by Lee Oliver
“It is all yours,” Cam said gently. “I checked with a lawyer friend of mine from the Northern States. He drove down to the bank personally, flashed his credentials and claimed he was acting on your behalf.” Aiden stared at him; his eyes wide. “As of two pm this afternoon, the entire balance of the account has been transferred to your lawyer’s escrow account in another bank. He is waiting on your instructions.” Cam handed Aiden a business card. “You’ll find he’s a nice guy and totally trustworthy.”
“You…you’ve dealt with him before?” Aiden knew his voice was shaky. He couldn’t get over the staggering amount of money his grandmother left him. She said he’d be comfortable for life. He could buy a freaking island with the balance he was looking at.
“The lawyer’s my brother and he knows you’re Ranger’s mate.”
“Newton knows better than to mess with me,” Ranger said with a chuckle. Aiden felt a hot hand on his knee. “You’ll be fine; you won’t get ripped off. Newton was top of his class at University and he’s been working in investment and tax law since he left school. He’s clever and extremely loyal to his clients.”
Aiden wasn’t thinking about his newly-acquired lawyer. He shook the bank statement in his hand. “This…Can I access this money now? It’s mine?”
“Yes,” Cam said firmly. “We got a copy of your birth certificate from the council records. Ranger signed the authority as your mate to hire Newton to deal with the matter. We felt it best to move it from the bank seeing as your father is a shareholder there, but yep. It’s yours. No one can take it away. We would have asked you first, but you look adorable when you’re sleeping.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Aiden was still in shock. Cam and Ranger had solved all his problems while he was taking a nap. “I, there’s no way I can thank you guys. You’ve…I thought I’d have to battle my father for months about this and that’s when I was hoping for something like twenty grand. This is unbelievable.”
“It’s done now,” Ranger said, stroking Aiden’s knee. “No matter what happens, there is no way your father can get his hands on your inheritance, especially now you’re mated.”
“I am, aren’t I.” Aiden’s cheeks ached as his mouth stretched into a grin. “I feel like I’ve won the lottery.”
Ranger and Cam shared a look and the smile dropped off Aiden’s face like a stone. “What is it? There’s a catch isn’t there? What is it? Have I inherited a five hundred million dollar debt as part of my inheritance too?”
“Nothing like that, but there is more,” Ranger said. “Cam, give him the will.”
Cam handed Aiden more documents stapled together. It was from the law firm his father used. Aiden’s eyes filled as he read “Last Will and Testament: Alpha Dorothy Chalmers.” He looked up at Cam and Ranger. “She was the best alpha our pack ever had,” he said softly.
Ranger nodded. Aiden went back to reading the contents. The company went to his father. He already knew that. His six brothers each received a hundred thousand dollars on their twenty-first birthdays. That didn’t last them long, he thought, remembering how his brothers were always sucking up to Father for more allowance.
For my grandson Aiden Chalmers. He sniffed and blinked, close to tears. Then his eyes widened as he kept reading. He read the paragraph again and then a third time just to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.
“The house has been mine since I was twenty-one? I’ve been living in my own house for the past four years?”
Cam nodded. “From what Newton could find in his quick search, the house was transferred into your name, in accordance with the will, two days after your twenty-first birthday. Your father took control of the maintenance account at the same time and has been helping himself to it ever since.”
“I could never work it out,” Aiden seethed. “Never work out why he kept stopping me from working; wouldn’t let me leave home. I begged him; pleaded with him to let me live my own life. The only life mission my brothers ever had was to make mine hell and they succeeded. But you’re telling me, the only reason they kept me around is because they had no right to live in the house without me?”
“As you can see, the will was very specific about that. None of your family members could share your home unless you were living there, too.” Cam shook his head. “Your grandmother was trying to protect you from being manipulated.”
“I need to go,” Aiden turned to Ranger. “I need to have this out with my father. He didn’t tell me. Nobody told me. I have to speak to him.”
“Aiden, my mate, my one and only,” Ranger’s hand on his cheek was so gentle and his eyes looked pained. “There’s one more thing you should know before flying off. Dominic came to see me this afternoon to give me an assassin job.”
“So you can’t come with me?” Aiden’s mind was in turmoil. All he could think about was speaking to his father. He’d prefer it if Ranger came with him, but he’d make the trip alone if he had to. “Should I wait? Will it take long? What do you want me to do?"
“This isn’t like one of my normal jobs,” Ranger seemed to be picking his words carefully and Aiden held back his growl of frustration. “Dominic ordered the kill as a favor to a friend in the Northern States. There’s no easy way to say this. My next contract is you.”
Aiden’s mouth dropped open. Ranger’s finger edged it shut. He swallowed and then swallowed again. “I need a drink,” he said roughly when he could get his mouth to work. “Stuff the glass. I need a bottle of the strongest drink known to shifters. If anyone ever had an excuse for getting drunk it’s got to be me today.”
Ranger and Cam shared another look and then Cam got up and went to the door, speaking to someone on the other side of it. Aiden took Ranger’s hand from his face and held onto it tight, staring at the table. When will this freaking roller coaster ever stop?
Chapter Eleven
Ranger smiled in the darkness as Aiden rolled, snuffled and then started to snore. His mate was a lightweight when it came to drinking…and a flirt. Ranger was glad he’d booked a suite at the hotel. He wasn’t sure he or the car would’ve made it back to base with Aiden trying to strip him at every opportunity. As much as Ranger longed to sink into his mate’s delicious ass, he wouldn’t do that while Aiden was so plastered. He succumbed to a sloppy blowjob; Aiden was too cute and sexy to refuse but by the time he’d returned the favor, Aiden was asleep.
Tucked up, nothing but his tousled curls on display, Ranger longed to slide in next to him. But he was waiting and as he heard the quick click of the door lock, he knew his wait was over. “Hello Marcus,” he said quietly, his nose catching the familiar scent. “Is Shadow with you? Oh yes, there he is. Evening Shadow.”
A side light clicked on and Shadow tilted his head. Marcus was staring at the bed, sniffing the air. “It’s not like you to fuck a mark before you kill him, Ranger,” Marcus said. “Sounds like that’s more Cam’s thing than yours.”
“Aiden is a special case,” Ranger said quietly.
“Must be,” Shadow leaned towards the bed. “Has he got super powers or something? Because there’s nothing I could see on his file that warranted two assassins on the job.”
“Dominic send you?” Ranger asked although he already knew the answer.
“Yeah, he called yesterday. Said it was a rush job,” Marcus said, keeping his voice low. “We went out to the base but a randy twink said you were out for the evening and you’d taken Aiden with you. It wasn’t hard to track you down. Your car is parked right out front.”
“Intentionally.” Ranger knew Dominic was up to no good.
“I don’t understand why we were called in,” Shadow threw up his hands. “You’ve got the mark. You’ve clearly got the job covered. So, what the fuck?”
“Maybe the guy’s a virgin and Ranger’s giving him an assassin special before he offs him. The deadline isn’t until Friday.” Marcus laughed. Ranger didn’t. Marcus stopped and looked at Ranger in confusion. “You’re protecting him?”
“Yeah,” Shadow laughed and threw his arms around Marcus’s neck. “He caught me. One sniff and my pants were ripped off, ass up and this guy’s cock was in me so fast I couldn’t catch a breath. It wasn’t until his teeth were in my neck, I realized what had happened. Best excuse for turning legit I’d ever found.”
“Aiden’s yours.” It wasn’t a question but Ranger inclined his head at Marcus. “Well, shit. Guess this is one job we don’t have to finish, little one. Let’s head off and get a room of our own.”
“Actually,” Ranger stood and indicated the two chairs by the side of the bed. “You’re going to sit your asses down and tell me everything Dominic said to convince you to take this job. It is not a request.” He pulled aside the edge of his long coat, showing his knives and Marcus frowned. He sat down, pulling Shadow onto his lap.
“There’s no need to be like this, Ranger. We trained together. I know you can beat me, but there’s no need. As I said, me and Shadow will disappear. I don’t want any trouble with you. If anything, I owe you a dozen favors.”
“That’s good because I’m about to call them in.” Ranger smiled and proceeded to tell his friends Aiden’s situation, his words punctuated by his mate’s heavy snores.
*****
“Mother of god; whatever that shit was, don’t ever let me touch it again,” Aiden rolled over, one hand clutching his head, the other searching for his mate. The sheets beside him were cool to the touch. Prying his eyes open Aiden stared at the blank space before scanning the room. Ranger was sitting at the table with two other people.
“Er…hello.” Aiden checked under the sheets. He was naked. Crap. He needed the bathroom and food in that order.
“You’re finally awake,” Ranger grinned at him, coming over to the bed with a cup of coffee. “Drink this and you’ll feel a lot better.”
“I need to pee,” Aiden mouthed to his mate. He pointed under the sheets. Ranger’s eyebrow raised and then he nodded.
“I’ll get you a robe and you can say hello to our guests.” Ranger went over to the bathroom door and pulled one of the complementary robes from a hook on the back of it.
I already said hello and I need to pee, like now, Aiden thought frantically. He grabbed the robe Ranger handed to him; quickly slipped it on and scrambled out of bed.
“Hello again,” he said quickly to the two men at the table, tilting his head slightly. The bigger man at the table was a wolf shifter and Aiden’s eyes widened slightly at the star tattoo under the man’s left eye. “I’m Aiden Chalmers; if you’ll excuse me I have an urgent appointment with a porcelain bowl.”
He dashed through to the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him. Unfortunately, the sound of his peeing didn’t hide the laughter coming from the others in the bedroom.
Damn rude, Aiden thought as he shook himself off and went to wash his hands and face. What’s Ranger thinking, letting people into our room when I was sleeping? He scowled at his reflection. His eyes looked tired, there was a definite throbbing in his head and his curls were all over the place. Tough. They will just have to accept me as I am. He tightened the tie around his robe and holding his head high, went back into the other room, sitting at the table. There was enough food there to feed an army, but Aiden focused on the cup of coffee Ranger put in front of him.
“I’m Marcus,” the bigger man held out his hand. “This is my mate, Shadow. He’s a cat shifter.”
Aiden put down his mug and shook the hands offered. “Nice to meet you,” he said, picking up his cup as soon as his hands were free. “I presume you’re friends of Ranger’s.”
“Actually, we were looking for you. But Ranger said we couldn’t kill you so we decided to stay for a late breakfast instead.” Shadow buttered some toast. “Ranger and Marcus trained together.”
Aiden was glad he’d just swallowed. He put his mug down with shaky hands. “You came to kill me?” He looked at Ranger, his eyes about to pop out of his head. “How many more people have a contract out on me?”
“As far as we know, just me and your mate,” Marcus said. “But then Levi wouldn’t take the job and Sean’s out of the country. You’re having brunch with the only two assassins on the case.”
“Peachy.” Aiden longed to sit on Ranger’s lap; or better yet, pull his mate back to bed and pull the covers over his head. Unfortunately, he didn’t know how his mate felt about PDA.
“I was worried Dominic would do something like this,” Ranger said, filling his mug again. “Because Cam wasn’t able to confirm if any rank-and-file soldiers would be after you too, Marcus and Shadow agreed to help protect you. Cam will be here shortly and we’ll all go and visit your father and get this matter dealt with.”
“I still can’t believe my father would put out a hit on me,” Aiden glared at the table cloth. “It seems a bit extreme. I mean, I know the inheritance was a sizable sum of money, but he has plenty of money of his own. I’d sell him the damned house for a dollar if he wanted it.”
“Sold.” Shadow reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar, slamming it on the table.
“How about you see how you feel about the place once it’s empty before you go giving it away?” Ranger picked up the dollar and handed it back to Shadow, who laughed and put it back in his pocket.
“What about the trainees,” Aiden asked. “There’s still today and tomorrow to go. Won’t Dominic think it’s suspicious if you and Cam aren’t there?”
Marcus and Ranger laughed. “That won’t be a problem,” Marcus said between chuckles. “Your mate called in another favor. The official assassin trainer, Tron is going to handle those little wannabes for two days. And all internet access and phones have been cut until the end of the training to stop anyone complaining to the council or their daddies. If Dominic does turn up, he’ll shit himself.”
“Dominic is terrified of Tron and Tron’s agreed to hold the councilman if he does go creeping around the base,” Ranger explained. “Tron’s always had authority issues.”
“Dominic was the one who ordered the facial tattoos,” Shadow said, stabbing his knife into the butter. “Claimed rogues needed to know it was a council hit as they breathed their last. Never fucking cared what it would do to an assassin’s social life.”
Marcus took the knife out of Shadow’s hand and handed him a freshly buttered piece of toast. “We’re the strongest of our kind,” he said gently and Aiden got the impression the two men had had similar conversations before. “That little tattoo used to get me a lot of sexy attention before you came along and stole my heart.”
“Yeah,” Aiden remembered Kendall and the waiter at their first date. “Men seem to fall all over assassins. Women too, I imagine.”
“Wouldn’t know. Don’t care.” Marcus shuddered. Shadow laughed.
Aiden felt a warm hand on his neck and turned to Ranger with a smile. “You know mated wolves can’t be unfaithful, don’t you?” Ranger asked quietly.
“I do now.” Aiden leaned into Ranger’s hand. He really wished the other two would leave so he could show his assassin how much he cared about him and how thankful he was for all that was being done for him. He mentally cursed the fact he was too drunk to do much the night before.
But a sharp knock on the door reminded him they had more important things to do and any thoughts of sex fled his mind as he realized he was going to have to confront his father. He wasn’t good with confrontation. He always felt like he was twelve when he stood in front of his father, and while there were a lot of things that needed to be said between them, he wasn’t sure he was going to like the answers his father might have. Maybe Ranger’s presence would be enough to shock his father into telling the
truth. But somehow, Aiden already knew the man who raised him wasn’t going to admit to anything anytime soon. Not without a damned good incentive and definitely not in front of witnesses if that admission could get him into trouble. I wonder if he really wants the house that badly.
Chapter Twelve
“Please tell me you’ll think twice before letting your father keep this house,” Ranger said quietly as Aiden’s home came into view. Hidden behind a huge gate, the driveway was long and there were no other houses in sight. The house itself was two story; with a dark brick façade broken by twenty-two latticed windows, Ranger could see. The front of the house had six white columns adding further relief from the dark exterior and five attic windows perched on the roof.
There was a large sweeping driveway that ran in front of the house and disappeared into some trees; Ranger assumed it led to garages. Big. Private. Quiet. Easy to protect. He turned off the engine and looked around. Yep, he could see himself living here.
“It’s not a fun place with my brothers living here,” Aiden whispered, glancing at the door.
“They won’t be living here,” Ranger replied. “Come on. Let’s get this done. Cam and the others are giving us ten minutes then they’re coming in. They are scouting the perimeter in the meantime, waiting for our other resources to get into place.”
Ranger knew he should offer some sort of comfort to his anxious mate. Aiden was trying hard to hide his nerves, but his hands were shaking and his bottom lip was being abused by his teeth. Unfortunately, they were on a time schedule. “Have you got a dining room table?” He asked as they walked silently up the steps.
“Yeah. Big formal thing. Seats about forty people. That’ll be the first thing I want out of here,” Aiden shuddered.