“Fine!” Zubachev roared, and she could tell saying that clearly pained him. Which, Toni would privately admit, she kind of enjoyed.
She stopped howling, and Zubachev said, “I will talk to Yuri about meeting with you about bastard freak.”
“That’s all I ask.”
“But you will not make that noise again.”
“Okay.”
“Because it annoys.”
“I know. It is annoying.” Then again, so were bears being bigots.
Ivan pointed at a black bear. Toni felt kind of bad for that bear. Height-wise he was considerably smaller than the grizzlies and polars. But width-wise . . . he was built like a mountain. “Help the canine down.”
“I can do it.” And she did, moving expertly down the statue until she was on the ground.
She stared up at the bear. “So what’s next?”
“This way, little dog.”
“Or you could just call me Toni.”
“Could. Won’t.”
Deciding not to argue the point, she followed the group down the giant hall. It reminded her of Versailles in France with its stately marble floors and floor-to-ceiling mirrors lining the entire hallway. Everything was ornate but a little too much for her taste. But as they began walking, Ricky and Barinov came charging out of one of the large rooms, their weapons drawn.
The room the two males emerged from was on the other side of the house, so they must have run around the very wide palace to get to it so quickly.
“Are you all right?” Ricky asked her. For once she didn’t see a smirk on his face but true concern.
“I’m fine.” But just as she said that, her phone vibrated. Another text. Sighing, Toni dug her phone out of the back of her jeans. It was from her mother.
Question . . . did you tell Novikov he could change the flooring? In our RENTAL house?
Toni didn’t even know what the hell that meant. And why was her mother asking that question so late at night? Late for New York time anyway because it wasn’t even four in the morning there. And what the hell was going on back there? Why were they all being so ridiculous?
“Toni?”
She looked up at Ricky. “What?”
“Your neck is getting all red.”
Toni rubbed her hand across her throat. “Oh. That. Yeah. That happens sometimes.”
“Can I help?”
“No one can help.” She shoved her phone back into her jeans. “Let’s just get this done.”
Maybe, just maybe, if she could get through this negotiation quickly, she could catch a flight later tonight and get home before her entire family imploded.
Yes. Excellent plan.
Toni faced Zubachev. “Let’s get this going, Mr. Zubachev.”
He nodded and again headed off down the hall. They all followed until he reached a room. He stepped inside and waited for Toni, Ricky, and Barinov to follow. Once they were in the room, he said, “Wait here.”
Zubachev walked out, closing the door behind him. The three of them stared at each other until, with a shrug, they all took seats on the available chairs and couch. And they sat in that room for nearly three hours before Zubachev returned.
He looked at Toni. “Come back tomorrow. Nine in morning.”
Then he walked out.
Shocked, Toni stared at where the bear had been, but Barinov stood up and asked them, “Hungry? Because I’m starving.”
“Wait. Is that it?”
“Until tomorrow.”
“I don’t understand. Why am I not meeting Asanov today?”
“Could be lots of reasons.” Barinov thought a moment. “But chances are they’re just making you wait.”
He headed toward the door, and Toni scrambled out of the chair. “But they’ll see me tomorrow, right?”
Barinov faced her. Shrugged. “Probably. Maybe. It’s possible.”
Ricky gazed down at her. “Darlin’, your neck’s gettin’ red again.”
In the early morning, the sun barely up, Bo Novikov stood in the backyard of the jackal family’s rental home.
It was a really nice place. Good for kids. Well, good for most kids. Not these kids. These kids were demons from the pits of hell.
Bo liked them.
Especially Kyle. That kid had a great future as an amazing artist . . . or he would one day be poisoned by a mate. Either one was possible.
Still, Bo had not done what he’d set out to do. Not yet. He hadn’t gotten the schedule for these kids set up. He had to admit, he’d thought it would be easy. Blayne had tried to warn him. She said it would be like working with ten little Bos. As always . . . she’d been right. Well, actually nine little Bos. One of the pups, the eighteen-year-old that everyone got quiet around whenever she breezed through the room, didn’t need a schedule. She said she had classes but doing what or with whom, Bo had no idea and he didn’t really care.
But the others . . . the others all had classes. Even the three-year-olds. The twins would be going to Berlitz next week to learn more languages. They’d already cursed at Bo in German, Russian, and Cantonese. Three languages he knew a bit because he’d been cursed at in those languages by players he’d gone up against over the years. In fact, Bo could curse in almost all languages for that simple reason.
Yet negotiating the busy schedules of nine pups with one extremely busy parent and one not-so-busy parent was a lot harder than he’d thought it would be, exactly because those nine kids had Bo’s drive. They didn’t want to give an inch. They didn’t care that if they went to a later-in-the-day advanced class in whatever their specialty was, their siblings could easily go to their earlier-in-the-day advanced class. They didn’t care that if they gave a little, the entire family would be better off. All they cared about was having time to do what they loved and what they were good at.
Yeah. Bo admired that, but it sure did make things harder. Too bad for the brats that Bo had made a commitment, and once he made a commitment, that was all that mattered to him. So he wasn’t giving up, no matter when Toni came back. Although Toni’s mother, Jackie, had heard from her daughter and it looked as if her trip would take a little longer than Toni had planned. Maybe Bo should have warned her that negotiating with Russians was one of the harder—and more entertaining—things one could do in life. Bear or full-human, Russians were tough negotiators.
Bo heard rustling from nearby bushes. He turned in time to see one of the Parker kids crawl out. Hands, face, and the knees of his jeans covered in dirt, the little boy stood up but froze when he saw Bo standing there.
“What were you doing?” Bo asked the boy.
“Um . . . digging?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?”
The boy stepped closer. “It depends if you’ll tell on me.”
“Where you burying a body?”
Eyes wide, the boy shook his head. “No, sir.”
“Then there’s nothing to tell.”
A huge smile now on his face, the boy said, “I’m Freddy.”
“The seven-year-old.”
“Right.”
“Did you bury something important, Freddy?”
“Important to me.”
“That’s all that matters.”
“I only bury things that are important to me.”
“Why?”
“I believe it has a lot to do with my canine ancestry.”
“Like when a dog buries a bone?”
“Exactly! Toni doesn’t like that example but it seems the most accurate scientifically.”
Jeez. Bo kept forgetting exactly how smart these kids were because it never occurred to him to analyze the fact that he liked walrus blubber jerky or that he had to constantly fight his desire to sleep all day until Blayne brought him dinner.
The boy studied him for a moment, then asked, “Don’t you mind being here?”
“No.”
“Is that because you’re a lot like Kyle?”
That made Bo smirk. “No.”
Freddy walked
over to Bo until he stood only a few inches away and gazed up at him. Then he waited. At least that’s what it felt like. As if the kid were waiting for something. Bo didn’t know what but it felt weird just standing there, so he said, “You’re up kind of early.”
“Not for me.”
After that statement, the kid said nothing else but continued to stare. Finally, Bo couldn’t take it anymore.
“Is there something you want to ask me, Freddy?”
“Can I stand on your shoulders?”
“What?”
“Can I stand on your shoulders? Just for a minute or so.”
“Why?”
“I want to know what it’s like to be tall.”
Bo was about to explain that the chances of a jackal being as tall as him—a lion-polar bear hybrid—were impossible but decided against it. In fact, he could actually hear Blayne in his head telling him not to tell Freddy that. So, Bo instead crouched down and held his arm out. The boy grabbed it with both hands and Bo lifted him, placing his small feet on his shoulders. When he had the boy secure, Bo’s hands wrapped tightly around Freddy’s ankles, Bo stood tall.
“Wooooooow,” Freddy sighed out. “I can see the entire world from here.”
That made Bo grin a bit.
“I bet you love being this tall, Mr. Novikov.”
“I don’t mind. It makes it easier to find Blayne in a crowd. She tends to bop around when she walks. Like she’s on springs or something. So I just look for the top of her head to suddenly appear and I can usually track her down in a timely manner.”
“I like Blayne. She smiles a lot.”
“She does.”
“And she’s good at keeping me calm.”
“That’s very important for you, isn’t it, Freddy?”
“It is. Otherwise I do things I’m not supposed to. Toni’s excellent at keeping me calm but Blayne’s good at it too.”
Of course, Blayne’s calming abilities probably came from the years of anger management classes she’d been forced to go to—usually by court order.
Bo didn’t know how long the pair stood there, but it was a nice, easy way to start the day.
“Bo?”
Hearing his fiancée’s voice, Bo glanced over at Blayne. “Hey. What’s up?”
“Everything all right?”
“Just staring at the world,” he replied.
Grinning, Blayne walked over, clapped her hands together, and held her arms out to Freddy. “Your mom is looking for you, Fredster.”
“Okay.”
The boy leaped from Bo’s shoulders and into Blayne’s arms. Thankfully, Blayne was on a derby team, so she managed to easily catch Freddy and not fall on her ass even though he was leaping from such a great height.
She placed Freddy on the ground, and he charged toward the back door. “Thank you, Mr. Novikov!”
“You’re welcome.”
Blayne smiled up at Bo.
“What?”
“I’m just so—”
“Is there a reason you came out here,” he cut in before she could tell him once again how proud she was he had managed to not kill any of the Parker children, “or was it just to make sure I hadn’t stomped on the small ones?”
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You don’t always watch where you walk. But that’s not why I’m out here.”
Bo sighed. “Then why?”
Taking Bo’s hand, Blayne led her mate and future husband back into the Jean-Louis Parker house and to the ballroom on the first floor. Right where Kyle had had workers set up a giant block of white marble. And standing right by that were an arguing Kyle, Troy, and Oriana. Those three argued all the time. Really. All. The. Time.
“You are such a little shit, Kyle!” Oriana yelled at her brother.
“I need the space!” Kyle barked back.
“So do I!”
“What about me?” Troy demanded.
“You do equations,” Oriana reminded her brother. “What could you possibly need all this space for?”
“Wall space. So I can put up my equations,” he said, his hand gesturing down the long hall, “and see them in one long stream.”
“You’re an idiot,” Oriana sighed. “Just a big-headed idiot.”
“And you’re an uptight little—”
“That’s it,” Bo cut in, impressing Blayne with his no-nonsense approach to children cursing at each other. “Enough of this.”
“You might as well forget it, Novikov,” Kyle said, rocking back on sneakers that lit up when he walked, reminding Blayne that this confident little kid was only eleven. “The workmen have already gone. So the marble stays put.”
Bo snorted. “Really?”
Walking over to the enormous piece of beautiful marble that Blayne assumed Kyle was planning to whittle down into a statue, Bo gazed at it a moment. He moved around it. Then he grasped the marble from behind and, with a grunt, dragged it across the floor like he was moving a filled refrigerator.
Blayne covered her mouth with her hands when she saw that Bo was leaving deep gouges in the hardwood floor.
Once across the room, Bo released the marble and came back over to the kids. They were gawking at him, fear mixed with envy mixed with admiration.
“Do not bring any more giant pieces of marble in here, Kyle. Understand?”
“Do you know how much that weighed?” Kyle asked, still gazing.
“In fact,” he told all three, “no more trying to claim this room for yourselves. I’m taking it over for now. I need more space than the library.”
“It took ten full-humans to move that,” Troy added. “Ten.”
“Full-humans are naturally weak. You shouldn’t hold that against them.”
“We’re not,” Oriana muttered. “You’re just freaking us out.”
“Then you better not piss me off.” Bo looked at each child before asking, “Understand?”
All three nodded.
“Good. Now, I’m hungry. Let’s feed.” He walked out, winking at Blayne as he passed by.
The two boys followed after him, Kyle noting that Bo was “Magnificent.”
Oriana stopped by Blayne. “I know,” she said about her brother. “I know.”
“Well . . . Bo is magnificent.” She’d just never expected an eleven-year-old boy to be comfortable enough to say that out loud.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
By the third day, Toni truly thought her head might explode. For three days she’d been forced to sit in this room. For three days, she’d been forced to wait for hours until someone came in to tell her to “try again tomorrow.” And for three days she’d been forced to keep her temper under control.
Although Toni hadn’t realized she had a temper quite like this. The more they made her wait, the worse it was getting. What made it even worse were the two males she was stuck with.
She looked across the room. First at Vic Barinov. He was reading a book on the Teutonic knights and their battles.
Really? Really? Was reading about Teutonic knights seriously that important? When her entire life was falling apart around her?
Knowing she was moments away from biting the man’s nose off, Toni turned her gaze to the wolf. Unlike the hybrid, he wasn’t reading anything. He was just sitting there, placidly staring at the wall. How did he do that? How did anyone do that who was not already in some sort of catatonic state?
This whole situation was insane! And making her absolutely crazy. Even worse were the regular texts from her family. Text after text after text with just enough information to have Toni seriously worried for their collective safety.
And did any of that concern the bears? Well, she had no idea because she hadn’t spoken to any of them. Instead, a bear led her into “The Room” as she now called it, left her there for hours, and then another bear led her out.
Well you know what? Today was going to be different. Today she was going to stand up and say, “I’ve had enough!”
But before she could, the do
or opened and some bear looked at her and said, “You can go now.”
With a yip that made the black bear stumble away from the doorway, Toni got to her feet, grabbed her backpack, and stormed out of the room. She didn’t look back to see if the two males with her were following, because she no longer cared. She no longer cared about them. Or this job. Or these bears. Or anything else in the universe. She was fed up with everyone and everything.
Toni reached the car first and tapped her foot while the two males ambled up. Barinov remotely unlocked the doors and Toni got inside. She tossed her bag to the floor, pulled her legs up on the seat, and wrapped her arms around her calves. She worked to control her breathing because she knew a panic attack was coming on. Yes. Like Freddy and Cherise, Toni did get panic attacks, but she’d worked hard over the years to control the problem since she couldn’t afford to have panic attacks while her siblings were.
And just a few days around bigoted bears seemed to have ruined all the good work her therapist had done. This was unacceptable!
“How ya doin’, darlin’?” the wolf asked her from the front passenger seat.
Toni dug her fingernails into her hands and lied, “Fine.”
Ricky turned on the TV in his room, then quickly turned it off again. He didn’t know Russian, wasn’t about to start learning it now, and there was just something upsetting about watching a John Wayne movie dubbed into any other language but good ol’ American. Or, as his sister liked to correct him, “You mean English, dumb ass?”
So Ricky grabbed his laptop and fired up one of the movies he had on his hard drive. He was just getting into the original Ocean’s Eleven when Vic knocked on his door.
“We both know you have a key,” Ricky called out.
A few seconds later, the hybrid was in his room. “Of course I have a key, but that doesn’t mean it’s right for me to just walk in without asking. I’m not a housecat, ya know.”
“You’re actually talking about lions, aren’t you?” Ricky took his Titans cap off and dropped it on the side table. “All right, how long is this going to go on?”
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