"What do you think?"
She was speechless for at least thirty seconds. "Well I wouldn’t have guessed it was you."
With a triumphant smile, he hurried her along. "Well let's go, except you go first."
She was still a little shocked so her brain wasn’t reacting as it normally would. "Why."
He was in front of her and stopped to look at her with a grin. "Duh, people will recognise you and then wander who I am. I will use the stairs while you take the elevator, if you give me the keys I will meet you in the car park."
Now it was Ellie's turn for her brain to kick in. "That won't work, you won't be protected."
"Ah but I won't need it because people will not know it is me." Maybe her brain wasn’t working too well; maybe she needed a check-up. She handed him her keys to find that he was gloating with the enjoyment of outsmarting her.
By the time she reached the car park she was a little pissed to find Luke was in the car waiting. "Let me get this right, I have spent the past few weeks hanging off the arm of a damn superstar, and you, you could have dressed like this."
As they eased into the mid-afternoon traffic, Luke answered with a simple, "yup" before he turned up the volume on the radio which just happened to be playing one of his songs leaving her to brood.
As they arrived at the clinic, Luke became serious.
"El, I know you won't like me asking this but what will you do if she isn’t ready for this?"
Looking at the external peach walls of the clinic and the blossoms of flowers, she sighed as Luke verbalised her fear, the one she had pushed away.
"I don’t know, even though I have been doing some research I am still not sure. I guess I stick with her, I am good at that. I won't let her suffer alone again Luke. Seeing her here that first time was heart breaking, I would have taken her home then, but she wouldn’t let me. What if taking her to your mom's place is the wrong thing?"
Luke didn’t seem too concerned about that. "Let me tell you something in case people have forgotten to tell you this, you are an incredible sister, wait let me finish. Your instinct is based on the notion that families stick together, you stand together in the good and the bad. Yet you have maintained a secret for your sister and kept that from family because you love and respect her decisions, Claire is lucky to have you. Now about going to my moms, I have been in this business for a while now, so I know that if someone doesn’t want to remain clean then they won't. At least at my mom's there are no drugs of any sort and it is as secure as you get. Maybe this time will be beneficial for her. Regardless of what happens, I want to help you with this, and I don’t mean help Claire she has you, but you have no-one so as much as it will annoy you, please let me be there for you."
She felt tears slide down her face as she questioned, how the hell he managed to do this to her, It was a big thing for Ellie to let him in and one she took a few moments to think about, she couldn’t verbalise her answer so she nodded at which point Luke climbed out of the car.
Chapter 24
He stood in the reception office waiting for the nurse to ask Claire if she had an older brother, he hoped she said yes. When the gaunt, petite figure was led out he assumed she had. She looked different to Ellie; her hair was a light brown with hints of blonde, not dyed but natural. Her big brown eyes drew you to them but right now it was confusion and anxiety emanating from her that drew him.
"Hey baby sister, El sent me to get you she's outside, she thought this would be too emotional for her, is that okay?"
Slowly Claire nodded and signed the rest of the paperwork, as he led her out her steps were slow and hesitant so Luke kept his voice low and gentle.
"Its okay, Ellie is outside waiting so don’t worry I won't hurt you." Looking down he saw her smile.
"I know you won't hurt me, you are too nervous to do anything wrong."
The empathy, crap he had forgotten about that. "Shit I forgot sorry, sorry for swearing." Now Luke was mumbling like a naughty school boy in his need for Claire to like him.
"Don’t apologise, thank you for helping out and sorry for intruding in your holiday."
She was gentle where Ellie was stern, she was petite where Ellie was strong, yet inside he sensed something strong in her, something unusual he just wasn’t sure what, although he could say that there was no sexual element to it, he was drawn to her. Ellie was waiting outside the car with tears in her eyes, which Claire took in her stride.
"Baby girl don’t be upset, I am fine." She quickly became the strong one as Ellie struggled to hold back the tears. "Hush now, it's okay it won't happen again, I won't let it not again."
As Claire hugged Ellie the scene brought Luke's own emotions to the surface, he saw a closeness that he would never share with a sibling, well not with his who was too far away for them to be close.
Claire drew Ellie away, wiped at her tears and kissed her forehead. "I need to eat Ellie; I want a nice plump piece of steak."
Nodding Ellie looked to Luke, with her emotions raw she couldn’t think straight. Seeing Claire looking better but still so fragile was a relief and also a worry. The thought that she wouldn’t be an able to help her sister combined with the thought of her coming back to this clinic, or worse losing her to drugs was too much.
"I believe we can get a good piece of steak at the hotel." Luke smiled as he responded to Claire's question.
*********************************
They settled back on the terrace a comfortable silence between the three of them, Claire got to have her steak, although she barely ate it which suited Luke who finished it. Instead of alcohol they had juice and then while Ellie swum Luke and Claire had chatted. Now they were watching the night close in, and he could see that Ellie was watching Claire staring at the stars in rapture. Then the silence was interrupted by the slamming of a door which was followed by Ben bursting onto the veranda. His face was one of thunder until he looked at Claire.
"Sweetheart thank god you are okay, can you go inside please it's too cold out here for you? I need to talk to your sister and her sidekick." The latter part of his statement held more than a hint of anger.
As Claire hugged Ben, Luke heard her whisper. "I asked them to help me."
Although his face softened at Claire's words, his voice was hard. "Not the point, give us a few minutes please."
Ellie watched Claire leave longing to follow her. "Ben…"
Ben stopped her sternly. "Ellie don’t even go there, you were going to take her off without a word to anyone, and I want to know why."
As Ellie gulped, Luke stepped in making his voice commanding and hard. "Wait a minute Ben, I get that you are angry and I can understand that, but Ellie has been carrying one hell of a burden and she didn’t make this decision easily so before you…."
Ellie braced herself. What would she do knowing that Ben would flip out and then Luke would flip….She would then have to deal with a Jaguar and wolf on a rooftop terrace?
Ben rounded on Luke, but rather than anger there was a hint of pride. "Luke, Ellie can state her own argument, but it was a good try."
As Luke stepped forward, Ellie grasped his arm. "Ben I'm sorry, I have known about Claire for a while and I hated seeing her in there, you should have seen the place so when she asked me to help her I agreed, I should have told you."
Ben had never been able to stay angry with Ellie and tonight was no different, her heart was too pure when it came to her family. "I did see her Ellie, do you honestly think I would let any of you go through that? I paid the staff to let me sit with her at night when she was sleeping, and then when she improved I watched her through the glass in the door. After the first night, I told your mom on the promise that she wouldn’t try to go, if she had gone she wouldn’t have left her there and she would have been devastated if she had failed Claire. Even though, we hated the thought that she was in there, we both know that taking her out would have been worse. I knew you were going, and I waited for you to tell me…"
Elli
e was crying again, until now she had felt as though she had betrayed Ben. "I wanted to tell you…." Ben wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head.
"Remember the first day I met you when you gave me attitude, I told you that you had a warriors heart, and you have so I knew you wouldn’t betray her, but when I got there and she had gone, I freaked. Ellie talking to someone isn’t betraying them, you cannot carry the world on your shoulders, and sometimes you have to let people in."
With a hint of disapproval, he added. "Though, I don’t have to like who you open up to."
Luke tried to slip away from the tender scene that was making him feel as though he were an intruder until Ben stopped him. "Don’t even think about it Luke, sit your butt down and tell me what you are going to do to protect my girls. Ellie check on your sister."
How the hell did a man who looked the same age as him manage to make him feel like a little boy?
"Speak." Ben's commanding tone in that one word had Luke questioning whether he should call his mom to sort Ben out, only the knowledge that it would take her too long to get here stopped him.
"Well as you know we are going to stay at my moms, it's highly secure, no drugs and the only people who live there are my mom and the guy who is sort of like my grandad. Ellie has arranged all of the transport, and very few people know who my mom is."
"The thing that pisses me off about you Luke is probably the thing that pushes Ellie away, you are a strong man and with your Jaguar you have the potential to be a phenomenal adversary, the problem is that you are hiding him for some reason that I don’t know, and I won't force the reason from you because I suspect you have a legitimate reason, having said that it makes me question how much I can trust a man who doesn’t trust himself."
Luke had liked Ben from the moment he had met him, he had integrity, he was strong and kind and caring. Something he would have wanted from a father which is what prompted his openness.
"Although Jaguars as a rule roam on their own, shifters need the company of other so we do live and run together. Believe it or not I actually have a father, who unlike you doesn’t give a damn about anyone but himself, so if a picture were to be published of me in animal form he would eventually find me. If that happened the first thing he would do, would be to find and kill my mom and then he would come for me, and he would bring his Pride to wherever I am to destroy me." The words were out there, he had never told another person about his father, and the disclosure had left Luke feeling lighter.
"Well not all fathers are like that and I am sorry yours is, but you need to understand something if anything happens to those girls and I think your Jaguar could have protected them and you stopped him, its game over. If your father is involved in hurting them, I will kill him and every one with him without hesitation."
"And I would help you do that, before you killed me of course." Luke had no intention of letting Ellie or Claire get hurt.
He waited several tense minutes for Ben to respond. "We are clear then. Now I am going to leave, but I am bringing Lucky back she needs to see Claire. I don’t want the girls to know because Claire will panic, but they need to see each other, and Lucky would kill me if I didn’t. One thing you need to learn Luke is the only person that I am scared of is my wife."
With that he left, leaving Luke in a quandary one that didn’t last for long. As soon as he walked into the lounge Claire was sat watching Ellie on the computer.
"When is my mom arriving?" Ellie swung round to face him at Claires words, deciding not to answer he shrugged.
"Um, um."
"It's okay Luke, Ben's right I do need to see her."
Ellie stood glaring at him. "No it is not alright Claire, Luke what did you do?"
Heeding Ben's words he made for the door. "I think I need a drink. Don’t worry Danny is outside with my two faithful bodyguards, none of whom stopped a psychotic father from coming in here which concerns me." The last was said in jest as he rushed out.
Chapter 25
Ellie was exhausted, Claire and mom might have the empath abilities yet all of their emotions were draining her. Her mom had spent nearly three hours comforting Claire, all the while apologising for something that wasn’t her fault before she had tried to convince Claire to return home. The scene had however, reassured Ellie that she never wanted children; she would have to lock them away from the world just to make sure they were never harmed.
She was sharing a room with Claire even though Luke had offered her his room, asleep now her sister lay dwarfed in the double bed. Ellie climbed in, watching her until her own eyes drifted off.
Luke was quiet when he entered the suite a little worse for wear, conscious that it was late. Danny had been excellent company even though he talked about May a lot. Luke had no doubt that Danny adored May although he was in awe of her brain.
Ellies door was slightly ajar so he poked his head in to be greeted by Ellie snoring next to Claire. Closing the door gently, he sat at his piano perfecting a tune that had been in his head all day. So consumed by the music he was, he didn’t hear Claire behind him until he finished.
"That was beautiful, you are incredibly talented." He heard the genuineness in her words.
"It depends on your perspective, yes I have a talent that has made me a rich man, yet your family has some remarkable talents that I am sure have helped many people, which in comparison is…" She sat next to him on the piano stool and interrupted him.
"The important word in that sentence is comparison; it is different because it is. Music is healing and has the ability to soothe and induce all types of emotions in the space of minutes; it can give hope when all is lost, and bring joy when sadness is afoot. Music has the ability to elicit both positive and negative emotions, tell me something else that can do that."
Looking at the black and white contrast of the keys, he realised he couldn’t think of an example.
"How long have you been in love with my sister?"
Taken aback by her stark words, he started to play needing the distraction though the tune was soft and quiet. "Since the day she threw a drink over my manager for being rude to May. She intrigued me which hasn’t happened in forever. She is an extraordinary woman and the strongest person I have ever met. How did you know? Don’t answer, I keep forgetting about the empathy."
Claire laughed softly. "It wasn’t just that, it was also the songs on the iPod which I suspect they were new and inspired by my sister."
He kept playing. "How did you know that?"
Her eyes were following his hands. "I don’t need to be close to you to be able to read your emotions, Luke they are in your songs; your words are a testament of the things that you don’t want to say to Ellie. Don’t let her scare you away; the best things come from perseverance."
Claire stood to leave as he responded. "What if she doesn’t feel the same?" Deep down that was his fear, he thought she did, but then he questioned even that.
"Let me tell you something about Ellie, she is Miss Calm and Cool always in control regardless of how hard it gets until you." With that she left him to his own musings.
************************************
Four hours into their journey Luke had to admit that Ellie had planned well, she had made him dress in his disguise this morning before rushing off with some photo's, only to return with a fake passport. He nearly panicked at this mainly because it was damn illegal, but when he saw her face and the potential murder she would embark on, he stopped. As it was instead of switching planes three times they took one commercial plane to Atlanta before hiring a car to drive them the rest of the way. For the first time in years he was relaxed on his journey home, he wasn’t worried about being seen this time.
Luke was dismayed when she took the passport off him telling him sternly that if he planned on committing a crime it would only occur when she was there to deal with any problems. He had finally figured out that she was a control freak which he kind of liked.
As they pulled up to the twelve
foot high wooden gates he keyed in the code, as they had neared his family home Ellie had become more and more withdrawn, though he had no idea why. Claire had been quiet for most of the trip, reading some of the books that Ellie brought back with the passport, although he was pretty certain she paid for the books and no crime was committed.
His mom rushed out to meet the car, with her long black hair cascading down her back she appeared a little wild with her shorts, tank top and orange gardening gloves, which she whipped off to envelop him in a hug before looking him over for signs of malnutrition.
He could feel Ellie's eyes boring into his back even though she hung back cautiously. When his mom was finished with him, she looked past him at Ellie.
"You must be Ellie, that awards ceremony did not do you justice." As Ellie held her hand out to shake his moms, his mom ignored her hand opting for hugging her instead leaving Ellie unsure how to proceed.
"I am Ellie, Lukes security detail." Her voice was clipped and professional.
With a sly grin at them both, his mom nodded. "Of course you are sweetheart, I am Sandy and Luke has told me all about you. Which means that you must be Claire, I agree with your mom in that you do need some meat on your bones, which is good because dinner is nearly ready."
As his mom bounded up to the house, she stopped when she noticed she was alone. "What are you all waiting for?"
It was Ellie who asked. "You have spoken to our mom." She was a little incredulous at how that could have happened.
"Well of course I have, she called this morning so we have had a chat as moms do. I have to say she seems like a lovely woman, aren’t you lucky to have all of those brothers and sisters? And to have a vampire in the family as well as wolves, wow what an experience. I have to say I am grateful that you have all looked out for my baby, anyway so why are you still stood out here? Albert has the barbeque going and some terrific pork cooking."
Claire followed whilst Luke continued watching Ellie who continued to stare after his mom.
Taming the Warrior Page 13