The Great Disapurrance: BBW Shapeshifter Surprise Pregnancy Romance (Chicago Catastrophe) by Anya Nowlan, Rory Dale

didn’t know what to do after his Navy career was over. It was the best he could ever hope to do. And he was a valuable asset. He knew that.
    Sienna shivered slightly against him.
    “You ready to go back down?” he asked, rubbing his hand down her back.
    “I’m ready. Thank you,” she replied, smiling at him. “I needed this.”
    Arlen pushed down the urge to kiss her and they stood to leave. He placed the lock back on the door after they closed it behind them and then made their way down to the apartment.
    “I’m guessing you don’t have a hairbrush lying around here somewhere,” Sienna called out as she walked into the bathroom. “That wind really did a number on me.”
    “Nope, sorry,” Arlen chuckled, running a hand over his closely-cropped hair.
    All humor had left her face when Sienna returned, holding the burner Holland kept calling in her hands.
    “It was blinking…” she said, holding the screen up to his face.
    I want her back, the text message read.
    Well you’re not getting her.

Thirteen

Arlen
    A rlen took the phone from Sienna’s hand and placed it on the counter. He gently grabbed hold of her shoulders and looked at her, waiting for her to meet his gaze.
    “This doesn’t change anything,” he said when she finally did.
    “Why is he going to so much trouble? I just don’t understand…” she muttered, a wrinkle between her brows.
    “It’s a pride thing. You were his, and I took you from him.”
    “I’m not anyone’s!” Sienna protested, slapping his hands away.
    “I know that,” he replied softly. “That’s just the way he thinks, probably.”
    He knew she was just scared and angry, but the way she reacted still stung. Of course he didn’t see her as an object. Had he given her the impression he did?
    Not that marking her as his without her knowing, without him really knowing, was much better. All the more reason why he couldn’t tell her what the consequences of their night together were.
    “I’m sorry,” she said, one hand on her hip and the other rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. “I let myself forget what I’m mixed up in and it all hit me at once.”
    “You don’t have to apologize.”
    Sienna stood in the doorway of his bedroom, shuffling on her feet anxiously. He kept his distance now, though all he really wanted was to have her in his arms and make her feel better by any means necessary.
    “I just need to be alone for a while, if that’s okay.”
    “Of course. I’ll be here. I need to send in the information you gave me anyway.”
    Sienna gave him a brittle smile before stepping into the bedroom and closing the door behind her.
    The last thing Arlen wanted was to leave her alone with her thoughts when she was clearly upset and afraid, but he had to respect her need for space. The best way he could help her now was to send everything he’d found out to Foster and hope against hope The Firm gave her a new identity when this was all said and done.
    But that means you won’t see her again either…
    It brought a cold clump to his stomach. If The Firm cared enough to give someone a new identity, no one that person had associated with before was allowed to know about it. Not even the agents that had worked with them.
    That meant she’d be lost to him forever. The thought drove a violent spike of pain right through his chest.
    He could hear the TV in the bedroom turn on and a low murmur of voices erupt from behind the door. So at least Sienna wasn’t brooding in silence and focusing only on how bad things were. Good.
    He had barely hit ‘send’ on the e-mail to Foster when his personal cell rang.
    “Foster, I just shot you an e-mail,” Arlen said in way of a greeting.
    “And I’ve sent you one. You might want to take a look at it.”
    Arlen clicked on the notification that popped up in his inbox. The message line was empty but there was an attachment.
    “What’s this?” he asked, clicking on it.
    “Oh, you’ll see,” Foster replied, being a