"And if he can behave in a professional manner" - Angus gave him a pointed look - "I'll be promoting him to head of security here at Romatech."

Phineas halted in the middle of his dance routine, his eyes widening with shock. "No shit? I mean, really, sir?"

Angus's mouth twitched. "Really. Ye'll be in charge here. Connor will still be around, but his main focus is keeping Roman and his family safe."

"Aye, aye, Captain." Phineas saluted.

Angus turned to Caitlyn. "Ye'll have to undergo some self-defense training. Carlos has been assigned as yer trainer until he leaves on his trip."

Caitlyn took a deep breath. Where was Carlos going? Was it the trip he had argued about last night before getting slapped and punched? He'd mentioned something about needing a mate, but she didn't want to dwell on that. The important thing now was that he was going to train her. That meant time alone together.

"Let me get the forms for you to fill out." Emma slipped into the office, and Angus followed her.

Caitlyn stepped inside and was instantly intrigued by the wall of surveillance monitors. She spotted the main foyer and hallways in Romatech and recognized the cafeteria. She saw the front parking lot and the basketball court. The gazebo and gardens.

She gulped with a sudden thought. If anyone had been in this office last night, they would have seen her and Carlos kissing. She struggled to remember. When she'd returned to the cafeteria, Howard had been there, eating cake. Maybe the kiss was still secret. The hottest, most glorious kiss of her life.

She turned away from the monitors and noticed that the back of the office was caged off. What a huge arsenal of guns, rifles, and swords! Her skin prickled with alarm.

The most violent act she'd ever perpetrated in her twenty-six years was the smashing of cockroaches with her rain boots. And that had been a traumatic experience, considering the gargantuan size of roaches in Southeast Asia. She might be a complete wimp when it came to a big, vicious vampire with fangs.

Think of this as an adventure, she reminded herself. She'd always hated violence, but she loved adventure. And she wasn't one to give up easily. She'd been brave enough to live in strange, exotic places. Strong enough to survive even though she'd always felt alone.

She wasn't alone now. She would have Shanna and these new friends. As she mentally calmed herself, she became aware of a prickling sensation on the back of her neck, as if she was being watched. She turned slowly. Phineas was lounging in a chair in front of the desk. He gave her a friendly smile.

She smiled back. It wasn't him. This was something hot and...dangerous, like she was being targeted as prey. Angus and Emma were standing in front of the desk, their backs to her as they rummaged through papers.

She stiffened. Seated behind the desk, barely visible in a narrow gap between Angus and Emma, was Carlos. He was staring at her with those intense eyes that glowed like amber. Every nerve fiber inside her sizzled.

She lifted her eyebrows. Was he just going to sit there and refuse to talk to her? "How do you do?"

His jaw ticked.

Angus turned toward her. "Miss Whelan, I believe ye met Carlos last night."

She opened her mouth to say yes, but was taken aback by the twinkling amusement in Angus's eyes. Did he know about the kiss?

"We met." Carlos stood slowly. "Briefly."

"I saw him playing basketball," Caitlyn murmured.

"Oh yeah, man." Phineas leaned back in his chair. "Carlos was the star player on the Claws team. He leaves those wolfie boys in the shade."

"Aye." Angus gave Carlos a pointed look. "I believe ye scored big last night." He glanced at Caitlyn, then back at Carlos. "'Twill no' interfere with yer duties, will it?"

Carlos's tanned face took on a reddish hue. "No, sir."

Caitlyn felt her own cheeks warm with a blush. Angus knows.

"We've added more security measures at the townhouse," Angus continued. "Phineas and Carlos, I'd like for ye to move back there. We doona need one of our guards here if all the Vamps do their death-sleeping at the townhouse. Since Miss Whelan is living there, 'twill make it more convenient for you, Carlos. Ye can train her during the day while ye're guarding the Vamps."

Carlos nodded. "I'll pack my things." He skirted the desk and strode from the office.

Emma gathered up a stack of papers. "Come with me, Caitlyn. You can fill these out in the conference room."

Caitlyn followed her into the hallway. As Emma entered a room across the hall, Caitlyn paused to watch Carlos. He had almost reached the foyer. He was dressed like Phineas, with a navy polo shirt and khaki pants, but the ordinary clothes couldn't hide the extraordinary way he moved. Stealthy and controlled, masculine yet graceful. She could imagine him as a cat stalking prey in the jungle.

He turned into the foyer, glanced back, and stopped. For a sizzling moment their eyes met. Then his heated gaze meandered down her body and lingered on her bare legs, before heading back to her face. Her knees grew weak. How much beast lurked beneath his handsome human exterior? Would he purr if she tickled him behind the ears?

"Caitlyn?" Emma called to her.

"Yes." Reluctantly, she turned away from Carlos's hot amber gaze. She entered the conference room, then took a seat in the chair that Emma indicated. With great effort, she attempted to shove all thoughts of Carlos away so she could concentrate on business.

"We have some forms for you to fill out." Emma placed the papers on the table in front of her. "And you can choose which kind of insurance plan you want."

"Thank you." Caitlyn retrieved a pen from her portfolio, along with her resume and referrals.

"I'll issue a sidearm to you while you work. Be right back." Emma strode from the room.

A sidearm? Caitlyn swallowed hard. Her father had always owned guns, and he'd taught her and her brother about gun safety. Over the years, he'd taken Dylan often to a shooting range. He'd only taken her once. No doubt the humiliation had been too much to bear.

She groaned inwardly. Should she admit to Emma how much guns scared her? Or how she couldn't hit the side of a barn?

She shook the doubts away. Her disastrous trip to the shooting range had been ten years ago. She would do better now. She had to. Her life might depend on it.

Her dad's stash of weapons made more sense now that she knew he'd always been employed by the CIA. As a young girl, she'd grown up believing he worked for the State Department in a peaceful office setting. He'd lied about that. Now she was left wondering what other lies he'd told. Why hadn't Shanna received any of her letters?

She pushed aside her suspicions and started filling out the forms. After a few minutes, Emma entered the room and set a small box on the table.

"This is plastic short-range training ammunition." She opened the box so Caitlyn could see the contents. "I've issued you a nine millimeter automatic. Carlos is busy packing, so I asked Phineas to take you to our indoor firing range down in the basement."

"Okay." Caitlyn cast a wary look at the ammunition. Even though the bullets were plastic, they still looked pointed and deadly.

Emma perched on the end of the table. "Carlos is in a hurry to go on his trip, so if you don't mind, he'll start your self-defense training tomorrow."

Caitlyn's heart pounded in anticipation. "Okay."

Emma watched her closely. "Remember how I said vampires have enhanced senses? I can actually hear your heartbeat. It just sped up."

Caitlyn's face grew warm. "I'm...excited about this new job."

"Angus told me what he saw on a monitor last night."

Caitlyn winced. "It was nothing. Really." Just the hottest kiss she'd ever experienced.

"Well, perhaps Angus exaggerated." Emma smiled. "He can be such a hopeless romantic. He said you and Carlos shared a kiss that was so hot, he feared you would set the garden on fire."

It was that obvious? Caitlyn's cheeks blazed with heat. "I...it just happened. I don't usually kiss strangers."

"I'm not judging you." Emma touched her arm. "I'm just concerned for you."

Caitlyn let loose a deep sigh, and her shoulders drooped. "Shanna told me not to get involved with him."

Emma's gaze was full of sympathy. "That may be for the best. He's leaving soon on an expedition to hunt for more of his own kind."

"Were-panthers?"

"Yes. They're an endangered species," Emma explained. "As far as we know, he and his five adopted children are the only were-panthers left."

Caitlyn's heart sank. Now she knew why Carlos was rejecting her. He needed a were-panther mate.

Emma gave her a curious look. "But it does seem odd that he would kiss you when he's planning to leave."

Caitlyn shrugged. "It was...just one of those things. I won't have any trouble working with him."

"You don't want to kiss him again?"

Caitlyn opened her mouth to agree, but her throat constricted and she couldn't force the words out. Good God, she was dying to kiss him again.

"Oh, dear." Emma sat back. "Perhaps we should have Lara or Olivia train you."

"I want Carlos," she blurted out, then winced. "I mean in a professional type of relationship. Strictly business."

Emma snorted. "I know a Freudian slip when I hear one." She tapped her fingers on the table. "Interesting."

"He is."

"I meant the situation." Emma gave her a worried look. "You need to think about this."

Caitlyn sighed. She knew that, but whenever Carlos was around, her thinking process went haywire.

Emma stood and gathered up the papers. "We're done here. Phineas will take you down to the firing range."

Chapter Seven

Carlos strode down the hall toward the MacKay security office, his duffel bag in hand, his head throbbing, and his angry frustration barely in check. Caitlyn Whelan was screwing up everything.

He'd wanted to catch a plane to Thailand tomorrow, but no. He had to stay in New York so he could train her. He couldn't refuse when Angus was the one funding his trip.

He'd wanted to hunt for his mate, full of anticipation for discovering the perfect were-panther woman, but no. Caitlyn Whelan kept invading his thoughts and dreams. He had a doomed feeling that no woman of any species would excite him like she did.

How could fate be so cruel? He snorted. Why did he even question it? He'd already lost all his family and most of his species. No one knew better than he did how cruel life could be.

He'd paced angrily in his bedroom in the basement for twenty minutes before packing his few belongings and heading back to the office. Hopefully, she would have finished filling out forms by now. Hopefully, she would be on her way back to the townhouse.

But he would still have to live there with her. And train her. Merda. Maybe she would be like Toni and learn martial arts quickly. Or maybe she'd be like Lara and Olivia and already know how to fight and wield a weapon. That would be even better. A few days of training and he'd be able to leave.

But would he be able to forget her?

He heard a squeal from the nursery that sounded like Constantine. The Draganestis must have arrived while he was downstairs.

He jogged up to the half door to peer inside. Tino was all right. He was opening a birthday present from his grandfather.

"This is cool, Grandpa!" Tino admired a boxed remote-controlled police car. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." Sean Whelan's usual harsh expression melted into a loving smile as he tousled the little boy's blond curls. "I'm sorry I had to miss the party."

"That's okay." Tino hugged him, then went to work ripping open the box.

Sean glanced at Carlos and frowned. "I've seen you around here before. Who are you?"

"This is Carlos Panterra, one of our day guards," Shanna quickly explained before he could answer. She was sitting in the rocking chair, holding Sofia in her lap.

Sean continued to regard Carlos suspiciously. "Are you a mortal, then?"

Carlos gave him a bland look. "At the moment."

Sean's blue eyes narrowed. "Explain."

Carlos shrugged. "Why should I?"

Sean stepped toward him. "I could haul you in for questioning. What kind of accent is that? Where are you from?"

Carlos's jaw clenched. One more reason Caitlyn was all wrong for him. Her father was an ass hole. He smiled slowly, envisioning Sean's reaction if he found out about the kiss Carlos had shared with his daughter.

A sudden hot blast crashed against his brow, wiping the smile off his face. He immediately blocked Sean's attempt to invade his mind, but it took all of his concentration. For a mortal, Sean's psychic power was incredibly strong.

"You're not getting in, Whelan," Carlos gritted out.

"Dad, leave him alone," Shanna muttered.

Sean dropped the mind probe but continued to glare at Carlos. "You're not a normal mortal."

"He's a shifter," Shanna explained. "I told you Angus had a few in his employ."

Sean gave his daughter a horrified look. "He's one of those damned werewolves? And you let him around the children?"

"Carlos is nice," Tino mumbled. "I like him."

"Me, too," Sofia said.

Sean frowned at the children. "You'd better stay away from him when there's a full moon."

"The children are perfectly safe," Shanna insisted.

"Yes." Carlos leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms. "It's been ages since I gobbled up a small child for breakfast."