Chance Encounters

by Kathi S. Barton

  “I’m not taking away some of your perks, Burton.”

  He let out a long breath that he’d been holding. Good, things weren’t as bad as they had seemed at first. Trevor started talking again before he could ask him why the fuck he’d scared him like that.

  “I’m taking them all away. As I have said, there will be nothing more coming to you over the next eleven days. You have already signed the new lease, making you the new one responsible for your bills. The electric, as well as all the other bills, will be in your name on the day of your birthday, and the accounts—all of them, including any other tabs that you have around town—are, as of right now, closed. You are on your own. If you think to run up a tab on any place, and I do mean any of them, I want to make you aware that each and every place around town, and any of the places you went before, are well aware that I am no longer footing your bills. They also know that to give anything to you on credit of any kind will more than likely be something that they’ll never see again, as you are a worthless piece of shit.”

  Burton sat down and felt as if all the air in the room had been sucked out. He had to breathe slowly until he could speak again. This was not right.

  “I can’t afford this shit. I can’t even afford where I live unless you pay the bills. That’s not going to work for me, damn it. You’ll keep paying them or I’ll take you to court.” He had no idea if he could do that or not, and didn’t even have an attorney that Trevor didn’t provide for him. “I’ll go to the newspaper too. Tell them what you’ve done to me.”

  “Done to you? You mean pay all your bills for you since you were twenty-four years old, without ever asking for you to repay me? Pay your rent, utilities, as well as provide you with a car until you were thirty-five fucking years old? What do you think that a lawyer or a judge will say to you, Burton?” Trevor laughed. “I know. You lazy sack of shit. They’ll tell you to get up off your lazy fucking ass and get a job. Stop sponging off your brother for once in your life, and do what any man would do. Pay your own way.”

  A file was handed to him, and Burton was so pissed that he couldn’t even look at it. But Wingmen told him that he had to. Tearing the thing in half, he tossed it on the floor then stepped on it. He looked at Trevor when he said his name.

  “You think this is ending here? I got news for you, it does not. I have no idea where you got it in your head that you can just sweep me under the rug like nothing, but I assure you, I have as many contacts as you do, and I’m going to fuck you up.” Trevor stood up, and even though he looked like shit warmed over, there was a great deal of power coming from him. Burton had to fight his wolf hard not to bow before his younger brother and submit. When Trevor growled at him, Burton felt his skin crawl with the need to drop down and let him have his throat. “I’ll see you in hell before I let you do this to me.”

  He was nearly to the door when he realized that leaving like this would give him nothing. Not even the satisfaction of his threat to Trevor could be carried out, much less started. He was broke. Less than broke, and he had nothing at all that belonged to him to sell. Just before he opened the door to storm out, Trevor said his name again.

  “The apartment where you are staying is now devoid of anything of value that I paid for. Even your clothing is gone, save what you have on now. There is no food in your pantry or refrigerator, and you have no car to get back home in.” Trevor came around to the other side of his desk and leaned on it as he smiled, a smile that frightened Burton a great deal. “You could have had a little more time. Had you come in here like a man, then I would have given you enough money for the next month of bills, paid to have you taken home, and even given you enough food to get you through to the end of next month. As it stands right now, you and I are done. And in the event that you want to say that we didn’t tell you what was going on, this entire meeting has been recorded. As have all the other meetings that you and I have had. It’s standard for what happens in my offices.”

  “You fucking bastard.” Trevor didn’t comment on his insult, but Burton knew he was pissed off. “You’ll pay, Trevor. I don’t know how or when, but you are going to pay for doing this to me.”

  “Doing what? What is it you think that I’ve done to you, Burton? We’ve already established that I’ve done nothing that you were not made aware would end eventually. And in that, you have no grounds to sue me. Nothing to fall back on, and you certainly have no way of retaining even the cheapest of attorneys. You, my dear brother, are in over your head.”

  Burton wanted to shift and attack. He might have too, if Trevor hadn’t stood up and let a little of his own wolf go. “You fuck with me and it will be over before you get across the room.”

  Burton left the office then, and was disappointed that Sara was sitting at her desk with several of the guards he’d seen on his way in. When he pressed the button to go down in the elevator, three of them came to stand around him, one on either side as well as one in the back. Burton knew that they were carrying silver in their weapons. He could smell it like cheap cologne. One of them even had his hand on his gun as if he were going to shoot him. He turned to ask Sara what the fuck she thought she was doing and saw Trevor there. The man was leaning against the door like he had not a care in the world. Burton supposed that he didn’t. He had all the money and anything else he wanted, because he was Trevor Dean.

  As he left the big building that all but screamed money, Burton tried to think what he could do to get back at Trevor. Nothing came to mind but to fuck him up, but that wasn’t going to happen either. Burton was not just broken, but he had a feeling that the people that he had “borrowed” money from last night would be expecting him to come up with the cash to pay them back. Trevor was obviously not going to do it like he was supposed to. His brother was really fucking his life up right now.

  And not only that, but there was the whole bigger, badder wolf thing. It was the first time in his life that Burton realized that his brother was an alpha, and a damned strong one at that.

  “But you’re going to get yours, little brother. See if you don’t.” As he tried to think how he was supposed to get home from here, he thought of the shit that he was going to have to do just to get by. Tonight, it seemed, was out of the question unless he could have someone give him the money. Burton was still working on that when he realized how fucking out of shape he was. He entered the diner about a block from Trevor’s building and called the only person he knew that might come to help him. Bill said he’d come by and get him, but had an errand to run before he could take him home. Burton said that was fine.

  ~~~

  No one was moving in and out of the house, but Trevor waited. He had no idea if this was the right place or not, and if it wasn’t, he was as good as dead. Breaking into an alpha’s house, no matter what you thought of him, wasn’t a good thing. And accusing him of taking your mate would get him and Andrea both murdered if he couldn’t prove anything. Trevor had nothing to go on other than some cardboard on the windows of one room. Not even the scent of his mate was around the place.

  He’d spoken to Andrea twice since last night. Once about midnight when she’d woke him after having a bad dream. He had been right there with her, in the grips of her terror, when he realized it wasn’t his dream but hers. Also, she’d talked to him about some of the other things that were bothering her about where she was. Things that were going to be rectified as soon as he could get her out of there.

  They’re hooking me up to an IV in a little while, she told me. Trevor, I won’t be able to stop the drugs if they do this. And arguing with this woman is only pissing her off. He had gotten up to get dressed to go to her as her fear started to overwhelm them both, but stopped when she spoke again. I think I fixed it for now, but she’s going to come back. I think...she is really mad at me.

  She’s going to be really mad at me when I come in there and kill her. Andrea laughed at him, so he didn’t tell her that was really what was going to happen. Instead of dwelling on things that at that tim
e couldn’t be fixed, he told her about what he had going on that morning. I have a brother that is going to be a pain in the ass in the morning.

  He’d been more than that, but when he’d talked to Andrea he’d not yet met with him. Right now all Trevor could think about his brother was that he was a royal pain in the ass. She’d asked him if he was his little brother, and he explained to her what he’d done for his mom.

  You’ve been paying his bills since he was twenty-four? My goodness, Trevor, he’s a grown man. Does he like taking your money from you? Well, I guess he does. Otherwise he might have stopped this on his own. She sighed heavily. What a fucking moron. Here I am without memory or money, and he’s taking it from you like candy from a baby. I’d like to kick his ass myself. I might yet if I get to meet him.

  You’ll get to meet him if I don’t murder him. I have my attorneys coming in with me to make sure he understands what is going to happen. I don’t think he’s going to take it well. She asked him what he was going to do if he didn’t. I don’t know. I’m trying not to think about it too much. To be honest, I’m glad to have this done with him. He’s going to end up killing someone, and I want no part of it.

  Clean house. He asked her what she meant. I mean, have a backup plan ready. If he makes you mad...well, madder…then go into your house, or wherever he’s staying, and take what you supplied for him. Even his dirty underwear. Take it all. A man like that doesn’t deserve it anyway, if he had no appreciation for the finer things in life, so take it. What’s he going to do? Say you stole it from him? Not likely, since you’ve paid for it all.

  He’ll come here in one of my cars. Should I just take that too and let him fend for himself? Andrea told him that he was going to have to learn to anyway soon, he might as well start now. He remembered thinking it was a little harsh, but now that he knew more about his brother, he wished he’d been able to take more from him. He’s going to hate you when he meets you. I love it. And you.

  She didn’t say anything, and he had gotten up from the bed he’d been in. When she spoke to him, her voice was low, like someone might hear her and she didn’t want them to.

  I don’t know what love is. I mean, I’ve read about it. Even seen Hollywood’s version of it, but I’ve never been in love. She laughed. I have no idea why I know that, but it feels right.

  I’m glad to know that. And when we get together, you and I will have a long talk about a lot of things. After I take you to bed for about a month. Christ, I need you. She giggled in his head and Trevor had lain back on the bed. Since neither of us are going to sleep again, why don’t I tell you about my plans for the day?

  He stiffened when she said his name, pulling him from his memories by hearing the panic in it.

  Trevor? Are you there? Looking up at the house, he nodded and told her that he was. I’m afraid. Something is going on and I don’t know what it is. There are all kinds of people in the house now, and I don’t think they’re here for a social gathering. The voices I can hear are mean and loud. And I don’t feel so well. I think...I think they got me when I was napping or put something in my food. As bad as it is, I wouldn’t have tasted it, I think.

  Trevor looked around the yard and didn’t see any indication that there might be others in the house in front of him. He had the wrong house, he knew it. But as he moved across the street, he stopped when he saw his brother and Bill Patrick, the worse kind of wolf he knew, move together as if they were old friends on an outing together. This was not going to go well for anyone, Trevor just knew it. As soon as they entered the house together, Trevor decided that it was time for him to get some help. If what Andrea was telling him was true, and he had no doubt that it was, there was trouble brewing and Andrea might be hurt.

  You have to remain calm for me and listen to every word I tell you. She didn’t answer him and he pressed harder into her mind. She was drugged. He could almost taste it, the way her mind seemed to be completely sluggish. As Trevor made his way to the yard he could see why there had not been any sign of the others in the house. They’d come on foot, four of them.

  He had four men that he could depend on. Two of them were wolf, the other two were shifters. Calling them to him, he looked around for a place to hide out and keep an eye on the house until they got there. Benson said that he and Paul were close.

  Shriver and Connelly are at the bar not far from where you are. That shithead of a brother of yours was in there a bit ago. Left with Patrick of all people. He might be headed your way now. He told him he was in the house with Stein. Christ, you do know how to stir up trouble, don’t you? To be honest, I’m glad that you are. Was kinda getting bored just being a rich prick with no job.

  You have no idea. And you have your hands in more pots than I do. So I doubt you’re bored at all. They both laughed and Trevor told him that he could see him. Don’t go in until the other two get here. I don’t want to break up a party that might not have shit to do with my mate.

  You believe that? Trevor told him that he didn’t. Good. There is something else you should know about too. The cops are looking for Patrick about something. Not sure what, but we’re to not kill him unless we gotta. I’m thinking that they have a major hard on for something the little fuck did, what do you think?

  That my brother is involved too; and that when Patrick goes down, so will Burton. Benson told him that he’d thought that too. Whatever you find out, let me know. If Burton is involved, which I have no doubt that he is, then I want to know to have everything ready when the shit hits the fan. I’m done with him, but I’m certainly not going to let him take me down with him when he goes.

  Yeah, it’s not a matter of if but when he goes down. Burton has always been a fucking bastard. If he is involved, this might be a way for you to get him out of your hair once and for all. I know that he’s blood, but fuck man, the guy is a leech. He was at that, and Trevor told Benson that. I’ll tell you when I know, all right?

  Trevor thanked him and watched the house too. He could only see the rooms at the side of the big house and nothing much of the back yard. He could see people moving in and out of the yard, most of them naked, all wolves that were about to shift or had already done so at some point. And these naked men were not something that anyone would want to see. Old and fat did not present a good image, Trevor thought. There was a lot of noise going on back there, most of it shouting, but he knew that once he made his presence known that it would get even louder.

  Trevor was prepared now. Since his brother had left him today, Sara and he, along with Mark, had found out a great deal of information on a lot of people. And very little of it was good.

  David had left soon after Burton was escorted out to go and oversee the removal of the furniture and things from the place that Burton had been using. He’d lied to his brother about that, hoping for some reason that he’d see the light. Apparently his brother was not going to be a man about any of this. But when Mark had asked to speak to him about another matter, he had sat with him at the big conference table.

  “There’s some things I’d like to show you about your alpha, Neal Stein.” All the people that worked with Trevor on a daily basis knew he was a wolf. Some of them were shifters too, but Mark wasn’t one of them. He was as human as they came.

  “If you’re going to tell me you think he has my mate, then I think that as well. I don’t know for sure where he has her hidden, or even why, but I know in my gut that he has her.” Mark nodded but said nothing more. “What do you know? Please tell me.”

  “You’re not going to like this.” Trevor told him he probably wouldn’t. “Let’s start with the money and work from there.”

  Chapter 6

  Neil was excited. Things were going so well that he was thinking that when this shit was done with Trevor, that he might just go to another pack and do the same thing. The fucking idiot had no idea, and that was what made it all the more delicious to him.

  The woman was the best thing he’d found in all his life. At first when he’d
seen her wandering around like she was doped up, he thought about just raping her and leaving her for dead. But the moment he was close enough to smell her, Trevor’s scent nearly knocked him on his ass. Christ, she was his mate, and Neil had her.

  Five years ago had sealed Trevor’s fate. The man just would not play ball with Neil. And when Trevor had brought in an attorney to have him back off, Neil started to think of ways of getting back at him. Who the fuck didn’t want to export females to other countries for a bit of extra cash? Christ, most of them foreigners would pay up to a million bucks for the chance to have a wolf at their beck and call. And to be able to fuck one when you wanted was even better.

  He’d not told Trevor of that part, however; just that he was into exporting some of the goods that the pack had come up with. Every time he thought of that little play on words, he laughed a little. Fuck, any man would have seen the humor in it. But Trevor told him in no uncertain terms that he just wanted to be left alone, that he’d pay his dues and that was all he wanted to do with a pack. But Neil had seen potential, and he wanted the money that Trevor had to help him on his little money making scheme.

  All he would have had to do was give him the startup capital and things would have been just fine between them. Neil had even started sending him flyers about how much money other companies were making, going so far as to go to his home and business to show him what he was missing out on. It wasn’t stalking, like the cops said, but trying to make a little cash together.

  Then the lawyer had shown up at his door, during a pack meeting of all times, and said that if he bothered his client again, in any way, shape, or form, he was going to have him arrested, put in prison, and his pack taken from him by the governing lawmakers as well. He’d been so embarrassed that he’d decided that the bastard had to go. He looked at the man standing next to him, only just realizing that he’d been trying to get his attention.