Wolf with Benefits

CHAPTER TWELVE

They ended up in a Starbucks at the end of the street, and Toni not only got the wolf to drink a large cup of coffee, she also got him to eat several cinnamon buns and three pieces of coffee cake. Not the healthiest breakfast, but she was sure he’d work it off.

“So what is it?” she asked him when she knew Johnny was calmer. “What has you so worried?”

“Everything.”

Toni smiled. “Everything, huh? So . . . the economy? Wars in other countries? Who’ll win this year’s Super Bowl? That everything?”

“Since I don’t care about any of that . . . no.”

“That’s what I figured. So what is it? Really?”

“What if I’m not as good as your mother thinks?” he finally asked, taking a huge leap of faith in showing Toni his weakness, his true fear.

“You have to be,” Toni stated bluntly, “because when it comes to this, my mother is never wrong. She’s completely useless at the most basic things like math, keeping the tenses straight when she’s speaking Italian, and unless she’s making breakfast, she’ll most likely set the house on fire if she tries to cook a meal. But when it comes to music . . . when it comes to what you do . . . my mother is never wrong.”

“But”—he shoved another bit of crumb cake into his mouth—“what if she’s wrong this time? About me?”

“Because you have that kind of power, right? Quite the narcissism you’ve got going there,” she teased.

He gazed at her for a long moment before admitting, “You’re right. I’m pathetic.” Then he dropped his head to the table and sighed . . . dramatically.

Crossing her eyes, Toni eased her brother’s cell phone out of her pocket and, keeping it under the table, quickly texted her mother. It was a skill she’d developed over the years . . . texting without looking. She’d learned it from Oriana, and it was a skill she was glad to have because of times just like these.

Starbucks on corner. It’s Toni.

Need you. Another stu bout 2 b destroyed

By yer awesomeness

After a few minutes of staring at the top of Johnny’s head, Toni saw her mother rushing down the street. She skidded to a halt when she reached the Starbucks doorway, took a breath, pushed her hair off her face, and calmly sauntered into the café.

Again, Toni only managed not to laugh by biting the inside of her cheek.

Jackie casually ordered a chai tea from one of the baristas before casually sauntering over to their table.

Her mother had become the queen of being casual after lots of self-training.

“Hey, baby,” she said to Toni. “What are you doing . . . wait. Johnny? What are you doing here?”

The wolf’s head came off the table, and he blinked wide, panicked brown eyes at Jackie.

Jackie pretended to think, her forefinger tapping her chin. “Don’t we have an appointment right now?”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Jean-Louis. I . . . I . . . it’s just . . .”

“Don’t worry about it.” Jackie waved Johnny’s panicked stuttering away. “I’m terrible with appointments myself. That’s what my mate helps me with. Right, Toni?”

“Sure,” Toni lied, because her father would probably be late to his own funeral if Toni didn’t make sure he wasn’t.

Jackie went to the counter and picked up her tea, then returned and sat down next to Toni.

“So,” she asked, cupping her chai tea, “what are we talking about?”

Johnny looked at Toni, his eyes begging her not to say anything.

“Movies,” Toni lied. Honestly, Toni would only lie this much to help her mother.

“I love movies,” Jackie stated. “What are your favorites, Johnny? Are you into sci-fi or stuff with lots of big explosions? Personally I hate chick flicks or anything that’s clearly trying to make me cry. I hate that.”

Knowing her mother could handle things from here, Toni picked up her backpack and slipped out of her chair.

And now, after handling this little drama, Toni knew it would be easy as hell to quit her day job.

Ricky leaned against one side of the office doorway and Rory leaned on the other while Reece stood between them, his arms crossed over his chest. Together they watched a big male lion play grab ass with his wife. Of course, it was his right. The company was partially his.

“Mace!” the full-human giggled-squealed. “Stop it!”

He had the poor little thing pinned against his desk with his big lion thighs while he man-handled—or in this case, lion-handled—Desiree MacDermot-Llewellyn, detective first grade for the shifter unit of the NYPD.

“Come on, Dez,” the big cat pushed. “Just give me ten minutes.”

“That sounds highly unimpressive for a former Navy man.”

“Unlike your Marine brethren . . . Navy SEALs know how to get the job done—quick, fast, and to everyone’s satisfaction. We don’t just storm the beach, baby. We take the whole damn country.”

Ricky looked at his brothers, and both of them crossed their eyes in disgust. Cats were bad enough, but military cats could be the worst. Combining that mane along with the ability to protect their country just made most of them completely unbearable.

“What are we doing?” a voice asked from behind Ricky and his brothers, and, he was ashamed to admit, they all reacted as any sane person would react when they suddenly had a large polar bear sidling up to them—they screamed like little girls and spun around, fangs bared, claws out, ready to fight to the death.

Eating what smelled like seal jerky, Lou “Crush” Crushek stared at them, unfazed by their panicked reaction. Unlike grizzlies, polars didn’t fly off the handle at the slightest provocation. Of course, polars were also more likely to eat a person just because that beached walrus they could scent was miles away somewhere on an ice floe and, you know . . . that human was standing right there.

Crushek nodded at Reece. Ricky knew he was nodding at Reece because Reece was the only one of them who played hockey professionally. Reece wasn’t the best the Carnivores had, but he was the one who always seemed more than willing to sacrifice himself to get between the other team and their potential goal. The wolf had had more surgery than seemed right over the last few years to repair all sorts of damage, but he truly loved hockey and his personality made him a standout with the fans.

“How ya doin’, Crush?”

The bear shrugged. Crushek wasn’t much for, you know, words. But that was okay. His mate, Coach Cella Malone, more than made up for it because that chatty kitty didn’t know when to shut the heck up.

“Good,” Reece said, reading that shrug as a positive response.

The bear looked over at MacDermot, who was now glaring at Ricky and his brothers. “You ready, MacDermot?”

They didn’t seem a likely pair, MacDermot and Crushek, but the fellow detectives worked really well together and had closed a lot of cases for the NYPD since they’d been teamed up. A few cases that Ricky and his brothers had been involved in because of their security company.

“Yeah. I’m ready.” She kissed her mate on the cheek and headed out, beautiful gray-green eyes glaring at the Reeds as she passed. The three brothers said nothing to her because they knew better. Even Reece. A full-human she might be, but Dez MacDermot-Llewellyn was always armed and always ready to shoot. In fact, she was one of the only full-humans he’d ever known who happily called Sissy Mae and Dee-Ann Smith “friends” and actually meant it.

She was almost past when she suddenly jerked toward them. All three jumped back, Reece immediately covering his face with his forearms since he felt that was the best part of him.

Sneering, she walked out the door and, chuckling, Crushek followed.

“Love you, babe,” Llewellyn called after her. “See you at home.”

“Love you, too,” she called back.

Llewellyn walked around his desk, and when he pulled his chair out, he noticed that the three wolves were watching him. “What?” He glared at them when all three tipped their heads to the side. “Look, I’m a lion male, but I can say ‘I love you’ . . . and mean it. Really.”

Toni sat down at the desk she was about to give up and opened up the e-mail program. She started typing, “Dear Ric,” but was worried that using his nickname was too casual. So she tried “Dear Ulrich” but thought that sounded too formal.

“This isn’t working,” Toni muttered, her entire body drooping in her very expensive ergonomically correct desk chair. “What do I say? ‘Thanks for the opportunity but I’d rather set myself on fire than fail on such a grand scale’?” No. That sounded tragically pathetic. Even for her. And she knew if she sounded pathetic that would only make Ric push for her to “keep trying!” He was a keep trying guy. A guy who thought everyone could do anything they wanted if they put their mind to it.

So she knew she had to find a way to quit and get him to not bug her about it. That would not be easy. Though he was a wonderfully nice wolf, Ulrich Van Holtz could be just as pushy as the rest of the Van Holtzes.

While she was debating the best way to handle her resignation, Kerri appeared in the doorway, a big grin on her face.

“I’m not staying,” Toni said immediately, and she felt slightly devastated when that big grin faded.

“But why not?”

“Kerri—”

“I know a lot of pressure comes with this job, but—”

“It’s not the pressure. Pressure I can handle. I’m just not right for this . . .” Toni’s words faded off when she saw the pretty black woman standing behind Kerri but staring down the long hallway.

“Can I help you?” Toni asked.

Her eyes still focused down that hallway, the female replied, “Uh . . . yeah. I was coming in here to say thanks but . . . uh . . .”

Toni sniffed the air and almost audibly sighed. The female was a wolfdog. One of the more annoying hybrids in Toni’s estimation. They were just . . . all over the place. No focus. No clarity. No sanity.

“Sweetie . . . ?” Toni pushed, frustrated because she wanted to talk to Kerri.

“Yeah. Sorry.” The She-dog focused on them. “Do you guys know who that lion male is who’s wearing the Los Angeles Raiders T-shirt?”

“Oh,” Kerri replied, “that’s the new player Coach just brought in. He’s from Los Angeles.” She lowered her voice. “He’s very tan.”

“Did Malone spend a lot of money bringing him here?”

That seemed like an odd question, so Toni asked, “Why does it matter?”

“Uh . . . because he just invited himself to work out with Bo.”

“Novikov?”

Kerri looked at her, eyes widening in panic.

Toni shot out of her chair, charged around her desk, and tore off down the hall. By the time she reached the two males, Bo Novikov had the new guy in a choke hold that would kill most canines and smaller cats. Only lion males and hyenas could continue to put up a fight after two seconds of that.

The problem was, of course, that Bo wasn’t about to release the cat just because he was starting to pass out. The dumb cat had gotten in Bo’s way. Why did people never learn not to get in the way of those with true drive or focus? It amazed her.

What Toni assumed was the fiancée he’d been so desperate to get to now tried to pry Bo’s arms off the cat while begging him to “Let go, Bo! Please!”

But Novikov wouldn’t hear pleas. He wouldn’t hear begging. A man like Bo Novikov would only hear one thing . . .

“You’re late, Bo.”

Bo turned his head to look at Toni while keeping his grip strong. “What?”

“You’re late. For our meeting.”

“I’m never late,” he snarled. “And what meeting?”

“To go over promotion ideas for you? Remember?”

“There’s nothing to remember because we didn’t have a meeting.”

“We did,” Toni said, moving around so that she stood right in front of him with Kerri behind her. With her hand behind her back, Toni signaled to her assistant with her fingers. “I set it up first thing this morning.”

“We did not have a meeting.” He glowered at her. “I know when I have meetings.”

“It’s on your schedule.”

“I know my schedule. We didn’t have a meeting.”

“I’m not talking your personal schedule, Bo. I don’t have access to that. So I had schedules set up and sent to the entire team’s phones.”

Leaning around Toni, Kerri held up her tablet and said, “See? It’s right here.”

“I didn’t get anything on my phone.”

“Really? I sent you a follow-up e-mail.” Christ, she was really rolling with this lie of hers, but the lion was starting to turn blue. Seriously. Blue.

“I don’t get e-mail on my phone.”

“You can’t get e-mail or you don’t?”

“I guess I never set it up when the team got our new phones. But why should I bother? Malone calls when she wants to talk to me.”

“I have a lot to do and I need to be able to get in touch with you the easiest way possible. That way I can also send you travel info and if there’s a problem you can see it right away and get back to me so I can correct it.”

“Planning to make a lot of mistakes, are you?”

“No. I just assume others will fuck up, so I build in padding for that so I’ll have time to fix the problem myself.”

That was not the answer he’d expected, but she could see he was impressed. Not that he’d admit it.

“The phone buzzing all the time bothers me during training.”

“You don’t need to look at it during your training. You need to look at it when you’re done with your training. You also need to check out your team schedule, which should coordinate with your personal schedule. Right? This is about team business, after all.” She tapped the watch on her wrist. “And you’re late.”

The hybrid’s really big body suddenly loosened up, and he finally released his prey, the cat dropping to the floor while he coughed and slowly got his overly tan color back.

“Why don’t you go wait in my office, Bo.”

“Yeah. Okay. This can’t take long, though. I’ve got—”

“Training. I know. But then, you should have been on time, huh?”

His eyes narrowed, but he headed toward her office. Then he stopped, turned, and kicked the cat so that the lion flew several feet, before walking off down the hall.

Kerri let out a breath. “Do you want me to—”

“Yeah.”

“For—”

“Yeah. For today.”

“Even the second string guys?”

“No. But give me their names. Maybe I’ll have a meeting with all of them at once.”

Kerri grinned and did a little dance, before running down the hall. Toni knew why the full-human was so happy, but none of this meant that Toni had changed her mind. She was just helping out. Especially with Ulrich out of town for a while.

Goddammit! She was just being a good person!

“Wow,” Bo’s fiancée said while she gawked at Toni. “You were amazing. The way you handled him. You didn’t even try to separate them.”

Toni frowned. “Why the hell would I try to separate two apex predators?”

The wolfdog shrugged. “I do.”

Deciding that answer meant the wolfdog was either kind of stupid or kind of dangerously insane, Toni turned away from her and focused on the cat.

“I’m Blayne by the way. Bo’s fiancée.”

Toni nodded but basically stopped thinking about the wolfdog. “Are you okay?” she asked the cat. He was slowly pushing himself back to his feet.

“That asshole is crazy,” he choked out, his throat already beginning to bruise where Novikov had gripped him.

“I’d strongly suggest you not bother Mr. Novikov. He doesn’t like it.”

Now standing at his full height of about six-four or -five, the lion stared down at Toni. His nostrils twitched and his eyes immediately narrowed once he’d figured out she was canine.

“Look,” he began, his tone completely condescending, “sweetheart—”

“And we’re done.” Toni walked away from the cat, heading to her office. She simply didn’t have time for stupid, and anyone who called her “sweetheart” without knowing her was just rude.

As she neared her office, Coach Malone was coming toward her. Did everyone come to work early? Toni had been planning to use what she thought would be quiet time to plan her escape. Her plan was simply not working!

“Oh, good. You’re here.” Malone stopped in front of her. “We need new pictures of the guys.”

“Pardon?”

“You know. Promo pictures. For them to sign. You’ll need to get a photographer but someone with a little talent who doesn’t easily cry.”

“Cry?”

“I just don’t want regular ol’ headshots. I hate those.”

Toni took a breath. “Well, I was hoping to talk to you—”

“God, you don’t need me to hold your hand through this, too, do you?”

“No, no. It’s just—”

“Because I’ve got a bunch of shit to do and I don’t have the time. So could you just make this happen? Great. Thanks! I’ve gotta go.”

Beyond frustrated, Toni walked into her office and sat down at her desk. Bo watched her.

“Everything all right?”

“Yeah. I guess. Kerri!” she called out. The full-human appeared in seconds.

“Yes, boss?”

“Don’t call me boss. And Coach Malone wants new team pictures. Is there someone you guys use regularly for this?”

“There was.”

“Was?”

“After the lawsuit, we really can’t use him.”

“Lawsuit?” Toni focused on Bo.

“It wasn’t me,” he said quickly. “It was Malone. She was one of the players then, and he said he was just trying to pose her properly. She said she didn’t like him putting his hand on her ass. Next thing you know that leopard had a broken cheekbone, a busted nose, and two shattered arms.” Suddenly the hybrid smiled, and Toni realized he was actually quite handsome when he wasn’t glowering like a sociopath. “And for once . . . it wasn’t me.”

“Do you want me to come up with another list of names?” Kerri asked.

Toni thought about it a moment and shook her head. “No. I think I have another completely insane option.”

Bo studied her a moment. “That doesn’t sound very promising.”

“Yeah.” Toni sighed and pulled out her cell phone. “I know.”

The electronic blueprints for the Sports Center were projected up on the screen, and Rory pointed at several doors inside the Sports Center that were only known about and used by shifters. “The Center guards scented full-humans here. Here. And here.”

“Did they ever get inside?” Reece asked.

“No. But the Center needs a more secure system or they may have a situation where Dee-Ann may have to get involved because some full-human saw too much.”

“We could change all the locks,” Ricky suggested, “but then no one could get inside but wolves and foxes.”

“Nah,” Reece said. “The bears will just tear the doors off the hinges. Especially if they smell food from the food court.”

“Are you two done?” Rory asked.

Ricky and Reece looked at each other and back at Rory. “No,” they said together.

“Look.” Rory stepped in front of the screen. “This is a big job for us, so I need y’all to focus.”

Reece nudged Ricky’s side with his elbow. “Someone’s trying to act all impressive ’cause he’s up for a promotion.”

“You gonna wear a suit to work now, Rory?” Ricky asked him. “And some fancy Italian loafers?”

“Can we just focus on the job?”

Ricky stood. “Reece and I will go over to the Sports Center and take a look around. See what we can fix.”

“I bet Ricky Lee just wants to see his new girlfriend,” Reece said.

“Girlfriend? What girlfriend?”

“She’s not my girlfriend, but I am hoping she becomes my fuck buddy.”

“She’s a jackal.”

“Shut up, Reece.”

“Jackal?” Rory asked. “The Devil’s canine?”

“Stop calling them that.”

“Why?”

“Can’t get her in my bed if my own kin are insulting her kind.”

“He’s got a point,” Reece said, shrugging. “Unlike men, girls are weird about that sort of thing. It’s like they look for any reason not to sleep with you.”

Rory stared at his brother. “I think that’s only you.”

“It can’t be. I’m so much cuter than either of you.”

He saw Delilah sitting on the steps outside his church. His temple, really. Where people came from all around to meet him. To hear his wisdom. To learn about how they should manage their lives. He was there for them when no one else was. Because he loved them. He loved them all.

And yet . . . he knew that Delilah was something special. Something beyond any of the others.

Chris walked down the stairs, his bodyguards only a few feet behind. He sat down next to her. He knew that to those walking by that he looked just like any other New Yorker with his torn jeans and comfortable sandals. But they’d learn soon enough that he was far from “any other” being on the planet.

“Hello.”

She turned her head to look at him, her small smile in place. She was just so innocent. So tender.

“You came back,” he said.

“I did.”

“Will you stay for a while?”

Her smile grew just the smallest bit. “I will.”