by Erin R Flynn
We wrapped up and headed out. The only other problem had been when Shaw had learned one of Hull’s people was trying to copy the full drive. I seriously picked the guy up by the front of his shirt and let him have it. We were on the same side. I was getting tired of that. This wasn’t their win, it was ours.
Let us have it so we got a damn budget.
It was just before four that I joined Hagan and Reagan in the massive California king bed in our suite. I sort of liked snuggling between two men who really loved me. What more could a woman ask for?
20
I woke grumpy and not just because I didn’t get enough sleep, as a few days sounded about what I needed. No, sleeping with Hagan and Reagan while touching had let me into their dreams, and they hadn’t been anything I wanted to see.
Mostly because they had worse fucking nightmares than I did.
“Sorry, we didn’t know you could see that stuff,” Hagan apologized again as we headed down to the pool for brunch that he’d set up with Stud.
“It’s fine. Now we know it happens with you both and it was the bond that kept me out of Tristan and Riley’s head,” I mumbled and then yawned. I smiled brightly when I saw Jared, Ben, and Leo standing at the pool with Alena, the boys in swim trunks and her in some gorgeous cover up. “I didn’t know you guys were coming too!”
“Grandma said we could,” Jared said with a shrug as if it explained it all. Like yeah, who would pass up a quick trip to Vegas to swim and whatever. He gave me a huge hug, as did Leo and Ben. “We also got a bunch done for when you come home. She’s amazing. Like seriously.”
“Yeah, she is,” I agreed, meeting her gaze with a smile.
“And that is before I inform you I bought droves of tea leaves and ingredients Nina needs that was sent back with my plane that Theon handled and escorted to pick us up, so you will have a credit at her store for all the tea my family needs here to stay healthy,” she greeted with a bright smile as she kissed my cheeks. I couldn’t help but laugh; that sounded about perfect.
What was also perfect was the fact we basically took over the second biggest pool for the meeting and our people, as Stud wanted to receive Alena in style, and if Laila was coming to a meeting to work on sales and whatnot, it made sense it not be on her turf. Really, it all hurt my head, but people were happy.
And I got food, so that made me happy.
“Oh my god, you’re hot,” Jared blurted, and I turned from stuffing my face with fruit to see what was going on. He was staring at Harris with wide eyes. “I mean, holy hot. Like better than model hot.” His cheeks turned bright red. “Sorry, I mean, shit, sorry, I didn’t mean to announce it like that that I like you, but I do. Like you. I mean, yeah, saying you’re hot says that, well no, some people need more than looks, and I do.
“You’re nice, super nice and sweet when no one’s looking. And smart. Sera says you’re like one of the best agents she’s ever had under her. And you’re nice to us even if we’re prey or young, but I’m sixteen so I’m not a kid anymore, well, technically, but I can date. I mean, I’m old enough to date. Yeah, I think so.”
“Oh good gods,” Hagan whispered next to me, covering his face in embarrassment for Jared and his never-ending ramble.
I simply nodded. There weren’t words for the poor kid and his motor mouth. Damn.
Harris finally recovered from his shock, stepping closer to Jared and moving his hand over Jared’s mouth. It was hard not to laugh when I saw Harris blushing at the confession.
“Jared, I think you’re awesome, man, I do. Any man would be lucky to have such a cutie, who will definitely be a hottie in a few years, like him. I’m flattered, I really am. But I can’t change I’m only attracted to women, no matter how great the guy. And believe me, if anyone could, it would be a cutie like you, but I’m really into your sister and Simone, so yeah, I’m sorry, but thank you. I’m not sure anyone’s ever said something so nice about me.”
Jared stepped away so his mouth was free, blushing all the way up to the tips of his ears and down his neck. “Yeah, that’s cool. I get it. Glad I’m awesome, but okay, not your type. That’s cool.” He turned and raced over to the pool, jumping right in and cooling off the best possible way.
“Do not tease him for that,” I warned Leo and Ben. “That took serious guts to be so honest. I don’t think I have that in me to confess like that, and I’m an adult.”
“Yeah, I don’t,” Leo chuckled as he nodded, getting what I was saying. No bullying siblings. Teasing on certain things was fine, but Jared was embarrassed, and that wasn’t the time to pick on him.
Ben just shrugged, the quietest of all the boys, and really didn’t say much. I kissed his hair as he loaded up his plate, and he smiled brightly at me. I could feel as a wolf that he was happy, and that was all that mattered to me. If he didn’t want to talk, then he didn’t have to.
The only thing I ever worried about was that he felt he could if he wanted to. And he did when he had something to say, so I believed we were making an environment where he could.
I made my way over to Harris as everyone loaded up on food, greeted each other, and basically woke up. I kissed his cheek. “Thanks, Mike. That was about the best way to handle that as you could have.”
“Good,” he sighed, scrubbing his hand over his head. “He’s a great kid, and I honestly wouldn’t want to hurt him for anything. Hell, it’s the nicest confession I’ve ever even gotten.”
“Yeah, and he was right,” I teased, smiling when he raised an eyebrow at me. “You do look hot in those shorts.”
“You’re killing me, Sera,” he grumbled, heading over to the coffee.
I moved over by the pool with my haul. Jared popped up again just as I sat down and stuck my feet in the water. He gave me a hesitant look, and all I did was smile, holding out a piece of melon to him.
“So I’m not in trouble for being unprofessional with your work people?” he checked as he took it.
“Nope, though I would say not to speak to my bosses like that. Harris is a friend of our family too, so it’s cool. You’ve never said you were gay, though, so I guess I found that shocking, not in a bad way. I don’t care if you are.”
“Corey is too,” he muttered, not meeting my eyes. “I’m not sure about the others, but I know that’s why me and Corey were pulled from the homes we lived at. They made complaints about us being gay or saying we were. I only did because one of the other girls that was a foster kid and completely screwed in the head said I tried to catch her in the shower and peep. I yelled I was gay and hated boobs.”
“It’s cool, I’m not a fan of them, either,” I teased him, glad I said it when he gave a ghost of a smile. “None of us will care, Jared. I promise. I lived with Riley, and he was bisexual.”
“How do you know if you’re bisexual instead of gay?” he asked, and his eyes were so full of hope I had the answers that I hated to disappoint him.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think you have to, either,” I said honestly. “If you like guys, you like guys. No one says you can’t switch lanes, Jared. If there ends up being a girl you like or woman when you get older, so what? If I started liking women, it might freak me out, but that’s more I would say it was my siren or wolf half, as I’ve never been into girls. But there’s nothing wrong with it even if I wanted to explore.”
“Would you?”
I chewed on the strawberry I’d picked off the plate as I thought, downing some latte too, as Bellagio even had a Starbucks, so I’d gotten morning numminess that way. “I don’t know. I mean, I used to kid with Havers that kissing a girl was on my bucket list just to say I have. I have now, but only for feeding. I just don’t know. I don’t worry about it, either, because it hasn’t come up.”
“So can you think someone’s super pretty and just not be like into them?” he asked, shooting a quick glance at Simone.
“Yeah, I think she’s hot too,” I assured him. “I just don’t want to kiss her like I do Hagan and Reagan. If you want
to kiss Harris and not Simone, I think that’s sort of your answer.” I shrugged. “Kid, you gotta go with your gut. No one has all the answers, and if they say they do, they’re either full of shit or full of themselves to be so egotistical.
“I do know if you want to talk about this kind of stuff, you can with us. Even if I won’t have any of the answers, I’ll listen. Sometimes it’s just nice to hear you’re not the only one who doesn’t know. Or like me with my wolf, I feel like I’m the only one messing up all the time and all the wolves know what’s what, so I have a hard time talking about it.”
“Thanks, Sera.” He reached for another piece of fruit as he leaned over onto the ledge more. “I know you don’t ever want to be a mom, but I think you’d be a really good one. You’re really patient with all of us, and we’re not your kids or your brothers, not really. Even with all of your pack. You’re super patient with them no matter how upset or tired you are. That’s an awesome mom.”
I thought about that a few moments and shook my head. “I don’t see myself ever giving up the job, and I think that’s unfair to a kid. I’d rather help people who need it, like you guys, than have a kid in an overpopulated world when I don’t want to. I mean, maybe I don’t think I’d be as bad of a mom as I once did, and you’re right, being a wolf has helped with that, but I don’t really want to.”
“I think it’s cool you can say that, and yeah, there are too many people on the planet and multiplying. Why? I think it’s fine to say you don’t want kids. I don’t think I ever would, either, just for the fear that something would happen to me and they’d be stuck in foster care like I was.”
I nodded, not bringing up what he was alluding to. I knew his parents had died when he was a toddler and there had been no one in his family who had wanted a baby, so that’s how he’d ended up in the system.
I leaned in and kissed his cheek when he hopped out next to me and helped me finish the plate. “Don’t be embarrassed. I think you’ve got balls the size of Mars to have done that. I can’t even say stuff like that to Hagan and Reagan, so you’re super cool, kid.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “It just came out.”
“Well, I still think you’re cool.” I stood, yanking off my shirt and shorts before diving into the water, it feeling so good on my feet and legs I couldn’t take it anymore. As I swam the length, I realized more people arrived, so it had to be Laila and the entourage she would have with her as queen. I swam to the stairs and pushed my hair back as I stood.
“Shit, boss,” someone muttered, and I glanced around.
“What?” I asked as I heard the click of a phone taking a picture. I narrowed my eyes at Hagan who had his phone out. “What?”
“Sera, you just surfaced and—you look like you’re doing a promo for porn almost,” he explained with a chuckle, staring at my body.
“I didn’t pack for myself,” I growled, glancing at a smiling Alena. “All you packed for me were tiny bikinis and thongs.”
“I’m shocked you are so openly wearing it,” she said with a bright smile. “You look beautiful, Daughter.”
“Not enough coffee yet to care what I’m wearing,” I muttered with a shrug. “Thanks.” I felt a bit naked with everyone staring, though, and cleared my throat. “I figure we should handle things with Stud first before moving on, as he’s not a part of that.”
“You’re kicking me out of my own pool?” he checked, raising an eyebrow at me.
“You’re asking for your kid to be in my area for four years?” I asked, basically reminding him of the big favor he wanted.
“We could change locations if it makes you uncomfortable, Gearmo,” Laila taunted, leaning in to greet me. “Thank you for inviting me for brunch. I heard you handled the vampire murdering people in Vegas last night. Congratulations. The sentence was carried out on my cousin this morning, so you can add that to your case as well.”
“Awesome, thanks.” I moved to sit next to Alena, but Dain gave a slight shake of his head.
“Milady, if you would allow me,” he said as he pulled out the chair at the foot or head of the table as Alena took the other side. Okay, so this was our show even if at Gearmo’s and had the councilwoman, who I greeted, and Laila.
“I would agree, and it shouldn’t take long,” Alena started as we all sat at the table that had been brought out just for this. “Do you need to check on your people first?”
I glanced over to Harris, Cooper, Davis, Barnes, Rodriguez, and Shaw working with tablets and plugging them into laptops, and shook my head. “No, they know what we’re doing. We started last night for several hours. They’re good.” Then I realized who we were missing.
“Chief Monroe went to handle some things at the local office, yell at people I believe, and then will join us for the other discussion,” Alena filled in for me.
I nodded and smiled when Dain brought me a huge plate of brioche French toast, and I groaned they smelled so good. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” he murmured, giving me a funny look before stepping away.
“Now, Hagan told me that you would like your offspring to attend college in Chicago,” Alena started off. “I agree that there are many potential pitfalls, especially given he is underage and you wish to bring in protection. The offer I think would be safest on all sides is you send one enforcer with him.” Stud opened his mouth to argue, but she held up a hand. “One yours, one mine, and one Sera’s.”
“Huh?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as I cut into my food. “So he employs one of my people as a guard, paid, and that way the kid’s protected, but it doesn’t make my whole pack or the FBI nervous that the old Vegas mob isn’t trying to move into Chicago?”
“Yes, as his father’s previous businesses will draw attention from human criminals in Chicago. I would even go so far as to ask if he could enroll under an assumed name.”
“He has his mother’s last name,” Stud assured us. “Very few know he’s my kid. Mostly pack, and they know the consequences of risking my kids.” He sat back in his chair, rubbing his hands over his head to smooth back his greased hair. “I’d want to meet who you would pick. I’m not against the idea, and yeah, I’d pay them good money to protect him. I also agree three might be needed.”
“You need to do some more good will and get that lingering mob scent off of you, Gearmo,” I reminded him, relieved when he nodded.
“I ain’t going to be a snitch, that can cause more trouble than him going to that college is worth, but I’m okay with your FBI system being able to flag our security for people to pick up that are wanted,” he agreed with a heavy sigh. Yeah, that was a pain for him and his dealings, as he might not be in the mob anymore, but I would never think him clean.
“Then I believe we have the foundation of an agreement,” Alena said pleasantly. “I can send a few of my wolves I can spare that would like a year-long job, rotating every year, in Chicago to guard your son. Sera can ask her people who would be willing, and while she’s still here, I would suggest letting her meet your choices so she can check records.”
“Yes, don’t send me someone with a long jacket,” I warned him.
“I’ve got a few that could work and even blend in about the right age so they won’t stand out,” he agreed after a moment.
I saw Alena nod to Leo while the focus was on Stud and me, wondering what that was about.
“I don’t mean to interrupt, but Grandma said you would want to see our progress as we started a project with Brutus before our tutoring starts,” Leo said nervously, handing me a folder. “We went over the first few pages of the inventory of the shipping containers you got from the councilman who broke your agreements. We’re each going to do a history project on one of the eras.”
“That’s awesome, good job,” I praised, looking over the pages in the folder. “Tommy wants to take the Argead dynasty stuff. That’s Greek, right?”
“Yes, your father and I would like to purchase that collection and any other Greek relics in your poss
ession or coming from the new coven leader, as I believe another cache of crates are on their way,” Alena informed me, and I got why she was having him bring that up. I didn’t even have to look up to feel Laila and Stud’s excitement.
“You don’t have to buy them, Mom. Take whatever you guys want. It’s the least I can do for your wolves that are there handling all of this.” I smiled at her, letting her see I was serious. “Really, take them for our family if you want them.”
“You are incredibly generous, Daughter.”
“Yeah, because you’ve been anything less with me.” I took a big bite of breakfast as she smiled brightly at me. “You guys should find some cool history book for each of the crates. Like Ben said, maybe the art vamps can go on tour to museums with the stuff.”
“Or the collections could be leased to galleries where paranormals could protect them like the gallery we have right here at the Bellagio,” Stud interjected smoothly, busying himself with fixing coffee.
“Or my galleries,” Laila offered with a winning smile. “I also wanted to invite you and your team, your friends here to enjoy the Venus pool tonight for dinner and the fireworks we have later. I’m sure someone can entertain your adopted brothers, as it is an adult atmosphere.”
“Could we order room service and watch movies?” Leo asked, excitement in his tone. I smiled at him, knowing he was doing it to help.
“I’m fine with anyone leasing whatever they want, but that’s so not my wheelhouse, so I’ll leave that to Mom. And I would love to accept your kind offer if you could also spare some guards to watch the suite the boys are in. I know Stud has good people—”
“But they’re prey animals, and my people aren’t used to that,” he said for me, nodding. “I would have no problem with fairy guards in my hotel if Queen Laila can spare them.” He waved someone over. “Talk to the galleries we have and get them to print out the lists of what collections we’ve leased for the past year, including how much we paid and what the content was.”
“Yes, Alpha Stud,” the guy replied and hurried off.