by R. J. Blain
To keep Chase’s father from adding me to the menagerie, I crawled into Chase’s coat and hissed at the older man.
Chase laughed, snagged the collar of his coat with a finger, and made more room for me. “You don’t have to hide, Miriah. Really. Mom’s crazy, but she’s not that crazy.”
“What have I told you about calling me crazy?”
“Before I turned eighteen, you kept threatening something about cleaning my mouth out with soap, but honestly, your threats lost their effectiveness because you loved me too much to put soap in my mouth. After I turned eighteen, you kicked me out of your house for doing it and told me to get a life, which I did.”
If Chase taught Caleb to be even half as smug, I’d have a lot of trouble on my hands.
“What did I do to deserve you for my son?”
“You decided to have sex with Dad. To me, it sounds like you got exactly what you deserved. You wanted a kid. Dad can’t take any of the credit; I’ve heard the story enough times to be well aware he was a hapless, seduced husband wanting to keep the home happy.” Chase laughed, snagged the cat’s carrier, and hauled it towards his office. “Hey, Dad? Mind getting the rest of the supplies while I get everyone settled?”
Chase’s father sighed. “Keep an eye on our son while I’m gone. He’s nothing but trouble.”
“He’s been that way since he insisted on putting up a thirty-two hour fuss about his eviction from my womb. Thirty-two hours, you ungrateful little snot!”
Chase snickered and herded the puppy while carrying the cat down the hall. “Love you, Mom. Please don’t traumatize Miriah. She’s had a rough time of it lately.”
“Worse than thirty-two hours of son eviction?”
“Well, she bathed fifty shit-covered rescue dogs in an all-nighter the other day. How does that rank?”
“Since she’s only twelve years into her solo parent adventure, I’ll let her win this one. What happened to the dogs?”
Chase set the cat carrier down long enough to untangle the horgi from his legs, who insisted on keeping close and whipping him with her tail. “Puppy mill got busted. Miriah started to cry after shaving this poor girl, so I agreed to foster her. She’s unvaccinated because of her skin issues,” he warned. “She needs to heal first, but hopefully it’ll only be a few weeks before she can go in for her shots.”
“What’s her name?”
“Don’t know yet. I’ll have Miriah name her. The cat’s name is Stumpy, but I don’t like it, so I’m renaming him. I haven’t decided what yet.”
Yep, Chase had adopted a dog and a cat and didn’t know it yet.
“Why is the cat named Stumpy?”
“He only has three legs.”
“Well, that makes sense. How about Shùdūn?”
“I’m not naming him Stump in Mandarin.”
“Fine. Be that way.” His mother followed us into Chase’s office. “No grandbabies for me yet?”
While I rather liked the idea of having another child and wouldn’t have any objections to testing my luck with Chase in bed, I gaped at her bold question.
“Have I brought home a woman yet for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other holiday for that matter? No, I haven’t.”
“Don’t be unreasonable. You took a single mother home with you. Sure, she’s a little cursed, but she comes prepackaged with a grandchild for me to spoil. I can work with a prepackaged grandchild to spoil. Is he cute?”
“Mom, you don’t get any say in this.”
“But I want a grandchild to spoil.”
Me, too, but I estimated I had at least another ten to twenty years of patiently waiting to get one, and in the meantime, I wouldn’t object to a second child. If that meant providing Chase’s mother with a prepackaged grandchild to spoil in the meantime, I’d be okay with that.
I needed to put my ovaries in timeout before they got any additional ideas. For some reason, I doubted Chase’s father would help me out even if I asked. He’d probably lead the army seeking a grandchild. He seemed like the type.
“I’m sorry, Miriah. Please feel free to ignore her.”
I wiggled out of his coat, waited for Chase to reach his office, and pointed at his computer. After his mother closed the door, he freed the cat from the carrier and unclipped the horgi’s leash before unlocking the system for my use and opening his word processor.
I asked if she babysat for free as part of the spoiling package.
Chase laughed so hard he slumped over his desk and beat the polished surface with his fist.
“What’s so funny?” his mother demanded.
While he attempted to splutter something, he ultimately pointed at his monitor. With a puzzled expression, his mother joined us and read the screen.
Then she joined her son in helpless laughter. “I’m retired, Miriah. It’s in the handbook. Retired grandmothers offer free spoiling of grandchildren, and temporary accommodations are included in the package. I take it you have problems finding a babysitter?”
I could find a babysitter easily enough, but Tiana couldn’t teleport parts of buildings or put people in timeout. I bobbed my head.
Tiana would forgive me after I told her about Chase’s parents and their excessive magical abilities.
“I remember those days. Tell Chase if you need a sitter, especially if you want to plan a date. Dating’s hard without kids. With? Surely impossible.”
What was dating? I tapped out a message indicating I’d consider giving Caleb away some weeks for a single hour in a bubble bath without interruption.
“You poor thing. Chase, darling, do arrange for her baby boy to come over every now and then. Moms need uninterrupted bubble bath time. It’s a law of the universe.”
Chase groaned his laughter and oozed to the floor.
“It’s really not that funny.”
Chase certainly thought so. Shaking my head at the man’s absurd behavior, I skittered across his desk to my computer and went to work.
With Chase and his parents on guard, I enjoyed a full day of work without interruption. To my delight, the cat wanted to cuddle while I navigated the murky waters of corporate reporting. He kept me warm, sported a perpetual purring motor, and hissed whenever Chase edged in on his turf.
Add in a breakfast and lunch of fried chicken, and I could get used to life as an inconvenienced lounge lizard. Gavin’s curse could kiss my ass. Who needed to blend in when I could have fun, get my work done, and keep company with a cool cat?
Since being good hadn’t gotten me anywhere, I’d have to try something new. But what?
I’d spent so long trying to be a good mother I wasn’t sure how to go about changing my colors and having fun despite Gavin’s curse. Silently laughing whenever Chase was thwarted by a three-legged cat counted, I hoped. Sometime after I lost count of Chase versus Cat incidents, I crawled across the desk, borrowed Chase’s computer, and notified him he should name the cat Goliath. As Chase’s name wasn’t David, he’d be stuck losing to the cat. And, as I was working hard on earning coal for Christmas, I told Chase he wouldn’t make a very good David in general.
I returned to my computer to finish working, hoping to find the solution to Chase’s mystery sooner than later.
“That isn’t fair,” Chase complained. “I buy you chicken. Goliath doesn’t.”
The newly dubbed Goliath returned to his nap while I prepared a list of companies likely involved in the effort to siphon an extra ten percent out of Chase, a relatively easy task when I compared current financial data with historic performance and isolated dives in the figures.
It took me most of the day to determine when the scheme had begun, but I emerged the victor.
Satisfied with my effort, I emailed Chase the list and thumped his desk to get his attention.
“She’s pretty demanding, isn’t she?” Chase’s mother asked from her post as a couch warmer. Chase’s father snored from his side of the couch.
“She’s not being demanding. She’s telling me there’s something
that needs my attention.” I suspected Chase had some form of telepathy as he checked his email without me needing to go to his computer and tell him to. “She’s made a list of companies likely involved, and I can link most of them to one parent company. This simplifies things a lot—and gives me a good way to put a permanent end to this. Wake Dad and guard the hallway for a few minutes, please.”
“And what about Miriah?”
“Miriah stays with me, of course.”
On a scale of one to ten, Chase was approaching twelve on the dominant alpha male controlling chart. I missed having eyebrows, as I wanted to raise one at his statement.
Obviously, I needed to take lessons on being naughty from Chase, and I’d sign up for clothing-free sessions if he insisted on displaying protective tendencies.
As long as he kept his protective tendencies reasonable.
Keeping me close and safe counted.
Yep, I had more issues than I knew how to fix, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to fix them. It’d be tough raising a son while stuck as a chameleon most of the time.
Chase’s mother sighed. “You’re going to skin some other CEO aren’t you?”
“Something like that.”
“Have fun. Try not to burn down too many bridges today.”
Chase arched a brow. “I left the Molotov cocktail with the police. It seems I’m out of matches, too. I’m sure I’ll be able to manage without burning any bridges.”
His mother scowled, heaved a sigh, and woke his father. “We’re being evicted by the brat. He wants to make a phone call. You should go check on your gorgon while I guard the door.”
For two people who didn’t have any specific reason to stay in Chase’s office, they took a long time leaving.
Chase leaned back in his chair and chuckled the instant they were gone. “I might have to hire you away from Alex. Did you know most of these companies were under the umbrella of one larger corporation?”
I shook my head.
“Well, they are, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the company’s main shareholders were in on it. They’re greedy bastards—the type of people I don’t want investing in my business at all. We’ll find out soon enough. The owner of the main company is Mitchell Ganarn, and he’s transparent without realizing it. If he acts surprised, he’s in on it. He’s quiet when he learns something new, and then he acts surprised. There’s a little hesitancy when he’s taken by surprise.”
Interesting. I wondered what Chase thought of me. Was I as transparent?
I abandoned my computer and crawled across his desk to sit near the phone. Goliath yawned, stretched, and shot Chase a dirty glare before resuming his nap.
I wanted to take Chase’s new cat home with me. Would Chase accept applications to live in his house so I could spend time with his cat? I could live with chilling out at Chase’s house while a chameleon, assuming I could figure out how to handle Caleb’s care. Talking to Gavin about putting more duties on his fatherly shoulders might do the trick. I could handle once a week chilling with Goliath and his pet human Chase.
Chase reached for his phone, detoured long enough to give my back a brisk rub, and dialed a number. He enabled speakerphone with the press of a button.
“It’s not like you to call me on a Friday, Chase. What can I do for you?”
Something about the man’s voice, carrying a hint of sarcasm and a sharp edge I didn’t like, annoyed me so much I had to fight the urge to hiss at the phone.
I succeeded, barely.
“Were you aware someone in marketing at your companies is skimming up to ten percent of the advertising invoices issued to my company?”
I understood what Chase had meant about the man’s behavior; there was a hint of silence before the other CEO replied, “Did you just say someone has been skimming up to ten percent off my advertising invoices?”
“Yes, I did. Also, someone tossed a Molotov cocktail at my face this morning because I cut off the extra expenses fund, which is where the increased percentages were being paid out from. Assuming you know nothing about this, you’re likely missing a hefty chunk of change, too. One of those responsible has a magical ability capable of disguising their activities. It seems I’ve developed a resistance to it due to exposure.”
“I think you’re not the only one. I have noticed there’s been something fishy about my numbers across the board, but I haven’t been able to figure out what.”
“Well, I’ve mostly figured it out for you.” Chase read off the names of most of the companies on the list. “From what I can tell, the magic in use alters perceptions of the statistics reports and redirects attention elsewhere. I have someone in my employment who is immune to this redirection.”
“And you said they’re skimming ten percent?”
“Roughly. That used to be the wiggle room I’d allow for campaigns for additional expenses. That wiggle room is now gone. Your numbers will show change effective today, but I expect more problems unless we can identify who is siphoning the money and using the magic to hide the theft. The why is easy enough. It’s a lot of money. We’ve been working together for a long time, Mitchell, but I can’t allow a ten percent theft to slide. We need to cut this off at the source, and I’m willing and eager to renegotiate a new contract once the culprits in both of our firms are identified. Unfortunately, to make sure we both don’t continue to take losses, I’m going to implement the out clause for all our advertising contracts. I’ll be terminating all employees found guilty of this theft and pressing charges as able. Once you’ve done the same, we’ll talk about how to expand our operations using that extra ten percent we’ve been losing.”
Mitchel chuckled. “I can accept a full loss right now for a ten percent expansion after the dust is settled. I’ll call you back in a few hours if I find any information. If I don’t, I’ll send you a message as soon as I find something out.”
“Sounds good.” Chase hung up. “And that, Miriah, is how to light a fire under someone’s ass. He wasn’t aware that the funds were being siphoned, but he was aware something was up—so I don’t think he would’ve pocketed the ten percent or even part of it himself. He’s been after a contract expansion for a while, too. This could benefit us both in the long term. Now, to make him squirm a little more.” Chase pressed a button on his phone, and a woman answered. “Rachel, I have a job for you.”
“What can I do for you, sir?”
“I’m executing the ten-day out clause on all companies belonging to Mitchel Ganarn. Please pull copies of the contracts, send them to our lawyer, and have them prepared for signing by the end of the day. I also want a list of all employees with any involvement in those contracts. I don’t care what department they’re in.”
“Yes, sir. Effective when?”
Chase checked his cell. “The ten day timer starts now. I’ve already notified Mitchel.”
“The contracts should be ready for you for signing within the next two hours. Do you need anything else?”
“A vacation and possibly a stiff drink. Thanks, Rachel,” he replied before hanging up. “Want to make a bet on how long it is before someone tries to kill us again?”
I shook my head.
“We could bet chicken. No one’s going to target you anymore because I just painted ‘target me’ on my forehead with my decision to sever those contracts. They’re going to forget all about you when they find out they just lost their jobs and their monthly illegal bonus. I hope they saved some, because they’re about to find out that crime doesn’t pay.”
An angry Chase seemed to throw caution to the four winds, and I had a feeling it would bite us both in the ass before everything was said and done. While landing us in hot water belonged on the con list, I wanted to watch the fireworks and help him make the most of a bad situation.
Forget my damned heart. I needed my common sense back.
Chapter Thirteen
As soon as the call ended, Chase summoned his parents back to discuss methods of ensuring no one could siphon
funds again in the future. With the primary issues identified, Chase no longer needed me, and we both knew it. It took me several hours to work up the nerve to ask him if he needed me for anything else.
I wanted him to say yes.
“I’ll make something up for you to do on Monday. Until I know, for certain, who is behind this, you’re staying with me. They’ve tried violence to stop us, they’ll probably feel no compunctions about revenge, and while I’m the primary target, you’re safer with me.”
I liked the way he thought. Longer with him gave me longer to figure out how to earn a coal mine from Santa and ditch Gavin’s pesky curse. I had only one idea on how to ditch the pesky curse.
Using his computer, I suggested he propose a stay of curse to Gavin as the culprits weren’t above attempting murder, and it would be much easier to protect myself as a woman than as a chameleon.
“That’s probably a good idea.” Chase retrieved his cell and thumbed through his contacts before holding it to his ear. “Gavin, I have a favor to ask of you. It’s about Miriah. The situation has become serious enough that I can’t guarantee her safety if she stays a chameleon. We’re getting close; someone tossed at Molotov cocktail at us this morning. Yes, she’s fine. My father froze it, and the police took it as evidence. I’m sure you have your—”
Chase blinked, and his mouth dropped open. “Well, now that I’m aware of the situation, yes, I’m definitely interested. That aside, her safety comes first.”
Gavin said something that made Chase roll his eyes. “Miriah, are you going to die of embarrassment if you’re seen wearing pajamas in my office?”
I’d be perfectly fine wearing nothing at all in his office, and I’d ignore any humiliation associated with anyone other than Chase seeing me naked, meaning his parents, both of whom were lounging on the couch. I shook my head so hard I rattled my brain in my lizard skull.
“She’s about to give herself whiplash. I’m fairly confident she wishes to talk in English without requiring the assistance of a computer.”