Wolf with Benefits (12 page)

“They’re selfish!”

“Apparently so am I!”

Paul sat down on the marble bench in their rental home’s backyard and stared up at his beautiful daughter. “You’re not doing this.”

“I know,” she said quickly, wiping her face with the palms of her hands. “I’m not doing this. I’m not taking the job.”

“No, Toni. I meant you’re not letting your siblings guilt you into giving up the chance of a lifetime.”

Toni gazed at her father. “What?”

“You heard me. You’re taking this goddamn job. You’re taking it. You’re going to do great at it. And you’re going to get your own life.”

“I can’t desert you guys.”

“Toni?”

“Yes?”

“You do know these aren’t your children, right?”

Appearing disgusted, Toni snapped, “Of course I do.”

“Then how can you desert them if you’re not their mother? We—your mother and I—can take care of our own children.”

“But—”

“We,” he pushed, “can take care of our children. We had them . . . we’re responsible for them.” He shrugged. “It’s kind of the law.”

“So I’m just being pushed out? Like a lion male pushed out of a pride? You’re just done with me?”

Okay, Paul recognized this. Toni’s mother reacted the same way when she became over-stressed. The “nothing you say will make this better” moment.

So Paul didn’t say anything. Instead he just took his daughter’s hand and pulled her until she sat on his lap like she did when that internationally famous conductor’s cat mauled her when she was seven. He put his arms lightly around her waist and smiled when her head dropped onto his shoulder.

“Congratulations, baby.”

“Thanks, Daddy.”

“So . . . that wolf seems really interested in—”

“Don’t even go there right now.”

Chuckling, he kissed her forehead. “Not tonight. But you know I’m not letting it go.”

“I know, Daddy. I know.”

“Sobbing?” she heard Irene sigh. “Really?”

“You don’t understand.”

“I don’t understand how much you rely on Antonella? How else would I ever get our spa times together if it weren’t for Toni arranging it for us?”

“It’s not that.”

“You don’t want to have to deal with Kyle and Oriana on a daily basis? I fully understand that. Perhaps we can put them, Troy, and my demon spawn in an apartment together, and leave them there . . . forever. You’d have the rest of your kids and I’d still have my boys . . . it could work perfectly.”

“Don’t you see?” Jackie demanded. “I’m losing my baby girl!”

“Losing her? You mean she’s growing up.”

“Whatever. All I know is that my baby, my first born, is leaving me to—”

“Start her own life? Her own family?”

“Don’t give me that tone, Irene Conridge. Like
I’m
being irrational.”

“You are letting your emotions override your reason. That would be considered by many as irrational.”

“Irene.” Jackie sat down on her bed. “I don’t need rational, logical Irene. I need the Irene who takes her kids to IHOP without telling her husband.”

“They like the waffles.”

“Wolves like waffles.”

Irene sat down beside her. “I understand this won’t be easy for any of you. But you have to let her go. You have to give her a chance to find out what her own life can be even if it’s not going to be as groundbreaking as her siblings’.”

“I never cared that she’s not a prodigy. Toni is special to
me
.”

“You never cared about that, but she does. She doesn’t tell you, but I think part of her feels like she’s . . . let you down.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Of course it is. But if she can shine at this job—and from what I heard from Ulrich, she was tailor-made for this position—she’ll realize how special she is just by being Antonella. Sometimes that’s all someone needs.”

Jackie stared at her friend. “My God, Irene.”

“What?”

“That was . . . beautiful.”

“I’m not heartless, you know.” She thought a moment, then added, “I can be, of course . . . but I chose not to be at that moment.”

“I appreciate that.” Jackie took a deep breath. “Irene . . . will you help me do this?”

“I can’t believe you’re asking me that.”

“I know. I know.” Jackie threw her hands up. “I’m pathetic. Asking you to help me manage my own children.”

“No. That’s not what I mean.”

“It’s not?”

“No. I mean if it hadn’t been for you, all those years ago, always making sure the pantry was stocked with peanut butter and crackers, that the electricity bill was always paid, and that I got a good four to five hours of sleep at least every other day . . . I probably would have died a tragic but senseless death.”

“Or you would have just gone to the McDonald’s down the street from our old house and worked out of your office when the electricity was shut off.”

“Not without you suggesting it. You kept me alive until I met a wolf shifter with a whole pack of people who ensured I didn’t starve to death in a darkened room. So you don’t ever have to ask me to help you manage your brilliant but extremely narcissistic children.”

Jackie sighed. “They are a bit narcissistic, aren’t they?”

“A bit?”

 

Toni sat on a nice leather couch in one of the many rooms on the first floor. The house was beautifully furnished. The wild dogs had done a great job. Although Toni still thought her mother was paying too much for this place, but there was no point in telling her that. Instead, Toni just sat on the nice leather couch and gazed witlessly across the room.

Her phone vibrated and Toni swiped it off the end table. It was a text from Ulrich.

Toni stared at her phone, unsure what to do. Because this was the chance of a lifetime, right? That’s what her father said. But what about her family?

“Dad said they could take care of themselves. Maybe I should just believe him.”

She typed the word “In,” her finger about to hit SEND, when Zia ran by screaming. Not really surprising. Zia had always been a bit of a screamer. But then Zoe came charging after her . . . holding a steak knife in her hand and chanting, “Kill, kill, kill, kill!” A few seconds after that came Cherise. She hard-charged past the couch and across the living room, chanting, “I’ll get her! I’ll get her! Don’t worry!”

Finger still waiting to hit SEND, Toni watched her siblings bolt out of the room.

“This is why you’re trapped,” Coop said as he dropped onto the couch beside her.

Toni glanced over. Her brother ate a sandwich and stared at her. “Why am I trapped, O wise giant-headed one?”

“Because you spend every minute trying to save us from ourselves.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to do here. Notice that I didn’t move. I know Cherise can handle this.”

Zoe ran back through the living room, still holding the steak knife. But now Zia had gotten her little hands on a big pair of scissors and was in hot pursuit. Cherise, though, was still trying to catch the youngest members of their family.

“I’ve got ’em,” Cherise now chanted. “I’ve got ’em.
No one panic!
”

Coop handed Toni the other half of his sandwich. Ham and cheese on sourdough. “I wasn’t panicking,” he said, setting up a large bag of chips between them. “Are you panicking?”

“Nope. She’s got ’em.”

“Ow!” Cherise screamed from another room. “You little viper! Give me that!”

“Okay,” her brother said. “Maybe this looks bad. But we all have to learn to function on our own.”

Toni heard the front door open and she looked at the archway. Delilah had returned, floating silently by, followed a few moments later by what Toni could only assume was some poor, full-human homeless person. Toni immediately looked at Coop, and he was already staring at her, his eyes wide. He was definitely panicking now.

“No!” Toni ordered. The full-human stopped and turned to her. “Go,” she snapped in a harsh growl. “Go now!”

The full-human gazed at her, brow pulled down in confusion.

Delilah floated back, her hand lightly touching the full-human’s arm. “It’s all right,” she soothed in her soft, lilting voice. “Come on. I have food for you. Something cool to drink.”

“No!”
Toni jumped to her feet. She used that same tone when unleashed aggressive dogs randomly charged her family on the streets. As canines that sort of thing happened to them more often than it did to other families.

“Out.” She watched the full-human analyze the situation. He wasn’t a nice man. He wasn’t homeless because of mental illness or unmanageable circumstances that could happen to even the best people. Instead, he’d ended up this way because he stayed in the shadows and did things for quick money and a quick fix. But that didn’t matter to Toni. She couldn’t allow it to matter. Not in her parents’ house.

So she did what she had to do. She bared her fangs and barked and yipped until the full-human ran off.

She faced her sister. “We had this discussion,” Toni said calmly, softly. She didn’t bother raising her voice with Delilah. It was ineffective and probably just made things worse.

“You were very cruel,” her sister softly chastised. “He could have used a good meal.”

“Again, we’ve had this discussion. You don’t pick up strangers off the street. You don’t pick up anything off the street. No squirrels, no cats, no full-humans. No postman, no Arctic foxes. Understand?”

Delilah didn’t answer, she simply stared and Toni stared back.

The twins shot into the room again from another doorway. While keeping eye contact with Delilah, Toni caught hold of her sisters by the hands still gripping weapons. She yanked the knife and scissors away and handed them off to Coop—handles first, of course, because his hands were insured for nearly a million dollars. Then she grabbed both pups and held each under an arm.

“Do you understand?” she pushed her sister.

“Yes,” Delilah replied. “I understand.” Then she floated off down the hallway.

“I’m sorry!” Cherise yelped as she stumbled into the room. She wore shorts, and Toni could easily see blood dripping down her legs from cuts, as well as blood all over her forearms, which was probably because she hadn’t used her hands to try to grab the twins—not when those hands were insured for five hundred thousand. “I’m so sorry!”

“It’s all right. I got them.”

No,
Toni realized with an internal sigh. She couldn’t go off and abandon her family no matter what her father or Aunt Irene said. Mostly because Toni was the only one with hands that could be sacrificed if necessary.

She’d have to tell Ulrich—

“Uh . . . Toni?”

Toni looked over at her brother. “What?”

He dipped his head a bit and Toni looked down to see that Zia had her phone. Her little fingers pushing on the bright screen.

“Oh . . . crud.”

“Bonjour, Oncle Ric!”
Zia cheered, holding the phone up for Toni to see.
“Bonjour!”

Coop leaned in when the phone vibrated and read the new text. “And Ric replies, ‘Welcome aboard, cousin!’ ”

“Dammit!”

Toni tried to maneuver the twins around so she could get the phone back and quickly text Ulrich a retraction, but Coop took the phone from their baby sister and began texting while walking away.

“What are you doing?” Toni demanded, following her brother with the giggling twins still in her arms.

“Telling Ric thanks for the welcome and that no matter what I text him tonight, ignore it because it’ll just be my usual stupid panic.”

“Cooper!”

“Ric replies that it’s too late for any of that. He’s already sent an e-mail to the team that you’re on board. Oh, look, sis! You’ve already started getting e-mails. A thank-you from someone named Malone and a list of things to do from someone Russian. Novikov? Look at you with your fancy friends.”

“Coop, come on!”

He stopped walking, faced her. “Let it go, sis. You’re in.”

Toni lifted her arms to show Cooper the twins. “And what am I supposed to do about these two? Who is going to take care of them?”

“Their mother.” Toni turned and her mother stood there, smiling at her. “Just got a text from Ric congratulating me on my wonderful daughter.”

Good God! How fast does Ric text? He was shooting out e-mails, sending texts . . . it was like he was a twelve-year-old girl!

Jackie took her twin daughters out of Toni’s arms. “I’m going to put these two to bed.” She leaned in and kissed Toni’s cheek. “I’m very proud of you, baby.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

Jackie headed out of the room. “Come on, Cherise. I’ll show you how to manage these two and protect your hands.”

Cherise followed. “I was thinking falconer’s gloves.”