“It’s my—”
“Your duty. I know. You said that. And if you’re hell-bent on doing your duty, I guess there’s nothing more to discuss. But if your parents truly care about you, I can’t imagine them wanting you to make such a sacrifice. In fact, I can’t imagine Nadia making that sacrifice, either, or expecting you to.”
“But—”
“And just so you know, this isn’t about you and me. Being the crown prince and all, you probably still have to hook up with a female werewolf, and that’s cool. But at least pick someone you have some chemistry with.”
He opened his mouth to argue the point, but she’d already disappeared into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He’d do well to follow her example and make himself presentable before Nadia showed up. He headed toward his own bathroom.
Nine minutes later, he walked into the living room of the penthouse dressed in slacks and a white dress shirt open at the collar. He’d chosen typical work clothes because he needed to stop the fun and games and get down to business. His hair was slightly damp and he’d nicked himself while shaving, but other than that, he looked reasonably respectable.
The door to Emma’s bedroom was closed and he could hear the hair dryer. Apparently coming in contact with Theo’s head the night before hadn’t broken it. Aidan wondered whether Nadia believed the hammer story. Probably not, but he was very curious as to why she’d come here today.
Right on time, she rapped on the door, and he hurried to open it. Having a chance to talk to her before Emma came into the room would be a good thing. No telling what would come out of Emma’s mouth.
Nadia smiled as she entered the room with her usual graceful stride. Under a black goose-down jacket, she wore a metallic gold running suit.
He helped her off with her coat. “You’re looking great, as always.”
“Thanks. You’re looking happier.”
“Happier than what?” He’d never given much thought as to whether he looked happy or sad.
“Happier than you usually do. I think Emma must be good for you.” She stopped him as he started to put her coat in the closet by the foyer. “Don’t bother. I’ll keep it with me. I won’t stay long.” Her gaze swept the room and lingered on the coffee table where the remains of Emma’s breakfast sat on one side and his untouched plate sat on the other.
Aidan figured she’d have no trouble reconstructing the scene—obviously they’d started out eating breakfast and ended up abandoning the meal to jump into bed. He hadn’t given himself time to clear away the evidence, but then again, so what if Nadia saw this? It wasn’t as if she hadn’t suspected.
“Please, have a seat.” He gestured toward the two sofas. “I’ll order up some fresh coffee.”
She walked over and sat down on the right-hand sofa, the one he’d chosen for eating the breakfast he’d never touched. “No coffee for me, thanks.” She glanced up at him. “I came to warn you that my father’s swallowed Theo’s ridiculous story—hook, line, and hammer.”
“That’s what my dad said.”
“I know Theo’s lying, but it’s too bad both of you ended up shifting in front of Emma.”
“It was the only way I could effectively fight him, but you’re right, it’s not good.” Aidan thought about the benefit he’d derived—being able to have sex with Emma without a condom—and realized he wasn’t as sorry as he should be.
“How did she take it?”
“She…” He hadn’t really thought about that, either. “She’s fascinated, which now that you bring it up, is remarkable. You’d expect her to run screaming into the night, but she didn’t. She wants to learn more.”
“But the more she learns, the more she could reveal about us.”
“Yeah.” Aidan paced in front of the fireplace. “I’m not sure how that’s going to be resolved.”
“Obviously my father’s frantic, which is why he posted that guard. What steps have you taken so far?”
Aidan outlined the cobbled-together plan of substituting a virtual book tour for the in-person one and whisking Emma away to Upstate New York. “Her mother thinks we’re madly in love and I’m taking her to an undisclosed tropical hideaway,” he added.
“The first part of that story appears to be true.”
He hoped she was making a wild guess and his obsession with Emma hadn’t turned into a flashing neon sign above his head. “It’s not.”
“Okay. You would know.”
Aidan grabbed the first change of topic he could think of. “How’s your brother?”
“Obnoxious as always. But he has a pretty big knot on the back of his head. I don’t buy the hammer story, but what happened?”
Emma came out of her bedroom wearing black slacks and a soft white turtleneck. “I bonked him with the hotel hair dryer, which still works, amazingly enough. I wish I could say I’m sorry I smacked him, but I’m not. He was trying to hamstring Aidan.”
Nadia glanced from Aidan to Emma. “You were defending him, even when you knew he was a werewolf?”
“What difference does that make? He was still Aidan under all that fur, and he’d come to my rescue when Theo shifted. I wasn’t about to stand by and watch him get hurt.”
Nadia’s eyebrows lifted and her gaze swung to Aidan as if to say See? Madly in love, both of you. Then she turned her attention back to Emma. “Aidan says you’re curious about our lifestyle.”
“That’s putting it mildly.” Emma walked over and sat on the sofa opposite Nadia. “I could get so many ideas for my books! You’re a creative person, so I’m sure you can understand how exploring the actual world of Weres would provide unlimited inspiration for my work.”
Nadia leaned forward, and her voice was warm with empathy. “I do understand, but…having you know so much is a danger to us, Emma.”
A chill slid down Aidan’s spine. “She won’t be. I’ve promised everyone that.”
“And I’ll promise, too!” Emma looked so earnest, so eager. “I can be trusted with this information. And I could help with your PR image. Not to brag or anything, but my books sell pretty well. Aidan said he was happy to find a writer who portrayed Weres in such a positive light.”
“I’m sure he was, but whether a writer presents a good picture or a bad one doesn’t really matter if we remain a secret society. And we’re committed to that, or I should say most of us are.”
“Theo isn’t,” Emma said.
Nadia sighed. “No, he isn’t. He’d like to have us all uncloak ourselves and stage a massive takeover. I’m sure he thought you’d help him because your books are so sympathetic to Weres.”
“Dear God.” Emma recoiled in horror. “By writing my books, I caused the Wallaces to put me under surveillance and Theo to crank up his takeover scheme. All I wanted was to create an entertaining fantasy that would earn me enough to live on.”
Her plaintive tone caused Aidan to round the sofa and sit next to her. “Theo was headed off the deep end before you came along,” he said. He longed to take her in his arms and reassure her, but he wasn’t going to do that in front of Nadia.
“Yes, he was,” Nadia agreed. “But I’m afraid he’s changed your life forever, Emma.”
Aidan winced. He’d been trying to avoid saying it so baldly.
“I know.” Emma sounded brave and resolute. “But no matter how my life has changed, I need to have two things stay the same. I want to continue my publishing career, and I want to be able to see my mother. Those two things are non-negotiable.”
Nadia exchanged a glance with Aidan. They both knew Emma was in no position to dictate terms.
Yet Aidan knew at that moment that he would stake his reputation…no, that wasn’t right. He would stake his life on seeing that Emma got what she wanted. He couldn’t allow Theo, or himself, for that matter, to be responsible for ending her career or her relationship with her mother.
“And as long as I’m making pronouncements,” Emma said, “I might as well get this off my chest, Nadia. I think this marriage
pact you and Aidan have going on is ridiculous.”
Aidan groaned. “Emma, let’s not get into—”
“Yes, let’s do,” Nadia said. “Because Emma’s right. Until this weekend I had assumed that both of us were so committed to uniting the two packs that we couldn’t allow ourselves to feel deeply for someone else. I thought we were programmed that way from the day our parents decided to give us names that were mirror images of each other.”
“I am committed to that,” Aidan said quietly. “I have been ever since I was old enough to understand.”
Nadia met his gaze. “Then you have a greater talent for self-sacrifice than I do.” She stood. “That’s mostly why I came up here, to see for myself what I sensed was a growing bond between you two. Now that I’m convinced how strong it is, I’m renouncing you as a potential mate, Aidan. You’re free.”
Although a huge weight lifted from his heart at her words, Aidan couldn’t let it go at that. He came to his feet. “You can’t just go against the wishes of the packs and throw away the proposed merger of our families.”
“Yes, I can. It was never a great idea to begin with.”
Emma stood and raised both fists in the air. “Hallelujah, a woman with common sense! Excuse my terminology. I should probably say a werewolf-slash-woman with common sense.”
Nadia laughed. “I think it’s the woman part that’s making this stand. My werewolf side always wants to go the traditional route, but at the moment my twenty-first century emancipated female is in charge, and she wants to kick this outdated custom to the curb.”
“Good.” Emma folded her arms and smiled in obvious satisfaction.
“There will be hell to pay,” Aidan said. “Your father—”
“My father and your father will have to deal with this and realize they are asking the impossible. Besides, I plan to blame the whole thing on Theo and his shenanigans, and I would advise you to do the same. The threat of Theo forced you into proximity with Emma, which ignited your mutual attraction.”
Aidan sighed. “The fallout will be significant, but in reality they can’t do much about it, I guess.”
“Nope. They can rant and rave, but it’s our decision.” She paused. “Still, I need to warn you that although I’ll try to hang this on Theo, everyone will probably blame you and Emma, and mostly Emma, because she’s not a Were, which makes her an easy target.”
Aidan moved closer to Emma, as if he might have to start defending her at any moment. “But that’s so unfair. She didn’t ask for any of—”
“It’s okay.” Emma laid a hand on his arm. “I don’t mind taking the fall if it means you’re free to marry for love.”
“In a perfect world,” Nadia said gently, “he’d be free to marry you. But all things considered…”
“I know that, too.” Emma lifted her chin. “I’m a human and the pack will despise me for leading their crown prince astray. As I said before, all I want is my career and the freedom to see my mother.”
“And you’ll get that,” Aidan said. “No matter what I have to do, I promise you’ll get that.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
No sooner had Nadia left than Roarke called Aidan, and Emma watched in awe as the Wallace team went into action. Howard Wallace contacted his old pal Roger Claymore, and before Emma could turn around, her book tour had been rearranged. The Internet and Skype would allow her to appear at each bookstore on a computer monitor and fans would be able to talk to her as if she were there in person.
Emma fielded a call from Jenny and gave her publicist the phony tropical getaway story Aidan had concocted. Emma tried not to feel like a lying piece of crap for misleading yet another trusting person in her life.
But the truth would put Jenny at risk, just as it would her mother. Emma had never aspired to a cloak and dagger life, but she’d been thrust into one, anyway. She preferred her conflicts on the page, but she couldn’t figure out how to dial back drama.
The Wallaces in action provided drama to burn. Once the runways were cleared, the Wallace corporate Learjet was dispatched from New York to collect Emma and Aidan. By mid-afternoon they were in Barry’s town car flying the Wallace flag on the way to the airport. Emma smiled grimly to herself when she thought about that flag. No wonder it had wolves on it.
Naturally the town car took them straight out on to the tarmac where the jet waited, stairs lowered. A broad-shouldered man in a topcoat stood beside the steps, his blond hair tossed by the winter wind. Emma recognized Roarke, who’d probably been sent to make sure Emma got on the plane.
Aidan kept telling her she was a guest, not a prisoner, but Roarke’s forbidding expression indicated otherwise. She kept up her courage by thinking of this as more research. She tried to imagine what it would be like to live this way all the time, whisked around in town cars and private jets before being transported to a secret multi-million-dollar mansion.
The werewolves in her books were loyal, decent creatures loaded with sex appeal, but it hadn’t occurred to her to give them piles of money. She had to admit that a wealthy werewolf added a whole other dimension to the fantasy.
Thinking about that, she glanced at Aidan before Barry helped her out of the town car. “Got your watch?”
He held up his wrist to display it in all its glory.
She nodded. “Just checking that you didn’t leave it on the dresser. I figure we’re in enough trouble without adding a lost watch that cost more than an Ivy League education.”
Aidan reached over and squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.”
“If that’s true, then what’s with Roarke? I’ve seen friendlier looking guys on America’s Most Wanted.”
“That’s his game face. He thinks it makes him look older and scarier.”
“Well, he’s right. It does.” Emma climbed out of the car and tightened the belt on her trench coat. The wind was biting cold. If she’d been traveling commercial, she’d walk through a cozy jet way that would protect her from the wind on the way to the plane.
But before she took her first step, Aidan was beside her.
“Damn, it’s cold.” He put a sheltering arm around her shoulders. “Stay close.”
Okay, so maybe a jet way wasn’t so great, after all. Being tucked in beside a warm hunk like Aidan had definite advantages.
When they reached the steps, Roarke’s gaze remained chilly. He inclined his head. “Aidan. Emma.”
Whoa. Emma wondered if this would be her reception from everyone in the werewolf community. If so, she could be in for a tough few days.
But instead of responding in kind, Aidan laughed. “You’re enjoying the hell out of this, aren’t you, bro?”
Roarke’s mouth was set in a grim line as he stared at Aidan. “Yep.” Then his expression began to shift, until a wide grin transformed his handsome face. “It’s not every day I get to say I told you so to the big brother who always thinks he knows best.”
“Don’t get too comfortable in that smug suit you’re wearing, Roarke. I intend to pull this one out of the fire.”
“That I have to see, considering you’re in some serious shit. Now if we’re finished with verbal sparring, could we go inside? I’ve been out here doing the disapproval stance long enough to freeze my privates.”
The tension in Emma’s stomach eased a little. Yes, she was about to visit a pack of werewolves, but in the final analysis, they were a family, with the normal dynamics of any family. As the oldest, Aidan was expected to do the right thing.
When he screwed up, his brother grabbed the chance to gloat. If Aidan’s mother and father could be typical parents, Emma might not feel so out of place, after all. Then again, she wasn’t sure how typical the family could be when they all had the ability to shift into wolf form and race around in the woods.
As she climbed the steps, she shivered.
“You’ll be warm in a minute,” Aidan said as he climbed the steps behind her.
“I know.” But her shivers had
less to do with the cold wind and more to do with anticipation of what she’d find at the Wallace estate. And whether they intended to ever let her leave.
Aidan could sense Emma’s nervousness despite her attempts to appear calm and in control. She took great interest in the plane’s white leather seats that swiveled, reclined, and even folded flat for sleeping.
Or…they could be folded flat for other, more interesting activities. Aidan shocked himself by having X-rated thoughts about Emma naked at thirty thousand feet. He’d helped her off with her coat once they’d boarded, and for the first time today he had the leisure to admire the fit of her soft white sweater and black slacks.
He liked the way she looked in them, but he’d love the way she looked out of them. It wouldn’t be happening, even though they had a certain amount of privacy. Normally a flight attendant traveled with the jet, but apparently Roarke hadn’t thought it necessary for this trip.
Roarke himself had immediately headed for the cockpit, obviously hoping to take the controls on the way home. Theoretically Aidan and Emma were alone in the cabin, but that didn’t mean they could strip and have at it. In fact, sex with Emma might be a luxury he would never enjoy again, and he had to come to grips with that.
In the next day or two he needed to convince his parents that Emma could be placed on something resembling parole, where she’d be allowed the freedom to do her work and see her mother as she’d requested. Aidan had to assure his mother and father that Emma could be trusted not to compromise the pack. If his parents thought lust was clouding his judgment, they’d never go along with his recommendations.
“I can see why you like flying this way.” Emma chose a seat and strapped herself in. “Even if you do have to duck your head when you move around in here.”
“There’s still more of a feeling of space.” He chose the seat facing her and fastened his seat belt. A Lucite pedestal table separated them, but his knees came very close to touching hers. “I like space around me.”
She settled back into the seat. “Is that a personal preference, or a werewolf trait?”
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