Authors: Lynde Lakes
“What’s the catch?”
“No matter what, you must forever preserve all of our family
secrets.”
Rick shifted in his chair. “Sir, perhaps it’s the secrets I
should be concerned with.”
“Absolutely. Because they’re secrets you’ll have to carry
to the grave.”
“Sir, let’s clarify this. Are you suggesting that once you
tell them to me, you’ll have to kill me?”
Damon swallowed a laugh. “No, my statement was not meant as
a threat. I just need your irrevocable promise, honorable man to honorable man,
that you won’t ever reveal any family secrets.”
“So, I’ll be like an attorney who can’t reveal his client’s
secrets.”
“Exactly.”
“Can I think this over and get back to you tomorrow?”
“No. I need an answer now.”
Rick inhaled. “So, in essence, I’ll be a bodyguard who
keeps family secrets, and for that you’re willing to give one hundred thousand in
advance for the year. And if I produce results, you’ll make me a partner in
your new company?”
“Exactly.”
“Oh, hell. I’m not a risk taker, but this sounds too
intriguing and too good to pass up.” He stuck out his hand. “You’ve just hired
yourself a closed-mouthed bodyguard.”
“Just one other thing,” Damon said. “No monkey business
with my girls.”
As they shook hands on it, Damon knew they both were going
forward with trepidation and blind faith. Now came the hard part, telling Rick
about the Lupine heritage and the family curse so he wouldn’t flip out when the
girls started morphing.
“Our family is unique,” Damon said. “Do you believe in
werewolves, Rick?”
“No, sir. But I’ve heard of the lycanthropy studies going
on here in your lab and that you’re catching wolves and testing them.”
“That’s right. Lycanthropy is an affliction suffered by
werewolves and our scientists are searching for a cure. Do you believe in
curses?”
“No, sir. I’m pretty grounded in this world, not in the
world of witchcraft, werewolves, and vampires.”
“I must warn you, my doubting friend, you’re going to see
things while employed here that’ll test your beliefs—and your honor. Are you up
to that?”
“For the deal you offered me, I think I can learn to live
with your secrets, whatever they are. But like I said before, just don’t ever
ask me to do anything dishonest. With that, I draw the line.”
“The best way to explain our secret is to show you. Be here
tonight just before moonrise.”
* * *
*
Damon checked on the girls, then located Angela pacing in
front of the fireplace in the master bedroom. He had so much to tell her he
didn’t know where to start. He drew her into his arms. “I have a bombshell to
drop on you about Hugh.”
She closed her eyes. “Damon, sometimes I feel like I can’t
take one more of your—”
“Shall I keep it to myself?”
Her eyes flashed. “Don’t you dare! What is it?”
“Hugh is the reincarnate of Hugo.”
She shook her head, her eyes brimming with sympathy. “You
may want to believe that, but—”
“I swear, it’s true. He’s still suffering from lycanthropy.
While he was with Valerie last night, she saw him morph from a werewolf into a
man. He came to me today and explained everything. I have my half-brother back.
And his blood may help our girls.”
Angela stared at Damon. “What you’re telling me is
impossible, but so are so many things that have happened in our lives. What
makes you believe him?”
“Valerie backed up everything he said. He saved her last
night from a hunter’s stun gun and stayed with her until daylight. He was
bringing her home when Rick discovered them out in the hills.”
She sighed. “Okay. Let me digest all this a while. What can
we do to stop the girls from running off again? I recall all too clearly the
wild, crazed madness and passion between us while in our wolf states.”
“I hired that biker, Rick Tanner, to keep an eye on them,
and Hugh has offered to help, too.”
“You hired that biker—a wild-looking stranger off the streets—the
kind of guy who young girls flip over? After what I just said to you? You’re
crazy.”
“Are you forgetting he brought both girls safely home to
us?”
* * *
*
Lazar felt restless as he headed down the hill from the
lab. He had to get away from the intensity of the work for a while. And he
needed more lupine blood. The jerks he’d hired hadn’t come back with even one
wolf. It looked like this was one more chore he’d have to attend to himself.
Heading toward Foothill Boulevard, he spied a car stopped
at a turnout on the uphill side of the road to Mt. Baldy. The car was attended
by a shapely woman with the trunk open.
Whoa.
This could be interesting.
She leaned into the trunk, displaying a firm,
sexy fanny, and pulled out a jack. He found a place to turn around, headed back
up the hill, and when he pulled up along side the hot damsel in distress, he
recognized her.
Well, I’ll be damned
, he thought as an old possibility
became a new opportunity. “Hi, Kat. Can I give you a hand?”
She looked him up and down. “Do I know you?”
He looked at her long, lovely neck, hungering to sink his
teeth into her throat. “I’m the head scientist at the Lamont Lab. I’ve seen you
coming and going at the mansion. Mrs. Lamont speaks fondly of you.”
“Oh, yeah. Well, I was just headed up there. Their girls
were missing and I’ve been worried about them. I’m sort of their surrogate
aunt.”
“Well, surrogate auntie, let me be the first to tell you,
they’re back and none the worse for their little adventure.”
She raked her gaze over him. “How did a brainy guy like you
get those bulging muscles?”
His blood heated when she touched his biceps. Her gesture
made it clear she was interested. Rather than grab her like he ached to do, he
laughed. “I often run for miles and regularly lift weights.” He took the jack
from her hand and said, “Please allow me to help you. That gorgeous clinging red
dress wasn’t designed for dirty work.”
After he changed the flat, she said, “There must some way I
can repay you.”
“How about fixing me a simple dinner at your place? I’ll
bring the wine and dessert.”
She looked into his eyes. “You know, you remind me of
someone, but I can’t figure out who the devil it is. Anyway, I feel I know you
well enough to have you come to my place, but my temp fiancé,
Deeto
, might not like it. And he pays the rent.”
“What is a temp fiancé?”
“A boyfriend with hope of something that will never
happen.”
Lazar grinned at the vixen, wanting her more now than
before.
“This is a challenging problem. Let’s see if we can figure
it out. I’ve got it. How about meeting me at my apartment and make dinner
there?” Before she could answer, he was already writing down the address and
phone number for her. “Is five-thirty okay? We can watch the sunset together.
It’s breathtaking from my terrace.”
Chapter Eight
Angela walked Kat to the door. “You stayed less than
fifteen minutes. What’s your hurry?” Angela asked, exhausted and secretly glad
her friend was leaving so she could grab a nap before dinner.
“I only dropped by to make sure the girls were safely home.
I can’t stay.” She wriggled her arched brows and winked. “I have to get ready
for my early date.”
“Oh, is Deeto taking you somewhere special?”
“Not Deeto. He won’t be home until late. He and his buddies
are going to a bachelor party.”
“So who’s the mystery date?”
“You won’t believe it. It’s with your head lab guy, Dr.
Simon L. Lazar.”
Angela’s stomach knotted. “How did you meet
him
?”
“I had a flat on the way up here and he fixed it. He’s real
cool for a brainy dude.”
“Kat, I’ve never felt comfortable around him. I don’t think
he’s right for you.”
Kat frowned. “You think he’s too smart for me?”
“Don’t even think something like that. I just think you
deserve better.”
Kat’s frown broke into a forgiving smile. “Maybe not, but
you know me. I have to test the waters. What does Damon think of him?”
Angela sighed. “He’s blinded by the man’s achievements in
the science field. One of his papers on lycanthropy won a Nobel Prize.”
“Well, that’s great, I guess. What is lycanthropy?”
“The study of werewolves. I can see you two will have a lot
in common.”
“You’re being sarcastic, but remember, I know a little
about werewolves. I was attacked by one and saved by my guardian werewolf.
Besides, I don’t really want him for his mind, and by the way he was looking at
me, I don’t think he’s looking for someone to discuss his work with.”
“Just be careful, Kat. Something about him gives me the
creeps.”
* * * *
Indian Joe had warned Rick for years that curiosity was his
biggest flaw, and now Rick hoped it didn’t end up killing him. In spite of the
unknowns, he felt pretty good when he knocked on the mansion door, highly
inquisitive and looking forward to an interesting evening. He sniffed and
wondered if he’d overdone the aftershave. As much as he tried to forget the
feel of Victoria clinging to his waist and the memory of her gorgeous nude body
unsatisfactorily hiding in the bushes, he hoped she’d be the one to answer the
door. He reminded himself she was only eighteen and based on his contract with
her dad, off limits. Unfortunately, when he’d looked at her, he’d seen a woman,
an intriguing woman with a tough demeanor that turned him on. Although Valerie
was equally adorable, he hadn’t felt the same connection with her. Good thing,
then he’d be buying double trouble. Even if he kept his wits, keeping two
eighteen-year-old’s safe would probably be the challenge of his life.
Victoria answered the door in Daisy-Mae blue jean shorts
and a fitted red T-shirt imprinted with
Bad Girl
across her very womanly
boobs. Man, the girl should be locked up until she turned at least twenty-five.
“Dad bet Uncle Hugh a hundred bucks you’d show up on time,”
she said. “He must think he has you figured out. Well, I don’t. And I want you
to know, I don’t get off on performing for bikers.”
“I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about,”
he said, unable to contain the edge of excitement in his voice.
“Oh, didn’t Dad tell you about the entertainment for the
evening? How like him. He’s a real drama king. Well, follow me, Ricky Boy. The
show begins at moonrise.”
She whirled around and headed upstairs. He hated that his
gaze locked onto her swaying well-formed butt. For sanity’s sake, he tried to
imagine her as the fat woman in a circus and failed miserably.
She led him into a recreation room equipped with every kind
of workout gadget he could dream of. He scanned the anxious faces of those
waiting inside, nodded to each, and smiled while feeling like a complete idiot.
“You didn’t formally meet my wife, Angela,” Damon said. “But you met all the
others, my brother, Hugh, who is now your assistant, and my eighteen-year-old
daughters, Victoria and Valerie.
Rick shuddered at the emphasis Lamont put on their ages. He
also noticed that his new employer was now claiming Hugh as his brother and
before he’d said they weren’t really related. Working in this loony bin would
take some getting used to. The tension level in the room sizzled. They all knew
what was about to happen while he was the new guy on the job. Tension clamped
onto his nerve endings. It would be a hell of a thing if they were about to play
a tremendous joke on him.
Victoria’s mom, Angela, pulled a book from her bag and
opened it. He noticed that, after several minutes, she never turned the page.
He could almost feel the tension rolling off of her.
Hugh unrolled three workout pads. He and the girls
stretched out on them and started doing sit ups.
Damon sat down on the workout bar, his expression tight as
though he were about to explode.
“Am I supposed to be doing something?” Rick asked.
“Just be ready for anything. You’re in charge of guarding
Victoria.” He paused as though expecting him to object. But Rick had already
decided to let this game, whatever it was, play out before he made an ass of
himself. When he just nodded, Lamont continued. “Hugh will take Valerie.” He
paused again. “Know anything about the moon, Rick?”
“Only that it’s not made of green cheese.”
Lamont didn’t even crack a smile. “Some full moons have
extra potential to end more violently than others. The most dangerous for our
family is during a blue moon when two full moons occur in a single month. But
every month can end tragically if care isn’t taken. Our girls and Hugh have a
moon-controlled affliction. I set up the lab downstairs to push for a cure to
release them from their torment. Unfortunately, until a serum is perfected, we
have to live with and control the problem the best we can.”