“I’ll talk to her. The boys have surrounded the house. Paolo and Alonzo will know they’re there because they’ll be able to smell them. The cops won’t. Jake and Eli are on the way. Both have a great deal of pull with the police,” Drake assured. “You get the door. Joshua will be right behind you.”

“Protecting me or them?”

Drake smirked. “Them, of course. Keep it together, Elijah. Siena’s broken. This goes wrong and you may lose her altogether. I can see how fragile she is.”

Elijah hated to hear the truth. He’d contributed to breaking her. He nodded and swung on his heel toward the front of the house. Paolo and Alonzo wanted a look inside his home, hoping to get the layout and a feel for how much security he actually had. They also needed to see Siena and judge her state of mind. Elijah and Drake had managed to keep both away from him, but Paolo had to wonder how she was going to react to him.

Elijah had promised Siena that she was safe in his home. Now she was going to have to face the very monster that had ripped her body to shreds. He cursed again under his breath and stalked to the front door, Joshua falling into step at his side. He made them wait. The doorbell peeled melodiously several times before he got his fury under complete control and opened the door.

There was another long silence as he stared at the two officers in suits, rather than uniform, his eyebrow raised.

“I’m Detective Madison,” one said, flashing his badge. “This is Detective Harrison. Elijah Lospostos?”

Elijah nodded curtly, ignoring Paolo and Alonzo as they crowded close behind the two detectives. Madison clearly didn’t like it and turned his head to scowl at them.

“I’m Lospostos. I own this house.” Outright. And the immense acreage surrounding it. The oil wells. And everything else on the land. Including Siena Arnotto, soon to be his wife. “What can I do for you?”

“These gentlemen are friends of Siena Arnotto’s grandfather. They both work for him, and they’ve been very concerned about Miss Arnotto’s welfare. They claim they were kept from visiting her in the hospital after she was attacked by a leopard.”

Elijah nodded slowly. “She hired Donovan’s security agency to protect her. Apparently she had concerns about her safety. Drake’s in with her now. I can allow you both in to see her, but not the other two. They’ll have to wait. You can ask her if she wants to see them.”

Paolo shouldered past the detective to confront Elijah. His eyes were two pinpoints of blazing cat, the leopard obviously close. “I demand to see her.”