A Forbidden Love (4 page)

Jamie nodded without even looking in his direction, and Alison leaned back in her chair, relaxing visibly as she folded her arms across her chest. With Aidan leaving the room, this was Jamie's chance to talk to Alison. Unfortunately he still had to deal with the cameras Kyle had installed everywhere somehow...

"Can I get you a coffee?" Jamie asked.

Alison looked up at him but didn't reply. Her eyes locked onto his and he was lost. They would have sat there opposite each other, just staring at one another indefinitely if Jamie's phone hadn't broken the spell.

He stole a glance at the screen. Damn. "I'm sorry, I need to take this. I'll be right back," Jamie mumbled, while getting up and rushing out the door, leaving Alison behind. Of all the times for his superiors at the Alliance to phone up, they had to pick this exact moment. Typical.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Abbott. Any progress?" the strict voice on the other end demanded. Alliance council member Adrian Blacke had never been one for small talk.

"The prisoners have kept their mouths shut. We're questioning another lead right now, the human who gave us the websites." Jamie felt his heart rate go up as he thought about Alison. It was his duty to report on what they were up to, but if it were up to him, he'd rather keep Alison's presence a secret. Thanks to his own demand to have video in place in the new interrogation room, he didn't have that option anymore. Blacke would see the footage sooner or later.

"I see. We will send in someone to take those prisoners off your hands within the next 48 hours. You're not equipped to keep them there, and if they're not talking to you anyway, perhaps we'll have more luck."

"But... we're not done questioning them yet," Jamie interjected.

"You have two days. That's all," Blacke said. With that, the conversation was over. The decision to transfer the prisoners had already been made and there was nothing Jamie could do or say to change that.

At least they didn't want to take over Alison's interrogation as well. Yet.

Jamie was still agitated when he slipped the phone back into his jeans. Coffee, that's what he needed.

He headed down the hall and through the door at the end, locking it behind himself, then rushed down the stairs leading down to the office. Aidan was already there and nursing a cup of the steamy hot liquid while going over some of the video footage with Kyle.

"How about the other angle, show me the other angle," Aidan remarked, leaning in closer as Kyle complied with his request. This could take a while. Good.

Jamie stuffed a couple of packets of sugar and creamer into his pocket and emptied the remaining coffee waiting in the coffee maker into two mugs. Then he headed back up the same way he came without disturbing any of the others. He had to get back to Alison, and learn whatever he could before Aidan cut his break short.

Back upstairs, he opened the door to the interrogation room and was relieved to find Alison exactly where he'd left her. Not that she would have had anywhere else to go.

"I wasn't sure how you take it, so here you go," Jamie said, placing the mug as well as the packets he'd brought in front of her on the table.

"Thanks," Alison whispered.

That voice... It made the hairs on Jamie's arms stand up straight, but in a good way.

He watched as Alison fixed her coffee. She had the most elegant fingers, like a concert pianist. He couldn't stop staring at her, she was mesmerizing to watch.

Alison took a first, tentative sip and closed her eyes.

What could Jamie say to her? How could he get her out of this room without raising any suspicion? And if he did, how could he resist the urge to let his inner bear claim her right then and there?

Jamie cleared his throat and Alison looked up from her mug. "This is a bit awkward, so I'm just going to come right out with it," he mumbled.

Alison blinked, waiting for Jamie to continue. He had to force himself to look away or he was convinced his words would come out jumbled up in the wrong order.
Focus, or she'll say no.
He had to make sure his question would at least make some sense.

"I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner sometime." Jamie held his breath while she seemed to mull things over. It was as though time had stood still and the ability to breathe had left him.

She bit her lower lip for a painful few seconds. "Sure," Alison said at last, to Jamie's relief. "I'd like that." She shot him a quick smile that seemed to make everything better.

"Brilliant. Here, take my number. Aidan has yours, I gather?" Jamie said, while sliding one of his business cards over to her. That was the first hurdle done with.

"Yeah, he does." She'd barely finished answering him, when Aidan opened the door, ready to continue.

Jamie sat back, calmer now, knowing that after today’s questioning, he'd have the chance to see Alison again in a much more intimate setting. Perhaps then he'd be able to find the answers to all the questions that had plagued him since her appearance on his doorstep earlier.

Aidan shuffled his notes, looking at which question he'd left the conversation at earlier, and proceeded to ask Alison whatever else was on his sheet. A lot of the questions were rephrased repeats of the ones asked earlier, designed to catch her out if she wasn't being truthful. Tedious, but necessary.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon, Jamie continued to sit quietly at the table, watching her answer everything as best she could. She was so patient, so helpful, it was almost surprising. A lot of people might have gotten frustrated at the amount of detail Aidan asked for over and over, but not her.

She was perfect.

When the last question had been asked, Aidan shot him a quick glance and raised his eyebrows to check if he had anything to add. Jamie just shook his head. They were done for now.

Whatever else he needed to get from Alison, he'd get on his own time, without the additional set of eyes and hidden lenses pointed at the two of them.

The interrogation had been intense for Alison, and yet... The answers had rolled off her tongue easily and she thought she'd appeared confident and honest and above all, genuine. The thing was, she'd also shared a lot more than she initially planned to.

Such was the effect Aidan's boss, Jamie, had had on her.

Where did she recognize him from? While walking back with Aidan, who again took a convoluted route leading away from the office, probably in an attempt to confuse her, she couldn't get Jamie out of her head.

It had all seemed so simple before: she was going in to give them some vague answers, while memorizing as much as she could about the office and the people within. Despite Aidan's best efforts, she knew exactly where the Alliance building was located and would be able to find it again in a heartbeat.

The next step was to take all that information and hand it over to her brother so that he could mount a rescue for their dad and the other two guys.

The last thing she’d expected was to get a dinner invitation from the Alliance leader. And why the hell had she accepted? Things were simple no longer.

He seemed to be taken with her, so much so that he didn't interfere or interrupt her even once when she was answering Aidan's questions. He only listened, observed. It was as though he felt bad, putting her in an awkward position like that. There was something more to Jamie Abbott, and Alison needed to find out what.

Perhaps it was lucky then that she'd see him again. Her fingers closed around the business card he'd given her. She fished it out of her pocket and held it up to her nose. It smelled of him, strange as it seemed. Like an expensive cologne, but one she'd never had the pleasure of coming across before. Sweet, heady, sexy.

If Aidan was a bear, then Jamie must be one too. They looked similar enough.

Was she really going to go on a dinner date with a werebear? How utterly ridiculous. That was a risk Alison normally would never take, and yet she couldn't have refused. What if he only wanted to lure her out on her own to capture her too? No, if they'd wanted to confine – or worse, kill - her they could have just gotten it over with right there in that creepy little room where they’d questioned her.

Instead they'd let her go on her merry way afterward.

Now that she was alone again, back in the park where Aidan had picked her up a good four hours earlier, she didn't know anymore what she was going to do. Her brother needed two things to rescue their dad: weapons, which would arrive soon enough, and Alison's help in locating the prisoners.

Gareth was out for blood. He wouldn't ask questions, just shoot on sight if anyone opposed him.

There would be casualties, a lot of them. The Sons would strike hard, and aim to reduce the Alliance numbers by any means necessary. Both Aidan and Jamie would be in real danger. The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she grew over the prospect of another confrontation.

Earlier she might have worried about the two men in her life and whether they'd survive the fight. But now, another concern played on her mind more: Jamie's safety.

She couldn't give Gareth the location, at least not yet.

Alison wasn't sure how long she'd sat there thinking things through, but she was no closer to clarity. It had gotten dark in the meanwhile; time to head back home. She reluctantly got up from the park bench and started walking on autopilot.

Soon after, she reached her flat and came face-to-face with a furious Gareth as soon as she'd unlocked the door.

"Where the fuck have you been?" he demanded.

"You know where." Alison dumped her things on the sofa, but as she was heading towards the bathroom, Gareth held her back by her arm.

"You've been gone for hours. No updates, your phone is dead, what the hell am I supposed to think?"

"They made me switch it off," Alison explained, realizing that possibly she should have remembered to switch it back on after they'd let her go, but Gareth didn't need to know about the time she'd spent reflecting on things at the park.

"Well? Where is their base?" Gareth asked.

Alison straightened her shoulders, hoping a more confident posture would make her seem more believable.

"They shifted the meeting elsewhere at the last minute, so I don't know yet. But I do have some good news." Alison wasn't sure whether to be all that candid with her brother, who no doubt would get even more agitated at what she was about to say, but it was all she had to share. "I met the guy in charge, and he seems to have taken a liking to me and asked me out..."

Gareth was speechless, but only for a moment. "You're joking. Don't tell me you've agreed?"

"Put aside your ego for a moment and think about it – we need more information in order to rescue Dad. I've found a chance to get closer to at least one of the animals who are holding him, and you want me
not
to act on it? Have you lost your mind?" The angrier Gareth made Alison, the easier it was for her to sound convincing and distract from the fact that she was hiding information from him.

She stared him down with her hands on her hips, as he glared back at her with fire in his eyes.

"You're going to get into trouble, you know that? This isn't a fucking game." Gareth shook his head and ran his hand over his cropped hair.

"I will be absolutely fine, if you don't drive me nuts first!" Alison insisted.

"Then at the very least I should be there. Follow you. When is this ridiculous date going to happen?"

"Hell no! I can't be expected to maintain cover with this guy if I have to worry about you and your temper lurking in the shadows behind me. And I don't know yet. He's going to call me."

"Whatever. You're going to get yourself killed or worse at this rate."

Alison wanted to argue more, but bit her tongue. At least Gareth had backed off somewhat from the idea of spying on her date, and if she fought on, she might say something she'd regret later. If Gareth got wind that she was keeping stuff from him, she would be in a world of trouble.

"Clearly you're going to do whatever you want to, but keep your goddamn phone on when you meet this guy, all right?" Gareth grumbled.

Alison nodded, and watched as he picked up his leather jacket and headed for the door.
Good riddance.
She needed time alone to think about how she was going to fix things.