by Celeste Raye
“Who are you, and what are you doing down here in my son’s basement?”
The voice was harsh, and she was a bit shocked. It took her a minute to gather herself. She wanted to think that a man like this one couldn’t affect her with a few words, but it was made clear very quickly that he certainly could. She was upset at the way he was talking to her, even though she had no idea who he was.
“My name is Fran. I’m the kids’ babysitter.”
“And you are down here why?”
Fran knew that since the man knew about his son and what he was, she could have just admitted that she was down there checking out the cage, but something told her that he wouldn’t be happy if she knew about his little secret. Chris hadn’t said much about his father, but the expression on his face was one of cruelty. She had seen that before.
“Ernest told me that there was a left-over bag from when we went shopping. I just can’t seem to find the one we took. Your son has a lot of cars. They are stunning, but they all look the same.”
The shrewd look in his eyes was gone, and Dalton seemed to relax. To Fran, it felt like he had classified her as an idiot and that’s why it was okay for her to be there. She wasn’t smart enough to know anything after all, so there was nothing to worry about.
“Well, come along. You can just have Ernest bring you what you need. That’s what he’s paid for. You shouldn’t be down here. The stairs are unsafe, and I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”
Dalton introduced himself finally, and Fran told him that it was good to meet him. She didn’t feel that way at all but there was no need to tell the truth.
He helped her up the stairs like she didn’t have enough of a brain to do it herself. Fran did her best to control her temper. She would tell Chris about it later.
“My son is lucky to have you, Fran. You’re a very beautiful woman. Does he have you in other ways?”
The question was out of the blue and asked on the other side of the locked door. It was a question that she didn’t want to answer, but his hand was still on her arm. She pulled it away and shook her head.
“I am just the babysitter, sir.”
Dalton seemed surprised. “I don’t know what my son is thinking. If I had a woman like you underneath my roof, I don’t know if I would be able to control myself.”
She knew that it was meant to be a compliment, but it certainly didn’t feel like one. It was condescending, and she could feel the feral look that came over him. Fran was afraid now, but it had nothing to do with the fact that Chris’ dad could turn into a wolf. He was looking at her like she was his next meal. Wolf or man, she didn’t like the feeling of that at all.
“Well, I am going to go find Ernest so that I will be able to figure out what car it was in. Thank you so much for your help. Do you want me to tell your son that you stopped by?”
“Not at all. I will see him later. It was nice to meet you, Fran.”
She responded in kind, but didn’t mean the words. He was not the sort of man that she wanted to meet or be around. He was bad news as far as she could tell, and Fran was pretty good at reading people. She was getting better at it anyway.
Fran didn’t stop or look back until she was in the safety of her bedroom with the door locked. She didn’t want to see Dalton again. His creepy vibe was lingering. She wanted to make it go away, but the only thing that was going to make her feel better was to see Chris. He would keep her safe from his dad, even if it was all in her head.
A little bit later, Fran couldn’t hide anymore. She had to get the kids from school and then she planned to make some dinner with them. Fran was relieved to see that Dalton was gone. Though she wished that she hadn’t run away like she did. It certainly didn’t help her feel like she was making a stand.
When Chris did finally get home, Fran wasn’t sure if she should say anything or not. She wanted to tell him that he had been there, but not that she had been freaked out by him. He didn’t need to know that much.
“Your father was here earlier, Chris. Did he get in touch with you?”
Chris was not ready for that comment, and Fran could see that he didn’t like the idea of it. That reaction relieved her somehow. As much as she wanted to believe that everything was as it should be, the gut instinct she had about Dalton, wasn’t a good one. She was convinced that something was off about Dalton, even if she couldn’t voice her concerns to her boss.
“No, I didn’t know that he was looking for me. What did he say?”
There was worry on his face, and Fran was again wondering what the tension was between the two of them.
“Not much. He didn’t say much about it.”
“Did my dad threaten you?”
Now it was Fran’s turn to be surprised. Why would he ask her such a question? Was it that easy to imagine?
Chapter Eighteen
Fran was taking too long to answer the question. Chris’ mind was filled with a million things that his father could have said. He was freaking Fran out with the way he was acting.
“What do you mean threaten me?”
“Just what I said. My father isn't the nicest person, and I wish you hadn’t met him.”
“What can he do to me? I mean, it's not like anything would really happen, right?”
Chris wanted desperately to believe that, but he didn't. He knew what his father was capable of, and he also knew what Dalton would do if he found out that Fran knew about them. He was under the impression that nobody should ever know about who and what they were. Chris would have never told Fran about it, but she had walked in on it. He would rather she knew than lose her.
“I am not saying that he would do anything to you, but my father has a way of getting into people's heads. He is no stranger to a threat, and I don't want anything said to you like that. Tell me if something like that happened.”
“He didn’t threaten me, but he certainly made me uncomfortable.”
“How?”
“He was coming on to me more than anything else. It had really nothing to do with me being afraid of him. I didn't think he was going to turn into a wolf and strike me down or something.”
She said it so flagrantly, and he wanted to pound it into her head how important it was that she stayed away from his father. That man could be an enemy that nobody wanted. Chris was doing his best to convince Dalton that he was good enough to take over the company. It wasn't because he wanted it, but because he wanted his father to go away. Dalton had this idea that if he could turn Chris into him, then he would be able to walk away from what he had built.
“He came on to you?”
“Yeah, just a little bit. He asked if we were together and I told him that we weren't.”
“Did you tell him that you're my babysitter?”
“Yeah, is that okay?”
It wasn’t, but there was nothing that could be done about it now. Chris knew that his father was going to make something of it, but what was done, was done.
“Well, I prefer him not to know anything about my personal life. My father has a way of getting into things and making them worse. I am sorry that he hit on you. I can't imagine what he was thinking.”
“Is he married?”
That question bothered Chris. She wasn't adamant about not wanting to have anything to do with his father. She was more worried about his marital status.
“Yes, to my mother. I am not going to say that he hasn't cheated on her from time to time, but nothing like this.”
“Nothing happened, Chris. Your father is almost three times my age. I have no interest in him whatsoever. I was just letting you know what happened.”
Fran was now on the defensive, and Chris knew it was because of him. He shouldn't have said anything like that or assumed that was what Fran was interested in. It wasn't her fault that his father didn't understand basic boundaries. He was rich, had lived five lifetimes, and he thought that everything was owed to him.
“I didn't mean anything by it. I am just frustrated that my fathe
r would even do it. It’s quite embarrassing. You are so much younger than him. Hell, you’re quite a bit younger than me.”
“Not by that much.”
“Just because I look to be in my thirties, doesn't mean that I am. I am quite a bit older than you, maybe five times as much. My father is more like ten.”
“You can live that long?”
“If we take care of ourselves, yes. We age a lot slower, and there are things that can be done to slow it down even more.”
“I don't think I'm ever going to understand this at all.”
“It's fine. I've had a long time to figure it out. You have only had a few days. I will try to answer any questions that you have as best as I can.”
“Honestly? I don't know if I'm ready for the answers. At this point, I think it might be better not to know all of it.”
He was almost relieved in a way because of her honesty. Chris spent most of his day lying to people that knew the truth but still wanted to hear the lies. And then he was stuck around people that lied to him. Almost never did he hear the truth from anyone. It was so refreshing to hear it from her.
He shook his head in response. “That's fine. When you're ready, we can talk about it.”
“So, what about your father? Is he someone that stops by a lot? Because if he is, I would rather be out of the house when he does.”
“I wouldn't say that he is here that often. Him coming by and you being here was honestly just a fluke. Or bad luck on my part. He rarely stops by, and I'm sorry that you were here when he did. I will make sure that if he is planning on coming over for any reason, you know about it. The kids don't like him either.”
She said something about kids knowing how to read people, and Chris didn't agree are disagree. It was one of those situations where there was no point in saying something. Everyone in the room knew what his father was, though Fran had just gotten the tip of the iceberg. There was so much more darkness underneath the surface.
Chapter Nineteen
Summer vacation started for the children, and that kept Fran pretty busy. Chris was working a little bit more, and she wondered if half of that reason was to keep his father at bay. Fran could imagine what it would be like to be raised by somebody like that. Dalton wasn’t too far from her own dad. Her father was feared by almost everyone, but not by her.
Fran and Chris were still not seeing each other as much as they had before. By the time Chris was coming in from work, Fran was asleep, as well as the kids. He promised that he would try to get home earlier, but it wasn't working out. His father had put down some deadlines that Chris was determined to make. Fran just went along with it. She was safe, and that’s what she needed.
It was Saturday, and it had been a couple of weeks since Fran had gotten back from her run. They had a good schedule going, and it was almost time for bed. The kids got to stay up a little bit later, so at about nine o'clock, she was reading them a bedtime story when Chris came in. That changed everything. The kids no longer wanted to hear the story but wanted to see the father they hadn’t been within a week.
He looked like he had a lot on his mind, but Chris still took the time to ask each of his kids how their day was. Jasmine had a little bit more to say, and of course, Dante was speaking a mile a minute. No matter how hard Fran tried to calm him down, there was a certain aspect of Dante that most likely would never be tranquil.
After a few moments, Chris excused himself and asked her to go to the side with him because he wanted to talk. Fran did not know what it was about but it looked like it was important.
“What's going on, boss?”
“I need to go for the night. I know that you're not supposed to work Saturday, and you already have. I need to ask you work Sunday as well.”
“What is this about?”
“I don't want to talk about it, but it's important that I go.”
Fran wanted to ask questions, but it was pretty clear that he didn't want to answer any. Her mind could come up with many scenarios, but she didn’t want to let it get to her. She tried to ignore the voice in the back of her head.
“No problem. I wasn't planning on going anywhere anyway. I was going to do some shopping, but I can always take the kids with me.”
“Thank you, Fran. You don’t know how much I appreciate it. You have become like one of the family.”
“Well, I like your family.”
Chris smiled, and Fran left to give the three of them time together before he had to leave again. She wanted to know what was going on with him, but knew that she wasn't going to be privy to that information. He was very secretive when it came to some things and Fran had gotten used to it.
Sunday night, it was almost eleven o'clock when Chris finally showed up. Fran had worried about him all day, and she was rather upset. She was fully prepared to yell at him and tell him that he could have at least called her
But then she took a look at him and realized that there was a reason that he was back late. He had blood all over him and a few cuts on his face and possibly other places underneath his clothes. His shirt was smeared with blood, but it was a lot, and if he’d lost that much, Fran didn’t think that he would be walking.
Instead of yelling at him, she wanted to know what the hell had happened.
“Is that your blood?”
“I'm sure some of it is.”
“And the rest of it?”
“Well, it's not mine.”
He was being smart. She was so irked at him, but he didn’t seem to get how worried she had been. Fran had thought something had happened to him and it ate away at her all day.
Considering all that Fran knew about Chris, it left her mind with no shortage of scenarios to play out in her mind. When it came to Chris, there were too many variables.
“What happened?”
“I don't want to talk about it.
“You have to talk about it. You can't just take off for a day and not say anything when you come back! What do you think that I'm going to do? Not say anything?”
“Why does it matter to you either way?”
“Why does it matter?”
Of course, she was taking it too far. Fran was working herself up, and she did not know why she was so upset at the idea that something had happened to Chris. But that did not change the wave of emotions that came over her.
“I am just your boss, remember? Why would you be this upset? You’re being loud, and you’re going to wake up the kids.”
“Do you know how many times they asked about you today? A million. You know how sensitive Jasmine is. Even Dante asked if you had taken off like Cassidy.”
Chris had a scowl on his face at the mention of his ex, but Fran didn’t care. She knew that no matter what, he was going to have to realize that the kids were counting on him. She was upset because he had left and not checked in, but it was easier to make it about his children.
“You know that I wouldn’t do that.”
“And I assured them over and over again that you never would, but it would have been nice if I could have given them more information, like if you would be home before they went to bed. Sunday is their day. You are going to have to make it up to them.”
Fran knew that she didn’t have a right to say anything. She was just the help after all, but it was impossible not to feel that there was something more between the two of them.
“You’re right, Fran, I am sorry.”
He started to walk away, and she asked him where he was going.
“I haven’t showered since yesterday, and if you can’t tell, I really need to.”
She agreed. Fran could see that he was not only bloody, but he was dirty as well.
“Well, let’s go clean up your wounds first and then you can do what you want.”
He grinned at her. “You know, I am not one of the children.”
“Yet you come in covered in dirt.”
He scowled at her that time and refused to agree with her assessment. It didn’t matter if it was the r
ight one or not.
Instead, they move towards the stairs, and she followed him up to his room. Fran was very aware that it was the first time that she had been in there and she was worried about what was going to become of the evening. There were already too many emotions between the two of them and once he started to peel off his shirt when they got into the bathroom, Fran figured that she might be in over her head. She was almost sure she was, as her mouth started to go dry.
Chapter Twenty
Everything changed when Chris took his shirt off and he could clearly feel the difference that it made. It was almost immediate. The whole demeanor of Fran changed, not to mention the tension in the room elevated. There was always a thickness in the air when they were together, but Chris would never have imagined it would be so much more if all he did was take his shirt off. He would have done that long ago if that were the case.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I am fine.”
“Does the sight of blood bother you?”
She grinned and shook her head. “Not at all. I would be in big trouble if that were true.”
“You’ve seen a lot of blood and injuries?”
“Yes, and sometimes people cannot go to the doctor, so I learned a lot from my mother. She was very good at patching people up. I am used to gunshot wounds more than slashes though. These look like knife marks, but it’s from claws, isn’t it?”
Chris agreed. “Yes. So, you can imagine what they’re from.”
“Right, so is it like an antiseptic situation? Will they fester?”
She was eying his body in such a way that almost made him blush, but another side of Fran had come out. She was looking at it from a medical standpoint, and the nakedness of the patient seemed not to bother her as much. Chris didn’t like that. He wanted to change the situation. None of his wounds were that bad. Not enough to delay what was happening between them.
“Not usually, but better safe than sorry.”
