“And if you weren’t being so ridiculously overprotective then I wouldn’t have to play baseballs with your nuts!”
“Okay, timeout!” Eden placed one hand over the other, forming the letter T. Odd.
“We can figure this out if we all keep calm. We have to see this from Nax’s point of view too, Frankie. After all, he’d just trying to protect us.”
“He’s gone completely insane!”
“I think it’s safe to say he was probably always a bit crazy.”
“I am not insane. I am currently in charge and you shall both do as I say.”
Eden glared up at him, hands on hips. “And this is why it is so difficult to like you sometimes.”
He did not care whether they liked him. All that was needed was for them to obey him.
“Set me down you-you overgrown bear with a goat-sized brain!”
“I think that could be an insult to goats,” Eden muttered.
“I will let you down when you agree to obey me.”
“And I’ll agree to obey you when hell freezes over!” Frankie yelled back.
“I am a very patient male. I can wait all day.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall.
“Patient?” Eden gaped up at him. “That’s like saying King Kong was a guinea pig.”
He had no idea who King Kong was, probably one of their foolish leaders.
“Nax! If you don’t let me down—”
The security system chimed and he tuned Frankie out. He moved to the security panel by the back door and studied the cameras, noting the vehicle that had pulled up outside the garage with relief.
He turned to the females with a smile. “You will be pleased to know that you are no longer my responsibility.”
Thank the stars.
He turned off the security in the garage then typed in a few commands. Frankie cried out as she turned right side up. Then he turned the force field off. She fell to the floor with a thump. Then she jumped to her feet.
“You bastard!” She leaped for him right as the others entered the house.
3
Marcun paced back and forth, his face filled with fury. Every so often, he would mutter something to himself.
“Your pacing is hurting my neck,” Nax complained. He rubbed at his bruised cheek before glaring over at Frankie. He could not believe that she had managed to hit him. Or that someone so puny could punch so hard.
She scowled back at him from where she sat on Sacaren’s lap. She had an ice pack on her hand. No one had offered him an ice pack. Of course, he was not a fragile female.
Still, he was bruised and normally, Eden would fuss over any injury any of them received. But she hadn’t once offered him sympathy. Not that he needed it. Eden added her own glare to Frankie’s.
How long did they intend to hold onto their anger?
“Your face hurts my eyes,” Marcun snapped back. “And if you do not like my pacing then do not look.”
Ioin sighed. “Marcun, will you sit so we can discuss this?”
“Someone attempted to breach our security!” Marcun turned to frown at them all. “If they had gotten inside, they could have harmed my mate. My pregnant mate!”
“But they didn’t,” Eden said soothingly from the couch where Marcun had put her earlier.
She shifted around so her feet were on the ground. Marcun immediately moved to her, raising her feet up and placing them back on the couch.
“Marcun, I’m fine.”
“You need to rest with your feet up.”
“I’m only two months pregnant. I feel fine. My feet aren’t swollen and I don’t even have a bump yet. You’re fussing over nothing.”
“And it was just an attempted break-in,” Frankie interjected. “You guys are over-reacting. Break-ins happen all the time. He didn’t even get in. And if he had, that force field would have caught him. You could have warned us about that.” She looked up at Sacaren.
“It is only to be used in emergency situations,” he told her. “When we go into full security mode. It’s not there all the time.”
“We still should have known.” She folded her arms over her chest. “Being held upside down in the air isn’t my favorite thing to do.” She scowled up at Nax. “He should have told us it was on.”
“I told you to remain inside. You would never have been caught in it if you had obeyed me.”
Sacaren ran his hand over Frankie’s hair. “I know it must have been frightening, but Nax was right to turn it on.”
She jumped from his lap, her hands going to her hips. Nax couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction that he was not the only one receiving her ire.
“Oh, and I suppose you think he was also right to keep Eden and I prisoners here?”
“Of course. Nax did not know whether there was a threat to you and he was here alone. Keeping you contained inside was the easiest way to protect you.”
She threw her hands up into the air. “It was a robbery. The dude was after jewelry and electronics, not me and Eden. We are in no danger. I cannot believe you would take Nax’s side. He was completely unreasonable.”
Sacaren glanced over at him and shrugged. “He has always been unreasonable.”
“It’s basically his personality,” Tecan added with a smile, clearly enjoying himself.
That was a fair assessment.
He folded his arms over his chest. “I’m just glad it is someone else’s turn to guard them next time we get a job. I would rather be tortured than take care of females.”
“God, you are such a charmer.” Frankie ran her hand through her hair.
“I cannot go on any more jobs,” Marcun said suddenly.
Everyone stared at him in surprise.
“Marcun?” Eden asked softly. “We really are fine. There was no real threat to us.”
“You don’t know that for certain. There could have been.”
“If there was, Nax had things under control.”
Frankie snorted. “That’s one way to put it. He threatened to lock us in our rooms.”
Everyone turned to stare at him. He shrugged. “They wanted to leave. I could not protect them as well outside the house. I wasn’t going to restrain them. Just lock them up until you all returned.”
“Oh, well, as long as you weren’t going to restrain us…” Frankie turned to Sacaren. “Can you believe this guy?”
“I believe him, yes.”
“No, I mean...” She waved her hand. “Doesn’t matter. But you can see that he was taking things too far, right?”
“I would have done the same had I been here.” Sacaren puffed out his chest. “Of course, you would not have argued with me.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Frankie muttered. “I am not becoming a prisoner in my own home.”
“Neither am I,” Eden said. “Not without good reason to believe there is a threat.”
“Which there isn’t,” Frankie added.
“Likely not,” Ioin told them, giving them both a stern look. They immediately fell silent. “However, Nax was alone and in charge of your safety. If something had happened to one of you, how do you think your mates would react?”
Both females stared at Ioin for a long moment. It wasn’t often that he spoke directly to them, but when he did they took notice. “He only did what any of us would have done. He did his best to protect you. Nax, when is the last time you slept?”
“The night we had an intruder.”
Both women turned to him. “You haven’t slept since then?” Eden asked, her face softening.
“No, of course not. I had to protect you both.”
Frankie let out a sigh. “Fine. I get it. He was just trying to take care of us. But there was no need to go all Neanderthal on us. You guys have got to learn to communicate better.”
Sacaren tugged on her hair. “And you must learn that when it comes to your safety that we will not compromise.”
“Fine. All right, so maybe we could have listened to
Nax, but you guys need to listen to us as well,” Frankie said. “There was nothing personal about that break-in. It was random. Just some criminal who probably thought the house was empty and was looking to make a quick buck. It’s really nothing to worry about.”
Eden yawned.
“You need to go and have a nap, mate.” Marcun swept her up into his arms. “Too much excitement is not good for you and the baby.”
Eden rolled her eyes. “The most excitement I’ve had lately is watching the latest episode of Married at First Sight.”
“I do not know why you yell. They cannot hear you.”
“It’s more fun that way.”
Sacaren stood and held out his hand to Frankie. “Come, mate. I wish to shower and you can help scrub my back.”
Frankie rolled her eyes, but she followed him out of the room. She stopped in front of Nax. “This doesn’t mean that I’ve forgiven you.”
Nax supposed that was meant to be a threat.
When both females were gone, he turned to Ioin.
“Do not leave me alone with them again,” he practically begged.
Tecan grinned. “What? Could you not control two small females, Nax?”
“Big bad Nax, afraid of two little humans,” Brogan added. “I never thought I would see the day.”
Nax growled at them both. “Just you wait until you are left in charge of them. They grow upset over the most foolish things. They are sneaky. And loud. You have to be on your constant guard.”
Brogan rolled his eyes. “It cannot be that bad. You should have just locked them in their rooms. You made the mistake of trying to reason with them.”
“Both of you are idiots,” Tecan told him. “Neither of you knows anything about females.”
“Oh, and you do?” Brogan scoffed.
Tecan grinned. “More than you do.”
“Enough,” Ioin said quietly, leaning forward. “Marcun had a point. I do not think he should come on any more jobs. Even if this was not a threat, others may arise and I do not believe that leaving one of us behind is enough for security, not with a baby to protect as well.”
Nax nodded. “Especially if the females will not co-operate.”
“Yes. Marcun and Sacaren need to address that,” Brogan stated.
“And how do you suggest they do that?” Tecan asked.
Brogan shrugged. “The females must learn that we are in charge of safety and they must obey. It is simple.”
Simple? Nax had thought that as well—before he had been left with their care. When it came to female humans, nothing was simple.
* * *
“Morning, Alice,” Crista called out to her boss’s personal assistant. The older woman looked up from her desk with a tired smile. “Mr. James wants to see me?”
Nerves fluttered through her stomach. She’d worked from home yesterday, hoping that her bruises might fade a little. But when she’d gotten up this morning, the bruise on her cheek had become a blotchy mess of green and yellow, and the one on her forearm was a deep, ugly purple color. It had taken a lot of foundation to cover her cheek and despite the soaring temperatures, she’d worn a long-sleeved blouse to cover her arm.
Climate change had a lot to answer for. It was supposed to be winter for God’s sake. Winter seemed to be getting shorter and shorter. Now they were back in the middle of a damn heat wave.
If her boss hadn’t asked her to come into the office for a meeting, she’d have stayed home today as well. She was still feeling shaky and on edge. This morning she’d been so scared to leave the safety of her building that she’d ran the two blocks to where the hoverbus stopped. By the time she’d reached the hoverbus stop, she’d been sweating and on edge, and close to vomiting. She knew she was being silly. Nobody was going to attack her in daylight and those idiots were probably long gone. But as much as she tried to tell herself that, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she hadn’t seen the last of them.
“Yes, he’s just finishing up his massage.” Alice managed to keep a straight face as she said it. Crista didn’t know how the woman had worked for Peter James as long as she had. He was a smug, smarmy bastard whose daily nooners with his ‘massage therapist’ were well known. Crista felt sorry for his wife. Although, every time Crista had met her, she’d been drugged up. But then, if Crista had to live with Pervert Pete she’d probably be well medicated too.
“Might as well take a seat, dear, it’s been taking longer than usual lately. He’s rather stressed. More kinks to iron out.”
Kinks, huh?
She shuddered as she thought about what was going on behind that closed door. She hoped the poor ‘massage therapist’ was getting paid extra for overtime.
She waited for about ten minutes. She made a quick call to her next-door neighbor who checked in on her mother for her whenever she had to go out. She still shook with fear when she thought about what could have happened to her mom the other night. She rubbed at her stomach. She really should get that burning in her gut checked out by a doctor, but she couldn’t really afford to. Instead, she ate antacids by the roll and fooled herself into thinking it was just gas.
She really wished it was just gas.
It was getting increasingly hard to keep her mother safe. She hated that she basically had to make her a prisoner in that small apartment. But what else could she do?
She was tapping her fingers against her leg impatiently when the door to her boss’s office opened and out stepped his masseuse. The woman was dressed in tight jeans, a crop top that barely covered her boobs, and had more make-up caked on her face than Crista did.
She drew a mint out of her bag and popped it in her mouth. Catching Crista watching her, she offered her some. “Want some?”
“Um, no thanks.”
“Sure? You might need them for after.” The woman winked at her.
Eww. Crista shook her head, afraid if she tried to speak she might puke. She did not want to think about why the other woman might think she’d need breath mints after meeting with Peter. The creepy pervert.
“Ah, Crista, there you are.” Peter moved into the doorway. “Please come in.”
Jesus, he hadn’t even tucked himself in properly before coming to the door. Crista reluctantly stood and walked over. He didn’t move away from the door, so she had to slide past him. Her breasts pushed against his chest and she shuddered in revulsion. If she had any other job options, she’d just turn around and walk out the door. But she needed this job. It was close to where she lived, had flexible hours, and she could do a lot of work from home.
So she was basically stuck here until she could figure something else out.
“Please, have a seat.” He gestured towards the chairs in front of his desk. She really didn’t want to sit there. Not without wiping it down with disinfectant first. But what could she say to him? I don’t want to sit down in case that’s the seat where you let your masseuse suck you off?
Yeah, wouldn’t that go over well.
So she sat on the edge of the chair and watched as he tucked his shirt in then poured himself a glass of scotch.
“Drink?”
“No, thank you.”
She wished he would just get to the point of this meeting. Her cheek and arm were throbbing and her stomach was tied in knots.
Instead of taking a seat, he leaned back against the front of his desk. She resisted the urge to slide back in her seat and put some more distance between them. The scent of his cologne hit her, sweet and sickly, and she took shallow breaths through her mouth.
“Now, Crista, how long have you been with us? Eight months?”
“Nearly five months, sir.”
“No need to be so formal. Please, call me Peter.”
That really didn’t seem like a good idea. She didn’t want to be on a first-name basis with him. Frankly, she didn’t want to be on an any-name basis with him. But he was her boss, so it was kind of hard to avoid him. She also couldn’t piss him off. So she nodded in agreement.
�
��Four months, huh? And you’ve sold how many houses? One?”
Dread built in her stomach. Shit, she had a feeling where this was going. “Two, sir. But I’ve got several more on the market and I’ve just had an offer on one.”
“That’s great. Have your clients accepted the offer?”
“Well, no, sir. But I expect we can get there with some negotiation.”
His gaze narrowed. “Now, Crista, didn’t I tell you to call me Peter?”
“Sorry, Peter.” She could feel herself start to sweat. She clenched her hands together in her lap. Was he going to fire her? Surely two houses in five months was good, right? She was just learning after all.
“Now, Crista, I want to tell you that I’m happy with your progress, but the thing is, I need to see some real results.”
“You will.” Desperation filled her. Please don’t let him fire me.
“Will I? Because I can’t help but compare your sales to Esme’s results. She started just three months before you and she’s already sold six houses and two condos.”
Yes, but Esme gave her clients extra benefits. And she wouldn’t be surprised if Peter was getting in on some of those benefits too. She bit her lip against saying anything, though.
If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all.
Her mother’s old adage swam through her head.
“Now, Crista, I don’t want to get rid of you. Truth is, everyone around here likes you. You’re like a little ray of sunshine, aren’t you?” The way he said that, it didn’t sound like a good thing. “But unless you start bringing in some commissions, I’m afraid I’m going to have to look at replacing you.”
“No, please don’t—”
He raised his hand to silence her. She bit down on her lip. As humiliating as it was, she was totally prepared to beg him for this job.
“Like I said, I don’t want to get rid of you, Crista. But I have no other choice. Of course, if you would get the owners of the mansion on Elm Street to sell to my buyer that would go a long way towards keeping your job.”
Asshole. Fuckwit. He knew exactly what he was doing to her. Threatening her job so she would do her best to get the Clacka brothers to sell. Fuck. She thought he’d given up on that. Before Christmas, she’d sounded them out, found out they didn’t want to sell, and she figured that was it when he didn’t bring it up again.
Nax Page 3