Seduced by Chaos by Stephanie Julian

belied his emotions.
    “Do you have Caller ID?”
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    Stephanie Julian
    Blessed Goddess, she was an idiot. She rushed to the phone and grabbed it from the cradle. But the last entry was from two days ago.
    Teo must have seen the disappointment on her face as she walked back to stand in front of him. “Are you connected to the system?” he asked.
    She shook her head. She’d considered having the bar connected to the Etruscan communication system, which used antique phones and enchanted phone lines. By the nature of her blood, she could have requested inclusion in the system. But it was run by a nosy operator and Lacey didn’t want to deal with her questions.
    “So whoever called was able to hide the evidence.” Teo’s voice sounded completely calm, reasonable. “Would your sister know how to do that?”
    Shit. Her lips flattened into a straight line. “No. We didn’t have access to computers.
    We couldn’t even watch television when we wanted.”
    “So if it is your sister, she has to be working with someone. Or…it wasn’t her.”
    Teo’s expression had hardened into a stone-cold mask. It would have scared the shit out of her if she’d thought that cold anger was directed her way. But she knew it wasn’t. He was outraged on her behalf. Again.
    He thought someone was screwing with her. And he was royally pissed off on her behalf.
    Leaning forward, he caught her hand as she paced by, forcing her to stop and look at him. “Let me bring in my brothers, Lacey. Let them dig around, see if they can find out who called.”
    She wanted to say yes. She wanted to believe that Teo and his brothers could find answers for her. But she didn’t want to put them in any danger because of her. And she wasn’t sure she could handle being told her sister was dead again.
    Hope sucked.
    “Lacey. Take a breath. You’re going to hyperventilate.”
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    Seduced by Chaos
    He was right. Her breathing had shallowed out to the point where she began to feel lightheaded. But she couldn’t seem to catch her breath.
    “Come here, hon.” Teo tugged on her hand and she let him guide her down onto the couch, one knee on either side of his hips. “Breathe with me.”
    As she settled onto his lap, the seam in her jeans brushed against her clit, reminding her of the last time they’d been on this couch hours ago.
    But Teo didn’t have sex on his mind. His expression showed such worry.
    She wanted to soothe him, to tell him it would be okay, which was completely ridiculous. She should be running far and fast.
    But she didn’t want to leave him.
    How had he come to mean so much to her in so short a time? Her heart thumped a little faster but she was able to breathe a little easier. Leaning in, she let her forehead rest against his.
    They sat there for a few minutes, just breathing. His heat seeped into her, warming her. Letting her mind clear of everything, her body followed suit and relaxed into him.
    “All right, Teo. Tell your brothers. I want to know if my sister’s alive.”
    * * * * *
    Lacey knew exactly who Teo’s oldest brother Cam was the second he walked through the door around midnight.
    He was almost as tall as Teo but built like a linebacker. They shared the same hair color and the same nose and Cam’s features had the same hard cast to them as Teo’s.
    But it was how Teo had described his personality that clinched it. He’d said his brother looked like he ate light bulbs for breakfast. She hadn’t really understood what he’d meant until Cam walked in, his arm around a cool blonde who had to be his mate, Stella.
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    Stephanie Julian
    As he closed the door behind him, Cam let his gaze take the lay of the land before he ushered Stella toward a table against the wall in the back. From there, he’d be able to see the entire room.
    Business was still good, with seven customers at the bar and another eight at tables around the room. Teo had helped her behind the bar all night, though he was careful to stay behind it