He looked confused. “Okay.”
Jessie took a deep breath. “This relates to when Rebecca and Brawn were kidnapped and taken by Mercile Industries employees.”
Rage instantly tensed his features. “Is there another threat to my girl?”
“You need to remain calm, all right?” Jessie regarded him. “I need you in professional mode. Set your feelings aside for a few minutes until I’m done explaining. This involves Rebecca but she’s absolutely fine, happy and safe. Don’t think there’s some kind of threat against her. There isn’t. Can you just please remain calm and hear me out?”
Tim didn’t look composed but nodded.
“The situation was very stressful and Rebecca didn’t tell you everything that happened. She was afraid you’d go ballistic.”
Tim suddenly gripped his chair. “Goddamn, Jessie. She was raped, wasn’t she? She lied to me and that’s why she took off to Europe. I knew it! I even think I know who did it. I saw he was scratched and had a bite mark on him. That bastard raped my baby, didn’t he?”
“She wasn’t raped,” Jessie assured him. “Calm down and let me finish?”
He gritted his teeth and jerked his head in a nod.
“The doctor running the lab they were taken to was selling semen samples from Species men. You were banned from knowing the details because we were afraid you’d think the worst. They were selling the samples to some foreign person or company we’re still tracking. They had three canine Species males but they needed a feline and planned to try to kidnap a primate mix next. Their contact in Europe wanted to buy a set of the Species males. Primate, canine