by Thalia Eames
Out of the corner of his eye Garrett caught Nox watching them in slack-jawed wonder. One of the other campers, a cute wolfen girl, walked up to stand beside him. “Oh my god,” she said. “Your parents are super cute.”
Nox rolled his eyes. “My parents are embarrassing.” Belying what he’d told the girl, a grin spread across his face.
Each beat of Garrett’s heart beneath her cheek made Lennox more frantic. If she allowed this Garrett Love Train to keep rolling down the track he’d run her over and drag her wasted backside on down the line. She had to get away from him now. Or risk hyperventilating on the dance floor, first, and being destroyed when he left, second.
Murmuring excuses about the bathroom and powdered noses or wigs or whatever the hell, she made a break for it.
She’d tried. No one could say she didn’t give it her best. She’d gone so far as to pretend Garrett wasn’t going to leave at the end of Nox’s run at Camp Big Bad. She’d lived in the moment and all that. None of her delusions worked to hide the truth. More fear than blood pumped through her veins. Their affair had to be brought to an end before it ended her.
Her phone sang from the pocket of her black-and-white-checked dress. Lennox fished it out and answered. “What’s up, Jules?”
Silence, then, “Leni, is Garrett around?”
“No I left him at the pavilion while I go to the bathroom. Something going on?”
Jules seemed to think about it. She exhaled in surrender.
“Okay, Jules, you’re scaring me.”
“Sorry. Cash has something to tell you.” Another pause. “Do me a favor. Go in the bathroom, put a seat cover over the toilet and have a sit down, okay?”
“No.”
“It’s me telling you this.” Exasperation weighted the words.
“One sec,” Lennox said. She crossed the remaining few feet to the girls’ bathroom. Following Jules’s instructions, she locked herself inside a stall. “I’m ready.”
Muffled sounds of the phone being handed off before Cash said hello.
“Hurry up and tell me what’s going on, Cash. I can’t take much more espionage.”
“All right, but you should brace yourself. I’m only telling you this because everyone keeps you in the dark. They think they’re protecting you, Leni, but I don’t believe they’re doing you any favors.”
What fresh hell did life have in store for her tonight? Neither Cash nor Jules were prone to drama. Something must have gone FUBAR beyond all limits of FUBARosity.
Cash inhaled. “The night you and Garrett went to Coburn Elliott, the reporter who interviewed Garrett left a remote video camera in the town car. Now he has a sex tape of you and he’s going to release it at midnight if Garrett doesn’t make him the director for A Theft of Shadows and give him credit for writing the script on top of it.” The entire story whooshed out in one breath.
Lennox slumped, hitting the toilet dispenser. Her left eye went twitchy the way it always did when something agitated her. “Say that again.” Cash repeated the whole spiel. Nothing about it made any more sense than it had the first time.
“I can’t...I can’t even…” she stuttered.
Jules got back on the phone. “What do you want to do, honey?”
“Disappear,” Lennox said. Her hands shook. No part of her life had ever gone in her favor. No matter how promising the situation somehow or another she ended up on the losing end of it.
“There’s one factor that might help,” Jules offered. “You actually know who this is. It’s Danny.”
“Danny who?” Wait. Lennox suddenly remembered the big-head kid they’d grown up with, who always seemed to take joy in the misfortune of others. “Danny—Danny, from school?”
“Yeah, him.”
How much crazier could this situation get? Lennox flicked her hands to shake off the effects of feeling sorry for herself. “Jules, do me a favor. Call Stan and fill him in. I’ll call you back in a few.”
Lennox hung up and deflated. Desperation claimed her thoughts as horrible grainy images flashed through her mind. She saw herself on her knees, ass up in the air, making greedy slurping noises. She lifted a fist and bit into her index finger. More images of a twisted porn version of the night in the car assaulted her mind. And then she made the mistake of imagining her grandmother watching it, then Nox, then the entire town. She bit down harder on her finger to staunch a wave of nausea.
She wasn’t ashamed of the things she and Garrett did together. She actually loved it. Hell, she couldn’t get enough. But she would feel shame if people stopped seeing her and started flashing back to visions of her with a dick in her mouth whenever they looked at her. The idea of loosing the respect of the people she cared about scraped her insides raw. Lennox might as well shoot Gran in the face with a shotgun, the shock of her granddaughter’s sex tape would have the same effect. No matter which way she twisted the possible outcomes nothing could be done to solve the problem without someone getting hurt.
Footsteps sounded in the bathroom. She straightened, preparing to leave. The click of the bolt on the main door locked into place, slapping her out of her depression. Tentatively she pushed the stall door open and peered out.
Ian glowered at her. Anger radiated off him in nearly visible waves. He strode across the tiled floor too fast to track. In seconds, he took hold of her, pulled her out of the stall, and slammed her against him. His jagged breathing gave her no warning of his intent. Slowly, he lowered his head, holding her gaze. He hesitated, inclined his head more, then claimed her in a kiss.
She clung to him, needing to forget, needing him to anchor her in the storm of Garrett Westlake. Passion scored her through the brand of Ian’s hot mouth. She abandoned all the excuses she’d used to push him aside. Her arms encircled his neck. She gave in completely. But…she didn’t connect with Ian. Not the way she did with Garrett. With Ian she only felt safe.
It didn’t matter, she told herself. Safety could be enough.
They broke apart. He searched her face for some sign of her love for him. She had nothing to offer but friendship.
“Let Nox go,” she said.
His face crumpled. The passion of only a moment before ebbed away. A humorless chuckle escaped before Ian said, “I should’ve known.”
“What?”
“You and Garrett smell like a couple now. Did you know that?”
“What does that even mean?” How does anyone smell like a couple?
Ian rested his forehead against hers. “You want me to release Nox so he and Garrett can leave town.”
“You’ve got that right. Let them go, Ian. They don’t belong here and Nox is having a hard time with the other boys.”
“Growing pains,” Ian said. “Every pup in my clan goes through tough times with the other pups. That’s not what this is about.”
She shook her head but ignored his weird habit of calling the kids pups. He and his extended family had a lot of strange rituals. “Of course it is. Let Nox’s father handle his growing pains.”
Ian inclined his head again and breathed deep at her neck. After a second his posture changed. The muscles in his arms and shoulders seemed to shift, becoming more defined, straining the fabric of his shirt. Sudden trepidation raised goose bumps along Lennox’s arms. A predator stood where her friend had been. She saw it in the flicker in his eyes and she wanted out of that bathroom.
Ian advanced. Lennox retreated. He kept coming until he backed her into the mirrored wall on the far side of the bathroom. “Are you going to come to me when they leave?” His voice had deepened, turned husky.
Despite her worries, Lennox gave the only answer she knew would make things right for everyone she cared about. “Yes.”
Ian’s breath caught. He leaned in and caressing her cheek, he whispered, “You going to be my wife?”
“Yes.” Lennox wanted to. At lea
st, she wanted to want to.
“Why?” The single word held an edge of disbelief. Perhaps anger too.
She hugged him, pressing her cheek to his chest, somehow freed from the panic the same gesture had brought on with Garrett, despite the tension in the bathroom. In that moment she knew the truth. She loved Garrett. Then. Now. Until the end. The ease between her and Ian came from friendship. But Garrett made her feel scared and happy and worried and excited—every emotion possible. Nothing came easily with Garrett because he pushed her to do and be more and that freaked her out. Worst of all, Garrett made her doubt whether she was good enough. The same way memories of her mother always had.
“Why do I want to be your wife?” she asked and answered Ian at the same time. “Because I’m safe with you. Because I want a life with a man who loves me, and I want babies, and a home.”
“Because you’re running.” The sharpness of the words cut into her. He punched the wall. She held on tighter, ignoring the clang of cracked mirror falling to the floor.
Running? Not at all. She wanted to put an end to all the hurt that rose up every time she thought she could have a life with Garrett. How many times did life have to kick her in the head before she caught on? She and Garrett didn’t have a future. They never had.
Back in college they’d been inseparable, then she’d burned herself and Tina stole Garrett right out of her arms. Now they had a second chance and once again things kept going wrong. Her house and her savings had burned to ash. Someone had taken a video of her with her mouth wrapped around Garrett’s… No, she couldn’t think about it without screaming. No more. She’d finally decided to let go. She wasn’t running from Garrett, she was running to Ian.
Rather than lie with more words, she shook her head in response to Ian’s question.
“I can’t believe you’re saying this to me now.” He wrapped his arms around her, clinching her waist. “Those words are everything to me. And you say them now?” The rasp in his voice betrayed his actions. The heavy weight of his chin settled on the crown of her head. “My Leni. You never could make the hard choices.”
“I’m deciding now.”
He scoffed. “No. You used your father’s illness to leave college for good when you were really escaping Garrett and his wife.”
“That’s not it. I—”
“You use Gran as an excuse to stay put rather than get out there and see the world.”
“I love LuPines. I’m safe here.”
“No Averdeen stays put. Your family globe trots.”
She looked up in time to catch his bitter nod. “Now you’re using me so you don’t have to fight for Garrett’s love.”
“Ian—”
“Go on and lie to me. We both know you’re bad at it.”
Any argument she raised he’d shoot out of the sky, so she kept silent and clung to him all the more. “Save me, Ian.”
He shuddered in her embrace. “Nope. I’m not going to be able to do it. You need to deal with this. You need to choose.”
“You don’t know the trouble I’m in,” she whined. Her pleas didn’t make her proud.
“Yeah, I do. Believe it or not Garrett filled me in. He wants my help.” Ian released her. Gripping her by the arms, he broke her hold on him. “But in this situation I’m not going to rescue you. You and Nox are both going to see your trials through.”
The shame of begging him to swoop in hero style sliced her to the bone. Had she always been this pitiful and hadn’t known it? Had she appeared strong only because she’d gone untested? Awareness of her own weaknesses bled through the cracks in the armor of her self-confidence.
Ian walked to the door. The clicking of the bolt boomed gunshot loud. The blast reverberated through the room. “I must be broken,” he said, “because after it’s all over, if you come to me. If you say you’ll be mine. I don’t know whether I’ll welcome you home or show you the door.”
“Don’t give up on me, Ian. At least say you’ll be my friend.”
He tossed her a pained look over one shoulder. “I guess that’s the risk you’ll have to take.”
Chapter Twenty
At 11:30 p.m. Garrett pushed his way into suite 455 at the LuPines Hotel. If the pricey room gave any indication, Dan Hewes had already started spending Garrett’s money. If the reporter thought to protest the invasion into his room the three red wolves flanking Garrett silenced him. Or perhaps Cash and his crowbar scared Hewes more. Cash also had a flair for the cinematic.
The reporter stood at the door, shaking, as though in the middle of a private earthquake long after the five shifters entered his room.
The wolves formed a line of offense in front of Garrett. Putting on a show, Garrett pulled the desk chair out and flipped it to face Hewes. Taking a seat, Garrett stretched his legs to full length. Cash stood behind him. “Sit down before you shit yourself or I punch you in the head,” his friend told the reporter.
Hewes sat on the bed. Garrett took over from there. “I’ve decided to meet your demands. You’ll find four million dollars in your account tomorrow.” Cash handed over an envelope. Garrett tossed it onto the bed. “Inside you’ll find the contracts naming you the writer and director of A Theft of Shadows.”
Once again the oily smirk that had become synonymous with Hewes oozed across his face. “I’ll destroy all copies of the tape once the money clears and my lawyers review the contract,” the reporter said. “In a couple of days everyone will be happy.”
“Perhaps. Perhaps not,” Garrett said. He stood. “We’ve got a hacker erasing every web account and computer you’ve got. Your Cloud, your Dropbox, your laptop, your workstation, even the alias you use for porn. It’s all gone.”
In a feat of athleticism, Hewes leaped five feet off the bed. “You’re not serious. We have a deal.”
“That we do,” Garrett said. “Consider my actions a form of insurance.” He stalked over to the shorter man. Amber burned within his irises. He saw it reflected in Hewes’s eyes. Garrett’s fangs snapped inches from the leer he despised. Fear wiped the smirk off Hewes’s face. “Allow me one last shred of insurance,” the wolf spoke through his voice. “If any part of that tape ever shows up anywhere, Cash, the red wolves, and I will come for you. With your background, I’m sure you understand. We’ll hunt you in the night and we’ll feast on your entrails by the light of the moon.”
Hewes shrank away from him.
Garrett chuckled. “As my Elle would say...” The largest red wolf interrupted by growling his dissention. Garrett ignored his rival. Advancing on the reporter, he forced Hewes to his knees. “Say you believe me.”
At 11:40 p.m. Lennox rapped on the hotel suite door marked 455. Her old friend and neighbor answered, holding the door in front of him like a shield.
“Hi, Dan.” She walked into the room, plopped down on the bed, and took a look around. Everything from the wallpaper to the furnishings screamed luxury. Yet somehow the white envelope, in contrast against the duvet, caught her attention first.
“If you’re here to celebrate your victory, you can forget it,” Dan said. “I still got everything I wanted.”
“Is that right?” She gave him two thumbs-up, both of them dripping with sarcasm. “Awesome.”
For a few seconds she measured the arrogant bastard up. Some people made turning the tables on them so sweet. But nerves roiled in the pit of her stomach anyway. What she’d come here to do made her want to hurl, but she’d get the job done anyway.
Picking up the envelope, she tapped it with a fingernail. “Is this the contract Garrett wrote up for you?”
“That it is,” Dan said. Crossing the room, he took a bottle of Maker’s Mark out of the minibar. Under the disguise of a gentleman he held up a second bottle for her. She declined with a headshake.
“Take a look if you’d like,” he continued. “It’s good reading.”
�
��No need.” She shrugged before ripping the contract into the most miniscule pieces possible. The bottle of Maker’s Mark hit the floor. Golden-brown liquid sloshed out as it rolled in a circle, staining the gold-and-gray-patterned carpet.
“Oops,” Lennox said with all the cuteness of a cartoon character.
“You bitch.” He snatched the remaining bits of contract out of her hands. “Prepare to be an Internet sensation. I’ve still got a copy of your tape on my thumb drive. The wolves missed that one”
“Did you know I’m broke?” she asked offhandedly. Hewes’s sneer transformed into puzzlement. “I might become a reality TV star and make millions behind this scandal. Sex tapes are the hookup these days. That’s why I’m going to release the tape myself. My best friend has the copy you sent Cash ready to go live the minute I leave here.”
She stood up and paced the space between the bed and the TV. “I wouldn’t normally ask this—” She lowered her voice in a conspiratorial tone. “But tell me the truth. I look damn good on that tape. Don’t I?”
He went from tan skinned to paper pale in seconds. “You can’t be serious. I know you, Lennox.”
“Yes, you do, don’t you, Danny? I wondered why you called me Leni when you got out of the car that night. Only people who know me do that.”
His sneer returned. “I figured your old schoolmate was too insignificant for you to remember.”
“I’ve never thought of another human being as insignificant until tonight.” She gave him a pointed glare. “But since you know me so well I’ll tell you something. Garrett has dreamed of making this film since he read the book to me while lying in my lap.”
Her legs shook. She sat down before she fell. She’d never thought sacrificing her modesty for someone else would be so difficult, especially for someone she loved. It should be easy. Love should make it simple. It didn’t. Still, she’d do what she came to do. No turning back into the little kid she’d been for so long.
For the sake of her opponent Lennox kept up the façade of confidence. “Oh, Danny, when he talks about this film he’s a teenage man-child all over again, filled with passion and swagger.”