by E A Price
Antonio winced. Yeah, his mother was the sweetest woman imaginable, but she could be pretty damn steely when she needed to be. Hester, on the other hand, he knew, without doubt, would go ballistic if someone attempted that.
“I sent David and Manny to follow them and make sure they were safe.”
Roberto looked down pointedly to where Antonio had his hands bunched in his shirt and was trying to lift him off his feet. Antonio hadn’t even realized he had done it, and grudgingly, he let his prime go. Though, he still wasn’t happy. He had a flickering worry that Hester might try and make a run for it, but he doubted she would; if she really wanted to try and escape she would have done so on her first day. Her cavorting from the edge of her window naked was a half-hearted escape at best. If she wanted, she could have slipped out at night, and no one would have been the wiser. It was why he spent most of her first night in his jaguar form patrolling around the guest house – just in case. Since then, he had started to trust her not to run. Yep, now he only spent a little of his time patrolling around the guesthouse at night mostly to keep her safe and partly because he was hornier than a teenager and eager for any glimpse of her undressing.
No, all his worry for her leaving the compound was about the danger she may or may not be in. If it was the clowns from Vertigo trying to scare them, they might see two females as easy prey. But, David and Manny were Roberto’s enforcers – good guys who looked like walking slabs of muscle. They wouldn’t let anything happen to his mate or mother, but he didn’t feel happy about it. Wouldn’t unless he was with them himself. But if he were with them he wouldn’t have allowed them to leave in the first place.
Roberto growled impatiently. “They’ll be fine. We going or what?”
Antonio nodded and growled. Yeah, he didn’t like the two most important women in his life being out there, but the sooner they put the shooting to rest the better. Besides, who knew what else Vertigo had up their sleeves. Better to nip their plans in the bud.
*
“I just need to make one stop, and then I thought we’d go to the steakhouse for lunch,” said Maria as she pulled her small car into a parking spot. “They do an amazing banana cream pie for dessert, and I know how shifters like their meat.”
Hester considered whether she should make a tasteless joke about that, but then reconsidered given her audience. While Maria was very nice, she was Hester’s kind-of-almost (though not actually her boyfriend) boyfriend’s mother.
“Sounds good,” she agreed. Both her stomach and her beast chirruped in agreement. Ugh, she was going to return to Los Lobos fifty pounds heavier – she could feel it. There was something about the mountain air that just made food taste so good.
Hester narrowed her eyes as she glanced in the mirror and caught sight of the red SUV pulling to a stop behind them. The car had been behind them for most of the half hour journey to town.
Maria caught her stare and saw the way her lip was curling and her fangs lengthening. “Don’t worry, dear. If I had to guess without going over there, I’d say that was David and Manny.”
“Who?”
“Roberto’s enforcers.”
“Wait, are you saying Roberto sent them to follow us?”
Maria nodded, completely unfazed.
“The asshole!” snarled Hester. Her beast agreed, though why she wasn’t quite sure.
“Since Roberto let us go without a fight, I had to figure he would send some protection for us. Don’t worry; they’re good boys and they’ll leave us alone.”
“But, it’s… it’s… an invasion of our privacy!” Hester finished triumphantly, however she would be hard pressed to find an objection to the enforcers simply following them around. It wasn’t like she was James Bond and doing something super-secret or exciting.
Maria shook her head and pulled out a hand mirror. She started primping her hair. “He’s just being extra cautious because of the shooting. I’d expect nothing less. I’m sure if Antonio knew what we were planning, he’d have tried to make us stay in the compound.”
“He could try,” muttered Hester. Though, he had been pretty darn good at keeping her there already.
Maria wasn’t paying attention, no she was hastily applying some lipstick, and a second later, Hester knew the reason for it.
They were near to a fresh produce stand, that appeared to sell a myriad of fruit, vegetables and baked goods, and standing next to it was a giant of a man with an affable expression, on an albeit square head. His face lit up when he noticed Maria’s car. He turned and said a few words to a tall teenage girl and hurried over to them. Maria quickly got out, and Hester followed, not wanting to miss this.
“Maria!” exclaimed the male, and Hester noticed that Maria blushed slightly.
Oh ho! Her sort-of (though not actually her mother-in-law), mother-in-law, had a crush!
Her cheetah gave an experimental sniff, and unsurprisingly, given his size, the male was a bear shifter. They were built huge, and square heads were usually a given. Hester always thought it was brave of human women to mate with bear shifters – giving birth to those huge heads could not be easy.
“Roman,” murmured Maria, “how are you?”
The bear shifter looked slightly bashful as he answered that he was fine and Hester almost snorted. It was as painful as watching teenagers flirting.
“I made some more honey buns,” said Maria brightly.
His face creased. “My favorite.”
The pleasure in her expression was immense. Hester was loath to interrupt but… she let out a small cough. Maria immediately glanced at Hester and reddened even more.
“Oh! Roman, this is Hester. She’s mating my eldest son.”
“Ah, well, actually…”
Roman stuck out a huge, dinner plate-like hand and damn near shook her arm off. He gave her the same experimental sniff she had given him, and he looked mildly interested.
“Cheetah?”
Hester nodded. “Bear.”
“Human,” put in Maria slightly nervously, before clearing her throat. “I make baked goods, and Roman sells them on his stall,” she explained to Hester.
“Dear lord,” exclaimed Hester glancing at the sturdy stall that had more than a few tourists around it. “I’m surprised you’re not mobbed on a daily basis. This woman’s cooking is insane.”
Roman boomed out a laugh as Maria shyly tried to stammer out a protestation.
“You’re absolutely right,” agreed Roman. “I nearly did have a mob yesterday when we ran out of cinnamon and pumpkin rolls.”
“You’re too kind,” murmured Maria.
“Not at all,” he said with feeling, smiling at Maria.
“Roman runs the stall with his family,” Maria told Hester.
“My son and daughter when they’re not in school.”
Maria waved at the teenage girl who easily topped six feet. The girl waved back before returning to a grinning idiot of a customer who was clearly ogling her long legs. Roman noticed and snarled in disapproval – a sound that evidently the man heard, or at least his wife did because he was soon being dragged away.
“The cakes are in my trunk,” said Maria, moving to get them.
“Allow me,” rumbled Roman, placing a meaty hand on her shoulder. They had another little moment while they smiled at one another. Hester stopped it again, this time unintentionally as her stomach grumbled.
The huge bear made quick work of unloading everything, and Maria said goodbye. He looked a little crestfallen that she was leaving but perked up when she told him she would return the following day.
He gave them a hearty wave as they drove on through town, with the red SUV following, naturally.
“He likes you!” crowed Hester as soon as humanly possible. “Romantic styles!” She waggled her eyebrows for effect, but it was probably lost on Maria as she concentrated on the road.
“Don’t be absurd,” said Maria. “He’s over ten years younger than me.”
Hester shrugged. He didn�
�t look older than early forties, but Maria was a very attractive woman. They wouldn’t look out of place as a couple. She had soft, pretty features, while he was ruggedly handsome – they’d look good together.
“You can’t be sure of the age difference.”
Maria shook her head. “I just turned fifty, and he’s only thirty-nine.”
“How do you know that?”
“I… I asked his daughter,” Maria admitted uneasily.
“Aha! So you are interested!” snickered Hester and her beast.
“Not in the least!”
“Is he divorced or what? I didn’t spy a wedding ring tan line, but most shifters who form matings don’t bother with them. Then again, I didn’t spot a bonding mark on his neck either and…”
“He had a mate, but she left him many years ago. Honestly, we’re just friends. So please, just drop it,” said Maria hurriedly.
“Sure.”
Maria seemed to sag with relief. Hester did drop it, for the moment, but this wasn’t a topic that was going to stay dropped for long. According to Antonio, his father died when he was a kid. He wasn’t specific, but Hester imagined that was about twenty years ago at least. That was a long time to be alone. Few people really had the fortitude to be alone, and Maria seemed like someone who liked being surrounded by family. What would be better than a huge new mate and his two huge teenage kids to feed?
It was evident by the way Roman virtually panted after her that he wanted Maria – age difference or no age difference, there was a male who was utterly smitten. Whether Maria wanted to admit it or not, she was definitely into him as well.
Hester looked out the window, absently admiring the lovely town, as she started planning on how she was going to get the two of them together. She wondered whether Antonio would have any objections.
They passed the truck so quickly that she couldn’t be sure, but she could swear that she saw Daniel having what appeared to be a heated argument with someone inside it. At least his arms were waving around a lot. Wasn’t Daniel supposed to be out at a rental property that day, doing some maintenance work? She didn’t exactly get a good look at the other person in the vehicle, but the large V-shaped logo on the side of it looked kind of familiar. What was he up to?
Nineteen
Roberto and Antonio strode into the temporary offices of Vertigo. The company had set up shop a couple of towns over – between the jaguar leap and the lion pride – renting some offices in what used to be the town library. Not many people around there were especially interested in reading.
A young, curvy secretary looked up at them, flashing a thousand watt smile and thrusting out her barely covered chest. Little wonder why she was hired – to distract the male clientele.
If they weren’t so mad and Antonio already enamored by his cheetah shifter – who was currently off somewhere with his mother who was ignoring his text messages – grrr, they might have been slightly distracted.
“May I help you gentleman?” she asked in a breathy voice.
Roberto curled his upper lip, growling, and the small sound made her fidget uneasily.
“Where’s Draper?” demanded Roberto.
Her smile fixed on her face, but unlike her original expression, this wasn’t genuine – she had to force it there. Under the penetrating glare of the prime and his nephew, a small bead of sweat formed on her forehead. “Mr. Draper is out of the office for the rest of the day,” she lied.
Draper was in charge of the resort project. He had been the one to approach Roberto about selling their land. The one who had sneered at them, looked at them like they were no better than animals. Yeah, they’d met humans like him before, but none of them had demanded the leap sell them their land.
Antonio smiled back at the young woman, disarming her slightly for a moment, easing her and making her smile genuine again, at least temporarily. “Strange that,” he purred, tapping his chin.
The secretary cocked her head to one side, questioningly.
“Because we can scent him in this building.” Antonio took an exaggerated sniff and allowed his eyes to flash yellow.
Her smile dropped, and sweat peppered her face, turning her layers of make-up blotchy.
Roberto strode past her desk and flung the door open to Draper’s office. They found him lounging in his chair, one foot on his desk while he played with an iPad.
“Ah,” the secretary flushed.
Antonio gave her a wink. “I guess he must have climbed back in through the window.”
Draper looked up lazily as Roberto and Antonio planted themselves in front of his desk. The man was small, little more than about five-foot-two, but he made up for it with attitude. He wasn’t easily scared, and the hulking presence of two jaguar shifters didn’t worry him in the least.
“Did we have an appointment?” he asked smugly, his gaze wandering back to his iPad. He appeared to be playing chess.
“Shall I call security?” asked the secretary, hovering in the doorway.
Draper sneered. “No, it hardly seems worth it for a couple of stray cats.”
When Draper visited the leap, he brought two enormous human bodyguards with him – enormous by human standards. They might have been as big as an average jaguar shifter, but they wouldn’t last five seconds in a fight with one. Though, they were more than happy to flash the guns they wore strapped to their hips at everyone. The men were merely a show of power by Draper, trying to either impress or intimidate the jaguars.
The secretary filtered away, and Roberto leaned forward, both fists on the desk as he glared at Draper with yellow eyes.
“Stay away from my people,” he snarled.
Draper let out an almost musical laugh. “Trust me; nothing could make me want to get anywhere near your people. I’d be afraid of catching fleas.”
“You’ll never get our land.”
Draper’s lips twitched slightly as if he was holding back a smirk. “Is that it? Is that what you came all the way down here, dragging your knuckles, for? To warn me away from your people?”
“You want us out,” said Antonio, fairly mildly considering the anger stirring deep within his beast. “But it’s not going to happen.”
“Of course,” oozed Draper, shutting off the iPad and beaming at them.
“If I find out you tried to hurt any of my people…” Roberto let the words hang in the air, but he plucked the iPad out of Draper’s hands, and with one meaty paw, crushed it.
Draper’s eyes flickered with hatred, but that was quickly doused. “A pleasure as always gentlemen,” he crooned as they turned to leave.
The secretary let out a long breath of relief as they left, and they walked back to their truck in silence. Antonio’s jaguar growled uneasily. On the plus side, there hadn’t been any fighting, the local police chief hadn’t been called, and no one was going home with any wounds. However, there hadn’t been any fighting…
Draper had been a bit too complacent, a little too self-satisfied. When they had visited him in his office before, because one of his security guys had tried to get handsy with a leap female, he had called security immediately. He wouldn’t even talk to them. But today, he had been all slime and smugness. Which made Antonio think he was hiding something and had wanted to lord his secret over them, to enjoy his own little private joke.
“He’s hiding something,” groused Roberto, echoing Antonio’s thoughts.
“Yes.”
Roberto growled and started driving home.
Antonio pulled out his phone, checking for messages from his mother. There were none, and his jaguar flicked his tail impatiently.
*
Hester cackled with laughter as she scrolled through the text messages on Maria’s phone and quickly deleted them.
“Teach you to take my phone away from me, douche bag.”
Naturally, when Antonio kidnapped her, he had taken away her phone. She wouldn’t exactly say her whole life was on her phone, but… well, yeah, her whole life was on her phone. E-
mails, contacts, messages – she needed her phone and being away from it felt unnatural. How she ever got by before it she had no idea.
So when Maria went to the bathroom and left her phone on the table, Hester might have picked it up and took a quick look at the thing. It wasn’t like she was calling for help or anything – she was still honoring the promise she made Antonio. She just wanted to hold the phone, to make her withdrawal symptoms abate a little.
But then a message had popped up from Antonio. ‘Where are you?’
Then another. ‘Seriously, Mom, where are you?’
Then another. ‘Are you both okay?’
Numerous more followed. When she glanced up, she noticed Maria talking to Roman, her bear friend, and Hester realized she had a little time.
She gleefully read message after message as it arrived until the last. ‘Tell me you’re not dead!’
Boy, he really sounded like he was worried - hence the deleting of all the messages. A little mean maybe, but all was fair in love and kidnapping. Let him worry. Her inner cheetah huffed at her, and Hester gave her a mental raspberry.
She managed to get the phone back in its spot before Maria made it back to the table. The older woman’s cheeks were a little flushed, and a small smile graced her lips.
“Roman again?” teased Hester.
Maria’s face dropped. “Oh, you saw – you know he just came in to pick up something to eat. He has a standing lunch order; I had no idea he’d be here!” Her cheeks flamed with embarrassed denial.
“Ummm hmmm.”
“There’s nothing going on between us,” she said adamantly.
“He wants something to be going on.”
“No, I would know…”
“So you already know that he was checking out your butt as you walked away?”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” hissed Maria, before leaning forward. “Was he?”
Hester chuckled, and Maria twisted her napkin in her hands. “I’ve only ever been with my mate, and I haven’t even held hands with a guy since he died. I’ve no idea about any of this dating stuff.”
“Well, when your courtship consists of a guy abducting you, I’m not surprised.”
