“I know that.” He snorted. “Do you think your mother knows?”
“About your dad?” Eleni shook her head. “No way. She would have used that information to get something from your mother already if that were the case.”
“Do you think she has any information about my mother’s affair with Tex Johnson?”
Eleni had to stop and think about that one. Her mother had been pretty vocal about the whole Tex Johnson thing. She’d called it a bunch of bullshit. Of course, she had been very jealous that Tisha had gotten so much attention when the Tex Johnson thing went down. But that only made Eleni think that Alaina knew more than she had ever said about the situation. That meant she had been mostly upset with the misrepresentation of the facts that had ended with Tisha getting all of that attention in the moment and not that she didn’t know what had happened to kick the whole thing off.
“I think my mother probably knows more that she’s been saying. Yes.”
“And you really think that I can get that out of her just by flirting.”
As horrible as it sounded, there was no doubt in Eleni’s mind. “Yep. Just make sure to dangle a plane ticket. That’s the key.”
Eleni was trying to avoid the details of what he had just told her. The guy wasn’t a guy. He was a wolf guy. Or a wolf or something equally strange and frightening. This was a bit on the scary side.
Orion didn’t seem all that bothered by this stuff. He had started in on the bananas foster as though he had nothing more important to think about than the food on the table before them. After about three or four minutes, he glanced up at her and sighed. She could not read the expression on his face.
“You’re not eating,” he pointed out.
“I’m freaked out.”
Orion bobbed his head. “It’s not that big of a deal. It doesn’t change anything.”
“I guess it doesn’t.” She had a hard time buying that. But really, he wasn’t lying. It didn’t change anything. He was still the same guy that she had always found attractive. He wasn’t less handsome or less appealing or less intelligent because he had this strange ability.
“You’re like some superhero that has a second identify.”
He shook his head. “No way. Do not romanticize it like that. That’s Zane’s thing.”
Eleni clapped her hands over her mouth and struggled to keep a squeak from coming out. “Oh my God! That’s the source of all those Bigfoot Wolf sightings or whatever they’re calling that thing!”
Orion pinched the bridge of his nose as though this was a source of embarrassment for him. “Zane fancies himself a kind of vigilante.”
“Holy crap!” She was bouncing in her seat now. Those kids were telling the truth! It seemed awful that the whole city believed that they were nothing but drug addicts that had a few too many puffs of weed or something else. “Those kids are running from an actual giant wolf. Even worse, it’s a man who should know better!”
Orion seemed suddenly defensive. “Hey. You realize that his wife has been attacked on two different occasions in her own backyard by these teenage trespassing delinquents, right?”
“I still don’t think that’s the way to fix it!” Eleni argued. “You can’t scare these kids into behaving.”
“Zane is convinced that he needs to draw attention to the problem so that the city lawmakers will start to care that there’s an epidemic of crime in that age group and in those neighborhoods.”
“Oh.” That was actually rather intelligent as far as drawing attention to a social problem. “It’s really hard to get anyone to listen when it comes to teen crime.”
“Exactly!” Orion drew back and then he shook his head and laughed. “I’m sorry. I can’t actually believe I’m advocating for my idiot brother. Both he and Gemini seem to excel at running about in their wolf bodies.”
“Wow. That is really amazing to think about. You know? You guys have another body to learn to operate. Most people can hardly figure out how to be a human.”
“It’s not easy.” He was shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I just sprang that on you. It wasn’t exactly fair. I just don’t want you to think I’m some kind of great catch. That’s all. My life is a mess. My mother is a mess. She murdered my father. I can’t prove it. I just know it. And my brother thinks he’s some kind of vigilante. My other brother ran away to Italy, and the other one is convinced that he needs to stay on the old ranch and somehow work the land and make a living out of it even though he doesn’t technically stand to inherit anything.”
“Then there’s Devon,” Eleni murmured. “The guy who married the janitor.”
“If you listen to my mother.” Orion nodded and sighed. “Kami is really a wonderful person. She’s tough as nails. I think you’d like her.”
“But your mother won’t give her a chance.”
“No.”
Something he’d said about Edward and running away to Italy had caught her attention. The strong feelings whipping through her mind stirred up her emotions and made Eleni feel as though it was possible that Orion King was the only person on the planet who really understood how she felt about the things happening in her life.
“I get it about your brother Edward,” Eleni whispered. “I’m happy for my sister, Embry. I really am. Our mother was mooching painfully off of her. That is true. But Embry and that weakling Joseph Orville should have said no. It was pretty simple. They never set a boundary. Nope. They just dropped everything, left their life here in Dallas behind, and ran away to Italy to stay with his parents and pretend that everything is all right.”
“It feels like a cowardly move, doesn’t it?” Orion murmured the words.
Eleni looked at her hand where it touched his. He moved his fingers just enough that hers laced lightly with his. It was a minimal touch, and yet as she watched their hands touching she felt something very strong in the pit of her stomach. It was emotional in a way that was both exciting and yet dark and desperate too.
Lonely. That was how Eleni felt these days. Everything with her sister and her mother and their family’s horrible spiral into what was apparently financial ruin had left her feeling utterly alone. Right now though? Right here over a plate of nearly-eaten desserts she felt something else.
“Orion?” Eleni swallowed the lump that had appeared in her throat. “If I told you that I’ve been in love with you since I was a little girl, what would you say?”
Something hot flared to life in his dark eyes. Then he grasped her hand gently in his. “I would say that I am beyond flattered.”
Flattered. That wasn’t bad. But Eleni struggled with embarrassment as she realized that he hadn’t said he returned her feelings. Oh boy. She had now made everything completely and totally awkward.
Chapter Eleven
Orion was a coward and he knew it. He had already dropped off Eleni at her home with a promise to come back at precisely six o’clock the next evening to pick her up for the staff Christmas party. What made him a coward was that he had allowed that brave woman to declare her feelings for him without doing a damn thing to return the sentiment.
As he pulled into the driveway of Alaina Ariosa’s Highland Park house, Orion struggled with what he was feeling inside. Bitterness was high on the list. He felt bitter that he was the sort of man who would allow a woman to say something like that—tell him that she had always been in love with him—and be too much of a heel to tell her that while he was flattered, he knew she deserved a lot better than he could give her.
Eleni did deserve better. And Orion was utterly preoccupied with thinking of all the men he knew and wondering if they could possibly be worthy of someone like Eleni as he walked up to her mother’s front door. He was so preoccupied with those thoughts that he got all the way to the door before it occurred to him that this was the only house on the block that did not have front porch lights blazing. It was after six o’clock. It was dark. And there wasn’t one light on inside.
No. Strike that. There was light. But it was immediat
ely obvious that what he was seeing happened to be candlelight and nothing more. The flickering gave it away. What in the hell was going on? Was the electricity somehow off in this grid and every other house had a generator?
No. Orion turned and gazed up and down the street. It would have been highly unlikely that this many people would have generators waiting to go for some sort of electrical outage. There just weren’t that many blackouts in this area.
That meant Alaina’s electricity had to be off for other reasons—like nonpayment of her bill. Holy. Shit!
Orion felt the urge to hold his breath as he knocked on her front door. Then he stood back and waited. It was worse than the moment he had stood outside the coroner’s office waiting to identify his father’s body. He was almost certain he was about to be accosted. He just could not begin to predict how this was going to happen.
“Oh, where is that Bernardina?” Alaina muttered in what almost seemed like a stage whisper as she opened the door.
It was plain that she had not expected to see Orion standing there. The shock on her face quickly turned to pleasure though. Orion pursed his lips. He had to come up with something fast. His brain latched onto one of the excuses that Eleni had offered up earlier that day.
“I’m so sorry to bother you, Ms. Ariosa,” Orion said in what he hoped was a pleasant and yet non-suggestive tone of voice. “I was in the neighborhood and I wanted to swing by and check on you after your ordeal last night at the mall.”
“Thank you!” Alaina gushed. Then before Orion could say another word she reached out, snagged his arm, and dragged him bodily into her home.
She was a bit stronger than Orion had anticipated. It was like being manhandled, and he had a niggling worry in the back of his mind that she was going to fling him to the floor and have her wicked way with him. It was a horrible thought, a fanciful one hopefully, and one that was borne of the absolute distaste he felt for this chore.
“Come in!” Alaina was already heading for the sideboard. “Can I pour you a drink? I’m so sorry, but my housekeeper seems to have taken some time off for the holidays. You know what people are like. They want to spend time with their families and they don’t care how much of an inconvenience it is for anyone else.”
“Right.” At this point Orion was willing to bet that the inconvenience was probably on both parts. The housekeeper wanting to get paid and Alaina not having any money to take care of that chore. “I hope you’re relaxing then since you’ve got a nice quiet house.”
“Oh sure!” Alaina poured herself a drink. She seemed to have completely forgotten that there was another person in the room. She threw back the brandy and then poured herself another one. “Yeah. Relaxing. Right. Holidays are so stressful! The parties and the shopping and the problems with all of the above, you know?”
The living room was absolutely filled with candles. They were smoking and overflowing with wax on just about every flat surface in the room. Most were just sitting on bare wood or marble or in one case even the edge of the fireplace hearth. The room was huge with a vaulted ceiling and a very beautiful, and currently dark, chandelier hanging at the top.
It appeared that Alaina had been living in this room for the moment. One of the sofas was littered with pillows and blankets. There were food wrappers on the floor, but they were protein bars and other items that had probably come out of the pantry. It was prudent to wonder exactly what would happen to this woman once the food in the house ran out. Was she truly out of money? It was a bit hard to imagine. But that wasn’t why Orion was here. He had to get this conversation on track.
“I’m sure it’s hard with your daughter living out of the country now.” Orion went ahead and had a seat on the not-bed-looking sofa since it was plain that Alaina was never going to remember that she should probably be offering him a seat. Or a drink. She was on her third brandy.
“Embry. Yes. I would really dearly love to be back with her. She’s my favorite, you know?” Alaina made a face. “You saw last night how horrible Eleni can act toward me.”
Orion felt his anger flare and cleared his throat to avoid letting it spill out as a diatribe against the laziness of a woman who could run through millions of dollars in a matter of years. “Yes, I think it’s pretty common for mothers to feel frustrated with their children when they up and leave. My mother feels the same way about Edward. Now that he’s living in Italy with Diana we never see him.”
“Oh, yes!” Alaina raised her glass and bobbed her head. “Your poor mother.” The sarcasm dripping from those words was enough to make Orion think that he had discovered exactly the way to get Alaina talking about Tisha.
“I know that you and my mother don’t get along very well anymore,” Orion prompted. “But you do have a lot in common.”
“A lot in common?” Alaina moved her hand so enthusiastically she managed to throw her drink onto the single candle on the fireplace hearth and put it right out. “We do not! Not at all! That bitch has money and she doesn’t want to share it! She’s so selfish that she even managed to get her lover’s money.”
“So you think that’s why Tex left his estate to my mother?” Orion tried to be mild, but he actually wanted to start throwing things at the woman. “You were Tisha’s best friend. Did she tell you he was going to do it?”
“He wanted her to leave your dad.” Alaina began to howl with laughter. “As if she was going to do that! Oh my God! The prenup that asshole made your momma sign! It was crazy. She had to have kids. She had to give him heirs, you know? Then she had to stay in the marriage until those kids were all grown up. It was like your mother had to be the perfect wife. Of course, she didn’t want to be a wife at all! So she punished that bastard, you know? She slept with Tex. She slept with my husband, Max. She slept with everyone she could get her grimy hands on! Course, I didn’t care about Max. He was bad in bed anyway…”
Alaina trailed off, which was probably good because Orion was having trouble staying upright. It wasn’t easy to hear that your mother was the biggest slut in Dallas. Not even when you knew she wasn’t a particularly nice person to begin with. Orion cleared his throat. He needed to get back on track.
“So then Tisha got rid of Mac, so who cares, right?” Orion waited.
Alaina looked at her brandy glass as though she were totally confused for a moment. Her drink was gone. Maybe she had missed the part where she threw it. So she poured herself another one and then turned her attention back to the conversation.
“Your mother wanted your daddy dead,” Alaina informed Orion. “That much is true. But it wasn’t her that made it happen. She’s too smart for that. She just got her lover to do it.”
“So Tex killed my father?” Orion ground his teeth together. “That’s what you’re suggesting?”
“I don’t know.” She drank that brandy and sauntered closer.
It was the first time that Orion noticed what the older woman was wearing. She had on a very strange collection of garments that seemed to be leaning more toward warmth. But instead of being practical like sweaters or jogging pants or something, she had layered on several pairs of leggings. That was obvious because some of the pairs had small slits on the thigh portion and the other colors and layers were visible beneath.
Then there was the strange conglomeration of bras and tube tops and a few cashmere wraps that Alaina had wrapped around the top portion of her body. The colors were loud and absolutely unattractive all mashed together. And how it was possible for the woman’s boobs to still be popping out the top of her shirt was hard to imagine. Yet it was happening right in front of Orion. Unfortunately, he could see it.
“You know,” Alaina murmured in what was probably supposed to be a sleepy sexy bedroom voice. “I could be your Mrs. Robinson.”
Wow. That was blunt. Orion struggled not to laugh. It would ruin the whole ruse. “What did you have in mind?”
“I think we should go upstairs and I’ll just show you what I have in mind.”
Whoa, Nellie! Orio
n swallowed the squawk that wanted to come out. Within seconds Alaina Ariosa had flung herself across his lap. She was lying there reaching for his hair as though she intended to twirl it around her fingers.
Dammit! He breathed in and out slowly and caught her hand before it could touch his head. He held her hand up to the candlelight. “I was sorry to hear about your relationship with Michael. You must have been devastated.”
“Yes, but he couldn’t give me what I want,” Alaina assured him.
“And you and my mother have always been able to find the right men to get you what you want.” He really needed to make this woman get back on topic.
“Yes. Absolutely.” Alaina sighed. “And then Tisha got all stingy. She was going to make me marry my daughter into your family and keep me away from all that beautiful money!”
“That’s just mean,” Orion murmured.
“So mean.” There was a long pause, and for a second Orion was afraid that Alaina had gone to sleep. There was really no telling how long ago she’d started drinking. But she suddenly exhaled a snorty sigh. “You know I was the one that Tex really wanted. The three of us used to have such a good time! Then your father caught us at the office and I think it really put him off.”
“Put him off?”
“It was a violation of that stupid prenup.”
“Cheating?”
“Yeah. That was when old Big Mac had proof, you know.” Alaina started snorting. “Then your father said he was going to divorce her. That was it and she was going to have to give up the whole thing!”
Orion was finally starting to see the motive here and it was ugly. “The money.”
“Damn right.” Alaina yawned. “So your mother went crying to Tex. And of course he couldn’t deny her anything. You should ask that janitor your brother Devon married.” Alaina started giggling and snorting and acting stupid. “I bet she heard the argument. Tisha said that she and Tex started yelling and throwing stuff at each other one night. I bet that janitor heard something. Probably doesn’t even realize it!”
Billion Dollar Wolves: Boxset Bks 1-5 Page 103