Extravagantly Loved [Werewolves of Hanson Mall 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Cara Adams

But Janet just smiled at them both. Hal got the distinct impression that Mr. Abbott—or whatever his name might be—was about to get a real shock when he met the woman who’d discovered fraud in his company.

  Hal was wearing his uncle’s suit because it was bigger than his father’s. It looked fine when he stood up straight but it didn’t button properly across his chest so he had to leave it hanging open. Maybe they’d think it was to show he wasn’t wearing a weapon. That’s what he hoped anyway.

  Janet looked stunning. He’d expected her to be wearing a black suit, or maybe navy blue or dark brown, but probably black. Instead she was wearing tomato red with chunky gold bracelets on both wrists, long dangling gold earrings, a heavy gold chain around her neck, and several large gold rings.

  She’d also painted her nails the same color as her suit and the shoes she was wearing were the same red as well. Her only concession to normality was the prim white shirt she wore under the suit jacket, and not much of that was visible anyway.

  When she emerged from the bedroom and saw them both staring at her she smiled. “It throws people off-balance. It works every time.”

  Hal nodded with understanding. “So right from the start they’re off-balance and you’re in control, and that’s the way you like to conduct the meeting.”

  This time she gave him one her beautiful smiles. “Exactly. You’re very clever to work that out.”

  Hal thought most men were probably too busy trying to control their unruly dicks when they saw her in that outfit to think about business. And that was amazing because the skirt fell below her knees. It wasn’t like she was flashing them her flesh. It was all about the power of her personality. And her intelligence.

  They arrived at the building at five to ten, Janet leading the two men into the company offices. She showed her ID to the security guard at the front counter and he instantly called a young man across to escort them upstairs.

  “You’re expected, ma’am,” the young man said, carefully not looking at him or Berian. Hal wondered what he thought they were. Likely not interns.

  He and Berian had discussed how they’d act in the meeting unless Janet gave them other instructions, and they’d decided to go for power. It matched her suit as well, which made him feel a little more confident. He’d never been in a meeting like this before. The upper stratosphere of corporate business was a foreign land to him. So when Janet took her seat at the conference table, Hal stood a few paces behind her, legs spread, arms folded across his chest. That hid the fact his suit wouldn’t button up as well, so it was a double bonus. Berian stood near the door in a similar posture.

  After a few minutes of polite chatter, Janet gave her report in concise, yet brutally accurate language.

  Abbott sank back into his chair clutching his chest, but Hal thought it was an act. He didn’t look pale and clammy as if he really was about to have a heart attack.

  The CFO, which Hal hadn’t even known meant Chief Financial Officer until Janet had explained it to him, turned to him and asked, “So who are you men? FBI? CIA? Department of Homeland Security? IRS?”

  Hal kept a bland look on his face and his mouth shut. He was pretty sure saying “werewolves” would not go down well.

  “They’re with me. The real question is, what are you going to do about your executive?”

  “I don’t know. If we speak to him he’ll run away with our money and we’ll never get it back.” Mr. Abbott sounded almost as if he was about to burst into tears.

  “If I solve this problem for you my company gets an extra payment of ten percent of the recovered funds, and I get a further five percent,” Janet said.

  Five percent of a million dollars. That’s a lot of money but it’s fair. She’s done a hell of a lot of work to find it.

  Mr. Abbott looked like he might complain but the CFO said instantly, “It’s a deal.”

  Janet opened the folder in front of her on the table and said, “Sign here.”

  Once again Hal had to work hard to keep his face bland. She was miles ahead of him in the way she’d thought through every issue. He should have guessed she’d already figured out how to get the money back as well.

  The men signed and then Janet took another sheet of paper out of her folder. “Call your bank manager and do this. Insist he call you back when it’s done.”

  The CFO read through the sheet and said, “That’s all?”

  “It should work but it’ll need both your signatures. What your criminal forgot was that it’s a company account he’s using, and together you can overrule any of your staff’s personal decisions.”

  There was dead silence in the room for a long moment, and then the CFO pulled out his cell phone and began talking. Less than half an hour later his phone beeped and he scrolled though smiling. “The money will be in your account before your airplane lands this afternoon, Ms. Young. It’s been a great pleasure doing business with you.”

  * * * *

  After all the drama of the morning, and seeing they were all dressed in fine clothes, Berian insisted they have lunch at one of the most expensive restaurants in town. Over a glass of wine he and Hal held Janet’s hands and toasted her brilliance and success. She was relaxed and smiling and he was fascinated with how wonderful she looked. She was always beautiful when she smiled, but something about that red was extra special on her. Berian thought likely very few people could wear such a strong color and not be diminished by it. On the contrary it empowered Janet even more.

  Their next stop was at a truck stop so they could all change into their casual clothes again. For the next hour they talked nonstop about the Abbott case, but then the conversation reverted to Malcolm. Berian hated hearing the pain in Janet’s voice as she wondered what he’d do next.

  They were both silent for a while and he watched in the rearview mirror as she went diving in her oversized purse. It was interesting she hadn’t taken it into the meeting. That was the only time he’d seen her without it. Now she pulled her mail out of the depths of the purse, and he realized she hadn’t had a chance to read it yet.

  They were more than halfway back to the farm and Berian was just wondering if it was a good time to talk about finding an apartment for them, when Janet’s phone rang. He hoped it was her boss congratulating her. But from Janet’s grunts and mumbles he figured it wasn’t.

  Suddenly her voice cut through the car like a knife. “Alf, you know perfectly well I was in Michigan this morning on your orders, pulling Abbott’s ass out of the fire over a million-dollar loss his company was too stupid to notice, but that I found. I won’t be back home for about three hours. By then I expect the police will have been called and everyone’s fingerprints taken in my office. If your security guards had been doing their jobs you would know who was in the building at any given time.”

  Berian heard some squawking on the end of the line but Janet ended the call.

  He flicked his gaze up to the rearview mirror. “Malcolm again?”

  “Fucking hell. I don’t know. Possibly. I’ll be suggesting the police show photographs of him around my apartment building and the office, but he could easily get someone else to do his dirty work. But smashing things belonging to me is one of his idiosyncrasies.”

  “Why don’t you call the police now?” he suggested.

  “Yes. I suppose.”

  At first the police didn’t seem very interested, but when the officer on the line understood there had been two places damaged, and that the prime suspect was also under investigation for a much larger fraud, he paid attention and started asking questions. Berian wasn’t sure whether any good would come of it, but at least it felt like they were achieving something, other than just driving back to yet another scene of chaos.

  Poor Janet. She should have been returning home on a huge high after solving a major case at work. Yet once again her brother had stolen that joy and excitement and happiness from her, and she was returning to another scene of his childish hatred.

  Chapter Seven

>   Janet’s emotions had been on a roller coaster ride. She’d found the discrepancy in the Abbott accounts in time, and had earned both her company and herself a healthy bonus. Then fucking Malcolm had fucked up her life again. Right now she should be relaxing and resting with her two men before she needed to think about work again. Instead, she was racing back to the office to see what he’d vandalized this time. At first, even the police hadn’t been interested in the case, until they’d heard about the fraud charges. Talk about cynical. No one cared about a brother teasing and harassing his sister, destroying her possessions and her life, but stealing money was different. She sighed. At least they’d promised to enquire into the case. That was something.

  Janet felt exhausted. She’d really been looking forward to spending time with Berian and Hal. She wanted to be with them. Not just for the sex, which was truly amazing, but simply because they were very special people. Her men.

  She hadn’t even had time to properly think about Berian saying he wanted them to be together forever. But the thought kept sneaking into her mind, enticing her. Forever with Hal and Berian sounded absolutely wonderful to her. She could imagine them snuggled up in bed together, or sitting on the rug in front of the fire, or sprawled on the couch watching a football game while munching some dreadfully fattening snack. All of that sounded idyllic to her.

  As long as fucking Malcolm would just get the fuck out of her life.

  By the time they arrived at her work the security guards had been doubled and were signing everyone into the building and requesting photo ID. Talk about shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted.

  Upstairs the police were still in her office and she and both men gave copies of their fingerprints for elimination. Her locked drawers had all been broken open and files scattered all over the floor. For a moment she wondered if it was to do with the Abbott case, but fortunately all those files were still locked in the trunk of the SUV. She also had electronic backups of all her work if any paper files had been taken, but without looking through every single file really carefully it was going to be impossible to know if anything had gone missing.

  Janet spent a few moments hoping this was Malcolm’s actions and not about her work. If a single page of notes was stolen she might never know until it was way too late. Then she noticed several drops of blood on one of the files. Someone had caught a finger on the rough metal edge of the drawer and it’d bled. She turned to the fingerprint man. “Did you take a sample of the blood here?”

  “Yes, I did. There was a tiny bit of skin as well but there’s no guarantee we can get DNA from it. It’s very small.”

  “If this was done by my brother, and I think it might have been, there’s a court order out for him to surrender his DNA to do with a fraud case he’s involved in.”

  “Is there indeed? I’ll put a rush on this request then.”

  Janet smiled. Maybe this whole shitfest wasn’t so bad after all.

  * * * *

  By the time they returned to Hal’s house, Janet was exhausted. It distressed Hal to see her so limp and lacking the sparkling vivacity that was a core part of her personality. He and Berian undressed her and tucked her straight into bed, holding her and petting her skin, whispering loving thoughts into her ears until she sighed, wiggled, and fell asleep. He was damn hungry but didn’t want to let her go, so ignored his rumbling belly and continued holding her, sharing his body warmth with her, wanting her to know even in her sleep that she was loved to the uttermost depths of his being.

  When he woke the next morning, all he could think of was food, but Janet had the day off work as a bonus for working all weekend to solve the Abbott case, and he and Berian needed to ask her to mate them. The desperation to make her theirs was consuming them both, and Hal knew the perfect romantic place where they could do this. But first he needed his Alpha’s permission. So he slid out of bed without disturbing either Janet or Berian, and went to speak with his Alpha.

  One of the older women from the pack was cooking the Alpha’s breakfast and it smelled so good his stomach rumbled and his mouth filled with saliva, but Hal refused to be sidetracked. His priority was Janet.

  “What news do you have for me, Hal?” asked the Alpha.

  “Janet Young is safe. In fact, yesterday she solved a really complicated finance audit for her company. She found some man out who’d stolen a million dollars. But in her private life she’s still at risk. Both her apartment and her office at work have been trashed and Berian and I are convinced it’s her brother doing it. Fortunately we’d put her favorite possessions in storage so the things she lost might give her pain, but they’re not the ones most precious to her.”

  “The sooner the court case is resolved the better. The best place for this man is in jail.”

  “Yes, sir. I agree. Berian and I want to ask Janet to mate with us. I thought we could go to the far field with the spring, if you permit, sir.”

  “Of course. This woman would clearly be a perfect addition to our pack. Where are you going to live?”

  “We plan to find an apartment close to her office, but spend weekends and vacations here on the farm.”

  “In that case she should be included in our pack. But first you need her agreement to the mating. I’ll order everyone to stay away from the spring today. Don’t let the Hanson Mall pack overrule you. The woman belongs to us. It’s your house and your pack land. In this matter the trained security guard is not your superior.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

  Hal thought Berian would agree to Janet belonging to the Simon pack. Berian himself would always remain a part of the Hanson Mall pack, because he worked for them. But when Hal wasn’t caring for Janet, he’d work on the farm. As long as they were all considerate of each other’s needs there was no reason why the system should fail. Instead of divided loyalties they could treat the situation as double the opportunity for success. But first, he needed to eat. Damn, he was hungry.

  And of course the big question was whether or not Janet would agree to mate them at all. She hadn’t responded when Berian had said forever.

  Surely she wouldn’t refuse them. He had to have her. Had to.

  * * * *

  Berian had woken up as Hal left. He and Hal had talked about asking Janet to mate with them. They both loved her desperately and craved to make her theirs. Hal had said something about finding a romantic place where they could propose, so Berian guessed he’d gone to do that now.

  Berian was ravenous. He’d have preferred to eat when they’d gotten here the night before, but Janet was worn out and their first responsibility was to her. By the time she was deeply asleep he was warm and cozy in the bed and couldn’t be bothered getting up for a snack. But right now he was ready for a three-course meal.

  He showered and then headed out to the kitchen. He found oatmeal and put it on the stove to warm, pulling out milk and honey to put on it. There was a loaf of bread so he set aside that to make some toast. There were only two eggs left in the refrigerator and he couldn’t find any ham or bacon, but there were tomatoes and mushrooms so he could use them with the eggs and some cheese for a vegetarian frittata.

  “We should have bought meat,” he grumbled, beating the eggs.

  Hal opened the door and came inside. “What did you say?”

  “We need meat.”

  “There are some hot dogs in the freezer. We can take them to cook on a campfire for lunch. Damn I’m hungry. I’m so glad you started making breakfast.”

  Hal made the toast and got out orange juice, plates, and glasses, then put the coffee on for them all.

  Janet bounced into the room, smiling, and headed straight for the coffee. I want her so much. She has to agree to mate us. I can’t live without her.

  As they finished eating, Hal said, “I’ve gotten the Alpha’s permission to take you to a very special place on our pack land. It’s a tiny pool of water that springs out of the ground. There’s no river on our pack lands, but the water table is ve
ry close to the surface so if ever we need water we don’t have to dig far to get it.”

  Berian nodded. That sounded like a good place to woo their woman.

  Janet, of course, had a lot of questions to ask. She was so damn smart, and she liked to know about everything. She sparkled with intelligence and he loved that side of her. Actually he loved every side of her multifaceted personality and every side of her desirable body as well. Must pack lube.

  They sat and talked for a long time, and Berian really enjoyed relaxing and just being themselves together. A real family at last. Finally Hal stood up and started piling things on the kitchen counter, which Janet packed into a shopping bag. Hot dogs, bread, matches, some disposable cups, paper towels, ketchup, and apples.

  Hal drove the SUV very slowly along rutted tracks, giving both him and Janet a chance to see more of the pack lands. Berian hadn’t lived on a farm since he was a boy, but to his eyes the land looked well cared for. He knew the pack had suffered from lack of cash recently, but the Alpha hadn’t starved the land of resources. It was in good condition. Berian really hoped the pack did well with its new saffron crop. That was a smart move of the Simon pack Alpha’s, to venture into something very different, and it was incredibly well-suited to the Simon lands and people. Berian hoped it restored their finances fast.

  Hal drove over some rough ground and into a small group of trees. Berian looked around at the lush green grass surrounded by a circle of trees, which provided shelter, shade, and a windbreak. Over to one side of the area clear water bubbled out of a dip in the ground and over rocks. It wasn’t very big, maybe ten feet in circumference, and from here it didn’t appear to be deep either.

  They got out of the car and Hal spread a blanket on the grass as Janet wandered over to look at the pool. Berian stood behind her. The water was cool and clean. Berian turned and noticed a ring of stones making a fire circle so he walked into the trees and collect some deadfall to fuel their campfire.