“That’s the leader of The Organization, as far as we can tell. Dr. Mendle was pretty high up in the leadership structure, but he wasn’t the big boss. Mendle most likely ran the science and medical department.”
“You have information on the experiments he performed?”
“Yes,” Jason said, his jaw setting into a hard line. “Or we will.”
“And any of their past dealings.” There was a quiver in Christina’s voice that Luke had never heard before. He knew the whole story, of course; that Ari Stavros had established The Agency because his mate, Christina and Catherine’s mother, had been murdered by The Organization.
“So, what can I do?”
“Keep your up nightly patrols,” Christina said. “You’ve done a great job so far.”
He nodded. It wasn’t like he had anything else to do. “I’ll keep my eyes peeled. But we can’t let these bastards—”
“We won’t be sitting around, waiting for them to strike,” Jason said, his silvery eyes glowing with an inhuman light.
“We have to be careful,” Christina warned. “They can't know that we know about them. According to Nathan and Violet, Dr. Mendle said The Organization’s influence is everywhere. They even go as far as bribing the local police force in towns to hide any evidence of crimes.”
“That’s why they got away with kidnapping those shifters in Verona Mills,” Jason said.
“For now, we need to gather more information,” Christina continued. “We’re nearly ready to start operations of the Blackstone arm of The Agency. We’re using the fifteenth floor of the building as our headquarters. We’re telling everyone it’s going to be a new research agency that Stavros International and Lennox Corp. are starting. A couple of our guys will be here soon. Our main liaison from Lykos is supervising the move of the staff, then he’ll be coming to Blackstone to be part of the team.”
Hiding in plain sight. Luke had to admit it was a good idea.
“Once we have everything set up, we’ll be concentrating on finding The Organization,” Christina continued.
“But, when we do find them, we won’t be twiddling our thumbs.” Jason stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. “We need to know you’ll be with us. When the time comes.”
“You don’t even have to ask.” He wanted to get these assholes, too. For what they tried to do. For all the things they’d done.
“Good. We’re keeping things quiet,” Jason said. “Only dad, Matthew, Ari, and now you know all the details.”
They chatted for a few more minutes, with Luke reporting on the findings from his nightly patrols. When they were done, Luke stood up. “I’ll see myself out. And contact you for anything else.”
Luke left Jason’s office, his mind still on what Jason and Christina had told him. He was so preoccupied he didn’t realize Georgina was standing right in his way and he nearly ran into her.
She let out a soft shriek and toppled back. He reached out to steady her, pulling her close to his body. Her hands landing on his chest were the only thing that prevented her from pressing up fully against him. Still, she was near enough he could smell her scent. And notice her soft, luscious body. She wasn’t wearing her suit jacket and there was a hint of cleavage peeking through the top of her blouse.
Wide eyes looked up at him, and a blush spread across her cheeks. She took a step away from him. “Sorry, I was calling your name and you didn’t hear me. I didn’t want to miss you again.” The redness deepened. “Not that I miss you … or anything.”
“It’s fine.” He turned to leave, but a hand on his bicep stopped him. “Was there something else?”
“I …” She bit her lip. “So how about that thank-you dinner?”
“For what?”
“Like I said, for saving me and Grayson. I could bring him. Or not.” Her eyes went even wider, nearly engulfing her face. “I mean, I don’t know if your house is child proofed. But he’s a good kid and—”
“Anyone who was there would have done the same. Nathan and Violet did most of the rescuing anyway. I was just tagging along to keep them out of trouble.”
“Right.”
“So, no need for thanks.” He turned away from her.
“Well, okay then. Bye ….”
The disappointment in her voice was clear, even to him. His lion roared with disapproval, urging him to go back. Mine.
Abso-fucking-lutely not. This whole mate thing would end right here. He couldn’t get involved, even if she was free. She and her cub didn’t need someone like him, who was fucked up and came with a boatload of baggage. No, from now on, he would keep his distance, until she forgot all about him. And maybe someday, he too could forget about her.
Chapter Three
“Mommy, Mommy, look what I made!”
Georgina looked down at Grayson, who was holding up a sheet of paper in front of his face. “Wow, sweetie, that’s great!”
“It’s us, Mommy!” He pointed at the two figures in the middle of the drawing. It was a stick figure woman with brown hair holding the hand of a small bear cub. He drew a big red heart around it.
“You’re turning into a great artist,” she cooed. “Now, let me finish getting ready, okay? Auntie Kate’s gonna be here soon. Why don’t you draw a picture for her?”
“Okay, Mommy.” Grayson rushed out of her room.
Georgina looked at herself in the mirror for the 136th time that night and sighed. Her hair was freshly washed and blow-dried, her face made up, and the orange dress she wore was cute, despite not being expensive.
It wasn’t that she didn’t find herself attractive, but she knew she wasn't a beauty. Her eyes were too big, her hair was a mousy color, and her body … she didn’t even want to think about that. She’d always been a little chunky growing up and being pregnant hadn’t helped. Her ass and hips were too large, her tummy too flabby. At least she had decent boobs.
“Why do I even bother?”
Maybe because her ego had suffered a huge blow and even now, it made her cringe, thinking about what had happened. What had gotten into her, inviting herself to a man’s house to cook him dinner? A man she had just met. Luke Lennox was so obviously not interested in her. Even though it was weeks ago, the memory of that morning at the office made her wince again.
“Gahh!” She kicked her legs. Even now, the humiliation felt fresh. But she couldn’t blame him. He was single, handsome, and sexy as H-E-double hockey sticks. Why would he want a woman with baggage?
“Grrr!” She sat up and crossed her arms over her chest. Grayson was not baggage. He was her son and the most important thing to her. If a man couldn’t accept that, then she had no time for him. Even if he was six-and-a-half-feet of deliciousness that she wanted to lick like a lollipop.
“Stop.”
She couldn’t let her libido get the best of her. After all, she was getting her life together, and she was once again standing on her own two feet and providing for Grayson.
It had been nearly a month since she started working at Lennox Corp. The salary Matthew and Jason had offered her seemed way too generous, but they warned her that she would be working hard, so she accepted it.
And they weren’t kidding. Keeping up with their schedules and appointments was difficult at first, but she had found her stride. The work could be grueling some days, but it felt good to be doing honest work and taking home a paycheck.
They even managed to find a home to rent and moved in last weekend. It’s not that she wasn’t grateful to Matthew and Catherine, but Blackstone Castle didn’t feel like home. She had been willing to swallow her pride as long as she could, as the deposit on an apartment would take her a couple of months to save, but she couldn’t wait to have her own space.
It was a stroke of pure luck that she was having lunch with some workmates at the Lennox Corp. cafeteria when she was introduced to Wendy from accounting. Wendy was moaning about how her asshole landlord wouldn’t let her out of her lease and she couldn’t move in with her new fiancé. S
he was looking for someone to take over the remaining nine months of her contract. Georgina jumped on the opportunity without a second thought.
Wendy was only happy to sublet her cute two-bedroom house at the edge of town. She even let Georgina keep the deposit with the landlord, and pay her back in installments, plus babysitting Wendy’s seven-year-old daughter every other week so she and her fiancé could have date nights.
With the money she saved, Georgina was even able to get a decent second-hand car to bring her and Grayson to work every day. He still wasn’t able to join the other kids at the daycare, and she was only glad her bosses were nice enough to let him stay in the executive suites until he was ready or she could find other arrangements for childcare. Really, everyone in Blackstone had been kind to her. She would miss them a lot when she and Grayson had to leave.
The sound of the doorbell knocked her out of her thoughts, and Georgina got up from the bed. Smoothing her dress down, she was determined to at least have some fun while she could and forget about Luke Lennox. She grabbed her purse and headed to the living room.
“Georgina!” Kate greeted when she opened the door. She was wearing a scandalously short black tube dress and high heels. Her long, dark blonde hair with pink tips was curled in waves around her shoulders, and her nose piercing sparkled as she moved her head to inspect Georgina. “Looking good, hot momma!”
“Thanks, Kate.” The she-wolf shifter had taken it upon herself to take Georgina under her wing, helping her with everything from getting Internet set up at her house to helping her bring her car to J.D., one of the best mechanics in town, for an inspection. Tonight was Kate’s birthday and she was having a party at The Den. Though Georgina wasn’t into going out to bars, it was difficult to say no.
“Auntie Kate! Auntie Kate!” Grayson was running at full speed, barreling into Kate’s legs.
“Oh, hey Grayson!” She bent down and hugged the little boy.
Grayson held up a piece of paper. “I drawed this for you, Auntie Kate. Happy birthday.” She insisted Grayson call her that, instead of ‘Miss Kate,’ because it made her feel like, as she said, “the spinster aunt in some gothic horror romance novel.”
Kate held up the drawing and smiled. “That’s very cool, Grayson. Thanks.” It was a drawing of a wolf with brown and pink hair and a sparkly nose piercing, standing on its hind legs. “You and Penny and Ben will have a great time coloring and playing and doing all kinds of fun stuff at their cabin.”
“Go and get your things, Grayson,” Georgina said. When they were alone, she said to Kate, “Are you sure Penny and Ben don’t mind babysitting him for the night? And missing your party?”
“Nah, don’t worry! I think Penny’ll be happy to not be at The Den on her night off. Plus, Grayson’ll be good practice for when their own bear cub comes,” Kate assured her.
Knowing Ben was a bear shifter made Georgina less anxious about leaving Grayson alone for a night. Grayson was prone to uncontrollable shifts around people and kids he didn’t know but seemed to be okay around other adult shifters.
“I know you’re anxious,” Kate said. “But you deserve to enjoy yourself too, you know.”
She knew Kate was right, but this would be the first time in months she’d be away from Grayson. If she were truly honest with herself, she was probably more anxious than him. Grayson seemed almost excited by the thought of staying in a cabin in the woods, like it was some camping trip or vacation.
“You look super hot, by the way,” Kate said. “I told you that dress would look great.”
Georgina laughed nervously. “You’re too kind.”
“No, really. Curvy girls are in. I wish I had a little more ‘cushion for the pushin’.’”
She eyed Kate’s svelte figure. “You’re ridiculous, you know. You’re perfect.”
“I think I need a boob job!” She pushed her breasts together and laughed.
“Are you un ‘ployed, Auntie Kate? Like Mommy was when we came here?” Grayson asked as he came up to them, his little backpack in hand.
“What?” Kate asked.
“Because you said you need a job,” Grayson said. “Do you need money, Auntie Kate? Is that why you’re not wearing a lot of clothes? You can live with us if you need to save money, like when we lived at the castle.”
Georgina covered her face in mortification, but Kate laughed out loud. “Oh my precious little man.” She picked him up. “I hope someday I can meet a grown man just as sweet as you. But I’m doing fine, Grayson. Thank you for the offer. Now, let’s go.”
After transferring Grayson’s car seat to Kate’s car, they drove up to Ben and Penny’s cabin in the Blackstone Mountains. It was a detour from town, but Georgina could understand why they would want to live out here. It was beautiful and peaceful, plus their home was gorgeous.
“Wow!” Grayson exclaimed when they exited the car. “It’s huge!”
The “cabin” was more like a mansion—it was a two-story log structure with a large stone wraparound porch. The door opened, and Penny walked out and waved to them.
“Penny, thank you so much for offering to watch him,” Georgina said as she followed Grayson, who had rushed up to the porch ahead of her.
“It’s no trouble at all,” the pretty redhead said. “It’ll be nice to have him around.”
“Where’s Ben?” Kate asked.
“Oh, he got called back to work,” Penny explained. “But don’t worry, he’ll be right back.”
Georgina tried not to let her apprehension show. Penny was pregnant, after all, and could be feeling emotional, which was why she didn’t want to say anything else. She knew what that was like, people thinking she’d be a bad mom. Still, she couldn’t help but worry, as Grayson could be a handful. “All right, well, you have my number. Call me for anything.” She bent down and gave Grayson a hug and told him to be nice to Penny and not to break anything.
“We’ll be all right,” Penny said, ruffling Grayson’s hair. “I made mac and cheese, plus I have board games and lots of DVDs.”
“My favorite!” Grayson exclaimed. “Can we eat now, please? I’m hungry!”
Georgina laughed. Maybe she was being too paranoid. Grayson would be fine. “All right, I’ll be back by eleven. Sybil said she’d bring us home. It is a weekday, after all.”
They said their last goodbyes and soon were on their way to The Den, one of the more popular shifter bars in Blackstone. It seemed the party was already in full swing when they got there, since The Den was overflowing with people.
“Late for you own party? Really, Kate?” Sybil admonished when they walked in the door.
“Of course!” Kate said. “I’m always fashionably late. C’mon,” she hooked her arm around Georgina’s, “the party doesn’t really start until the birthday girl is here.”
Kate brought her around, introducing her to people she didn’t know and generally making sure she wasn’t alone in some corner like a wallflower. Being around the exuberant Kate could be exhausting and she was glad to find herself at a table with some familiar people, namely, Catherine and Christina Lennox, Sybil, Amelia Walker, and Dutchy Forrester.
“White wine?” Sybil offered.
“No thanks,” Georgina said. “I don’t drink much.” It had been years since she’d had alcohol.
“Shhh, don’t let Kate hear you say that,” Amelia said.
“She might think it’s a challenge,” Dutchy warned.
“She’ll have you downing tequila in no time,” Christina said in a droll voice.
“Did someone say tequila? Because I got a bottle with your names on it.” Kate said, popping up from nowhere. “I’m kidding! Christina, stop looking at me like that!” She rolled her eyes. “While I didn’t bring any booze, I did bring you Blackstone’s bravest!” She pointed to the three men who towered behind her. “They all work at the Blackstone Fire Department. Guys, you already know Christina and Catherine, but that’s Sybil, Georgina, Dutchy, and Amelia.”
“Hello ladi
es,” the tallest and burliest of the three said. He had dark wavy hair and the bluest eyes Georgina had ever seen. “I’m Will.”
“Nice to meet you,” the second one said with a wave of his hand. He had dark brown hair and an easy smile. “Eric.”
“And I’m Evan,” the youngest of them said. He had a boyish, clean-shaven face and light blond hair.
“Sorry, I guess I didn’t bring enough guys,” Kate said, giving meaningful glances at the four single ladies in the group.
“There’s enough of us to go around,” Eric said as he winked at Sybil. “I can double up if needed.” Sybil rolled her eyes.
Amelia gave a laugh that sounded forced. “I think I see an old high school friend. I should go say hi to her.” She slammed back what remained of her wine and walked away. Sybil gave Kate a warning look.
“We’re just here to celebrate Kate’s birthday,” Will said, with a warning glance at Eric. “We don’t have any bad intentions, ladies. How about we get you girls your poison of choice?” He nodded to the bar where the row of people was already three deep.
“That would be great,” Georgina said. “Just cola for me, please.”
The three men took the rest of their orders and walked off to the bar to get their drinks.
“Seriously, Kate?” Sybil said. “Firemen?”
“That’s perfect for you, right?” Kate said with a snort. “Don’t you think they’re cute, Dutchy? Georgina?”
“Uh, sure?” Dutchy said.
“And Amelia!” Sybil admonished. “She’s not ready. You know it.”
“She can’t mope around in Messina Springs forever because some loser broke her heart.” Kate placed her elbows on the table and planted her chin on her palms. “I just want her to move back to Blackstone so we can all be together again, like when we were kids.” She shrugged and downed Sybil’s wine. “Stay away from Eric, but that Evan is a seriously nice guy.”
Sybil sighed. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. When he finds out who I am and what I am, it won’t matter. He’ll run the other direction, just like every boy I grew up with around here. Maybe what I need to do is move away, like Amelia.”
The Blackstone Lion: Blackstone Mountain Book 5 Page 4
