by Lola Gabriel
“—lucky bastard he is. I never thought he’d get her, honestly.”
“You know Rocco, Barry. He’s nothing if not persistent.”
Owen’s head lightened slightly, and he felt suddenly sober. Rocco? As in, stalker Rocco? Who did he score?
“Are you sure he’s not full of shit? He’s been after her for months, and she kept brushing him off. Anyway, I heard she was dating you-know-who.”
“I guess that was just a rumor. I never saw Owen and her together, anyway. At least not around here, did you guys?” There was a low murmur of denials, and the hairs on Owen’s arms stood up.
“But you have to wonder if he’s even interested in her,” a third voice joined the conversation.
“Have you seen Kennedy Solstice?” Barry screeched. “Anyone with eyes is interested in her.”
“I just mean, is he more interested in her daddy, you know?”
Owen could take no more, and he burst into the kitchen. The three boys jumped, and one yelped as if Owen had smacked him.
“Are you saying that Rocco is dating Kennedy Solstice? Is that what he’s telling people?” Owen demanded. A small, almost inaudible voice in his head screamed at him to stop talking, but he couldn’t. Rocco was becoming a major pain in the ass. “What?” Owen jeered. “Suddenly you’ve all forgotten how to talk?”
“No, Mr. Parker,” Barry breathed. “Yes, we were talking about those two…”
“Who told you they were a couple?” More silence ensued, but Owen stared at them sternly until the busboy cracked and started blubbering.
“Rocco told us. He’s good friends with Barry. They belong to the same pack.” Barry glowered at the littlest worker, a boy named Yuri.
“I did not know that, Barry. Your pack leader is Cameron Solstice.” Owen wondered if there was any significance to that or if he was blowing up the information in his own head.
“He is,” Barry swallowed. “But it’s like I said before, Mr. Parker, I don’t hold any ill-will toward the dragons. I swear!”
Owen had heard enough from the babbling boys. His headache had intensified tenfold.
“I need the strongest painkiller in the mansion,” he told them curtly. “Quickly.” He had never seen a pack of rats move faster than those boys did, each tripping over the next to escape the wrath of their boss.
This is precisely the reason I never wanted a relationship, he thought mournfully, slumping onto a stool near one of the counters. He pushed his head into his muscular forearms and waited for one of the kids to return with something for his head. So much drama and rumors. I live among a gaggle of squawking geese. Tomorrow, I am going to ask Kennedy to come to the Sunside with me and stay there. We’ll go to her father and explain we’re in love and that we’ll move to Greece where he can visit often, but we won’t show ourselves so he can save face in front of his pack.
Owen lifted his head and sighed. He was also going to have to deal with Rocco before he left. It bothered him that the Lycan was shooting off his mouth about being involved with Kennedy.
He really can’t handle rejection, can he? Owen would ensure he didn’t bother his lover again.
Barry reappeared in the kitchen, a white prescription bottle in his hand.
“Mr. Wilder says these are the only things that work for him,” Barry offered weakly.
“Thanks.” Owen grabbed them from his hand and downed two before Barry could return with a glass of water for him.
“Oh, how many did you take?” Barry asked, his eyes wide. “Mr. Wilder said you should only take one. It’s a special concoction from a sorcerer in the Upper Median who…” Barry’s voice was already fading in and out of his mind, and Owen realized he was about to pass out. He rose to his feet, but his legs gave out instantly. “Mr. Parker!”
Owen was gone, blissfully into a painless slumber, his huge frame crumbled on the kitchen floor.
When he woke, it was morning, and he was in his room. Someone had dressed him in a pair of pajamas and placed him in his oversized canopied bed. Owen struggled to sit up, his head spinning.
Note to self: kick Wilder’s ass. What the hell was in those pills?
But he had to admit that, dizziness aside, he felt much better than he had the previous night. He was glad—he couldn’t afford another day off, not with the mess he had to clean up following whatever sabotage his company had taken.
“Oh, good, you’re alive,” Wilder announced, entering his room without knocking. He tossed a bottle of water on the bed. “Those stupid kids. I told them to only give you one. They were probably trying to kill you.”
“It wasn’t their fault,” Owen admitted. “I did it to myself.”
“Stupid,” Wilder replied. “Very stupid.” Eagerly, Owen reached for the water and chugged it back, his body dehydrated from the pills and alcohol. He vowed to never drink again. “So,” Wilder drawled, plopping on the bed beside him. “Are you still on a bender, or are you going to get back to business?”
“I was never on a bender,” Owen snapped, pulling the bottle from his lips long enough to glare at his brother. “I drank some of Colin’s moonshine.”
“Oh. Gross.” Wilder eyed him pensively. “Although I wouldn’t blame you for drinking away your sorrows. Sorry about your troubles, little brother.”
Owen grunted and fell back against the pillows, stretching. “You of all people know it’s only currency, Wilder. We make it. We lose it. We make it again. You can’t always be riding high. Anyway, it’s not as if I’m bankrupt.”
Wilder’s brow furrowed, and he shook his head quickly. “I wasn’t talking about the company. I have to say, though, that was quite an interesting day you had.”
“It was.” Owen thought about how optimistically it had started out, buying the house in Greece from Keppler, and then ending face-first on the kitchen floor. He could still smell the burnt tree on his hands. “And if not the company, what are you talking about?” Owen asked. Wilder’s frown deepened.
“Kennedy.”
“What about her?”
“She’s already dating someone. I didn’t know you guys weren’t a thing anymore.”
“Not you too,” Owen groaned. “It’s just a rumor. That guy is obsessed with her. She wants nothing to do with him.”
Wilder pressed his lips together and cleared his throat. “Is that what she told you?”
Owen decidedly did not like the tone of his brother’s voice. “Why are you saying it like that?”
“Because, brother, she seemed just fine with him this morning. I just saw Kennedy and that guy at the New Bean Coffee House not twenty minutes ago. And she didn’t look put off in the least.”
Owen bolted up in his bed, the water sloshing over the sheets.
“What?” Wilder nodded slowly, and Owen could see he was being truthful. Wilder had no reason to lie about something like that, not when his brother’s emotions were so close to the surface. “Are you sure it was them? Are you sure it was Kennedy?”
“There aren’t a lot of females who look like her.” Owen conceded the point. It would be hard to mistake Kennedy’s blonde fairness with many others.
“What were they doing?” Owen demanded. “Were they touching? Kissing?” He loathed the questions he was asking, like he was the jealous, possessive man whom Kennedy had made Rocco out to be. Has she just been stringing us both along the entire time?
It was a sickening thought, and Owen realized that he was once more having doubts about the girl whom he dreamt of, the girl he longed to touch and hold. She was supposed to be my mate, and she’s been…
He couldn’t even finish the thought in his head, but he didn’t have to—Wilder was there to put all the pieces together. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, bro, but I think you got played.”
12
Rocco Bellevue was not a good soul.
It was something he’d known about himself since before most others realized it about him. Of course, living in the Hollows permitted him a certain amount of wic
kedness, his Lycan and vampire breeding giving him even more leeway than the average pixie or fairy. But there was something much darker in Rocco, much more sinister than even the most diabolical of his friends could whip up.
At first, it had been a private shame for the young wolf. He knew that his bloodlust surpassed the normal desires of other Lycans, and he learned that he was a direct descendant of the originals who had broken the seal from the Hollows to the Sunside in their quest for blood.
It didn’t take Rocco long, however, to realize that he was not nearly powerful enough to feed at every whim, and that frustrated him more than he could explain. His dream had always been to be an Alpha, and for centuries, he had traveled the Hollows, searching for a pack powerful enough for him to claim. He had finally found it in Cameron Solstice’s pack, and he intended to claim his throne like the gods had intended.
What he hadn’t anticipated was trouble from Kennedy Solstice.
It should have been an easy job—get in good with the old man, seduce the gorgeous, blonde daughter, and he’d be set for life. In Rocco’s mind, when he ran the pack, things would be very different.
Cameron has no backbone, no imagination, he often thought as he bided his time over the years, growing more and more impatient for Kennedy to blossom into maturity. Never was there a stronger case in Rocco’s point that in the girl herself. To Rocco’s mind, Cameron spoiled his only child, indulging her bratty wishes and giving her too much freedom.
I can promise you this, Kennedy, he thought bitterly. Our daughters will know their place. But if you know what’s good for you, you’ll give me sons.
As long as the old man was around and functioning, though, there was very little that Rocco could do except try to woo Kennedy over. His instinct had been to force her into a relationship, but he had not expected such a backlash to his attempts. Rocco had been stunned by her blatant and cold rejection.
“I’m just not interested,” she told him, as if that could be the end of that. He couldn’t leave it alone. After all, he’d spent centuries staking his case. He would not give up so easily. Rocco had then thought that Cameron would intervene and insist that Kennedy see their courtship through. When that didn’t happen, Rocco was dumbfounded.
By the time Owen Parker entered the picture, he was losing his loose grip on his sanity. It was one thing to be rejected by Kennedy, but it was quite another to have her turn about and date someone else under his nose.
A dragon, no less! The girl just pours salts on the wounds, mocks our pack. Her father is pathetic for allowing it to happen. One way or another, he’s going to put a stop to it. It was just a matter of figuring out how to enlist Cameron’s aide.
At least he had bought some time with Kennedy, playing the fake boyfriend. The truth was, Cameron was still oblivious to what Kennedy was doing with the dragon, but Rocco had taken it upon himself to volunteer the information that he and Kennedy were an item. It was partially damage control, as there was gossip floating around about the dragon and the Alpha’s daughter, but it was not nearly as explosive as he’d made it seem. No one had proof of them together.
Not until that moment.
“Get in here!” Rocco hissed, looking over the troll’s shoulder to ensure Randy hadn’t been followed. “What the hell have I told you about coming here unannounced? What if I had company?”
“Do you have company?” Randy asked innocently, but there was a leer behind his eyes that Rocco didn’t care for. He had just dropped Kennedy at home after having breakfast with her. She hadn’t seen Wilder Parker jogging by on his morning run, but Rocco had. It was one of the reasons he’d picked the shop in the first place. He had hoped Owen’s brother would chance through.
“I could have had company, Randy,” Rocco growled. “What are you doing here?”
“You told me to call you if I had anything.”
“Yes, call as in on the phone, not stop by unannounced—! Oh, never mind. What is it?” Randy grinned, displaying a mess of cracked and broken green teeth. His pointed ears almost touched as he leered and then shook his head, extending a warty hand.
“Ah, ah, ah!” he replied. “Payment first, evidence later.”
“How do I know you even have anything worthwhile?” Rocco snapped. “Tell me what it is.”
“Oh, it’s good,” the troll assured him. “So good, I want double this time.”
Rocco laughed. “Not a chance.”
“Okay.” Randy turned away, and Rocco watched him. He had never seen the troll look so confident.
Randy worked security at the palace, generally late, after the commercial section had closed down. Rocco had him on retainer in case anything of interest ever fell into his lap, but the troll rarely had anything good, and Rocco was getting sick of throwing good currency after bad. But in this case…
“Wait.”
Randy paused, but he kept his back to Rocco. “Yes?”
“I’ll pay you the regular rate now. If it’s good, I’ll pay you the rest afterward, all right?”
Slowly, Randy turned, his chlorophyll eyes milky. Rocco could read the greed in them. “I guess I could agree to that,” Randy conceded. “I need to sit down.”
Rocco stifled a grimace. The idea of the troll sitting on his furniture was hardly appealing, but he wasn’t about to argue. He’ll be here for ten minutes. Let him sit.
“Yeah, on the floor,” Rocco gestured, looking for a place where the filthy being would do the least amount of damage. Randy didn’t seem to mind, apparently accustomed to being treated like a second-class citizen, and plopped down, pulling his careworn backpack onto his lap. He quickly withdrew a tablet, and Rocco found himself nearing the man with interest.
“What have you got there?” he asked, watching Randy’s gnarled hand flitter through the screens.
“I’ve got double my money here,” Randy chortled, handing the tablet to Rocco. He sat back, beaming hideously. “Although, I should warn you—this is not suitable for all ages. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.”
Rocco ignored him and hit the play button at the center of the screen.
Instantly, a picture of the parking lot to the back of the palace came into view, and Rocco was staring at Kennedy’s car in the center screen. A moment later, he saw a blurry figure approach and lean up against the street lamp, like he was waiting for someone. As Rocco pulled the screen up toward his eyes, he realized it was Owen Parker.
Of course it is, he thought angrily. What a creep!
After another minute, Kennedy appeared in the shot, and Rocco saw her get startled, jumping back as Owen approached. There was no sound, but it didn’t take much imagination to figure out what was being said, especially when they drew closer. Rocco’s heart began to race. The look between them was clear, and he knew what was going to happen even before it did.
With wide eyes, he gawked at the lovers, their kisses, their caresses, almost forgetting that Randy was sitting beside him. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from Kennedy’s body pressed up against the dragon. With each stroke of his hand, Rocco’s fury mounted until he threw the tablet clear across the room.
“Hey!” Randy yelled. “That thing cost me a fortune! If it’s broken, you’ll have to replace—” He didn’t get a chance to finish; Rocco had pulled him off his feet and against the wall.
“Who else has seen this, Randy?” he hissed. Randy had lost the sneer, and fear colored his face.
“I-I don’t know! I only found it in the archives!” he cried. “Any of the guards could have, I guess!”
“You better find out if anyone else has seen this,” Rocco growled. He dropped Randy unceremoniously onto the ground and watched the troll scramble to his feet, running toward his tablet to cradle it protectively. “If you breathe a word of what you saw to anyone,” Rocco continued, “I will put your head on a stake at the Miami Beach access portal as a welcome sign to visitors. Am I clear?”
Beads of sweat appeared on Randy’s brow, and Rocco was idly surprised by that. H
e hadn’t realized that trolls could sweat.
“I won’t say anything!” Randy promised in a whining voice. “I always come to you first when I find something, Rocco. I swear!”
“You better not be lying, Randy.”
“I’m not!”
“Get out of here.” Rocco pointed toward the door, and the troll scrambled to leave. Before he did, he turned to look at the Lycan with imploring eyes.
“You promised me— “
“Oh, shut up!” Rocco snarled, reaching into his pocket and thrusting more bills toward him. “You are the most annoying cretin I’ve ever known.”
Randy didn’t seem offended by the characterization in the least, and he snatched up the bills happily. “Always a pleasure doing business with you!” he called before vanishing out the front door and into the city.
Rocco was left alone to his thoughts. My, my, my, you have been a busy girl, haven’t you, Kennedy?
He was almost seeing red as flashes of her writhing body played over in his mind. Owen Parker had no right to be touching Kennedy. She belonged to him, just as the role of Alpha did. She needed to be taught a lesson on obedience, and he was going to be the one to teach it to her.
With the help of her father, Rocco reminded himself. And then, when I get Cameron to help me tame his hellcat child, I’ll find a way to get rid of him so I can claim my throne at long last.
13
If Kennedy had been walking on pins and needles around her father before, she was a nervous wreck after. She had still been unable to get Owen on the phone, and the sense that he had been avoiding her became a stunning reality. But why? Why would he just cut me off like that?
She had to find out. The need to be with him was overwhelming, and she thought about how he had promised to never let her go. Something had obviously changed, and by the end of the second day without contact, Kennedy made her way to the residential area of the palace, where she was abruptly stopped by the guards.