She glanced at the diamond-studded watch on her wrist. “Must fly. I have to go to this stupid charity auction tonight.”
Rory pointed at Dee. “Dee’s probably going to the same thing.”
“Then I’m glad I helped, otherwise I would have been forced to mock her relentlessly if she’d worn that other dress. Oh.” She pointed at Rory. “Pick out some shoes you think are sexy. Something with a heel.”
“A heel?” Dee yelped.
“Thankfully, the dress is long enough to cover up the actual size of those feet, but I’m sure your boyfriend will like them.”
She walked off. “Nice meeting you both.”
“Hot,” Rory sighed, watching the woman’s ass sashay away from him. “So very fuckin’ hot.”
Without a word, Dee headed back to her dressing room.
“Where are you going, Dee?”
“Going to change so I can beat the fuck out of you without worrying about getting blood on this overpriced dress!”
“But,” Rory complained, “I haven’t picked out the shoes yet!”
Ric pulled out his tux, shoes, shirt, and tie in preparation for that evening’s dance. Normally he limited his attendance to this sort of thing. He didn’t mind giving money or volunteering to help on a grassroots level, but dressing up in a tux and mingling with the rich and powerful was not something he enjoyed doing very often. But he’d attend this event at his uncle’s request as a representative of the Van Holtz family and also because he’d need a good alibi. Because tonight was the night that the Group would deal with Matilda Llewellyn and the betrayal of her kind.
It should be something that Ric or one of the other supervisors handled themselves, but his uncle had taken it and Ric was just fine with that. Because Matilda Llewellyn was top of the food chain politically and had been around for a very long time, Van didn’t want any of those involved in this to also be involved in her death. Prides could be very fussy about that sort of thing.
Besides Matilda would not be easy to take down, no matter her age. So Ric would do what his cousin told him to do and go to a charity dance. It shouldn’t be too bad, though. Lock and Gwen were going to attend and, more importantly, so would Dee. It would be their first time out as an official couple and he couldn’t wait to show her off.
“Hey.”
Smiling, he stood and faced the woman he’d just been thinking about. “Hey.” Ric blinked. “Did you do something to your hair?”
She shrugged, appearing completely distraught. “They tried, but apparently my hair is too unruly and they didn’t know how to hide the damage to my ear from when Teacup shot me. Eventually the hairstylist just said, and I’m quoting here, ‘Fuck it.’ That’s what she said. About my hair. ‘Fuck it.’ ”
“I hope you didn’t tip her.”
“After what I paid for this goddamn dress, you’re damn right I didn’t tip her.”
“You bought a dress?”
She dropped the shopping bags she had in her hands. “What do you think I have in here?”
“I never thought it would be a dress.”
“I don’t want you embarrassed when you have to go to these things.”
“I wouldn’t be. No matter what you were wearing.”
“You say that now—”
“Dee-Ann, I don’t care if you come in your jeans and boots . . . as long as you’re comfortable and happy.”
She grunted at him, which was kind of new. She’d grunted at others, but never him.
“Whatever you do, don’t get used to it,” she went on. “It’s too expensive, the sales people hate me, and apparently I have freakishly large shoulders that can’t be fitted correctly in clothes so strangers feel the need to come up and give me fashion advice. I never wanna go through this again!”
Ric rushed to her side and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Never again. I promise. Let’s do this thing tonight to appease my cousin and then that’s it.”
“Will we have to get married?”
Sensing an oncoming panic attack because that question had come out of left field, Ric calmly told her, “That’s a decision we can make ourselves at another time.”
“Rory Reed says we’ll have to get married because all Van Holtzes get married, but marriages are just a waste of money. Especially for wolves.”
Damn that Rory Reed!
“First off, you’ll never have to worry about money again.” And when her eyes narrowed to angry slits, he quickly added, “Not because you’ll be living off me but because you already have so much of your own money and your career has nowhere to go but up!”
Her eyes un-narrowed a bit. Nicely handled, Van Holtz. Nicely handled.
“And, when we get this whole thing with Matilda Llewellyn resolved and everything has calmed down, we’ll discuss what we want to do and what we don’t. But not tonight and not right now.”
She let out a breath. “Okay.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I’m sure.”
He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. “We’re in this together, Dee. Don’t ever forget that.”
“I won’t,” she whispered, hugging him back.
“I’m sorry, Ulrich,” Mrs. M. said from behind them.
“It’s all right, Mrs. M.” He kissed Dee’s neck before stepping away from her. “What is it?”
Mrs. M. frowned a bit. “Your mother’s here to see you.”
Not exactly what he was ready to hear, but probably for the best. He’d have to see her sometime. But before he could get good and worried about it, Dee slipped her hand into his. “Come on.” She smiled at him. “It’s time I got a proper introduction to your momma.”
Dee immediately saw where Ric got his looks from, even with the tears streaming down his mother’s face and her eyes blue instead of brown. He was clearly his mother’s son and in more ways than one, considering how upset she was.
“I’m so sorry, son. I’m so, so sorry.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Ric told her, hugging his mother tight.
Maybe not, but the She-wolf hadn’t actually protected him either.
Of course, Dee tried hard not to judge other She-wolves. The Lewis and Smith Pack females were tough mothers, never letting their pups get away with anything. But they were also well-known as notoriously dangerous females when it came to protecting their pups, hunting down anyone who got too close or harmed their pups even slightly. And if you harmed their pups more than slightly? You’d be lucky if anyone found pieces of you, much less whole parts.
Even worse, though, was that Ric went out of his way to protect his mother. He hadn’t planned to tell her about any of what his father had done, and his cousin Van had promised to say nothing as well. But they should have made Irene promise the same thing, because once she’d found out that neither male had said a word, she’d picked up the phone and called Jennifer Van Holtz herself, telling her everything. About the money that was stolen, the attack on Ric and Stein, and what would now happen to her, her eldest son, and her idiot husband. Irene had held nothing back, proving once and for all that Dee liked that strange full-human woman more than she could say.
“I don’t want you to worry about anything,” Jennifer told her son. “We’re going back to Colorado. We’ve already discussed it with my parents and the Alphas and it’s done.”
Dee didn’t know if it would be that easy. She didn’t see someone like Alder Van Holtz happily slinking off into the mist because he was told to by the cousin he loathed and the mate he didn’t take seriously.
Honestly, the wolf should be grateful that he wasn’t a Smith. The Pack either would have run him off by now or just tossed him into the lake with Ralph the alligator and let them fight it out.
Dee chuckled at the thought and both mother and son looked over at her.
“Sorry. Just thinkin’.”
Forcing a laugh, Jennifer wiped tears from her eyes. “My, my. You must think I’m such a mess, Dee-Ann.”
“Not
at all, ma’am.”
“Please. Call me Jennifer.” She petted her son’s arm. “I’m not staying. I just . . . wanted to see you.”
“When are you heading to Colorado, Mom?”
“Soon. Before . . .” She cleared her throat “Well, it looks like your Uncle Leo will be taking over the Pack. At least for now.”
Dee blinked and asked, “You have an Uncle Leo?”
“It’s short for Leonard.”
“Leo? As in—”
“Yes. My grandfather had a sense of humor.”
“Clearly.”
“Well, as you know,” Jennifer went on, “Uncle Leo and your father do not get along. So, I decided to get us moved out sooner rather than later.”
“I’ll see you before you go.”
“And you’ll come to visit, won’t you?” And Dee’s heart broke a little at the need in the woman’s voice.
“You know I will.”
“And you’ll bring your Dee-Ann.” She took Dee’s hand and gave that brave, pathetic smile. “Both of you will come, yes?”
“Absolutely,” Dee told her, because there was no way in hell she’d let “her” Ric go to Colorado on his own. Not without Dee there watching his back. And maybe she’d bring Rory . . . and Sissy . . . and Bobby Ray. Maybe her daddy, too.
Just as a precaution, of course.
Dee waited while Ric escorted his mother to the door. When he came back, she asked, “You all right?”
“I will be.”
She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “In this together,” she reminded him. “Don’t ever forget that.”
CHAPTER 30
M ace Llewellyn gazed at the two youngsters that Blayne Thorpe had brought with her to “help” her babysit Mace’s son so that he and Dez could likely spend less than five minutes at some ridiculous charity dance. He would normally never go, but Niles Van Holtz had suggested their attendance. Mace didn’t want to think too much on why the Van Holtz Alpha would suggest that, because he already knew why.
So that he and his sisters, who would also be attending, would have an acceptable alibi—just in case.
“So I hope it’s okay that I brought them,” Blayne rambled on. Cute girl but she could go and go with the talking. “They’re very reliable and good with kids!” She grinned and Mace nearly sneered back at her. A mutt who wouldn’t shift to her human form and a bear-hybrid female that glowered like she might kill everyone at any minute. In fact, she’d managed to put Dez’s dogs under the couch with little more than that glower, even his sweet little pup was hiding under there. Dez’s dogs hadn’t had that reaction to anyone since Mace had first walked into this house. So, yeah, not sure he was buying the “great with kids” line but, whatever. He knew Blayne would take great care of Marcus and that’s all that mattered on these nights when his cheetah nanny was off.
“No Novikov?” he asked, trying to keep the conversation going while simultaneously trying to will his wife to appear.
“Practice tonight.” And she launched into more talking that Mace really wasn’t listening to. Eventually, his wife rushed down the stairs, Marcus in her arms.
“Sorry, sorry.” She handed their son over to Blayne and Marcus hugged her tight, kissing Blayne on the cheeks and nose. So young and yet already exhibiting his father’s smooth moves.
“Stop looking so proud,” Dez warned him as she dragged the dogs out from under the couch and put them in their individual kennels in the office. A good idea since Mace didn’t want to come home later that evening and clean their piss off the floor because the bear hybrid made them panic.
Dee quickly returned and grabbed a silk wrap while putting Blayne through her usual coplike gauntlet. “You have all my numbers, plus the direct contacts to the precinct, Marc’s doctor—Oh! And where’s your phone, Blayne? You always leave your phone buried somewhere.”
“It’s in my bag.”
“Which bag? You brought three.”
“The black one.”
“They’re all black.”
“No. One’s a dark grey and the other’s granite.”
“You’re making me mental, Blayne.”
She giggled. “You sound like Bo.”
“Dez,” Mace sighed. “Can we go, please?”
“Okay, okay. But you have to drop me off at Ulrich Van Holtz’s apartment and I’ll catch up with you at the hotel.”
“Why?”
Dez’s lips grew tight and he got the feeling she was trying not to laugh.
“All right, woman, what’s going on?”
“Uh . . . it’s Dee-Ann. She’s—” Dez snorted. “She asked me and Malone to come over and help her with the dress she’s wearing tonight.”
“Dee’s wearing a dress?”
“I think she wants to look good for Ric.”
“Ric who?”
“Ric? Ric Van Holtz?” Mace stared at her. “You talked to him about your sister? Just a few days ago?”
“That sounds vaguely familiar.”
“Forget it.”
“No!” Blayne yelped. She’d been trying to look like she wasn’t eavesdropping when that was exactly what she was doing. “Don’t forget. Tell. Tell!”
Dez laughed. “Tell you what?”
“Why does Dee want to look good for Ric?”
“Because he’s a hot supermodel type?”
“Dez!”
“I’m not positive but me and Malone think they may have made the leap.”
Blayne squealed, the hybrid dog barked, and the scary hybrid sow and Mace snarled in annoyance at the sound.
“I knew it!” Blayne crowed. “I knew it! Project Wolf-Wolf is a success!”
Mace opened his mouth to respond to that but Dez cut him off with one raised hand. “No.”
“Anything else?” Blayne pushed.
“Dee is also wearing heels.”
“See,” Mace said to his wife, “now you’re just making it up. You went too far. I will now no longer believe anything you ever say to me again.”
“Whatever. Blayne get your phone and keep it handy this time.” Dez kissed their son’s forehead. “Now come on, Captain Ego.” Dez moved toward the door. “I better get over there before Dee-Ann starts killing everyone in a thirty-mile radius.”
She had a point, but really, all Mace could think about was the ending to this evening. Because once the evening was over—so was his agonizing over what had to be done tonight.
After checking into that overpriced flea trap in the middle of this horrid city, Eggie Smith had left his mate in the hands of his niece Sissy Mae and that idiot lion of hers. Although the boy could play ball, so that made up for a lot of his worst attributes and made it worth feeding him.
Once he’d done that, Eggie stole a car from outside a bar and drove over to one of the Llewellyn Pride’s homes right outside Greenwich, Connecticut.
Parking a healthy distance from the property, Eggie made his way to the lion territory, moving as quick and quiet as his old bones would let him. He found a good place to take up position, managing to get himself safely ensconced among the leaves and branches of a large oak right outside the Pride house. He checked the distance with his scope and, satisfied he had a good eye line to his target, he opened the backpack he’d brought with him and quickly put together his rifle. Once he’d done that, he sat and waited for it to get dark. These long summer days made this sort of thing take much longer than usual. But it would only be a little bit longer and Eggie could wait.
While he sat and waited, he worried about his daughter. Worried she’d made a mistake choosing that damn Van Holtz, but Darla had been real adamant about letting Dee make this decision on her own.
“Lord, Eggie. She’s grown. You can’t make these decisions for her anymore.” As if he’d made any decisions for Dee-Ann Smith once she’d grown out of her diapers. That little girl always had her own way of doing things and none of that had changed. He doubted it ever would. And as long as this Van Holtz fella
understood that, Eggie would have no problems with him. But if he ever lost sight of that . . .
Eggie saw some activity inside the house and he raised his weapon so he could use the scope to get a better look. The target was on her phone and, because it was always a good idea to keep up on the skills the government had been so keen to teach him, he entertained himself by reading her lips. And Lord, but could that woman complain. Even the air seemed to annoy her. Typical cat. Pouncing on dust balls and biting at lint.
Then the tone of the She-lion’s conversation changed. She was talking to someone else and Eggie could feel his fangs slip out of his gums because the female managed to go farther—or maybe it was lower—than any of them had given her credit for. She was willing to cross a line that even Eggie would never cross. Not in this lifetime.
Lowering his weapon, Eggie took apart the rifle and put it back into his bag. He dug out the holster with his sidearm and attached it to the waistband of his jeans. He headed down the tree and ran toward the She-lion’s home, moving quickly before it was too late.
Ric stood outside one of the Kingston Arms Hotel’s luxurious ballrooms and patiently waited for Lock and Gwen to arrive. He’d admit he was nervous. Word of his relationship with Dee was spreading through the shifter community like wildfire. He didn’t mind but he wanted to be the one to shock Lachlan MacRyrie into pure bafflement. It was fun!
Of course, he’d been planning to be standing here with Dee-Ann at his side, but she’d told him to go on without her and he had. It wasn’t that he intended to regularly torture her with these kinds of events, but tonight was different. Tonight was the night that Matilda Llewellyn would meet her end for the crimes she’d committed against her own kind. To limit backlash, not only among the shifter community but any full-human legal entities as well, those who might normally be suspected of the crime would be making an appearance at this event. Including, but not limited to, Mace Llewellyn and his sisters, Dee-Ann, Cella Malone, Dez MacDermot-Llewellyn, and Ric.
Although dealing with Matilda probably wouldn’t stop the hybrid fights completely, it would definitely put a dent in their well-funded and well-oiled fighting machine. Things like that needed money to survive and those who weren’t making money often walked away to find other illegal activities that would. Not that any of that made Ric feel better, but he could only help one disenfranchised group at a time.
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