Page 39 of Betrayed Pregnant Mate

***

I wake up from a deep sleep when I hear a knock on the apartment door. When I glance at my phone, I see it’s the middle of the night. Opening the doorbell camera app on my phone, I’m able to see who it is at the door.

Veronica stiffens next to me, and I realize she can see it, too.

“Shit,” I say, setting the phone down as indescribable rage and protectiveness floor through my body. I want to kill that guy for bothering her, and making her feel unsafe. For having the absolute fucking gall to come to my front door. “I’m going to—”

“No,” she says, swinging her legs out of the bed. She grabs my shirt from the floor and throws it on over her head, stalking out of the room as I get out of the bed, too, quickly yanking on my pants and following her out of the room as she says, “I’m handling this, once and for all.”

I think of how upset she had been with me when I stepped in last time, and I decide to let her handle it, though I’m prepared to step in at a moment’s notice. I hover right behind her as she opens the door a crack, peering outside angrily.

“I told you—” she starts, before the guy flashes a badge I know I’ve seen before.

“Agent Diaz,” he says, his voice low, authoritative. “We got off on the wrong foot—”

“Yeah, right,” Veronica laughs, “like I’m going to fall for that shit. My boyfriend is here, and he’s going to kick your ass when I’m done with it.”

My chest lights up with joy when she calls me her boyfriend, even though I know she only said it to scare this guy off. Normally, I would agree with her assumption that the badge is just a ploy to get him to back off, but I’ve seen that badge before.

“Wait,” I say, ignoring her sound of indignation when I push past her and take the badge from him. I pull my phone out, turn on the flashlight, and scan it.

It’s for a new agency, the one developed by paranormals to replace the government agency. Aris told us about it in a meeting nearly a month ago. I look up at the guy standing outside the door, my mind racing.

What are the chances he would know what it looked like, and make a fake one.

“I just want to talk,” he says, his voice muffled through the nearly-shut door. “Just hear me out, then I’ll leave. I swear.”

“How did you find my apartment?” I ask, eyes narrowing on his form through the door.

“Was in the database,” he says, and then quieter, “and also, surveillance.”

I glance back at Veronica. She’s chewing on her bottom lip, her fingers playing with the ends of her hair. This clearly stresses her out, but I can’t deny that I’m curious to see what he says.

“Let him in,” she says, “after I get dressed.”

A moment later, Veronica and I are fully dressed. I’m sitting in the living room with him while Veronica brews a pot of coffee in the kitchen.

“When did you join that agency?”

“Two years ago, after I realized the other one was corrupt.”

“Took you that long to notice?”

“I wanted things to be straight.”

“Who was your commander?”

“Putsky.”

Faintly, I remember the name of a different task force. The vampire task force. There were very few vamps working at the agency, on account of there being very few vamps who wanted peace among paranormals and humans, but many of the ones who were there were half-breeds.

“What are you, then?”

“That’s what I’d like to explain,” he says, his eyes darting up as Veronica walks into the room, holding a tray with three cups of coffee. After she sets it down, and we each take ours, he reaches out, mumbling a thank you before taking a sip.

“Not gonna lie,” he says, smiling after his first drink. “I kind of thought this was going to be poisoned.”

“Just spit it out,” Veronica says, her voice lethal. “Don’t waste any more of my fucking time.”

---