Wolf with Benefits (10 page)

Ric and Cella looked at each other and Ric asked Toni, “Why?”

“Well, I’m relatively certain if he doesn’t get in some form of workout, he’s going to be impossible to deal with. He reminds me of Dennis. He’s my five-year-old brother,” she told the others. “He has OCD, too, and if he doesn’t get a certain amount of time painting—he’s a painter—he gets completely unruly. You wouldn’t think a five-year-old could do that much damage . . . but he can. And he’s barely fifty pounds. Bo is
way
bigger, so I readjusted the amount of damage based on the size of the man and guessed it would be substantially worse. I figured you wouldn’t want that.”

“No, no,” Ric clarified. “We wouldn’t. But my question is why did you feel the need to help him?”

“Oh.” Toni thought on that a moment. “Well . . . he looked like he needed help, and I was just sitting there.” She suddenly sighed. “And to be quite honest, I really didn’t want to have to testify against him if he murdered that bobcat.”

“Floyd,” Ric and Cella said at the same time. Floyd wasn’t bad as a receptionist, but the man continued to piss off the persnickety Novikov. Then again, so did Ric—and the universe. Only Novikov’s fiancée, Blayne, managed to avoid Novikov’s wrath, mostly . . . as long as she was on time.

“It just seemed easier to help the man since you guys are clearly busy and I knew once he was done with . . . Floyd?” They nodded. “Yes, Floyd. I knew he’d come looking for you, and I didn’t want to see you without most of your skin, Ric. We do consider you family, after all.”

“Thank you.”

“Look, I’m sorry if I stepped on any toes here. I’m just used to dealing with people like him, and it was nothing for me to help out. I was just sitting there.”

Cella swung her legs off the desk. “He didn’t make you nervous?”

“Bo? No. Not at all.” She smiled. “He’s very funny.”

“Do you mean weird funny?” Ric asked. “Like odd and off-putting?”

“No, Ric. I mean funny. As in humorous.”

“He’s humorous?”

Treating him like a true cousin, Toni rolled her eyes and said, “I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Wait,” Cella pushed. “So you didn’t find Bo Novikov hard to work with?”

Toni laughed. “Hard.
Him?
” She laughed some more. But when no one joined her, she cleared her throat and said, “Look, based on what I’ve heard from Kyle, Bo Novikov is considered the best at what he does. And there’s a level of commitment and focus that comes with being the best. I understand how that is because I was raised around the best of the best. My ten sisters and brothers and my mom are
the best
at what they do. So my father and I have, over the years, learned to manage them. For their own good and ours.” She thought a moment and added, “And society’s.”

“And what does that entail?” Ric coaxed. “Managing them?”

“Well . . . you know.” When he just stared at her, she shrugged and said, “The main thing is to understand that because they are the best, their focus is incredibly myopic and that nothing you or I or anyone else says will change that. So instead of trying to change them, you work
within
the confines of that myopic vision. And while you’re helping them, you’re also protecting them from outside distractions that will just set them off and make your life hell for several hours to several days. I guess I’m saying that managing the best is really just a way to protect myself. Once you understand the man or the woman, the rest is really easy.”

“And you understand Bo Novikov?”

“Yes,” she said confidently. “Actually, he’s super easy because he just lays it out there. One of my brothers doesn’t let you know anything’s wrong until he starts setting fires. When one of my sisters gets upset, her hair starts to fall out. So in order to prevent my brother from going to prison or my sister sobbing hysterically every time she showers, I have to guess when they’re upset. Mr. Novikov is like a breath of fresh air. All that snarling and growling, it makes him incredibly easy to read.” She glanced around the room. “Anything else?”

“Actually, yes,” Cella said, briefly glancing at Ric. “Are you really busy right now?”

“Just waiting for my interview.”

“Great. Then can you do me a huge favor?”

“Sure.”

“We need to delay your interview anyway.”

Clearly disappointed but trying to hide it, Toni said, “That’s fine. What do you need?”

“One of our players has to get on a flight in the next couple of hours. He’s sometimes easily distracted, so would you mind escorting him? Just make sure he gets on the plane. He’s got everything he needs. His tickets, his luggage. Just needs to get
on
the plane to Alaska. He’s going to a hockey camp for shifter pups and cubs and he’s one of the guest trainers for the next week. You wouldn’t mind, would you?”

“Not at all.”

“Then come back here when you’re done and we can have our little interview. Okay?”

Seeming surprised the interview would still take place today, Toni nodded. “Oh . . . okay.”

Cella added, “You can find the player, Bert, down in the player’s locker room.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

Toni smiled at Ric and headed out.

“You going with her, Ricky Lee?” Dee asked Reed.

“Might as well.”

“Good idea since your sister is still looking for you.”

The wolf rolled his eyes and followed Toni down the hall. That’s when Ric looked at Cella.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Giving your not-really-a-cousin a shot at the big time.”

“Or a chance to get permanent facial lacerations.” Cella shrugged. “You say tomato . . .”

 

Ricky Lee waited for Toni to step on the elevator before following her in. He pressed the button for the floor where the team’s locker rooms were located.

“You spend a lot of time here, don’t you?” she asked him.

He nodded at Toni’s question. “Yep. My brother being one of the players gives me all sorts of access. Well, that and no one really asks me anything anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “I just mean that I go where I need to and always make sure I look like I know where I’m going. People are less likely to bother you or question you as long as you
appear
to know where you’re going. It’s only when you wander around with your mouth open, staring up at the big buildings or trying to sort out office numbers, that people start wondering what the hell you’re doing. Thought it would only work here in the States, but it worked even when I was doing some work for the company in Japan, Italy, France.”

“Really? I’ve been to and sometimes lived in all those places with my family over the years, and I find that surprising. I mean, you’re just so . . . American.”

“Lord, I hope so. Being that I was born and reared here and all.” He chuckled as the elevator doors slid open. He waited for Toni to step out before he followed. “But I always looked like I knew where I was going. People may have watched me, especially in Japan. But no one ever questioned where I was going or stopped me from going there. It’s always worked to my benefit.”

“I’ll have to try it. I’m always getting stopped.”

They turned a corner and paused. Bert was just coming out of the locker room. He had a plain black duffel and a hockey bag for all his equipment.

They looked at each other.

“You know this is probably a setup, right?” Ricky asked her. “A test to see what you can handle.”

“Oh, I know.”

“Not sure what kind of test, though. Bert’s a real nice guy . . . for a bear.”

“He’s probably slipped onto a no-fly list or something and they want to see how I’d get past that.”

“You think you can?”

She grinned. “No problem. You sure you really want to tag along?”

“See you in action?” He returned her grin, enjoying himself immensely. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

P
aul was relaxing on his couch with his eldest son, Cooper, watching bad mid-afternoon television and enjoying every day, average, father-son bonding.

“So how did your concert go in front of the prime minister?”

“Pretty good. You know how I like playing at the Colosseum. I’d just need Rome burning to feel like Nero.” He paused. “Except with a piano. So I guess Mom’s more like Nero. How about you? What have you been up to while I was away?”

“I rebuilt the motor in my Mustang. Then Freddy freaked out about something and Toni stopped him from setting fire to the house—which was good—but then he took the motor and the rest of the car apart when we were all asleep. I haven’t had the heart to go back into the garage since. But I have the SUV, so I can still get around.”

They continued to watch bad afternoon TV until the arguing from down the hall became so intolerable both men sighed and stood up at the same time. Together, father and son headed toward the arguing, but Paul already guessed where it was coming from. The large ballroom of the town house. It was the perfect place for a dancer to practice or a sculptor to sculpt or a painter to paint or a scientist to set up a lab. The list went on and on. And, in Paul’s estimation, the room was large enough for all of his children to practice their art or music or anything else they wanted to work on. It was an enormous room!

Too bad none of his brilliant progeny wanted to share.

They’d almost reached the ballroom entrance when Cherise skulked around a corner. Poor thing. She skulked a lot. Kept to the shadows. A brilliant cellist since she was six, Cherise easily lost herself in her music. But when she wasn’t playing, she was an easily frightened, constantly shivering She-jackal. It broke Paul’s heart. His daughter needed to find her strength. Jackals weren’t big and had no pack to call their own, but they did have each other. They had
family
. That was their strength. That’s what had kept jackals going in the wild for centuries. So Paul needed to find out what would bring his daughter’s natural strength out. He’d done it before with Toni by putting her in charge of Coop and Cherise when she was thirteen. He’d done it with the intention of keeping an eye on all three but letting his daughter feel what it was like to be needed, to feel important. And she’d taken that responsibility and run with it, helping him and Jackie to raise the most amazing children. Still, it was time for her to get out on her own. To live her own life. His Toni deserved that.

“What’s up, Cherise?” he asked her.

“We need Toni.”

“No,” he said gently but firmly. “We don’t need Toni. We can handle this without her.”

“She should be home by now,” Cherise insisted. “We need Toni.”

Knowing one of Cherise’s “loops” when he heard one—her “loops” being when she kept saying the same thing over and over until she passed out—Paul just walked on ahead, Coop and Cherise behind him. He stepped into the ballroom, stopping right at the entrance as a pink ballet slipper flew by and collided with Kyle’s head. Tragically for Kyle, it was one of Oriana’s pointe shoes, and the hard tip clocked the kid right in the eye.

“You talentless hack!” Kyle screamed, one hand over his eye. “I should rip out your Achilles tendon with my teeth!”

“Try that, you little weasel, and I’m chopping off both your hands!”

Coop glanced at Paul. “Cherise is right . . . we need Toni.”

Toni stepped out of the limo she’d hired to transport her, Ricky, and Bert to the airport.

Newark was one of the airports she knew really well. Almost as well as LaGuardia and she had lots of connections here. She knew she could get a staff escort directly to the gate for Bert. And she might be allowed to go with him herself even though she didn’t have a ticket. She wasn’t sure, however, that she could get the wolf access, too. But she assumed he wouldn’t mind waiting.

“Uh . . . Toni?”

Toni turned and smiled at the wolf. “Yes?”

He motioned to the limo with a jerk of his head. That’s when Toni saw the claws sticking up through the roof of the vehicle. Toni rushed over and crouched down. Bert had his black bear claws dug into the roof and his powerful legs spread and braced on either side of the door.

“Bert?”

“I’m not going,” he panted out desperately. “I’m not going. I’m not going. I’m not going.”

Toni stood. “I think he’s frightened of flying.”

“What gave you that idea?”

“I don’t need sarcasm right now, country boy,” she snapped. Toni took a breath. “I’m going to see if I can talk him out.”

“Make it fast. After a while, even people in Jersey are gonna notice bear claws through a limo roof.”

Deciding not to comment on the wolf being Mr. Obvious, Toni leaned into the limo.

“Hey, Bert,” she said, keeping her voice soft and soothing, like when she had to talk Cherise down from the roof of the house where she’d gone after panicking because the FedEx guy asked her to sign for a package. “Hey. It’s okay. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

“I’m not going. You can’t make me go.”

“No problem.” She slowly, carefully leaned over, her hand stretching out to gently take his. “I just need you to retract those—
oh, my God! Not the face! Not the face!
”

Ricky didn’t manage to catch Toni when she fell back out of the limo door, but he did stop her head from hitting the pavement. He took that as a win.

“Are you all right?”

“Do I still have my nose?”

“Yep. Not even a scratch.”

“Then I’m fine. Help me up.” He did, easily lifting her to her feet. The She-jackals sure were small. Compared to She-wolves anyway.

Toni wiped off the back of her jeans, her focus on the bear in the limo, which allowed Ricky to take a nice long look at her cute little rear.

“Stop staring at my ass, freak.”

“Hey!” The limo driver stormed around the vehicle. “What the hell? What’s he doing to my car?”

“Don’t panic.”

“Panic? Who’s going to pay for this?”

“Can we worry about that later?” Toni demanded as she tossed off her sling, grabbed hold of the bear’s leg, and began to pull.

“We can’t worry about this later! I’m responsible for this car!” The driver crouched down and glared at the bear. “I knew I shouldn’t let a bear into my car. Tacky, flea-bitten, honey-obsessed bastard!” The mountain lion driver hissed at the bear, and Bert roared back.

That’s when the cops took notice of what was going on. “We need to go,” Ricky pushed.

“I said I’d get him on that plane. I’m going to—”

Ricky shoved the She-jackal into the car, hoping she’d be okay since she landed face-first on Bert’s chest. He slammed the door closed and caught hold of the mountain lion by the back of his neck.

The cat hissed as Ricky walked him back to the driver’s side of the car. “Get in and drive, tabby.”

Ricky slammed that door shut, then walked around the front of the vehicle, waving casually at the cops coming closer. He opened the front passenger door and slipped inside. By the time he closed the door, the cat pulled into traffic and headed off.

“So where are we going?” the cat demanded. “And who’s paying for my car?”

By now Toni had crawled forward until she could knock on the glass between the front seats and the back of the limo. The cat lowered the window and Toni leaned in. She gave the cat an address Ricky didn’t recognize.

“He’s not getting on a plane,” Ricky reminded her.

“I’ll figure out something.”

“And my car?”
the cat screeched, making Ricky bark at him, which made the cat hiss back and Bert roar.

“That is enough!”
Toni bellowed, silencing all three males.

“Everybody just shut the fuck up right now! And I’ll pay for your goddamn limo, so shut up about it already.”

“Can I get that in writing?” the cat muttered.

Toni’s dark brown eyes locked on the driver. “I
will
unleash this bear on you,” she warned, her voice low. “So don’t test me.”

Letting out a breath, she turned and dropped into the seat beneath the window.

“You’re not giving up, are you?” Ricky asked her.

“No. I’m not giving up.” She took a deep breath. “But I do wish I was home dealing with the devil I know . . .”

 

Coop didn’t know how Toni dealt with this on a daily basis. The arguing. The crying. The yelling. The death threats. And those not fighting were instigating. For instance, the twins. Not even four yet, they insisted on tossing out inflammatory suggestions in any language they knew, which turned out to be a lot more languages than Coop had realized.

Cooper had always known his big sister had shielded him from a lot. As always, her concern had been keeping his focus on what he loved. His music. He clearly remembered when he was six, Toni yelling at their house cleaner because she was running the vacuum while he was practicing at the family piano. The housekeeper had never taken Toni very seriously, because all she ever did was follow their dad around and go to a regular school. When the housekeeper had ignored her, Toni had picked up the vacuum and thrown it against the wall. Then she’d screamed, “I said my brother is
practicing!
”

From that day on, Toni established her position as protector of the family. Their parents provided money, food, love, and support for their kids, but Toni handled the teachers, the schedules, the logistics, the arguments, the neurotic and oftentimes illegal behavior . . .

Cooper always knew it, but it didn’t hit him until he was forced to drag Zia and Zoe off Kyle, their tiny little fists pounding his face, their sharp little puppy teeth trying to chew his nose off. Who knew such adorable little girls could be so angry? So very angry.

As the girls redirected their rage at Cooper’s neck and chin, he looked to see if his father could help, but no. He couldn’t. He was holding Oriana back from throttling Troy.

The yelling and arguing was so bad that finally, Jackie stormed into the room.

“What the hell is going on?” she demanded, hands on hips.

“You can’t tell?” Paul asked, Oriana swinging wildly in his arms.

“Well, where’s Toni?”

“She’s at the job interview.”

“She’s not back yet?”

“Do you think this would be going on if she was here? And can you help rather than bark about our daughter?”

“But what is she doing? Having drinks with Ulrich? Enjoying a casual lunch with that other wolf she met earlier? Lounging? I mean, what exactly is my eldest daughter doing that’s more important than helping her siblings?”

 

Toni got on the pavement, planted her feet on either side of the door, and with a yelled, “Heave!” she pulled on one of Bert’s legs while the driver stood slightly above her and pulled on the other. Ricky was at the opposite door, pushing the black bear from behind.

But nothing worked. They couldn’t move the bear with his claws dug into the roof.

“I’m not going!” Bert screamed. “I’m not going!”

Toni released him and fell back against the pavement.

The driver stormed away. “This is ridiculous!”

“Calm down.” Toni tried to push herself up but her shoulder gave out. No problem, though. The wolf was there, grabbing her under the arms and lifting her up. “Thanks,” she muttered.

“So now what?”

She sighed. “Let me see what I can do.”

“Where are you going?” the driver demanded as she started to walk off.

“Just stay here with Bert. I’ll be back. And yes”—she went on before the mountain lion could complain—“I’m going to pay for your goddamn limo. Just let it go already!”

“Still don’t have it in writing!” he shot back after her, but Toni ignored him, walking into the Long Island airport that very few people knew anything about. It was a small, shifter-run airport with three airlines.