Toni tapped her fingers against Novikov’s arm. “You better go.” Novikov responded by viciously growling. “Don’t worry,” Toni replied, as if she understood his nonsensical noises. “I’ll talk to them.” Novikov bared a fang and Toni’s smile grew. “I promise. Now go. You don’t want to miss your flight. And have fun tonight. Relax. You deserve it.”
Novikov finally nodded and carefully placed her on the ground. Then he glowered at Ric and Cella and roared. Loudly. Thankfully, because their offices were underground, there were no windows to break. Novikov started to turn away, stopped long enough to look at Cella and say, “Tell Crush I’ll call him tomorrow at seven p.m.”
“Will do.”
Ric still didn’t know how the incredibly cool and good-natured Lou “Crush” Crushek and Novikov had become friends. Because Ric really liked Crushek. And he hated Novikov. So it all seemed so wrong.
The hybrid patted Toni on the shoulder and walked out. She followed him into the hallway. “Make sure you have your ID,” she called after him. “You’ll need it to get on your flight. And I already told your driver not to bother you with too much chatter, but even if he does speak to you when you don’t want him to, tip him anyway.”
With her eyes still staring down the hallway, but keeping her voice low, she said to the rest of them, “He won’t tip him, but I already did just in case. I’m thinking Bo considers ‘hello’ and ‘do you need anything, sir?’ to be too much talking.”
She was exactly right about that.
“I also couldn’t get him a regular flight to Chicago at the time he needed, so I booked him a private one.” She lowered her voice even more. “I had to charge it to the team because I didn’t have his card and the company’s card was in the bobcat’s desk—which you may want to move. It seems kind of dangerous to have that there if there are any foxes working in your office. Now I figured charging Bo Novikov’s personal flight to the team would piss you off, Ric”—and she was right!—“so I contacted the Sports Center in Chicago and let the stadium manager know that Bo was going to be in town to see his girlfriend’s derby game or bout or whatever they call it. We discussed it, and he’s going to set up a promo thing for hockey fans. I warned him, though, that Bo wouldn’t like that, but apparently the hockey fans like the abuse, so the manager still thinks it’s a good idea. This way you and the team will get some good PR. Plus, his being at that derby thing will bring attention to his girlfriend’s team, which if I remember correctly, you also own.” She shrugged. “So I figured it all kind of balanced out in the end. And this makes it a tax write-off.” She continued to focus down the hallway for a few more seconds before she let out a sigh and walked into the office. She smiled at them.
“Anyway—”
“Wait,” Ric cut in. “Before you go on . . . why’s your arm in a sling?”
“I have one word for you, Ulrich,” Toni stated flatly. “Mom.”
“Oh.” Ric nodded. “I see. So Novikov didn’t—”
“No, no. Not at all. I was just trying to help.”
Ricky Lee Reed suddenly ambled up behind Toni. Reed, like Dee-Ann, ambled rather than walked and seemed to take life as it came. Unlike his brothers, who had a little more drive. Yet Ric always felt the middle Reed brother treated Dee-Ann more as a big sister than as someone he hadn’t yet nailed, which made Ricky Lee more likable to Ric than the other Reed brothers.
“What are you doing here?” Dee-Ann asked the big Southern wolf.
“Keeping an eye on Miss Antonella here.”
“Good job when that Novikov is carrying her around like a load of Momma’s laundry.”
“I asked if she needed me to get involved and she said no. You and Ronnie Lee always go on and on about letting females make their own decision—”
“Shut up,” Dee drawled. “Before I find another use for Big Betty.”
“Wait.” Toni looked back and forth between Dee and Ricky. “How do you two know each other?”
“Dee-Ann has always loved me from afar but she knew she could never have me.”
“Betty,” Dee threatened.
“We’re Packmates,” Ricky clarified.
“Huh,” Toni said. “You’re the first member of the Smith Pack I’ve met since Dee-Ann mated with Ric.”
“She’s ashamed of her poor wolf kin, so she hides us from all those rich Van Holtz friends of hers. We’re not invited to Washington for all those fancy dinners and get-togethers they have. Not even her own cousins, Bobby Ray and Sissy Mae, are invited. Off our little Dee-Ann goes, just leavin’ the rest of us behind . . . sad and alone. Ain’t that right, Dee-Ann?”
“What’s sad is that my momma stopped me from burying you in our backyard like I tried to when I was ten. Had a hole dug for you and everything.”
“Lord, you are so your father’s child.”
“And nothing makes me prouder. Ain’t my fault your daddy’s scared of him.”
“My daddy ain’t scared of nothin’. Especially Eggie Ray Smith.”
“Anyway,” Ric cut in to the sibling-like bickering, “you were saying¸ Toni? About Novikov?”
“Actually, this is kind of interesting. Who’s Eggie?”
“Antonella.”
“Okay, okay. I was just curious.” Toni thought a moment. “So, um, I saw on Novikov’s schedule that there’s a team meeting tomorrow afternoon, so the return flight for him and his girlfriend . . . or fiancée . . . or whatever . . . leaves Chicago at eight a.m., and a driver will bring him right to the Sports Center in time for the meeting. Then he can get his workout in after that.”
Ric and Cella looked at each other and Ric asked Toni, “Why?”
“Well, I’m relatively certain if he doesn’t get in some form of workout, he’s going to be impossible to deal with. He reminds me of Dennis. He’s my five-year-old brother,” she told the others. “He has OCD, too, and if he doesn’t get a certain amount of time painting—he’s a painter—he gets completely unruly. You wouldn’t think a five-year-old could do that much damage . . . but he can. And he’s barely fifty pounds. Bo is way bigger, so I readjusted the amount of damage based on the size of the man and guessed it would be substantially worse. I figured you wouldn’t want that.”
“No, no,” Ric clarified. “We wouldn’t. But my question is why did you feel the need to help him?”
“Oh.” Toni thought on that a moment. “Well . . . he looked like he needed help, and I was just sitting there.” She suddenly sighed. “And to be quite honest, I really didn’t want to have to testify against him if he murdered that bobcat.”
“Floyd,” Ric and Cella said at the same time. Floyd wasn’t bad as a receptionist, but the man continued to piss off the persnickety Novikov. Then again, so did Ric—and the universe. Only Novikov’s fiancée, Blayne, managed to avoid Novikov’s wrath, mostly . . . as long as she was on time.
“It just seemed easier to help the man since you guys are clearly busy and I knew once he was done with . . . Floyd?” They nodded. “Yes, Floyd. I knew he’d come looking for you, and I didn’t want to see you without most of your skin, Ric. We do consider you family, after all.”
“Thank you.”
“Look, I’m sorry if I stepped on any toes here. I’m just used to dealing with people like him, and it was nothing for me to help out. I was just sitting there.”
Cella swung her legs off the desk. “He didn’t make you nervous?”
“Bo? No. Not at all.” She smiled. “He’s very funny.”
“Do you mean weird funny?” Ric asked. “Like odd and off-putting?”
“No, Ric. I mean funny. As in humorous.”
“He’s humorous?”
Treating him like a true cousin, Toni rolled her eyes and said, “I’ll let you get back to work.”
“Wait,” Cella pushed. “So you didn’t find Bo Novikov hard to work with?”
Toni laughed. “Hard. Him?” She laughed some more. But when no one joined her, she cleared her throat and said, “Look, based on what
I’ve heard from Kyle, Bo Novikov is considered the best at what he does. And there’s a level of commitment and focus that comes with being the best. I understand how that is because I was raised around the best of the best. My ten sisters and brothers and my mom are the best at what they do. So my father and I have, over the years, learned to manage them. For their own good and ours.” She thought a moment and added, “And society’s.”
“And what does that entail?” Ric coaxed. “Managing them?”
“Well . . . you know.” When he just stared at her, she shrugged and said, “The main thing is to understand that because they are the best, their focus is incredibly myopic and that nothing you or I or anyone else says will change that. So instead of trying to change them, you work within the confines of that myopic vision. And while you’re helping them, you’re also protecting them from outside distractions that will just set them off and make your life hell for several hours to several days. I guess I’m saying that managing the best is really just a way to protect myself. Once you understand the man or the woman, the rest is really easy.”
“And you understand Bo Novikov?”
“Yes,” she said confidently. “Actually, he’s super easy because he just lays it out there. One of my brothers doesn’t let you know anything’s wrong until he starts setting fires. When one of my sisters gets upset, her hair starts to fall out. So in order to prevent my brother from going to prison or my sister sobbing hysterically every time she showers, I have to guess when they’re upset. Mr. Novikov is like a breath of fresh air. All that snarling and growling, it makes him incredibly easy to read.” She glanced around the room. “Anything else?”
“Actually, yes,” Cella said, briefly glancing at Ric. “Are you really busy right now?”
“Just waiting for my interview.”
“Great. Then can you do me a huge favor?”
“Sure.”
“We need to delay your interview anyway.”
Clearly disappointed but trying to hide it, Toni said, “That’s fine. What do you need?”
“One of our players has to get on a flight in the next couple of hours. He’s sometimes easily distracted, so would you mind escorting him? Just make sure he gets on the plane. He’s got everything he needs. His tickets, his luggage. Just needs to get on the plane to Alaska. He’s going to a hockey camp for shifter pups and cubs and he’s one of the guest trainers for the next week. You wouldn’t mind, would you?”
“Not at all.”
“Then come back here when you’re done and we can have our little interview. Okay?”
Seeming surprised the interview would still take place today, Toni nodded. “Oh . . . okay.”
Cella added, “You can find the player, Bert, down in the player’s locker room.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
Toni smiled at Ric and headed out.
“You going with her, Ricky Lee?” Dee asked Reed.
“Might as well.”
“Good idea since your sister is still looking for you.”
The wolf rolled his eyes and followed Toni down the hall. That’s when Ric looked at Cella.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Giving your not-really-a-cousin a shot at the big time.”
“Or a chance to get permanent facial lacerations.” Cella shrugged. “You say tomato . . .”
Ricky Lee waited for Toni to step on the elevator before following her in. He pressed the button for the floor where the team’s locker rooms were located.
“You spend a lot of time here, don’t you?” she asked him.
He nodded at Toni’s question. “Yep. My brother being one of the players gives me all sorts of access. Well, that and no one really asks me anything anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “I just mean that I go where I need to and always make sure I look like I know where I’m going. People are less likely to bother you or question you as long as you appear to know where you’re going. It’s only when you wander around with your mouth open, staring up at the big buildings or trying to sort out office numbers, that people start wondering what the hell you’re doing. Thought it would only work here in the States, but it worked even when I was doing some work for the company in Japan, Italy, France.”
“Really? I’ve been to and sometimes lived in all those places with my family over the years, and I find that surprising. I mean, you’re just so . . . American.”
“Lord, I hope so. Being that I was born and reared here and all.” He chuckled as the elevator doors slid open. He waited for Toni to step out before he followed. “But I always looked like I knew where I was going. People may have watched me, especially in Japan. But no one ever questioned where I was going or stopped me from going there. It’s always worked to my benefit.”
“I’ll have to try it. I’m always getting stopped.”
They turned a corner and paused. Bert was just coming out of the locker room. He had a plain black duffel and a hockey bag for all his equipment.
They looked at each other.
“You know this is probably a setup, right?” Ricky asked her. “A test to see what you can handle.”
“Oh, I know.”
“Not sure what kind of test, though. Bert’s a real nice guy . . . for a bear.”
“He’s probably slipped onto a no-fly list or something and they want to see how I’d get past that.”
“You think you can?”
She grinned. “No problem. You sure you really want to tag along?”
“See you in action?” He returned her grin, enjoying himself immensely. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Paul was relaxing on his couch with his eldest son, Cooper, watching bad mid-afternoon television and enjoying every day, average, father-son bonding.
“So how did your concert go in front of the prime minister?”
“Pretty good. You know how I like playing at the Colosseum. I’d just need Rome burning to feel like Nero.” He paused. “Except with a piano. So I guess Mom’s more like Nero. How about you? What have you been up to while I was away?”
“I rebuilt the motor in my Mustang. Then Freddy freaked out about something and Toni stopped him from setting fire to the house—which was good—but then he took the motor and the rest of the car apart when we were all asleep. I haven’t had the heart to go back into the garage since. But I have the SUV, so I can still get around.”
They continued to watch bad afternoon TV until the arguing from down the hall became so intolerable both men sighed and stood up at the same time. Together, father and son headed toward the arguing, but Paul already guessed where it was coming from. The large ballroom of the town house. It was the perfect place for a dancer to practice or a sculptor to sculpt or a painter to paint or a scientist to set up a lab. The list went on and on. And, in Paul’s estimation, the room was large enough for all of his children to practice their art or music or anything else they wanted to work on. It was an enormous room!
Too bad none of his brilliant progeny wanted to share.
They’d almost reached the ballroom entrance when Cherise skulked around a corner. Poor thing. She skulked a lot. Kept to the shadows. A brilliant cellist since she was six, Cherise easily lost herself in her music. But when she wasn’t playing, she was an easily frightened, constantly shivering She-jackal. It broke Paul’s heart. His daughter needed to find her strength. Jackals weren’t big and had no pack to call their own, but they did have each other. They had family. That was their strength. That’s what had kept jackals going in the wild for centuries. So Paul needed to find out what would bring his daughter’s natural strength out. He’d done it before with Toni by putting her in charge of Coop and Cherise when she was thirteen. He’d done it with the intention of keeping an eye on all three but letting his daughter feel what it was like to be needed, to feel important. And she’d taken that responsibility and run with it, helping him and Jackie to raise the most amazing children. St
ill, it was time for her to get out on her own. To live her own life. His Toni deserved that.
“What’s up, Cherise?” he asked her.
“We need Toni.”
“No,” he said gently but firmly. “We don’t need Toni. We can handle this without her.”
“She should be home by now,” Cherise insisted. “We need Toni.”
Knowing one of Cherise’s “loops” when he heard one—her “loops” being when she kept saying the same thing over and over until she passed out—Paul just walked on ahead, Coop and Cherise behind him. He stepped into the ballroom, stopping right at the entrance as a pink ballet slipper flew by and collided with Kyle’s head. Tragically for Kyle, it was one of Oriana’s pointe shoes, and the hard tip clocked the kid right in the eye.
“You talentless hack!” Kyle screamed, one hand over his eye. “I should rip out your Achilles tendon with my teeth!”
“Try that, you little weasel, and I’m chopping off both your hands!”
Coop glanced at Paul. “Cherise is right . . . we need Toni.”
Toni stepped out of the limo she’d hired to transport her, Ricky, and Bert to the airport.
Newark was one of the airports she knew really well. Almost as well as LaGuardia and she had lots of connections here. She knew she could get a staff escort directly to the gate for Bert. And she might be allowed to go with him herself even though she didn’t have a ticket. She wasn’t sure, however, that she could get the wolf access, too. But she assumed he wouldn’t mind waiting.
“Uh . . . Toni?”
Toni turned and smiled at the wolf. “Yes?”
He motioned to the limo with a jerk of his head. That’s when Toni saw the claws sticking up through the roof of the vehicle. Toni rushed over and crouched down. Bert had his black bear claws dug into the roof and his powerful legs spread and braced on either side of the door.
“Bert?”
“I’m not going,” he panted out desperately. “I’m not going. I’m not going. I’m not going.”
Toni stood. “I think he’s frightened of flying.”
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