Scandalous Shifters Paranormal Box Set

by Mia Taylor

  Still grinning, Ryker reclaimed his seat and placed his linen napkin back on his lap, seemingly unaware of Victoria’s deadpan look. When he finally looked up, his wife was still staring at him.

  “What?” Ryker asked. The server arrived with their wine, pouring a sample for Victoria to taste. She resisted the urge to dump it on Ryker. Instead, she rose to her feet.

  “Where are you going, Victoria?” he demanded.

  Victoria stared at him, her eyes spying Evangeline in her peripheral vision. The sexy mother of three was watching her every move from her table across the restaurant.

  I can’t give her the satisfaction of knowing she upset me. She is sitting there smugly, waiting for me to crack.

  Six months ago, Victoria wouldn’t have been sure that Evangeline could be capable of such guile, but she knew better now. Everyone had underestimated the wrath of a woman scorned and almost paid the price.

  “The bathroom,” Victoria replied, flashing a beautiful smile. “Go ahead and pour. I’m sure it’s fine.”

  The waiter seemed relieved he was not about to witness a scene and hurriedly obliged her request as Victoria vanished down the corridor toward the bathroom. She desperately wanted to flee out the door but she dared not, instead falling against the door as it closed at her back.

  Don’t cry, she begged herself, holding back tears. Don’t you dare cry, Victoria.

  It was too late.

  Fat drops fell down her face and onto her perfectly made-up face. She locked the door and buried her face in her hands, falling to her knees on the floor of the bathroom.

  The doubts, the fears, the sixth sense which had been warning her something was amiss had been correct. Ryker was having an affair and not just any affair.

  He was having an affair with Evangeline Crowe.

  Evangeline’s perfume told the entire story.

  It was the same one which Ryker constantly reeked of those days.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Unexpected Surprise

  Ryker could sense danger. It had been following him like a cyclone over his head and there was barely a moment where he felt reprieve from its clutches.

  Even as he sat in the House of Representatives, a knot twisted in his stomach.

  I have too much going on. I need to slow down some before something blows up in my face.

  “Senator, I find this bill highly unusual,” the Republican senator from Texas said, his mouth agape. “Your interests are clearly against that of the party.”

  “Women’s rights are against the interest of the Republican party?” Ryker asked caustically, his eyes wide with surprise. He looked about the room in mock surprise.

  “I hope that no one caught that on tape—the media will have a field day with that quote, Senator Troy. Of course, we can always chalk it up to fake news, but still…”

  “That is not what I meant and you know it!” Troy snapped back, red-faced. “This bill will cost the government millions—”

  “I think it should pass!” the Democratic senator from California called.

  “Hear hear!” shouted half a dozen other left-winged voices. The Republican side of congress was becoming unsettled.

  “Let’s take a vote,” the speaker ordered and the room tried to settle. Ryker watched as Senator Jacobson’s aide, Miranda, gave him an appreciative smile. All the women in the room seemed to be grinning at him, both covertly and openly. The rush went directly into Ryker’s loins. Their admiration aroused him endlessly and Ryker fully used their awe to his advantage.

  Last week after a meeting, he had taken two aides up to his suite at the Hyatt and spent a memorable afternoon with them before trading them in for two more he found at the hotel bar that night.

  His libido was reaching epic proportions and Ryker wasn’t sure if it was because of his new appointment or because his wife was constantly refusing him.

  At first, he had been discreet about his encounters, but he soon learned that the Secret Service provided excellent cover for his extracurricular activities, some of the guards even bringing him women on a whim.

  Life is good, Ryker thought every night before he fell asleep, but he could not shake a constant nagging which had been following him for days.

  Perhaps he was growing concerned that his wife was suddenly finding him resistible, something he had never encountered from Victoria.

  She’s becoming one of those rabid feminist women who don’t need men for anything. It’s bad enough that she spends all her time at the office. Now she doesn’t even want to make love. No wonder I turn to other women.

  In his mind, he would never have strayed from Victoria if she had spent more time with him as she should have as a wife. He did not remind himself that he had many affairs even when Victoria had been home with him.

  Or perhaps the dark umbra had developed during a casual tryst he had shared one night with Evangeline.

  She had begun to pressure him more about leaving Victoria.

  “You know you should have never divorced me, Ry,” she whined after Ryker untied her from the four-poster bed in the guest room of her Texan mansion.

  Gerald had been away on business and Ryker had flown from Virginia to spend the night, something he often did. He never denied that Evangeline was one of the best lovers he had ever had, surpassed only slightly by Victoria.

  “Evie, we have talked about this. How improper would it be for me to divorce Victoria? Think about it,” he implored her, wondering why he continued to engage with her level of crazy.

  How many times can we have the same damn conversation? I am not leaving my wife. Get it out of your pretty little head.

  “I think it would be seen as romantic,” she pouted. “You realized that I was the one who got away, that I was the true love of your life and made it right. That’s what happened, isn’t it?”

  “Of course, baby,” he cooed. “You’re the love of my life,” he added as an afterthought, but Evangeline’s face had turned to stone.

  “Are you screwing other women, Ryker?”

  The question had caught him off guard and inadvertently, Ryker’s mind slipped to the threesome he had in DC before visiting her. He could still see the fresh faces of the Democratic aides writhing with pleasure.

  Lost in his lust-filled thoughts, Ryker took too long to answer and Evangeline lashed out, striking him with an open palm.

  “What the hell?” he roared, but she leapt from the bed, her face twisting to reveal a pronounced snout as her eyes went blacker than he’d ever seen.

  “Who else are you screwing, Ryker?” she screamed. “Who?”

  “Evangeline, keep your voice down!” he hissed. “The boys will hear you.”

  “So what? You don’t want them to know what kind of man you are? You’re worried they’ll find out that you come and bang their mother whenever you feel like it and then go home to your wife?”

  Ryker checked his temper and tried to smile at her placatingly, patting her thick fur as her body trembled with the stress of shifting.

  “Evie, what do you want from me? You know you love Gerry.”

  “I do not!” she shrieked. “You know why I married Gerry!”

  He froze, the reminder chilling him to the core. He didn’t want to entertain the idea that Evangeline’s boys could be his, no matter how feasible that might be. Ryker’s teeth clenched and he bounded over the bed to seize the nearly hysterical woman by the arms, crushing his lips to hers. He was torn between wanting to strangle the life from her body or taking her again.

  His libido won out as it always did.

  “I love you, see?” he told her, pulling back. She stared up at him, her eyes naked with longing.

  “Please leave Victoria,” she begged. “I will do anything you want.”

  Ryker stared down at her, feeling the heat between them sizzle. There was something about Evangeline’s wistful pleading which aroused him endlessly.

  Victoria never begs me for anything. Victoria does everything herself. She
doesn’t need me. She doesn’t even want me anymore.

  “Anything?” he teased.

  “Yes,” she whimpered.

  “Senator Duvall!”

  The voice snapped him out of the reverie and he addressed the House, remembering where he was.

  “Yes?”

  “It seems like your bill has passed.”

  There was a sprinkling of applause and protest, but as Ryker accepted claps on the backs and handshakes, he could not shake the sense that something was amiss.

  You need a distraction, he thought, winking at Miranda.

  ~ ~ ~

  Evangeline Crowe-Mathers was not a smart woman. She had known this since she was old enough to speak. The fact had been driven home by her father, her uncles, her brothers, and just about any man who had spent more than two minutes in her presence.

  The women had always commented on her exquisite beauty, noticing her silken, black hair and smoldering, large eyes. If not for the constant assurances from the females in her life, she would have simply accepted she was not overly smart.

  Yet as women tended to do to other women, Evangeline’s underdeveloped mind was filled with mixed signals, creating a metaphorical monster in her mind.

  It was no shock to anyone that Evangeline grew to be a moderate sociopath, using her sexuality to acquire self-gratification at every turn.

  Her fragile grasp of what was right and wrong was bent to the breaking point with a self-important father and debutante mother.

  It was not difficult for Evangeline to get her every whim; men were putty in her hands and she gave them what they desired in every way possible.

  All except Ryker Duvall.

  He had swept into her life, whispering sweet nothings into her ear and promising her the world. The fact that her somewhat overbearing father had been against the relationship had only served to sweeten the deal and marrying Ryker had been the happiest time in Evangeline’s life.

  The divorce had shocked her but Evangeline did not take it without complaint. After all, she’d never been refused anything in her life.

  Ryker would be no different.

  They’d maintained the sordid affair for years and Evangeline knew that sooner or later, Ryker would grow tired of his stunning blonde wife and come running to her with open arms. She waited for the day when he admitted he made a mistake by divorcing her and begged for forgiveness.

  But as the years slipped by, Evangeline was beginning to think that that day would never come and she was growing angrier by the minute.

  Her rage was not directed at her narcissistic lover; it was at his wife.

  She doesn’t love him. If she loved him, she would give up her stupid career and make a home for him. Ryker wants a warm, affectionate woman, not a robot who won’t bear children. She is a disgrace to women everywhere and selfish to boot. Why would she want to work outside the house when she is married to a senator? Because she wants to cheat, that’s why!

  It was the best answer Evangeline could concoct. She had never worked for anything in her life. It was unbelievable that a woman would want to build an empire when she had a perfectly capable husband.

  Evangeline had heard disturbing accounts that Ryker was proposing bills that had very liberal undertones but she was not adept at following politics. She only knew that liberal was a bad word and if it was true that Ryker was going against party interest, it had to be Victoria’s doing.

  He’s changed so much since marrying her and my poor Ryker didn’t even know what he was marrying into. She has no roots here, no family to speak of. She doesn’t have a sleuth or a right to be here. She has no right to my man.

  Evangeline had spoken to her father about their plight.

  “Daddy, what are we going to do about the mess I’m in?”

  Samuel Crowe had patted her hand softly.

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Daddy has a plan. You won’t see the inside of a prison cell for one minute.”

  Evangeline realized he was talking about the conspiracy and frameup charges she was facing.

  She tried again.

  “I mean about Ryker himself,” she urged. “What are we going to do about him?”

  Samuel peered at her closely, his eyes narrowing as if he saw something he’d never noticed before.

  “What about Ryker?” he asked slowly. Evangeline suddenly realized she had made a huge mistake by bringing it up.

  Daddy has never liked Ryker. I don’t need to give him a reason to look into him again like he did before we were married.

  “I—nothing,” she said quickly, offering him a brief smile. “I still worry about him, you know. He is my ex-husband, after all.”

  Samuel’s gaze bored holes in her direction.

  “You almost got him a jail sentence for rape, Evangeline. How much could you possibly care about him?”

  “I only did that out of hurt,” she objected quickly. “I never really had a chance to properly process my anger after the divorce. It was silly, I know.”

  “It was not silly, Evangeline, it was spiteful and nasty… and very poorly executed.”

  Evie didn’t have to guess which of those was the worst sin. Her father was less concerned with her morality and more with the execution of the plan.

  “Sorry, Daddy, I don’t really have the experience you do in these matters,” she replied, scowling.

  Her father did not respond, pursing his lips together in a fine line, and the younger Crowe was suddenly feeling like cooked goose.

  “Don’t worry about Ryker Duvall,” he told her flatly. “I will take care of him.”

  The words gave his daughter a frisson of satisfaction.

  If you take care of him, I’ll take care of her, Evangeline promised silently.

  ~ ~ ~

  “Do you understand what I require from you, Mr. Hamilton?”

  Benjamin nodded, swallowing quickly as an overflowing envelope of money slid across his antique desk.

  “Do you have any questions?”

  Benjamin had a thousand questions, maybe more, none of which he wanted to ask the man sitting before him.

  “Very well. I will be in touch. Do not contact me if you happen across my information. I cannot stress enough how important it is that we have no record of our encounters. Am I clear?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. Until then, Mr. Hamilton.”

  Benjamin watched as Samuel Crowe slowly rose from his seat across the table and shuffled toward the door. He bit on his lower lip pensively, his mind racing as the attorney disappeared into the foyer, leaving the door open in his wake.

  Well, this is an interesting turn of events, he thought, gnawing on his lip.

  He had a problem, but he was not sure how significant a problem it was.

  When Samuel Crowe had emailed him from an untraceable server the previous week, Benjamin had been vaguely intrigued. He had come across the man’s name while investigating Ryker Duvall, but he had not been prepared for what the old man wanted until the moment he sat facing him.

  “I want you to dig up every single thing you can about Ryker Duvall,” Sam told the private investigator. Benjamin had blinked uncomprehendingly.

  “Sir? He’s a senator and a partner in your law firm.”

  “I am well aware of who he is,” Sam spat back. “I know he graduated from Harvard and dicked around his college years. He’s a bear, a shifter. I did a full background check on him before he married my daughter. That’s why I was so hellbent against it.”

  Benjamin waited, knowing the lawyer was about to launch into a diatribe.

  I need to listen closely to what it is he’s saying and I will know about Samuel Crowe also.

  “I want to know everything about him. I want to know how often he takes a dump, where he takes his dry cleaning. I want to know where he goes at night and who he sees…” Sam stopped to take a wavering breath and Benjamin suddenly realized that this had something to do with Crowe’s daughter.

  “Take notes, care
ful notes,” Sam continued, slightly out of air. “And I want you on it alone. No farming out your work.”

  “I see,” Benjamin replied slowly. “Is there an end to this project or should we just keep it open-ended?”

  “I will tell you when it’s done,” Sam snapped back, apparently annoyed by the question.

  He’s grasping at straws, looking for a way to vindicate Evangeline for what she’s done, Ben realized.

  “May I ask why you have come to me?” Benjamin asked suddenly, recognizing the amusement in the situation. Sam was there retaining his services to liberate the daughter Benjamin had helped put in jail.

  Of course, he doesn’t know that.

  Samuel smiled coldly.

  “You’re the one who uncovered my daughter’s involvement in that whole Duvall affair, were you not?”

  Benjamin felt the blood drain from his face.

  How could he have known that?

  “I have friends in shockingly low places also, Mr. Hamilton,” Samuel told him, a sinister hint to his tone. “I just thought you would want the opportunity to right your injustice by nailing the right man to the wall for once. Don’t be fooled by Ryker and Victoria Duvall. They are as cunning and manipulative as reed snakes.”

  Benjamin wondered why Crowe didn’t ask for a background check on Victoria also.

  Maybe he knows she is beyond reproach, Ben thought, his heart beginning to hammer in his chest. He had mixed feelings about accepting the job with Samuel Crowe. On one hand, he had no loyalty to Ryker, only to Victoria. On the other hand, didn’t his loyalty extend to Ryker through Victoria?

  All that paperwork will come in handy after all, Benjamin thought grimly, unsure of what his next move should be. If I find something which Crowe can use against Ryker, how will that affect his wife?

  The PI could not understand how such brief encounters with Victoria Duvall had left such an impression upon him. He had no doubt that he had found his mate in her, but under what circumstances?

  Benjamin grunted and threw his head back against the chair, ramming it gently as if to will some sense into his brain.