by Faith Gibson
“What’s your good news?” the little girl asked, looking up at Frey again.
“I have a beautiful new girlfriend.”
“Are you gonna get married? My momma’s not married. She just has lots of boyfriends.” Frey didn’t miss the way Abbi’s back stiffened when Amelia asked her question.
“Let’s go, Amelia.” The woman was no longer smirking.
“I sure hope so,” Frey told the girl, smiling.
“I said let’s go.” The woman grabbed her daughter’s hand and practically dragged her away.
Amelia turned back and yelled, “I love you, Miss Quinn!”
Abbi called after the girl, “I love you too, Sweet Pea.” She didn’t move until they were out of sight. When they were out the door, Abbi’s shoulders sagged.
“I’m sorry,” Frey whispered. He could feel the torment rolling off his mate.
Abbi scowled at him and huffed out a laugh. “It had to be her. Of all people to run into, it had to be her.”
A salesman approached, interrupting, “Sir, are you ready to check out?”
“Yes, I’ll be right there.” The man walked off, and Frey asked Abbi, “Her, who?”
“Debbie Cranston. I bet she’s already on the phone to Troy. She’s been trying to get him ever since high school.”
“Then you should be glad it was her and not somebody else. He already knows we’re together.”
“Still, it proves my point about being seen in public.” Abbi wrapped her arms around her waist.
“You were right, and I’m sorry. Let’s go pay for the goal and get out of here. I promise I won’t let this happen again.” Frey was afraid of what this would do to the headway he’d made with her. He grabbed a basketball off the display and headed toward the cash registers. Once he’d paid, he pulled the truck to the front door so the salesman could load their purchase. Frey searched the parking lot for any sign of Amelia and her mother. When the coast was clear, he opened the passenger door and helped Abbi in.
She was quiet on the ride home, and he let her be. He’d apologized, but he didn’t know if it was enough. When they arrived at his gate, he rolled down the window, spoke a prayer to the gods in Italian, and rolled the window back up. This time, she didn’t ask him to translate. Frey parked in front of the garage and got out of the truck. Abbi let herself out, jumping down without his assistance. He hauled the box out of the back of the truck and decided to go ahead and put the frame together. He needed something to do while he gave Abbi time to think, or cool off, or whatever it was she needed to do.
Lorenzo appeared a few minutes later. “Need some help?” He grabbed the instructions and started reading over them.
“Yeah, thanks. How’s Matt?” Frey asked, walking back from the garage with the tools he needed.
“Okay, I guess. He’s still in pain, but that’ll go away with time. Hand me the wrench. Abbi looked upset…”
“I screwed up. One of her student’s mother saw us in the store together. And when I say together, I was swinging her around making her laugh. The worst part is the woman has obviously been after Quinn since high school. Do you have section C?”
They talked while working, and in no time, they had the frame and goal put together. Lorenzo rolled it over to the side of the garage facing the house while Frey retrieved the new ball out of Deacon’s truck. “Oh, shit. I forgot about the food. Here, give me a hand.” They got the food out of the back seat and took it in the house. Abbi was nowhere to be seen. Frey stuck his head in the gym and checked on Matt who was still asleep. Once the food was put away, the men headed back outside.
It had been a few years since Frey had played basketball, but it didn’t take long to get into a rhythm. He and Lor were pretty evenly matched. After a while, the sound of two bikes rumbled down the driveway. Deacon and Mason rolled up to the garage and parked. “When did you get this?” Deacon asked, sliding off the Harley.
“Today. I bought it for Matt,” Frey said, throwing the ball to Mason. “You’re on my team,” Frey told the young Goyle. Dressed in jeans and leather boots, the four of them played and laughed, basically forgetting their worries for a while.
“Hey, when did you get that?” Matt was slowly making his way toward them. All four of the Goyles walked to Matt so he didn’t have to exert himself.
“I picked it up on the way home. I know you’re hurting now, but soon you’ll be out here showing us how to play.”
“Yeah, right. The four of you are fast. Crazy fast. And good. Even if I wasn’t injured, there’s no way I’d get in there with you guys.”
Frey laughed, but he thought back to the game. Had Matt seen them use their shifter speed? When they were home, they didn’t worry about holding back. It was possible they’d gotten caught up in the moment and forgot they had humans around. Frey reached out for Abbi, sensing where she was inside. Like a beacon, her body called to his, alerting him to her staring out the window. He looked up, and their eyes met. Her elbow was on the window sill, and her chin rested on her hand. She appeared comfortable, like she’d been there a while. Had she seen something he would need to explain? Returning his attention to her brother, he asked, “Are you hungry? We brought food back from my cousin’s house.”
“Starving. I think I need a new babysitter. This one didn’t feed me,” Matt said pointing at Lorenzo. “As a matter of fact, I think he snored the whole time you were gone.”
Lorenzo mussed his hair. “You better be glad you’re injured.”
The four men laughed and Matt smiled. “Abbi was right; all your friends are Amazons.”
“What’s the plan for tomorrow? Are we still training?” Deacon asked Frey.
“Yes, Mason can cover the gym while Uri is at Dante’s. Jas needs to lay low. He can stay here with Matt.”
“Sounds good, Brother. Matt, take it easy, and we’ll see you soon.” Deacon, Mason, and Lorenzo took turns giving Frey man hugs and gently bumping fists with Matt. Deacon climbed in his truck while Mason and Lorenzo straddled their bikes. When they were out of sight, Matthew said, “You’re not human. What are you?”
Troy called George every fifteen minutes for an update. The unmarked car was still sitting down from his house. Did they think he was stupid? That he didn’t know what a fucking stakeout looked like? He was listening to the scanner, and there was still no mention of him. Good, the kid kept his fucking mouth shut. George was getting antsy, because he was supposed to go see Debbie again. The last time Troy called, George told him he was going to take his truck and go get laid.
While he was trying to figure out how to get another vehicle, his phone rang. He frowned when he saw who it was. “Grady, I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
“I just thought you might wanna know that the queer is in trouble. Seems him and his boyfriend had a little lover’s quarrel.”
“So what if they fought?”
“His fag friend is dead. I was the first one on the scene, and I found a video camera under the seat. Showed Jenkins pushing the other guy, really fucking hard. Practically threw him across the parking lot. Didn’t know pansies were that fucking strong. Anyway, just thought you might like to hear about it before your shift tomorrow.”
“Yeah, thanks. Hey, while I got you on the line, I need a favor…”
Chapter Thirty-One
Abbi was ashamed of herself for running from Frey, running from her feelings. She’d passed Lorenzo on her way in the house and stopped to ask how Matt was. She then shut herself in her room to work on the festival, only her pad was downstairs. Frey and Lorenzo brought the food in from the truck. She waited until they were back outside before she tiptoed downstairs to grab her notebook. Matt was still asleep, so she went back upstairs and attempted to put some dance steps down on paper.
Her attempt to concentrate was futile knowing Frey was outside working on something he’d bought for Matthew. Her mind was on the man and not dancing. She lay down across the bed and closed her eyes. She hummed the tune to The Sugarplum
Fairy while envisioning the steps the little kids could do. Her mind floated back a few days to the community center when Frey saw her dancing. The tears in his eyes had been real. If he could feel something from watching her dance, it was possible he could feel something more. She wanted him to feel more. Wanted his words to be the truth.
The sound of motorcycles had Abbi walking down the hall to the bedroom that looked out over the driveway. Frey had the basketball goal mounted on the stand, and he and Lorenzo were playing. Deacon had brought Frey’s bike back to him, and Mason was with him. They talked and laughed for a bit before the four of them began playing. Abbi propped up on her hand and sat mesmerized at the four huge men. She had never seen so much testosterone in one place. These Amazons were all dressed like bikers, yet they were playing ball like professionals.
Abbi drank in the gorgeous men. All four of them were built with muscles rippling everywhere. Mason wasn’t as developed as the other three, but he was no slouch. The speed with which they moved was astounding. At one point, Mason leapt from several feet away, dunking the ball. Abbi gasped. How is that possible?
The game went on until Matthew headed their way. The men included Matt in their circle, laughing and joking with him. The smile on her brother’s face warmed her heart. It had been too long since he’d had any type of positive reinforcement from a man in his life. Frey had promised he would be that man for Matt. As if he knew she was thinking about him, Frey’s eyes found Abbi’s. She returned his gaze hoping to convey a little of what her heart was feeling. When he looked away, she decided to heat up the food Priscilla sent home with them. Home. Abbi had to stop thinking of Frey’s house as home. By the time she reached the first floor, the motorcycles had started up and were rumbling down the driveway. Abbi reached the window in time to see Deacon’s taillights fading.
Abbi took the food out of the refrigerator and set about heating it up. When Matt and Frey didn’t immediately come in the house, she went to check on them. Neither one of them looked happy, but Abbi knew whatever it was needed to be handled between the two of them.
At first, Frey thought Matthew was kidding. When Matthew put his hands on his hips and asked, “Well?” Frey realized the teen had seen them using their shifter speed. “There’s no way someone can leap flatfooted from that far off and dunk a ball.”
“Matt, you’re on pain medicine. He didn’t jump that far.”
Matt threw his hands in the air and hissed from the pain. “You know what? Fucking forget it. I’ve been lied to my whole life. Why should now be any different?”
Godsdamnit! This was all on Frey. Why hadn’t he remembered there were humans around? Fuck! “Matt, stop. What do you want me to say? That the guys and I are these shapeshifters with superpowers? That what you saw was real? Would you actually believe something as crazy as that?”
“If it’s the truth, yes. I’ve read about the Unholy. They teach us about ‘em in Biology and warn us to stay away from them. If some crazy man can build an army of hybrids who are bad, why can’t there be hybrids who are good?”
“They teach about the Unholy?” Frey needed to talk to Abbi about that, find out what exactly was being said.
“Yeah, they do. So, is Abbi right about you being an Amazon?”
Frey ran his hands through his short hair and sighed. Rafael was going to kill him.
“No, I’m not an Amazon.”
“Fine. Forget it.” Matt turned toward the house.
“I didn’t say I’m not different, I just said I’m not an Amazon. That’s not even a real thing. It’s something Abbi made up.”
“Then what exactly are you?” Matt had his hands on his hips, waiting for the truth.
“Let’s just say I’m part of a secret society that was put here to protect humans. We…” Frey’s phone rang interrupting.
“Jasper, what’s up?” Frey listened while watching Matthew’s face for any sign of disbelief or disgust. “I’m sure Matt would love to play video games. I think Lor was kind of boring. Come on when you’re ready.” Frey put his phone in his pocket. “Jasper wants to spend the night. I hope you don’t mind. He’s going through a tough time and doesn’t want to be alone.”
“I know how he feels. Now, you were saying?”
“Supper’s ready,” Abbi yelled out the back door.
“Coming,” Frey responded, hoping to table this conversation for later.
“So, what you’re saying is you are protecting me because it’s your duty?”
“No. I’m protecting you because I lo…care about you. A lot.”
“Okay, but if you aren’t human, what are you?”
“It will be easier to show you than to tell you, but not tonight. I need to talk to someone first. When I get the go ahead, I’ll show you. I promise. Just please, Son, don’t say anything.”
“If you promise then I promise.”
“I do. Now, let’s not keep your sister waiting.”
Dane knew it was futile, but he drove to Abbi’s house anyway. Before he got there, Vaughn called him to let him know Troy was leaving in his truck. Dane instructed him to follow the man and report back when he stopped somewhere. If Frey was correct, it wasn’t Troy leaving but George. Dane continued on to Abbi’s to see if anyone was there.
Coming up empty, he decided to stop in the coffee shop where Marley worked. He would wait there for Vaughn to call in. Dane didn’t know Marley’s schedule, didn’t know anything about her other than she was pretty in a girl next door kind of way. Dane wanted to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was his mate. She wasn’t really his type, but if the fates had chosen her, they must have had a good reason.
As he was walking to the door, he saw Marley through the window. He paused to watch her work without her knowing he was there. She had a weary smile on her face, but a smile nonetheless. She was taking an order from a man who had his back to Dane. The customer said something to Marley, and she did not look happy. Dane entered the coffee shop just as the man reached out and grabbed Marley’s wrist. Dane’s beast was ready to tear the man apart. There was no doubt she was his mate at that point.
Marley tried to pull out of the man’s grasp, but he was too strong. “Let go of her,” Dane thundered as he entered the shop. The man dropped Marley’s arm and stood, turning around to face Dane.
“Mind your own fucking business,” the man seethed as he stood toe to toe with Dane.
“Are you okay?” Dane asked Marley, whose eyes were wide. She didn’t answer, only nodded. Dane stepped back from the man who clearly had no regard for someone else’s space. “I think you should leave.”
“Like I said, mind your own business.” The man pushed Dane, but Dane didn’t budge. His shifter strength allowed him to keep his feet firmly planted.
“She is my business.” Dane pushed his Henley out of the way to expose the badge he had attached to his blue jeans. “Now, we can do this the easy way, which is you leaving, or we can do it my way, and that ends up with you downtown. What’s it going to be?”
The man shoved his way past Dane as he chose the easy way. The other customers clapped and cheered. Dane sat in the vacated seat and ran his hand down his face. He felt Marley standing next to him before she said, “Thank you.”
Dane almost said just doing my job, but she was more than a job. He smiled and replied, “You’re welcome. Are you really okay? Did he hurt you?”
She held out her arm for him to observe. “I might have a bruise tomorrow, but it’s all right.”
Dane softly gripped her arm, turning it over to see there was no immediate injury. Her skin was soft under his fingers, and his body was humming from the contact. He found himself rubbing her wrist with his thumb. He removed his hand, placing it in his lap to hide the erection growing in his jeans. “Did you know him? Has he given you trouble before?” Dane didn’t want to think of other men putting their hands on her, even if they weren’t hurting her.
“No, there are just some men who won’t take no for an answer. Would
you like your usual?”
“Yes, please.” When she turned to put in his order, Dane adjusted himself as discreetly as possible. His eyes followed Marley all around the little shop as she waited on other customers. Most were minding their own business, but some were being sympathetic to the incident. Dane wanted them all to hush so she would get back to his table. He wanted to ask her out, take her on a date, and get to know her. The timing was shit, though. He would be taking over as Police Chief the next day, and his responsibilities would increase greatly. He didn’t have time to date now, and he’d have even less in the future.
His cell phone rang drawing his attention away from the pretty brunette. “Abbott. Give me the address. Got it, on my way.” Troy’s truck had been spotted. This just proved his point. If he didn’t have time for a cup of coffee, how could he take her out?
“Marley, I’m going to need that to go.” She returned with his latte in a to-go cup instead of the ceramic mug. He held out twenty folded up around his business card. When she held her hand out, he placed the money in her palm, holding her hand at the same time. “If you have any more trouble, call me.” Dane could feel the pull between them. He really didn’t understand how he could be so in tune with her body, so conscious of where she was in the café at every moment, so attracted to her when he normally preferred petite redheads.
Marley whispered, “Okay,” and slid her hand out of his, putting the twenty in her apron pocket.
“Okay.” Dane picked up his latte and left to do his job.
The address Dane was given led him to a row of rundown houses not far from Troy’s. The house was deeded to Margaret Cranston, but the odd thing was, she was deceased. It was possible a relative lived there. Dane was about to find out. He parked behind Troy’s truck, blocking it in the driveway. He preferred to have Jasper as back-up, but the Goyle was on his way to Frey’s. Dane hadn’t worked with Vaughn often, but knew him to be solid. They approached the house together, and Dane knocked on the door.
