Tamed Galley Master

by Lizzie Lynn Lee

“Thanks for checking up on me.” Danielle gave Brian a friendly hug and had no emotions. Before, each time she met Brian she had a hard time containing her tears.

  Maybe Kate was right all along. All I need is a new love to forget an old one.

  “Then I should be going. I’m glad you’re all right. See you, Kate.”

  She and Kate saw Brian to the door.

  “You handled that well,” Kate commented after Brian was gone.

  Danielle shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. “Maybe what I needed was a good lay to forget him.”

  Chapter Six

  It was past midnight when Danielle was finally ready to call Dane in New York. She was in the middle of dialing his numbers when suddenly her mind blanked. She pushed end call and started over and the same thing happened again. What the hell? She usually was good with numbers. Collin had her memorize their contact information. Dane even wrote his cell numbers on her palm. Most of the ink had faded from her shower, but it was still clearly visible. The problem was she couldn’t make the last few digits. The numbers jumbled right before her eyes. Was it five or three? Nine or seven? It was ridiculous that she suddenly turned dyslexic. Then, she remembered.

  Crap. The enchantment.

  When she was spirited away to New York, the enchantment prevented her from contacting home. Now that she was home without giving a definitive answer to the brothers, the enchantment prevented her from contacting them.

  Her gut sank.

  Calm down, girl, this is the twenty-first century. Locating a person couldn’t be that difficult. She knew where they lived. Right. The Dakota on Park Avenue. Yeah. Just call their office and asked to be connected to Dane.

  Danielle googled the Dakota and got their concierge’s numbers. She called immediately. “Hello, sorry for bothering you this late. I’m Danielle Thomas calling from Miami. Can you direct my call to Dane…”

  Oh God, what was Dane’s last name? Something with E. Eaton? Erickson. Espinoza? Shit! What am I going to do now?

  “Ma’am? Do you know the person’s last name?”

  “Give me a second. I’m thinking.”

  “Do you know the unit numbers?”

  “Oh, yes. It’s…” She blanked again.

  “Ma’am, I have to hang up.”

  “Wait!” Danielle cried wordlessly to a disconnected line. Crap, crap, crap. She jumped off the bed and sprinted out of the room. She knocked on Kate’s door. “Are you sleeping?”

  Kate opened her bedroom door with a face full of mud mask. “What’s going on? Are we ditching work tomorrow? Wait—this is already tomorrow.”

  “What is Dane and Collin’s last name?”

  “Edwards. Right?”

  “Yeah, Edwards. Kate, write that down. Also, can you make out this number?” Danielle held out her palm that had Dane’s numbers on it.

  Kate read aloud for her. Danielle typed it on her smart phone. She then pressed dial. Two rings and a sleepy-sounding voice answered her. A woman’s voice.

  What? “May I speak to Dane Edwards?”

  “Who? Lady, this is past midnight. And you got a wrong number,” said the woman on the other line.

  “Oh, I’m really sorry.” Danielle hung up. She scowled at Kate.

  Her best friend mouthed “what?” The mask around her mouth and chin cracked and peeled off. “I’ll wash my face first.”

  She joined Danielle in the living room minutes later. Danielle told her what was going on.

  “Enchantment. It makes you forget?”

  “I think I’m losing it.” Danielle furiously scribbled on a notepad a row of possible numbers. “Kate, I’ll ask you again. What’s Dane’s last name?”

  “DaSilva,” said Kate firmly.

  Danielle tapped her pen on the notepad. “You said it was Edwards.”

  “Shit. Now I’m losing it too. Edwards. I think it’s Edwards. Is the enchant affecting me too? This is impossible.”

  “Now, Kate, usually it’s impossible too for someone to be transported from Miami to New York in a matter of a second.”

  Kate went to her room to get her laptop and started cracking on an answer. “If we can’t contact your boyfriends, maybe we should go to New York ourselves.”

  Danielle raised her eyebrows. “What about work?”

  “Constance will understand. Missing a day or two isn’t a big deal.”

  “You don’t have to go with me. I’ll go myself.”

  “There’s no way I’ll let you go alone. Besides, I’m curious what they look like. I’ve never seen weretigers before.”

  Danielle smiled. “Thanks. For sticking with me.”

  “You’re welcome. We should write down their information first and then try to contact them. I’ll book the flight, hotel, and rental car.”

  “Okay. Just checking, what’s Dane’s last name again?”

  “Edmun. Crap. Edwards. Edwards.”

  Dane paced his library with frustration. Danielle had been spirited away before she could give them an answer. He understood that she might be hesitant to enter a very unconventional relationship with him and Collin. But the time the weaver gave them wasn’t enough. Forty-eight hours to woo a perfect mate. A human female above all that. Why couldn’t it be a week? A month, even.

  And the enchantment started to affect both of them.

  He couldn’t recall her last name. And slowly, he started to forget what she looked like. If he didn’t have that video he’d taken, he would’ve lost the memory about her.

  He must take drastic measures before they completely forgot about Danielle.

  The study door opened. Collin entered with their cousin Evan.

  “Thank you for coming in on such short notice,” Dane said to Evan. “We really need your help.”

  Evan gave a flourish bow. “Anything for Prima.”

  Dane growled. “I’m not a Prima.”

  “Yet. Not a Prima yet.” Evan settled himself in a wingback chair. He was a few months younger than Dane. His cousin was a tracker in the clan and an enforcer. He kept the members in line and obeying rules. His day job was a private investigator, specializing in finding missing persons. “What can I do for you?”

  “We have someone you need to find. A woman. Our mate,” said Dane.

  “What’s her name?” asked Evan.

  For a moment his mind blanked. “Danielle.”

  “Danielle Thomas. She lives in Miami, Florida,” Collin said. “We brought you in because we might forget all this.”

  Evan tilted his head sideway. “Why would you forget about your own mate?”

  Dane filled Evan in about their dealing with the weaver and the enchantment.

  “I understand. I need something that belongs to her. I can track by scent. Once I memorize it, I won’t forget, in case the enchantment affects me too.”

  “I figured that much.” He went to his bedroom and returned with a box containing Danielle’s dress she wore the night she first came. He also had her unwashed lingerie, but he wasn’t about to give his cousin a sniff. Not in a million years.

  Evan slowly took the dress out of the box and pressed it against his nose, where he inhaled it deeply.

  Dane didn’t like seeing him do that. He hated that another man sniffed around his beloved Danielle.

  Evan put the dress back in the box. “She smells very nice.”

  Collin suddenly let out an inhuman growl.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean nice that way,” Evan backtracked.

  “So, what do you mean?” asked Collin brusquely.

  “Enough,” Dane cut his brother off. “Can you track her? I’ve booked the first flight to Miami.”

  Evan inclined his head. “I can, Prima.”

  Dane nodded. “We want to find her before we all forget everything that has happened to us.”

  Kate couldn’t get the earliest flight to New York, so they settled with one thirty. Danielle called their boss Constance and fibbed about being sick. Kate also called in and said she had a family bereaveme
nt in New York. Once the hookie affair was in order, Danielle packed.

  She still couldn’t reach Dane or Collin. She’d bothered half a dozen people on the phone before she finally surrendered. The enchantment really messed up everything. After a morning shower, she sat on her bed for twenty minutes wondering why they needed to go to New York before she remembered Dane and Collin.

  Gah. She couldn’t let herself forget again.

  She must see them.

  And soon.

  Kate was out running errands and would be back before noon.

  Danielle was hungry but she didn’t feel like cooking. She decided to pick up some Starbucks and a pastry. Coffee and sugar would make her feel better.

  She locked the apartment door and turned to footsteps behind her. “Brian? What are you doing here?” she asked. “You’re not working today?”

  “I should ask you the same thing. I called you at work and your manager said you were sick. So I came straight here to check on you.”

  “You don’t have to. Kate and I are playing hookie. We’re going to New York.”

  “New York?” Brian’s lush brows knitted. “Why?”

  “Impromptu sightseeing. You know, seize the moment, live to the fullest.”

  “Seize the moment, huh? Danielle, I worry about you.”

  “What? About seize the moment thing?”

  “You’ve changed.”

  “People change, Brian. It called growing up.”

  “No. I mean, there something different about you since the last time we met.”

  “I might have lost a few pounds,” she offered. From all that sexy time with Dane and Collin.

  Brian shook his head. “Not that. Something different. I can’t get you out of my head.”

  Danielle’s grin faded. That isn’t something you said to your ex.

  “Do you want to get an early lunch or something? We should catch up.”

  Why? There’s nothing to catch up on. We shouldn’t be catching up about anything considering what you did to me. “I was about to grab some Starbuck and come back. You know, I still have packing to do.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll drive you, then.”

  “No, you don’t have to.”

  “I don’t mind. There’s something I’d like to talk about.”

  “Oh. Like what?”

  “Bear with me this once, okay? It’s important.”

  Danielle didn’t have the heart to say no. Brian was an important part of her past. Even though their relationship ended in a way she’d never imagined, she had plenty of beautiful memories with him. Hearing him out wouldn’t hurt.

  Brian dropped the bomb not even five minutes after they drove on the busy street.

  “I made the greatest mistake when I cancelled our engagement,” he said. “I was under a lot of pressure from my family. Especially my grandmother. I’ve never stopped thinking about you since we broke up. I’m not happy. I haven’t been happy until I saw you last night. It made me realize that being with you was the happiest time in my life. I wonder if you can find it in your heart to forgive me? I know I’m asking a lot, especially after I hurt you so badly. I wish we could get back to the way we were before.”

  Danielle turned sharply in his direction.

  “I…might speak too rashly,” he sobered. “At least, can we be friends again, for a start?”

  She was speechless for a long moment.

  She had fantasized this scenario since they broke up. Brian would realize his mistake and ask her to take him back. Her heart had been filled with anger and betrayal and hurt beyond any words could describe. She then would have her say by letting him have it, shove it right in his face that not in a million years would she take him back, and he could just go to hell.

  Now that her scorned-filled wish had come true, she wasn’t angry like before. She didn’t fall apart; she wasn’t upset at all. She even found the whole thing amusing.

  “What made you change your mind?” she asked.

  “I guess I still love you, Danielle.” Brian coasted the car into the Starbuck’s parking lot and took the farthest spot from the building. “I mean, I’ve always been. And seeing you last night cleared doubt in my chest.”

  “You just had this change of heart last night?”

  “I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” he admitted with a guilty tone.

  “So, if you hadn’t seen me last night, would you still have a change of heart?”

  Brian killed the engine of the car and sighed. “Danielle, last night was the first time we’ve been face to face since…” he paused, seemed almost too embarrassed to continue, “that day.”

  Well, she had avoided him because she couldn’t bear the humiliation Brian’s grandmother had put her through. Danielle pursed her lips. Really, what made him want to see her again? She wasn’t into him anymore.

  For a long moment she kind of spaced out.

  She felt like she was forgetting something important. Someone she should see in New York.

  Christ. Dane and Collin.

  She pinched herself in the arm. She must not forget.

  They were her future.

  The very thought of them turned her on. The way they touched her. Filled her. Pleased her. Making her addicted to them. One thing for sure, Dane and Collin restored her self-confidence. She was comfortable in her own skin again. She felt sexy and proud of her voluptuousness. Her size didn’t bother her anymore. She was what a real woman should look like—a woman who any man couldn’t wait to get their hands on.

  Damn. Why didn’t I say I wanted to be their mate when they asked? A sliver of fear sneaked into her heart. What if I cannot see them anymore? What if I forget? God, I didn’t want to forget. No, please. Anything but that…

  “Danielle, are you okay?”

  She startled. “Sorry. I was…thinking.”

  “I don’t want you to feel like I’m pressuring you.”

  But that’s exactly what you’re doing. She paused for a moment and made her decision. “I see no reason why we can’t be friends, Brian,” she said with a neutral tone. Danielle forced a smile on her face. “But I don’t think we can get back together. I’ve already moved on. I will always cherish the memories we have. I’m ready to embrace the next chapter of my life and so should you.”

  Brian didn’t speak for a long time. He seemed to be having a hard time believing her. “Ah.” He tore his gaze off her. “I guess I deserve this. I understand you’re still mad.”

  Eh? What? “I’m not mad, Brian. I’ve gone through the five stages of grief and I’ve come to accept our breakup. Like I said before, I’m ready to turn over a new leaf. I’ve met someone.” Actually two men. “And I really like him.” Crazy love them. “I want to be with him.” Once I locate them.

  Brian searched her face as if she were playing a joke on him. “You’re serious?”

  “I am.”

  “That fast? It’s only been a few months. We’ve been together more than five years. Even I hadn’t been able to forget about you, Danielle. I caved in because of my family pressure and even then, I still couldn’t let go, after everything we have been through.”

  Well, who dumped who? Now he made her sound like a dick. Irritation crept into her head. “Brian, I don’t think we should be discussing this. You’re the one…” Her words evaporated as she saw a big white tiger leap in front of Brian’s car then pounce on the hood of the vehicle.

  Brian screamed in surprise as the car’s front tires squashed and deflated from the big cat’s weight. “What the hell is that?” Brian pulled out his phone and dialed 911. “It’s someone’s pet on the loose.”

  Danielle stopped him. “Don’t. I think I know who that tiger belongs to.” She unlocked her door.

  “Don’t.” Brian halted her. “Are you crazy? That’s a freaking tiger!”

  “I know.”

  “Danielle!” He grabbed her arm.

  “It’s just a tiger, Brian. Chill.” Danielle pushed him away and exited the c
ar.

  Dane emerged a heartbeat later followed by Collin getting out of a black SUV double parked behind a row of cars. Dane swept her into his arms and kissed her before she could utter a word.

  She couldn’t believe it. Dane and Collin came for her from New York. They were looking for her. They hadn’t forgotten. An immense relief washed over her.

  “I’m not dreaming, am I?” she murmured.

  Dane pinched her arm.

  “Ouch.” She winced.

  “No, you’re not dreaming,” Dane said.

  Collin pushed his brother aside and kissed her. “Found you,” he whispered. “Don’t ever think we’d let you go. Ever.”

  “How did you find me?” Danielle looked around. People inside Starbucks watched as if they were a circus attraction. Some held up their phone and started recording.

  “Evan.” Collin nodded at the white tiger. “He’s good at tracking. We’ve been all over Miami since this morning and he got a whiff of your scent just now.”

  The tiger wore a collar. Dane held the leash.

  Danielle suddenly alarmed. “Is he a real tiger?”

  “Don’t be silly. Evan is our cousin. The leash is a formality so people think he’s a pet.” Dane realized they had become a magnet of unwanted attention. “Let’s go, Danielle. We should leave before someone calls a cop on us. Oh. Shit.”

  A siren was in the background. Dane yanked the leash and herded the tiger back into the SUV.

  “Wait! I have something to tell you,” Danielle said breathlessly.

  Dane and Collin paused.

  “I haven’t got the chance to answer your question back in New York.” She blinked. “Yes. I do.”

  The twins traded gazes and smiled.

  “We wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Dane. “Let’s go home, Danielle. Your new home.”

  Epilogue

  Three months later…

  By the time the makeup artist declared she was ready, Danielle felt like she had stepped into a fairytale land. In less than thirty minutes, she would become Mrs. Edwards. She was surrounded by friends and family on the most important day of her life. Kate and her parents also came from Florida.

  Her dress was a bespoke wedding gown from Alexander McQueen. The wedding cake was furnished by the famous cake maker Sylvia Weinstock and the nuptials were held in the Plaza. A girl’s dream couldn’t get any dreamier than that.