Tamed Galley Master (8 page)

Oh crap.
"It was all a big misunderstanding." Danielle glanced over her shoulder. "Can you pay my taxi fare first? I'll pay you as soon as I can get into my apartment."

"Yes, yes, of course, Miss Danielle."

"I need to borrow your phone to call Kate. Is she home?"

"Yes, about twenty minutes ago. I buzzed her in myself. Didn't look that good. She had been crying a lot."

Geez. A sliver of guilt sneaked into her heart. Apparently, her best friend was totally freaked out and had been crying her eyes out while she messed around with Dane and Collin. Well, whose fault was that in the first place? She didn't put her name on Dangerous Curves website. Kate did. Then again the two of them didn’t think it would work.

While the old man scurried outside to pay her cab, she used the phone on the reception desk to call her apartment. Kate picked it after the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Kate?"

"Danielle!" Kate sounded ecstatic. "Where are you? Don't go anywhere. I'll come pick you up."

"I'm in the lobby. Could you bring my wallet too? I owe Lucas cab fare."

"Okay, okay. I’m going down now."

The moment the door of the elevator opened, Kate flew out and tackle-hugged her until Danielle almost lost her balance. Her best friend seemed to have been crying her head off. Her nose was red and eyes puffy. Hair disheveled. Danielle had never seen her this way. Kate was obsessive with her appearance, even when she went to bed. The whole ordeal must have shaken her to boot.

“I was sooo worried. You just disappeared. I’ve lost my mind.” Kate sobbed. “Are you okay? Where have you been?”

Danielle hugged her back. “I’ll tell you the whole story. First, can you pay Lucas back?”

Ten minutes later after a change of clothes and a cup of jasmine tea, Danielle told her tale. Kate listened with apt attention. A few times her jaw dropped as Danielle recounted her steamy weekend adventure. From the look on her face, she could tell Kate was having a hard time believing her story, but there was no other explanation on how she vanished before her best friend's eyes.

Kate ran her hands through her hair. "If I hadn't seen you disappear, I would peg you having one hell of a hallucination. Wow. Just wow. Weretigers are real?"

Danielle nodded.

"How about werewolves? Vampires?"

She shrugged. "I don't know about vampires. I suppose if weretigers exist, other were animals are too."

"And these twins, you're having a three-way with them?"

Danielle only grinned and pretended to polish her nails.

"I want details! Details, damn it. And don't you dare skimp."

"I'm not going to tell you that."

"Oh, come on. I'm your best friend. Tell me, are they hung?"

"Kate!"

"Please?"

"Not now, Kate. Lucas told me my mom was here."

"Oh, yeah." Kate turned serious again. "I had to call your mom. I contacted everyone who might know where you were at. Including Brian."

Danielle frowned. "You called Brian?"

"I had to. I didn't know what to do. How was I going to explain to everybody that you just went poof—gone—right in front of me? No one was going to believe me. The police thought I'm mental."

"You reported me to the police too?"

"I tried to file a missing persons report, but they wouldn't let me. They told me to contact everyone you know and after that, they would let me file. Oh, Miami PD was a nightmare."

"What did you tell them about me missing?"

"Oh, I didn't tell them you just disappeared like a genie. I said you wandered off while we were eating in the beach. They did ask me if you were intoxicated. Well, you were kind of drunk. Do you know how many drunk people went missing in Miami on the weekend? Tons! I kinda get why they didn't let me file a missing persons report."

"And what did you tell my mother?"

"The same story everyone believed."

"What did my mom say?"

"She's upset, of course. You've never been this irresponsible."

"Oh, crap." Danielle racked her brain for a believable excuse. "What am I going to say to her? I can't tell the truth."

"Yeah, like she's going to believe it." Kate took Danielle's hands. "I think you should keep this as a secret. I bet Dane and Collin would want that too."

Danielle stared at her.

"Okay. It’s mainly because I don't want people to think I'm crazy."

"No one would believe it anyway."

"Good. I think you should call your mom now. She's been worried like hell."

"What am I going to tell her?"

"Believable lie? You met this guy and he invited you for an impromptu yacht sailing and yada yada, it was the hottest sex you've ever had in your life, you forgot to call poor me, your best friend, to let me know that you were okay and having the greatest time in your life."

"You think my mom would believe that? I left without my purse or cell phone. She knew I wouldn't go anywhere without those."

"Danielle." Kate shook Danielle's shoulders. "The guy was super hot. Super freaking hot. You couldn't think anything else but getting into his pants. Your mom would believe that."

Danielle laughed. "Okay. I'll call her."

She called her mom and sorted everything out. Her mom gave her an earful before asking when she going to bring the mystery man for a Sunday dinner. She came with another excuse to satisfy her. Long after she hung up, she started thinking what she was going to do next. Dane and Collin had asked her to be their mate. Though she was crazy about them, she wasn’t sure if others approved of that kind of relationship. Especially her mother and the rest of her family. When Brian broke off their engagement, she had been a subject of never-ending gossip so harsh, she wished everyone would just explode.

Before she went to bed, she asked Kate for advice.

Usually Kate had plenty of sage wisdom to dispense when it came to relationships, courtesy of Cosmo, and Danielle was surprised that Kate only patted her on the shoulder and said, “Follow your heart.”

“What? This isn’t like you at all,” Danielle remarked. “Are you okay?”

“The last time I meddled in your love life you got transported to New York. You can’t imagine how I freaked out. I don’t want to repeat that mistake.”

Danielle thought for a while. “But because of you, I met Dane and Collin. I guess there’s a silver lining.”

“Well then, if Dane and Collin make you happy, you shouldn’t be bothered by what others say about you.”

Danielle decided. “I think I’m going to call them.”

“What’s stopping you then?”

Danielle looked away sheepishly. “I wasn’t sure what I should do earlier. I’m also not sure about my feelings. Things went too fast to my comfort.”

“That’s why I said you should follow your heart. I could sit here and analyze your situation, but it won’t matter if you already know the answer.”

“Thanks, Dr. Phil. I—”

Their conversation was interrupted by raps on their door. Followed by a voice that was too familiar to Danielle’s ears.

It was Brian Ellis, her ex-fiancé.

“Why is he here?” Danielle looked at Kate.

“Oh.” Kate grimaced rather guiltily. “I was desperate, okay?”

Given how that man had made her existence miserable since their infamous breakup, Brian was the last person Danielle wanted to see. She got up from the couch. “I don’t want to see him.”

“Got it. Go to your room while I do the damage control.”

Danielle listened to them talking behind her room door. For some reason Brian insisted on seeing her and knocked on her door. She had to answer him. “Oh, hi, Brian. Sorry I caused trouble for everyone.”

She thought if she faced Brian she’d get distraught again over their cancelled engagement, but she was surprised that he didn’t have that much effect on her anymore. She was finally
over
Brian. Had Dane and Collin filled her head and heart so much that she didn’t have room for Brian?

The man she once loved with every bit of her soul watched her with concern. “I was worried when Kate called me. You’ve never acted so impulsively. Did you really go sailing without telling anyone?”

“Yeah,” Danielle told him a bold lie. “It’s my fault. I was carried away and enjoyed myself too much. Hey, you live only once.”

Brian didn’t seem convinced. After all, they dated more than five years. Suffice it to say Brian knew her best after Kate and her mom. “Are you
really
okay, Danielle?”

“I’m okay. I am.”

“It just that maybe because our—”

Danielle knew where this was going and put a lid on it. “I’m over it, Brian, and I moved on. You deserve a good, respectable girl in your life and I think I also deserve my own happiness. So, there’s no reason for us to bring up what happened in the past. What is done, is done, right?”

Brian flustered for a moment. “Yeah, of course, you’re right.”

“I’m sorry that Kate dragged you into this. She’s had a hard time adjusting to the new me.” Danielle gave Kate a wink.

Kate’s forced grin widened.

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay. I was just worried, you know?”

“Thanks for checking up on me.” Danielle gave Brian a friendly hug and had no emotions. Before, each time she met Brian she had a hard time containing her tears.

Maybe Kate was right all along.
All I need is a new love to forget an old one
.

“Then I should be going. I’m glad you’re all right. See you, Kate.”

She and Kate saw Brian to the door.

“You handled that well,” Kate commented after Brian was gone.

Danielle shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. “Maybe what I needed was a good lay to forget him.”

Chapter Six

It was past midnight when Danielle was finally ready to call Dane in New York. She was in the middle of dialing his numbers when suddenly her mind blanked. She pushed end call and started over and the same thing happened again. What the hell? She usually was good with numbers. Collin had her memorize their contact information. Dane even wrote his cell numbers on her palm. Most of the ink had faded from her shower, but it was still clearly visible. The problem was she couldn't make the last few digits. The numbers jumbled right before her eyes. Was it five or three? Nine or seven? It was ridiculous that she suddenly turned dyslexic. Then, she remembered.

Crap.
The enchantment.

When she was spirited away to New York, the enchantment prevented her from contacting home. Now that she was home without giving a definitive answer to the brothers, the enchantment prevented her from contacting them.

Her gut sank.

Calm down, girl, this is the twenty-first century. Locating a person couldn't be that difficult.
She knew where they lived.
Right. The Dakota on Park Avenue. Yeah. Just call their office and asked to be connected to Dane.

Danielle googled the Dakota and got their concierge’s numbers. She called immediately. "Hello, sorry for bothering you this late. I'm Danielle Thomas calling from Miami. Can you direct my call to Dane..."

Oh God, what was Dane’s last name? Something with
E
. Eaton? Erickson. Espinoza?
Shit! What am I going to do now?

"Ma'am? Do you know the person’s last name?"

"Give me a second. I'm thinking."

"Do you know the unit numbers?"

"Oh, yes. It's..." She blanked again.

"Ma'am, I have to hang up."

"Wait!" Danielle cried wordlessly to a disconnected line.
Crap, crap, crap.
She jumped off the bed and sprinted out of the room. She knocked on Kate's door. "Are you sleeping?"

Kate opened her bedroom door with a face full of mud mask. "What's going on? Are we ditching work tomorrow? Wait—this is already tomorrow."

"What is Dane and Collin's last name?"

"Edwards. Right?"

"Yeah, Edwards. Kate, write that down. Also, can you make out this number?" Danielle held out her palm that had Dane's numbers on it.

Kate read aloud for her. Danielle typed it on her smart phone. She then pressed dial. Two rings and a sleepy-sounding voice answered her. A woman's voice.

What?
"May I speak to Dane Edwards?"

"Who? Lady, this is past midnight. And you got a wrong number," said the woman on the other line.

"Oh, I'm really sorry." Danielle hung up. She scowled at Kate.

Her best friend mouthed “what?” The mask around her mouth and chin cracked and peeled off. "I'll wash my face first."

She joined Danielle in the living room minutes later. Danielle told her what was going on.

"Enchantment. It makes you forget?"

"I think I'm losing it." Danielle furiously scribbled on a notepad a row of possible numbers. "Kate, I'll ask you again. What's Dane's last name?"

"DaSilva," said Kate firmly.

Danielle tapped her pen on the notepad. "You said it was Edwards."

"Shit. Now I'm losing it too. Edwards. I think it's Edwards. Is the enchant affecting me too? This is impossible."

"Now, Kate, usually it's impossible too for someone to be transported from Miami to New York in a matter of a second."

Kate went to her room to get her laptop and started cracking on an answer. "If we can't contact your boyfriends, maybe we should go to New York ourselves."

Danielle raised her eyebrows. "What about work?"

"Constance will understand. Missing a day or two isn't a big deal."

"You don't have to go with me. I'll go myself."

"There's no way I’ll let you go alone. Besides, I'm curious what they look like. I've never seen weretigers before."

Danielle smiled. "Thanks. For sticking with me."

"You're welcome. We should write down their information first and then try to contact them. I'll book the flight, hotel, and rental car."

"Okay. Just checking, what’s Dane's last name again?"

"Edmun. Crap. Edwards. Edwards."

Dane paced his library with frustration. Danielle had been spirited away before she could give them an answer. He understood that she might be hesitant to enter a very unconventional relationship with him and Collin. But the time the weaver gave them wasn't enough. Forty-eight hours to woo a perfect mate. A human female above all that. Why couldn't it be a week? A month, even.