“Wait. I’m sorry. You chat with her? What? Like just having a regular old conversation? Why? What are you trying to play at with this person? She’s a cleaning lady, Devon. You don’t want to be accused of sexual harassment or something equally awkward to deal with down in Human Resources. Especially not now when we’re already in danger of losing most of our workforce because we didn’t pay them for half of last month.”
“Have you gotten anywhere else with that?” Devon asked in a skillful but also obvious attempt to change the topic of conversation.
Edward shook his head. “It’s not that easy. I’m trying to mitigate all of these other factors and they’re getting in my way. Like our stupid brother attacking Diana in the middle of a freaking cemetery. What is going on with Orion? And why should I be helping the company unravel the payroll problem anyway?” This was sticking in Edward’s gut lately and he didn’t like it. “It’s not like I benefit from the thousands of hours I’m putting into this. Considering I’m salaried and not hourly I’m not even really getting paid for what I’m doing!”
“Okay. So that’s not exactly fair, but maybe it’s your job as a member of this family?”
“What?” Edward shot back bitterly. “You mean kind of like it’s my job to marry Eleni and take one for the team?”
“What do you mean?” Devon absolutely froze into a statue in his chair. It was almost like he was actually afraid to move.
“I mean that our mother is lying to us about this whole Eleni marriage thing,” Edward snapped. The more he thought about this, the more he was absolutely sure it was true. There was no other explanation! “Alaina Ariosa is draining Embry’s in-laws dry. They’ve actually gone to a financial management firm to try and discover a way to mitigate the cost of supporting Alaina because she’s mooching so heavily off their son and it’s causing them financial distress.”
“Damn.” Devon’s blue eyes were wide with surprise. “You’re sure?”
“Yes. I’m totally sure.” Edward decided there was no harm in divulging his source. “Diana is the one they went to in order to try and manage their losses. She’s now pissed as hell at me because they told her that there’s some kind of agreement between Eleni and I. Diana thinks I’ve been lying to her and playing both sides.”
Devon cracked up. His eyes crinkled at the corners and he looked as though he’d just heard the funniest thing ever. “You must be joking! They think you’re two-timing? And why would you marry Eleni anyway?”
“Eleni wants nothing to do with her mother. She doesn’t want a wealthy husband because she would just have her mother mooching for the rest of her life.”
“Oh shit!” Devon moaned. He slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. “And you’re a King without the King fortune.”
“Yeah. Thanks for that, by the way. It apparently makes me Eleni’s savior while she pretends to satisfy her mother while simultaneously making sure Aliana will get nothing.” Edward wasn’t done. “And Embry’s father-in-law, Joseph senior, just told me that our father was somewhat well known for running around and two-timing women.”
“What?”
“Right?” Edward was glad that his brother was as surprised as he was. “What was that about? Why would this man just throw that sort of verbal accusation out there unless he’d heard something or somehow had firsthand knowledge of it?”
“You know,” Devon mused very quietly. “This may seem really strange, but it’s almost like the death of Tex Johnson has been the best thing to happen to Mother and Dad. Dad died and left us all to deal with this bullshit mess, but there is absolutely no one to offer us any kind of alternate opinion for anything.”
Devon’s hand kept continually returning to his cell phone. It was sitting on his leg and he kept stroking the sides of it as though he was never without the thing. What was up with Devon? He was acting very odd and it occurred to Edward that he hadn’t really seen his second oldest brother much lately. It was almost like Devon was leading some kind of second life that took him away from the family unit—the pack—far more often than they were accustomed to.
But Edward knew exactly what Devon was getting at with his mention of Tex Johnson’s convenient demise. “Meaning that whatever truths Tex knew about Dad as his very best friend went to the grave with the man?”
“Yes.”
“I know that it wasn’t a murder—at least I know that it wasn’t meant to be one,” Devon assured Edward. “I don’t think Skye had any idea what was going on. But do you ever wonder if Mother was really a victim that day in Tex’s office to begin with?”
“Every damn day,” Edward growled. “I’m so sick and tired of this bullshit. I think Mother is a liar. I think Orion is a liar. I think Dad was probably a liar. And I wish that I could get signed confessions from them all about—well, about something.”
Devon sighed. He appeared to be having a number of thoughts. It was all very odd. His hand kept continually returning to that cell phone and Edward could not help but wonder what was really going on with his brother. “Speaking of all that inheritance bullshit, Devon. Why? I’m not saying that I really care. For the most part I don’t. I would have been willing to sell you my portion of the company or even to stand outside and be nothing more than someone who contributed to the think tank while he got a smaller cut of the profits. But you three are attempting to cut Jason and I out altogether. I don’t understand why.”
“It isn’t you,” Devon said quietly. The phone sitting on top of his leg buzzed. He flattened his hand over the top of it but did not pick the thing up to look. What the hell? But Devon wasn’t done talking though. “Did it ever occur to you that we’re trying to keep Mother out? Thanks to Tex Johnson’s untimely demise, she is his heir. And don’t even get me started on how that happened because I don’t get it. But the more we dilute our portions the less chance we have of blocking any attempts she might try to make at taking over. That is the purpose, Edward. And you might as well be the first to know that we’re cutting Zane out too.”
“To leave you and Orion in charge of things,” Edward murmured. Then he remembered a conversation with Jason and thought about that extra ten percent of the company that Big Mac King had awarded his two eldest sons as a reward and an incentive for all the work they’d done for the company. “You and Orion already had five percent each. With Dad’s share you now have thirty-five percent each.”
“And Mother only has thirty percent,” Devon finished grimly. “Yes. You’re right. Our mother is not quite as oblivious or frivolous as we might have thought she was. We have to remember that. The woman is a snake and we must treat her like one before she bites every single one of us and kills us off just because we don’t fit into her long-term plan.”
It wasn’t like this was a new revelation or something, but it was still more than a little disheartening to think that your mother was current the largest threat to your ability to lead a happy and productive life.
What am I? A greeting card? To my mother on Mother’s Day: Watch your back!
Chapter Nineteen
Diana sank as low as she could behind the cement pillar on the lowest floor of the parking garage. Her breath was coming in short pants and she put her hand over her mouth to stifle the noise. At some point she was going to have to make a run for her car. But right now there was a big freaking wolf wandering around the tiny vehicle. It kept nosing at her bumpers and sniffing her tires as though it knew the vehicle was hers. The beast had already by passed the other two compact cars still parked in the row.
The cement floor of the garage was cold. Diana gripped her bag in a bearhug against her chest and waited. She pushed her head back against the pillar. Tiny strands of her hair caught on the rough surface. The pinpricks of pain on her scalp at least seemed to help her keep it together. Maybe it was like one tiny bit of proof that she was not dreaming. This was real. There was a giant red wolf slinking around the parking garage just beneath her office building.
Wait. Red?
> Diana was suddenly trying to crane her neck around the side of the pillar without allowing herself to be seen. She needed another look. Her first impression in the garage had been that the wolf was just huge and dark. But the dappled light spilling from the outside of the parking garage through the one area that wasn’t subterranean had given her a better view of the massive creature stalking through the parking garage. Its nails click-clacked on the pavement and it snuffled and growled with irritation as it sniffed the cars. But its coat was most definitely red.
Red wolf. When the wolf had come after her in the cemetery it had been dark gray. Diana was sure of it. It had been the same wolf she’d seen in the offices at King Security Solutions, Inc. The other wolf in the office—Edward—had been pale gray, almost white. So who was this big jerk and why in the hell was he here sniffing her damn car?
Irritation bubbled up from deep inside Diana. She could not just sit like this and do nothing! But it wasn’t like she could just call animal control or something! She could not risk that sort of threat to the Kings. Not to mention people would think that she was nuts if she said that it wasn’t really a wolf. It was just a person masquerading as a wolf. Except she had no idea who this one might actually be!
Diana shoved one hand into her bag and fumbled around until she felt the tiny canister of mace. Every woman in the world these days had one on her keychain or in her bag. Maybe it was time to use it. They had a similar product that worked on bears. Right? You just had to get the spray right in its face.
Oh my God!
Her palms were sweating and she could barely hang onto the canister. It was Halloween! Why couldn’t there be a ghost or something down here? Why did it have to be the big bad wolf? At least a ghost was just angry energy. Or something like that. Diana really wasn’t into that sort of stuff.
She stood up and placed one hand on the pillar. Leaning as far around as she dared, she hoped that her heart was not making so much noise that it could be heard for miles. She sucked in a breath and held it. Finally she spotted her furry nemesis sitting in the middle of the parking garage thoroughfare as though waiting for its master to get off work.
What. The Hell?
Maybe it wasn’t vicious. Maybe she was overreacting? Diana pursed her lips. She kept her hand on the canister of mace in her purse and stepped oh so carefully out from behind the pillar. Her mouth was dry. Her heart was hammering in her chest. And she felt as though she were about to faint dead away right there on the ground.
Diana squeaked. She didn’t mean to. But the sound slipped out and the creature whipped around as though Diana had just hit it over the head. Diana exhaled and hoped that her voice was not going to come out too high pitched and nervous. Where in the hell was the parking attendant anyway? Had they left the booth unattended?
“Hel-hello?” Diana managed to say. “I-uh, I need to get to my car. Excuse me?”
The situation as a whole was absolutely ridiculous. The red wolf cocked its head to one side and turned an ear as though it were considering her request. She wondered who the animal was. Was it actually an animal and not a shifter? How bad would it suck to get bit by this creature and have to go get a rabies shot or something because Diana had thought it was actually a human? Try explaining that to the hospital!
“Please?” Diana said, her tone a little firmer. “Please move so I can leave. I don’t know who you are or what you want, but I can’t help you.”
For just one moment Diana thought the animal was actually going to speak to her. It was so odd. The eyes. The eyes were so human. And that was when she realized that she had gotten far too close to the beast. She was only an arm’s distance away! So close. Too close!
Behind Diana the elevator doors opened with a hissing noise so loud that it echoed off the cement walls like the airlock on a space ship. There was a brief second’s pause when both Diana and the wolf were distracted. The creature swung its head sideways to stare at the elevator doors. So did Diana. And then Gwen Pallister came sauntering out of the elevator and Diana almost hoped for one second that the animal was rabid, hungry, and had a taste for bitches.
“What in the hell are you still—?” Gwen’s words ended on a gasp right before she shrieked her next string of words. “What is that? Why is it here? Oh my God, call the pound!”
Gwen was not running away, which was what Diana had anticipated. Nope. Gwen was running right for the creature. She pumped her arms and waved them frantically as she stumbled along as the highest rate of speed she could manage on her totally unmanageable heels. She looked like some kind of medusa creature minus the snakes. It was absolutely bizarre.
“Shoo!” Gwen shouted. “Shoo, doggie, get out of here!”
Diana’s mouth dropped open in horror as the wolf gave Gwen a cool look of disdain and then curled his lips back before issuing a growl so fierce that it made Diana’s belly knot with fear. The noise echoed around the parking garage and seemed to expand as it rose in the animal’s throat. Soon enough there was enough power in the noise to utterly throw Diana back a few steps just to get away from it.
Gwen shrieked yet again. She fell back onto her bottom and bounced a bit. The animal lunged at her. It snapped at her ankles and grabbed the hem of her dress. The sound of ripping fabric competed with Gwen’s voice for dominance in the confines of the parking garage. It was a horrible noise.
Diana’s heart nearly stopped. She grabbed that mace and whipped it out and thumbed off the breakaway pull tab. Just before she let the thing rip Diana realized that the wolf had not broken skin. Then the stinky, sticky substance sprayed from the canister and bathed both the wolf and Gwen in its peppery, oily, painful nuisance and it was too late to notice anything else.
The animal yelped. The high-pitched noise was horrible to hear. It let go of Gwen’s ripped dress and bolted away from them. Rubbing its face on the cement, the animal did not seem interested in coming after the woman any more. It appeared to gauge the distance between them and the nearest exit and within seconds the wolf was utterly gone.
Of course, all of this was happening right underneath the bloodcurdling screams of Gwen Pallister, who was at this moment wiping at her eyes as though she were going to rip them out. Angry red streaks appeared on her face and neck. She was struggling to breathe. And the entire time she was cursing Diana as though she would have rather let the wolf rip her clothes the rest of the way off.
“Shut up!” Diana ordered Gwen. “Just shut up and stop moving. Keep your eyes closed, for heaven’s sake, and I’ll get someone here in just a minute!”
Diana finally located her phone in her bag. She pulled it out and dialed 911. “Um, yes I’d like to report an animal attack in the parking garage under my office building.” Diana rattled off the address. She could absolutely tell that the dispatcher wasn’t necessarily feeling all that helpful. It was Halloween after all. “There was a wolf!” Diana shouted into her phone. “A wolf attacked my coworker!”
That didn’t seem to help. The nasally voice on the other end of the line was nonchalant at best. “All right, ma’am, I have dispatched emergency services to your location. Their ETA is five minutes. Please be aware that Halloween is an extremely busy time of year.”
“Busy time of year? I just maced my coworker because she was being attacked by a wolf! Will you tell them to hurry up?” Diana snarled into the phone.
It felt like at this point she would have been better off letting the stupid wolf eat the rest of Gwen’s dress. It wasn’t like the designer disaster was worth keeping to begin with. And maybe the wolf was just trying to see the rest of the package.
“Ew,” Diana whispered. “Shifter perverts? Who was that anyway? It doesn’t make any sense!”
Sirens blared down the street right outside the parking garage. Gwen was moaning and cursing and talking about all of the horrible things that she was going to do to Diana in hypothetical retribution for what Diana had done to her. Those sirens went flying on past the parking garage because it was Halloween an
d this was Dallas. But finally an ambulance, two police cars, and what appeared to be an animal control vehicle all crowded their way into the garage. The ambulance actually scraped the ceiling on their way inside, so they had to stop and wait in the entrance while a pair of EMTs got out of the vehicle and ran toward Diana and Gwen.
“What happened?” An EMT with the nametag Ortiz demanded as the stretcher screamed to a stop beside Gwen.
“There was a wolf.” Diana was perfectly aware that they were all looking at her as though she were insane.”
“Ahem.” One of the officers—nametag Paulsen—was already looking skeptical. “Did you get a photo or video?”
“No!” Diana snapped. She could not believe what he was suggesting. “I didn’t stand here and video the thing trying to rip her dress off! It was a wolf. A red one. I’ve never seen a dog that big before in my life!”
Now the animal control officer was already shoving her way to the front of the pack of emergency workers. The EMT was on the ground beside Diana applying some kind of salve or something—eyewash maybe—to her face. They were all staring at Diana as though she had been the one to rip up Gwen’s dress and scratch her legs and then spray mace at her.
“Ma’am,” Officer Paulsen said grimly. “I know that it’s hard to have a problem with a coworker. You would be surprised at how often we see this sort of thing.”
“I’m sorry.” Diana could not possibly bear this for one more moment. “Are you telling me that you often see people fighting in the parking garage at work and then blaming it on wild animals? Because that is preposterous!”
They were all staring at each other. The EMTs were rolling Gwen onto the stretcher and preparing to wheel her out toward their too tall ambulance. At the last second Diana realized that her one witness was being rolled away and would likely not be willing to back up Diana’s story come morning. Great. This was about to turn into a complete disaster!
“Gwen!” Diana dashed toward the stretcher. “Gwen, tell them. Tell them who did this to you!”
Billion Dollar Wolves: Boxset Bks 1-5 Page 38
