Lucian: McCray Bruin Bear Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  “Yes, I’ve noticed that as well. The other day I saw that the cars were being washed up. I hadn’t realized how dirty they were before. But they shine, don’t they? And the special that he’s running right now is smart.” Demi leaned back while Lucian went on about his brother. “To have someone test drive a car and get to have their own car washed and detailed is wonderful. I think he sold two cars the first day.”

  “Yes, he called me and asked if I had a problem with it. I thought it was brilliant and told him so. Then he hit me up for a power washer. Really, Josiah wanted to rent one for a few days, to spray off the building and the cars. But then he told me the prices of them compared to renting one every couple of weeks to wash cars. It seems to me that he was being held back there before. Hiring him as manager was a good idea,

  Demi. Thank you.”

  “All I wanted to do was provide transportation for my family. Josiah is a good salesman too. Not just the cars but having the people who work with him know that they are as well.” Jamie thanked her again as she finished up with the contract. “Jamie,

  I’m looking for another business to come in. Know anyone that would like to place a distribution plant here? The one that is here now is going to close up at the end of the fiscal period. That’s in two months, and two hundred plus people will be out of work.”

  “Not distribution, no. But I have heard of a place that is wishing to expand soon. I think it’s the capital that is holding them back.” She wrote down the name of the company. “I think I read just a few days ago that their stock is at an all-time low. I bought up a few shares of it myself.”

  “You knew that I’d help.” He said that he had hoped she would. “I’ll do some research on it. And in the future, if you need anything, you can ask Lucian here. He’s my partner in all this.”

  Jamie said that he had a meeting in his home state that evening and left. Demi asked Lucian if he was willing to be her partner in her businesses. He grinned like a kid at his own birthday party.

  “I haven’t any idea what he was talking about most of the time, just so you know.

  The stock prices I understand. I see them on the afternoon news. But why did he buy shares when they’re low? And what does being low have to do with a business trouble?

  I know what capitol is, but why would he mention that to you?” Lucian laughed. “I would be the worse partner anyone ever took on, don’t you think? I don’t know enough to help you at all, love.”

  “You know a great deal. You saw that the cars were washed, and the building was also clean. You kept up on the event that your brother was having. That shows that you’re interested. And you had a suggestion for Jamie. That helps him and us when we work together.” Lucian said it was his brother. “Regardless, you knew about it. And as a partner, you’d notice the things going on with our businesses because it’s our money they’re using.”

  “Okay, that makes sense. And the rest of this, you’ll hopefully explain more as we go along, right?” She nodded at him. “Okay, tell me what he meant.”

  “Capitol. You said you knew that it was what the company in question has ahead of what they owe. But they need more to expand in order to either hit goals or to bring in more product to sell. In this case, a bank will more than likely turn them down flat.

  One, because their stock is going down. Two, because they’re a fairly new business that is still getting their feet wet in the industry.” Demi pulled the company up on her computer. Their stock was down. “Jamie knew that if he told me about the company and I thought it was a good investment, the low stocks that he bought would be worth a

  great deal more if we, our company, stepped in and helped them out. Buy low, sell high. That’s what we’d do as well. But since we’re going to help them, buying their stock first would hurt us in the long run. People, the government, would see it as insider work. And I don’t work that way. We won’t work that way.”

  Lucian asked a lot of good questions about stocks and how they worked. She watched the stock go down another point and looked at that. The company’s holders, the people on the board, were dumping it. She said that they could buy it and own the company. That would be different than just buying a few shares to make some money.

  “So, if you own it—” She told him that they would own it. “Okay, if we own it, then the stocks are all right to purchase. I don’t understand.”

  “If we’re buying the stock to take over the business, then that’s fine. Yes, we’re making a profit, but in a way that takes some money and hard work. We have an investment in it now, not just a purchase for gain. Understand?” He said that he did, so she purchased all seven hundred shares of the stock. “We now own the company. No one will be able to tell us yes or no to things we might wish to change, or that we have to close down the place. It’ll be our decision to make, and no one can stop us.”

  “Do you think you’ll have to close it down?” She said she’d not know until she got there. “So, without knowing anything about this company, you bought it up. Isn’t that a little risky?”

  “Yes. And while I rarely do this, I have a gut feeling that this is going to be the way to go with this company. And because we own the most shares, we’ll be able to put the expansion anywhere we want. Like here in this town.”

  They worked together until supper time. The dinner at his parents’ house was at six, and they decided to walk over rather than drive. The evening was turning into a nice one, and the trees were just beginning to turn. A touch of cooler weather was nice.

  “I’ve spoken to my brothers about your mom’s house. They’re going to decide if they want it or not. I don’t think I’d hold out much hope on that however.” Demi told him that she didn’t care. It would make a nice rental. “Yes, that’s what Gannon said.

  Did you know that he’s lost his job at the mall? And that the people that own it—the mall, I mean—they’re going to be closing it down soon too.”

  “I heard. There isn’t much use for a mall per se anymore. People do more shopping online rather than go out into the world. It would make a nice place to put a school.

  High school, I mean.” She had gone to school here, a long time ago, and had thought the place was outdated even then. “Perhaps when we get enough businesses coming in, we’ll hit them up for donations to have their name put on it. And there is need for a sports field, as well as a locker room for them.”

  “You’ve given this town a great deal of thought, haven’t you?” Demi told Lucian that she’d given a lot of things a great deal of thought around here. “Your grandma would have been very proud of you, Demi. You know that, don’t you?”

  “Oh yes, I know. When I came to visit her, I’d have to just go to her home and then back to mine so that I’d not be found by my brother or sister. I didn’t want my grandma to see me hurt again, so I’d avoid seeing them. I more than likely could have taken them on, but to see me battered again, I don’t think she would have taken that well.” He

  asked her about seeing her mom. “No, I never went to see her. She was instrumental in me getting hurt all the time. She’d either egg them on or just stand back while they did it. The letter that she gave me at the end of her life, it was well meant, I’m sure, but it wouldn’t have changed my mind about her or anything that she’d done to me.”

  “No, I would guess not. I don’t know how I’d feel, honestly. She and the rest of your family, they didn’t deserve you. Or anything you might have been able to do for them.” Demi nodded, not really wanting to talk about it anymore. “Demi, what did your brother mean by you owing them? For the life of me, I can’t figure that out.”

  “Neither have I. I believe they’ve found out about me paying for the upkeep on the house. Alan told me the other day they were making inquiries around town. Not that I care what information they have. That is a done deal.” Lucian asked her what she was going to do about them. “I really don’t have any idea. My first thought was to just run them out of town. But that won’t work. They
have no money, nor do they have the health to find them a job. Nathan is just days from having a massive stroke. Astrid is close as well, but not nearly so much as Nathan. And I believe that they’re both diabetic, from being so overweight and not watching anything that they put in their mouths.”

  “I’ve seen that. When we got the bill from the hotel where they’re staying, I did wonder for a few minutes if they had had a band come by and stay with them. Turns out it was just the two of them.” They laughed just as they were on the decking around his parents’ house. “Demi, I love you very much. And whatever you want to do about this, I’m here for you.”

  “Thank you, Lucian. You have no idea how comforting that is to hear all the time.”

  He kissed her. “You keep that up and we’ll never make it to dinner.”

  “I’d like to say we should just forget it, but my mom would have my head. We can’t even use the excuse that we’re making a baby for her.” They were laughing when they went inside. “To be honest with you, I’m not sure if we’re supposed to knock anymore.

  This isn’t my old house.”

  “You knock, and I’ll knock you in the head.” Alden hugged them both as he continued. “Your mom is cooking up a storm in that new kitchen of hers. I swear, she’d just been holding back until she got one that suited her. There are five pies, son. And a cake. We are also having hot bread out of that machine you sent us over. My goodness, a man could be very happy with all the gadgets that we have now.”

  “No dying off.” He hugged her again. They all followed the smells to the kitchen.

  Everyone else was already there. “Goodness, you guys sure do fill up a room. What can

  I do to help?”

  She didn’t get to help—they were still in the pampering mood and she allowed it.

  But tomorrow she was going to put her foot down—or her fist. Whatever worked the quickest. Demi did love this family.

  ~*~

  Lucian was trying his best to make heads or tails out of the blueprints he’d picked up this morning. The building was where it was supposed to be, but the rest of it was just garbage for him. Turning it once again, he looked over at Ian when he laughed.

  “I’m sure that if you turn it once more, you’ll be more confused.” Lucian handed it to him. “All right, but you owe me lunch for this. You’re not holding it wrong, but you aren’t looking at the first page.”

  They put the sheaths of paper on a nearby table. When Ian had it on the front page,

  Lucian could see the outside of the building the way it was suppose to have been—the proposed flowers and trees that seemed to have not made it to the grounds, and the parking lot that was much larger than the one that had been built. He wasn’t sure how the smaller parking lot was going to affect the plant, but they could enlarge it with the land that surrounded it.

  “I thought that it was all the same and you just had to figure out which one to look at.” Ian told him that was almost right. That the blueprints were done in layers. “So they do the first page and move onto the second?”

  “No, more like last to first. See?” Lucian did see then. It wasn’t that he was reading it wrong, he was just reading it too deeply. All he wanted to find out was how many bathrooms the place had per square foot. “That’s easier. See this chart here? It tells you how many bathrooms there are, as well if they’re male or female or both. There is also a place in the breakrooms for hands to be washed up. It says that there are fridges in here too, but I’ve never seen one.”

  The distribution center that had been about to close had abruptly closed their doors yesterday evening. The second shift had come in to work and been turned away. They were also told that the stuff they had inside their lockers would be boxed up in several days. That wasn’t going to happen either, as the lockers, along with several of the large dining tables, had already been taken away by some unknown hand.

  “We bought the building as of this morning so that we could change the locks on the door.” Ian said he didn’t lose anything, but a few of his friends had. “I’m sorry about that. I really am. Ian, I have to tell you something. I’m scared out of my mind about this stuff. We paid seven million dollars for this place. Seven million. And Demi bought it thinking she’d gotten a deal. All this money going out and neither of us working is making me sleepless at night.”

  “You should talk to Demi. I know that there is money coming in too, by the way.

  Me working for you guys, it’s given me a firsthand look at all the income you guys have. I don’t know where it goes after I put it on the ledger for her, but there is money.”

  Lucian told Ian that’s what Demi had said. “Lucian, she’s been doing this longer than we have—being rich, I mean. You should be assured that she’s not going to let you guys go broke. If anything, she’s making you more money than you could spend in several lifetimes. Trust her.”

  It was hard for him to have money like he did and not worry about it. He supposed that Demi worried too. She was at the computer a great deal, looking at contracts and trying to get people to back her ideas. Demi never seemed to have anyone turn her down on ideas either. Her biggest supporter was some man by the name of Prince A.

  Jovanni. She had an interview with him tomorrow evening. He was coming to their home.

  “This Prince guy, he’s been here before. I guess he’s backed her on several deals that have made them both a ton of money. Did you know that she has investments in things overseas as well?” Ian said that he had an idea that she did. “Yes, well, coffee.

  And chocolate. I didn’t know you could invest in chocolate. But there is a big market for it.”

  “Because there are a lot of males fucking up with their wives, I guess.” Ian laughed with him as he pointed out a couple of things on the plans. “You might want to tell

  Demi that the second floor of this place isn’t on these blueprints. And it looks as if it was added much later.”

  They were going up the stairs when the stairs started to sway. It took both of them by surprise enough that they went back down them without going up. If this was the workmanship on this place, he was concerned that the place would be a work hazard rather than a good place to open up.

  “I’d just tear it down and start over. Or it could have swayed because you and I aren’t exactly lightweights either.” They weren’t. Both of them, because of their other selves, weighed about a hundred pounds more than a human would at their height.

  He made notes on the tablet that he’d been carrying around. It had a nice program on it so that he could simply type or use a special pen to write himself notes. And he had files, a great many of them, that he could pull up and look over. Demi had been sending him things to look over since he’d gotten it. Once she read something over, she’d send it to him to have a look too. And since he told her that he didn’t know what he was looking at, she’d begun marking it in places that he needed to be aware of. It certainly made it easier on him, and she’d not made fun of him once for it.

  “Lucian, I was thinking that you and I could go running tonight. The property behind your house is perfect for it.”

  “I’d love that. And if you don’t mind, Demi wants to get to know each of our bears.

  She said that she doesn’t want to come up on one of us and not know the difference.”

  Ian agreed, saying that they should all get her scent too. “I’ll ask her.”

  As a newly married spouse, he’d been asking instead of telling. Demi hadn’t said anything to him when he’d first started telling her what he wanted her to do. Like the first day after they were living together. He’d told her that he made the bed when he was the last one in, sort of hinting that she might want to take up the practice herself.

  But then he realized, quite stupidly, that neither of them had to make the bed because that was what the staff was for. He had apologized all that day to anyone that he saw in the household, feeling awful for forgetting about them. They had just looked at him like his chee
se had slipped right off his cracker.

  He was learning to share his things too. Demi would wear his shirts to bed at times.

  He found that it didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would. And when she would come into where he was and sit on his lap with just his shirt on, Lucian would get hard in an instant.

  He had his notes all in order by the time he got home. They were going to open an office for them to use in town soon. It would make it so they weren’t always going back

  and forth to the house when they needed to get something done. It was a forty-minute drive to town from their home.

  When he pulled into the drive, he was surprised to find a taxi just dropping someone off. Turned out it was Astrid.

  “Just the person I wanted to see.” Instead of going inside and inviting her in, he sat down on one of the rockers that was there. “You’re not going to invite me in? Offer me a cup of tea or a glass of water? That’s very antisocial of you. What would my sister say if she knew you were treating me this way?”

  “She’d probably pat me on the back and ask you what the fuck you want.” Which he knew she would. But it put Astrid off, and he could see her struggling with her temper. “So, what the fuck do you want? Money? Not happening. Food? Nope. I’d watch you starve. Anything else? No, you’re not getting that either.”

  “What the hell did I do to you? Or are you always in a mood like this one? You and

  Demi must make a pair, the two of you nipping and biting at people.” She stomped over to the other rocker and tried to sit in it. Her ass was much too wide for her to fit, he saw. Instead of laughing like he wanted to do, he just watched her. She was much too close for his comfort.

  “What is it, Astrid? I’m a very busy man, and I have no trouble calling the cops to have them escort you off our land.” Astrid told him he was a fucking bastard. “Perhaps it’s just you bringing out the worst in me. Again, what is it you want?”