That’s right—Abundio’s daughter. She was only thirty and helped run much of his empire. Manuel had never met her, but had heard of her reputation. She was shrewd, cut-throat.
He’d expect no less.
“I’m sorry I’ve intruded like this, Uncle—”
Abundio laughed, cutting him off. “No, you’re not. Don’t lie. You’re sorry you’ve been reduced to begging me for help and putting yourself in my debt.” He grinned. “You’ll be even sorrier by the time we’re finished, Manuel. Believe that.”
That’s what I’m afraid of.
* * * *
Manuel had never eaten a more terrifying meal in his life. He couldn’t have cared less how the food tasted, because it was all sitting like a rock in the bottom of his stomach as his uncle walked him through all the events in Idaho again, including having Carl bring in a laptop and take copious notes with it.
“You realize,” Abundio finally said, “that you sound insane, correct?”
Manuel nodded. “Yes.”
“And yet you still stand by this story? You would rather put yourself in my debt and share this story with me, rather than cooking up some other excuse, like perhaps the ICE arrested everyone else while you weren’t with them?”
To be honest…that hadn’t even occurred to him. He’d been too traumatized by what he’d witnessed to think about anything except getting out of there.
And he’d stupidly told the pilot that everyone was dead, instead of lying and saying something…well, like that. Something that would have made sense and been totally believable.
Something the other families would have readily accepted.
Except, now…
The pilot was dead, too.
That was harder to explain.
Abundio sat back, an amused smirk on his face. “I’m guessing by your shock that you never thought about lying like that?”
“No,” he muttered. “Not really.”
“That was stupid.” The older man’s smile faded. “Unfortunately for you, I believe you. The last thing I need are those people, whoever they are, whatever they are, showing up on my doorstep and wreaking havoc in my world. That’s the main reason I’m going to help you. Contingent upon you meeting several conditions, of course.”
“Conditions?”
“Yes. There are several pieces of property under your family’s control that I want deeded over to me immediately. Secondly, there are several politicians in those regions whom I’m sure are indebted to your cartel. I wish you to exert a little…friendly pressure on them to grant my logging and mining permits. They’ve been stubborn and resistant. Third, you have a plane and no pilot. Therefore, you have no use for a plane. It will be deeded over to my company immediately. Fourth, you’re going to be living here while all this happens, and while Carl and Mateo investigate further and present me with the facts and possible plans of action. I refuse to take foolish risks that could bring attention to me and my family, or my business. Unlike you, I want to make sure I have accounted for every possibility first. I will contact your wife for you and make your…apologies for your absence and tell her to remain quiet. I shall come up with a adequate explanation for your missing men. I will need information from you regarding a variety of things. Carl will get all of that from you as we need it.”
He settled back in his chair. “Meanwhile, you do not leave this house.” He nodded to Carl, who got up and left. “Not unless I have cleared it, and I have assigned someone to accompany you, if it is not me with you. You also do not make any phone calls, or texts, or use the Internet, without my permission. Am I clear?”
Manuel nodded. “Yes, sir. I understand.”
“Good. Because if you refuse to follow my commands in this? I do happen to be good friends with the chief of police here. I will simply turn you over to him, tell him you are the head of a major drug cartel, and he will be happy to lock you up and call in the military to take over guarding you. You might be a big-shot in your hometown, but you are just a little ant here in mine. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
Carl returned with something in his hand. After it was buckled and locked around Manuel’s left ankle, he realized it was a tracking device.
“Carl and Mateo head up my security,” Abundio explained. “They have apps on their phones to tell them if you cross the threshold—any threshold—of this house. If either of them or myself isn’t with you when you do that, prepare to keep running for the rest of your life. I guarantee you that it will be an extremely short run.”
The older man’s gaze went hard, cold. “Remember the old movies about vampires? About how once you invite them in that they can do with you what they wish? Well, in my old age, I have learned a few truths. Like money spends regardless of where it comes from. Miranda has done an amazing job learning how to run our company and its many divisions. But I? I’m an old man. I am bored.”
He grinned. “And that is a very bad thing for you, nephew. Let us say that my moral compass is no longer as strictly pointed in the direction it once was. That it’s all right to, say, wander astray from time to time. Especially if the other parties are engaged in illegal activities. Taking them out will be a pleasure, but it will also be done in a way to benefit myself. Nephew, you have a new business partner. You may thank me now.”
Manuel had to force the words out. “Thank you, Uncle.”
He grinned. “You are most welcome. Carl, show him where the library is on the way back to his room, please. He might as well expand his mind while I’m shrinking his wallet and bank accounts. We’ll get him some clothes tomorrow. I’m sure he can make do for tonight. Oh, and breakfast is at eight sharp. You’ll be awakened. Make sure you’re prompt. This isn’t a hotel, and my staff works on my schedule, not yours. Make no mistake about it, you are not a guest—you are my prisoner.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
There was no use protesting. He had brought this upon himself.
Had he taken care of Raul years ago, like he should have, he wouldn’t be in this position now.
Maybe this is my penance for turning a blind eye to his crimes.
But once he was back in the bedroom—locked in, of course—he had time to think. At least the room had its own bathroom. He took a shower and stood under the spray, letting it beat down on his head.
This was bad.
Very, very bad.
Still, he wanted revenge for Raul, wanted to uphold the oaths he’d sworn to him, and to his mother. For all of Raul’s faults, he always knew if he needed to turn his back to someone that Raul would watch it for him. In that way, he’d never doubted his brother’s love and loyalty to him.
For that reason, if for no other, he’d protected Raul. Felt he owed him that much.
He’d chosen this path, right or wrong.
There was no other way now. Of that he was certain.
Just like he was also certain that, once he laid down and closed his eyes, he’d still see the images of his men, dead, being fed through the wood-chipper, as if they were nothing more than tree branches. Every night those visions infested his dreams.
And he’d always be haunted by the wet sound their bodies made going through the chipper, as it first revved up, then bogged down momentarily before revving again, all of that overlain by the sound of the wolves howling in the woods around them in the bitter, damp, chilly afternoon.
Chapter Six
Beck didn’t have to be a Prime to sense the tension in Badger during dinner. The weird thing was, he sensed a different kind of tension in Ken, too.
I wonder if Ken and Dewi had a fight?
Which would be weird and not logical, because Dewi was tail over snout for Ken, and Beck got the impression Ken was just as madly in love with her, too. Hell, they had a mate bond.
And what the hell is going on with Bebe?
Maybe she really was more wolf than any of them previously thought. She was acting just like a pup would at her age.
Except both her parents wer
e clueless humans, meaning she should be human, too.
Just what he needed on his plate, something else Nami would worry and fuss over, meaning he’d need to worry about it, too. He wanted Nami to go back to school, get her degree. Even though she didn’t have to ever go back to work, if she didn’t want to.
He wanted to make her dreams come true.
He couldn’t bring her mom back, or make her father not be a fucking dangerous asshole, but he could at least make her life the best one possible.
Including paying for her to go back to school.
Not to mention, Joaquin had meteorically risen in Beck’s opinion for patiently waiting Nami out and not chafing under her stalling Malyah’s decision on a house.
Guess it’s a good thing I never neutered that wolf.
Beck could see how in love Malyah and Joaquin were—again, mate bond. It was just taking Nami a little more time to adjust to her youngest sister having her own life. But, according to Lu’ana, Nami had pretty much acted the same way when she’d met Reggie. Not to the extent Nami had with Joaquin, although Lu’ana didn’t know the full truth there, either.
Dinner felt…tense overall. If Nami, Malyah, or any of the others noticed, they didn’t say so. Bebe had a blast where she sat in her high chair between Duncan and Badger. Badger had coaxed the toddler into letting her mom dress her in a T-shirt so she wouldn’t get food all over her “wuff fur,” as Bebe called it.
I wonder if our pups would be as beautiful as her.
Shit. Belatedly, he hoped he’d managed to keep that thought to himself. If Nami heard him, she made no indication of it. Nami probably wouldn’t want kids, since she’d raised her siblings, including raising Da’von from since he was a baby. She’d had kids.
Beck absolutely had meant it when he’d told Nami if she never wanted to have children with him, that he’d be okay with that.
It didn’t mean his mind didn’t wander, on occasion.
* * * *
It wasn’t until after they’d all finished dinner that Nami was able to get two seconds alone with Dewi in the kitchen.
“What the hell?” Nami whispered.
Fortunately, Nami didn’t need to paint Dewi a picture. “I honestly don’t know,” she whispered back. “I know Badger located a couple of wolves in your family tree on your mother’s side, but he’s still working on Reggie’s genealogy.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Distant, though.”
Nami stared at her, trying to process that. “Is she gonna start shiftin’, then?”
“I don’t know,” Dewi said. “Badger needs to finish tracing Reggie’s ancestry first.”
Rage unexpectedly swept through Nami. “Kinda hard, don’t you think? Considerin’ there’s probably gonna be a huge-ass gap past a certain point? Not like our family or his can trace our roots much farther than getting captured and crowded on a ship and dragged away to America. We didn’t have the luxury of being able to choose when to leave our ancestral home.”
Dewi slowly nodded. “And you’re absolutely right,” she finally said. “I’m sorry.”
Nami leaned against the counter and took a deep breath, blowing it out again. She’d felt emotional all day, not just now. But this whole thing with Bebe was bringing out the momma bear in her.
Maybe I’m close to my period. The past couple of days, she’d felt…on edge.
She knew her anger wasn’t at Dewi specifically. And, yes, to their credit, the whole group of them had been welcoming and accepting of her and her siblings. They did feel like family to her now. They weren’t perfect, but they were trying really hard not to be stupid. It was refreshing being able to point out to them when they did fuck up and not have it met with hostility. They were eager to do better.
She couldn’t ask for better than that. Especially after how Dewi had marched into that damn crackhouse in Ybor to save Malyah that day…
She took another cleansing breath and hugged Dewi. “Sorry, I’m just—”
Dewi stiffened in her arms.
“What’s wrong, sugar?”
When Nami looked, she realized Dewi’s eyes had gone wide.
“Dewi, you’re scarin’ me.”
“Please don’t be mad at me.”
“What? Why?”
Dewi glanced around and pulled Nami outside the back door. “I didn’t notice it earlier because I was so worried about Ken’s ankle,” she whispered.
Nami planted her hands on her hips. “Just spit it out, girl.”
“You and Beck have had sex this week, right? Since last Sunday?”
She gasped. “Dewi! What the hell?”
“I swear I have a good reason for asking.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, honey, but yes. More like when haven’t we had sex. Why?”
“Because…” Dewi caught Nami’s hands and held them. “I need you to stay calm.”
“I am calm! Just say it!”
“I’m… It’s just that I’m pretty sure you’re…pregnant.”
“WHAT?”
* * * *
Beck heard his neck crack when his head snapped around at the shocked sound of Nami’s voice. He’d been standing in the living room, talking to Duncan, when she let out her cry.
He rushed through the kitchen, realized they weren’t in there, and nearly ripped the rear slider off its track when he yanked the door open. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Dewi pointed at Badger, who, along with Duncan and everyone else, except Ken and Bebe, had followed Beck.
“Them, Prime,” she said to Badger, indicating Da’von, Lu’ana, and Reggie, before she waved Duncan outside with them.
Badger immediately herded the three back into the house, already using his Prime powers to smooth things over.
Martin, Joaquin, and Malyah stepped outside, Joaquin glancing behind him as he slid the door shut.
Nami was crying now, and Beck wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her. “What did you say to her?” he accused Dewi.
Dewi’s jaw dropped. “Me? Why do you assume I said something to her! I mean, I did, but not in the way you’re thinking.”
“What’s going on?” Duncan patiently asked.
Dewi reached out and touched his shoulder. She must have said something to him mentally because his expression went…guarded. Then he nodded and stepped over to where Beck held a crying Nami.
He held up a hand, stopping just short of touching Nami’s shoulder. “May I?” he softly asked.
Beck nodded, terrified what this meant.
Was Nami sick? Did Dewi sense she had cancer? It’d killed their mother. Maybe—
Duncan smiled, patted Nami’s shoulder, then nodded to Dewi. “Yes. You’re right, it’s very early. I only saw because I was looking for it. I didn’t notice earlier. Definitely not more than a week.”
Beck was about ready to go full-on wolf on his friends, Primes or not. A frustrated growl rumbled from his throat. “What’s early?”
Dewi took a deep breath and offered him a smile. “Congratulations, Beck. You’re going to be a dad.”
“WHAT?”
* * * *
“Fecking’ hell,” Badger muttered as the three siblings once again looked toward the kitchen at Beck’s roar.
Ken watched as the grizzled old wolf told them to just stand there and breathe, relax, that nothing was wrong, before he went stomping off into the kitchen.
Which left Ken sitting there on the couch with Bebe in his lap. She was back in her “wuff fur.”
She smiled up at him. “You wanna pway wuff wiff me, Unca Ken?”
It was impossible not to return her smile. “I don’t play wolf very well, sweetheart. Auntie Dewi does a much better job at it.”
She giggled. “She not pwayin’ wuff—she is a wuff. Wike Unca Beck, and Unca Waukee, and Unca Mawin, and Gampa Dunk and Gampa Bada.” She gave him a firm nod.
Holy fuckballs.
“Ummm, heeeeey, Badger?” Ken called out.
&n
bsp; “Not now, boyo,” Badger snapped from the kitchen.
She wrinkled her nose at Ken. “Gampa Bada really a wuff tonight.”
“Um, yeah, I guess he is.” Holy crap!
Bebe giggled again. She was adorable, and he loved the little girl. It was difficult to get time with her, though, because Nami usually had a standing claim to babysitting rights. This was one little girl who would definitely grow up well-loved and surrounded by family.
Badger returned, muttering under his breath. “What is it?” he asked.
“Um…” Ken swallowed hard. “Hey, Bebe, tell Gampa Bada what you just told me.”
She laughed as she pointed at Badger. “You weeeeeally wuffy tonight, Gampa Bada.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Did she jus’ say—”
“Yep. She did.”
Badger literally face-palmed. “Oh, bloody hell. I don’t need this on top of everythin’ else tonight.”
“On top of everything else what?” Ken asked. “And what’s going on with Nami? Is she okay?”
Badger ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “She’ll be right fine in about nine months, give or take a week or two.”
“WHAT?”
Badger waved his hand in the direction of the kitchen. “That’s right. She’s pregnant.”
Dewi skidded into the room, looking around with a nearly panicked expression on her face. “What? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Ken said. “But Nami’s pregnant? Since when?”
“Literally since last Sunday.” She pointed at Lu’ana, Da’von, and Reggie, who were still standing where Badger had left them. “You want help with them?”
“No, go on. I got ‘em. Is she gonna tell them tonight? That’d make my life easier.”
“Um…” She craned her neck to look through the kitchen. “I don’t know. Let me go find out.” She dashed out of the living room again.
Bleacke Spirit (Bleacke Shifters Book 4) Page 5