Page 65 of Whiskers on Kittens

The cop’s eyes widened. “I’d be doing more than grabbing a stiff drink. I would be in a corner crying.”

I nodded. “I put some serious thought into going into a corner and crying. I might be able to salvage a contract, and it’ll be a doozy.” As there had been no non-disclosure commentary in the email, I added, “It’s a showdown between six unions and a corporation, and it looks like everyone is coming to the table willingly. Those jobs tend to be the trickiest because everyone is ready to negotiate. It’s my job to make sense of every single request and build a package everyone can be happy with. The faster I build a moderate package everyone can agree to, the more I’m paid. As a general rule, unions want things settled with corporations as quickly as possible.”

“Still, twenty million is a lot to lose.”

“The kittens are worth every penny. The good favor I showed to my colleagues will help in the future, too. The next time a lucrative contract comes their way that they can’t handle, it’ll get bounced to me. Sure, it might not be twenty million worth of contracts, but I won’t be hurting for work for the next while. I might be hurting when I pay for the renovations on my new acquisitions, though. I’m a sucker for the heritage buildings.”

Easton eyed me, and then he chuckled, shook his head, and said, “I’ll go make us some coffee. Then we’ll make a plan for amusement parks. With the number of kittens we need to keep an eye on, we need a plan.”

I opted to go along with his flow, not bothering to mention that the kittens would ruthlessly eradicate any schedules we made due to their nature.

The knowledge the bastards behind the kidnappings had died and gone to hell kept me from losing my temper upon the realization the kittens hadn’t emerged from their experience unscathed. They approached everything with a subdued demeanor, expecting the worst no matter what we did.

Even providing them with breakfast proved perilous.

The kittens hungered, but they’d already endured training on what to eat and how much to eat. It took coaxing to encourage them to finish their meal and ask for more. Mollie cried first, which cascaded into all the kittens sobbing over their plates. They flinched at first, and I contemplated asking Darlene to allow me into her dungeons long enough to teach the bastards behind their fear the true meaning of terror.

I packed away the emotions, wiped away their tears, and cooed at them, regretting my inability to purr. Easton followed my lead, and while it took over an hour to fully calm them, we navigated through the perilous waters without losing our sanity or our tempers.

Between the food and the meltdowns, the kittens passed from the tired category straight to exhausted, and we put them back to bed so they could rest and heal.

I understood, then, why Lucifer had insisted we take the children out on an adventure before returning them to their parents. If their parents witnessed the initial recovery, their viruses would go insane, resulting in a mess and more problems than I cared to think about.

A few weeks would begin undoing the damage done, and the parents, while waiting for their miracle, would see joy for Christmas rather than sorrow.

Instead of researching in the comfort of the salon or overlooking the city, we camped out on the floor and shared a laptop, reading about the various parks across the country. If we charted our course carefully, we could go down to Florida, hitting every amusement park along the way, spend a week in Orlando, and make it back to Chicago right on time.

Making the list of places to go exhausted me, and I feared what the future might hold. Would we survive five kittens?

I hoped so. I wanted to host Christmas dinner, and I couldn’t play hostess if the kittens managed to kill me off.

“My virus wants blood,” Easton admitted during one of the lulls where we stared at a map without saying or doing anything.

Mine did, too.

Before I had a chance to reply, a succubus dressed in a maid’s outfit with black hair, her wings and tail displayed, poked her head into the room. “You could just go bite each other already. The amount of tension in this penthouse is becoming ridiculous. You already had a chance with the blood of the filth responsible for their trauma. Just go bite each other already so we have some peace. Perhaps not quiet, but peace would be nice. We can keep an eye on the kittens while you indulge. They’ll stay down until lunch, and you’ll only have to play with them for an hour or two after lunch. Lunch won’t be for at least six hours.” The succubus’s gaze focused on Easton. “For the record, her virus has already claimed you as her property, which is why she’s not being aggressive. She’s waiting for you to make your move. If you want to be bitten, you’re going to have to use your teeth first. There are other ways you can handle securing her as your mate, but cats are cats. She’ll love a good struggle. The instant you cuff her, you’ll have won the war and a good time. I’ll even be generous and provide infallible birth control so you can indulge daily without worry. But please, one of you do something before we go mad.”

Without waiting for a response, she left.

As I had healthy interest in Easton, I held some responsibility, but I eyed the hybrid with interest. “Are you sexually repressed, Officer Dannell?”

“Apparently.” The cop snorted, failed to contain his laughter, and closed the laptop’s lid. “I don’t like rushing into things.”

No kidding. “No matter how whiny the succubi become, you don’t have to go any faster than you wish to go. My only expectation from any potential partner is honesty and dedication. If you want to go bang some other broad, take the time to tell me first.”

“I have no interest in banging some other broad. However, I’m quite interested in hearing about how your virus believes I’m your property.”

I raised a brow at him. “It’s simple. You haven’t told her no even when she got riled up and tried to bite you. You played hard to get, but no was not a part of the vocabulary you used. As such, she views you as her property. That works well for me because it means my virus isn’t whining every other second to bite you right now. Being patient is part of my job. I save the impatience for my acts of criminal mischief.”

“We’re going to have to work on that criminal mischief thing.”

“Which part? The getting caught?”

“No. Engaging in it at all.” The cop shot a glare my way. “Do not make me retrieve you from general holding every night.”

“How about every other night?”

The wolf growled, the only hint I needed to understand I played with fire. “Maybe once a month, and only if you’ve been good.”