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“I’m not treating you any way but telling you the truth. I’m Rose, Phillip. I don’t know why you’re saying those things, but I truly am your sister.” He looked at her closely, then backed away. York didn’t know if he believed her or not, but he pulled out his wallet to pay him. “If you’re not going to be nice, then go home. I was having a great day until you showed up and rained on my parade.”

“Here’s your money, Phillip.” He took the two one-hundred-dollar bills and put them in his wallet. He was still eyeing Rose, but that was all right so long as he didn’t touch her. If he did, then his promise to Rose was going to be null and void, and he’d kill the man where he stood. His mother came into the doorway as well. “This is my mother. Be nicer to her than you have been to your sister.”

“Is that really you, Rose?” She asked him why he’d think she wasn’t. “You look so different. Like you’ve been given one of those glow sticks, and it has spread all over you. And your hair looks softer too. Like it might be as soft as that teddy bear you used to have as a kid.”

“Mr. Jangles.” He nodded and smiled. York thought that he was finally getting it and was glad for the idiot. “Would you like some food? There is plenty left over.”

Showing him to the buffet table, he decided that he was going to keep an eye on the man. There was something so off about him that he wanted to make sure that he didn’t hurt Rose again. And he had failed to recognize her when she told him who she was married to.

He ended up meeting his family. He noticed that each of his brothers made sure to shake his hand even when he had both hands full of food. They’d be able to find him if trouble came along, and he was happy for that. Before he left, he’d shake his hand too just to keep Rose safe. For some reason, and he didn’t know why, he didn’t trust the younger man.

After he got his fill of the leftovers, Phillip asked to speak to his sister alone. Before he could step in and tell him no, Rose told him that she wanted to spend as much time with him as she could. That the two of them hadn’t been married for all that long.

The flash of anger was there and gone in an instant. He looked at his brother Gib, who had been standing behind Phillip, and he just shook his head. He, of course, hadn’t seen his anger, but he might well have felt it. He knew that he had.

“I just want to talk to you, Rosie?” She said they could talk anytime, but she was busy. “Doing what? I’m betting that you don’t do shit all day now that you’ve married into some money. Why don’t you share what you have and I’ll leave you alone.”

“You’ll leave me alone anyway. We only see one another when you want money, and I told you the other day that I don’t have a job anymore, so I’m not going to be able to rescue you when you’re short.” He asked about the two hundred dollars. “York already gave it to you.”

“Yeah, he gave it to me. What about you? You said you’d help me out, and the only person that has is him. I want you to give me another two hundred.” She told him no. “Now don’t be like that, Rosie. You know as well as I do that you’re going to give it to me. I’d hate to get mad at you. You remember when I used to get mad at you, don’t you?”

“You won’t hurt me again, Phillip. York will keep you from harming me again. I’m not that little kid I was, and neither are you. I won’t put up with you harming either of us. You’re old enough to press charges against now.” York didn’t like the way this conversation was going and felt his beast get angry too. When Rose put her hand into his, he felt the same calmness that she told him about when she was upset. It just went away. “Now, I think it’s time you left. I’ve given you the money that I promised you, but don’t come back again. I’m finished helping you out.”

“Don’t be like that, Rosie. You know that you’ll help me out.” He smiled, but it was a leering sort of smile and not all that friendly. It was all he could do not to rip the man’s throat out for talking to his mate the way that he was. “I guess I’d better be going. I have to pay my credit card off so that I can use it again. I’m headed out to eat tonight. You should join me. It might be some fun if you were to pick up the tab for me too.”

“No thanks. It’s our wedding night.” He saw his face turn beet red, and it made him laugh. “I have plans tonight, so I don’t think you should get yourself into trouble with your credit card again. I won’t be helping you out.”

“So you say.” He hugged her and York felt his beast get the better of him. The low warning growl made Phillip look in his direction, but he didn’t say anything. “I’ll see you around, Rosie. Just remember, I’m your real family and not this one. You remember that, and there won’t be any trouble again. You know how I can get when I’m upset.”

“You should remember that I have a husband too that will knock you three ways from Sunday if you get out of hand. I’d hate for you to turn up in the hospital for something as little as a few hundred dollars.” He said that he wasn’t worried at all. “You’d better be. I’m not kidding when I tell you we’re done with money lending. And you’d better not think about not paying me back. I took that money out of my savings account.”

“You mean his wallet. Get over yourself, Rosie. I might even quit my job and have you take care of me for the rest of my life. You married into money, and I’m going to get as much as I can from you.” He finally looked at him. “You wouldn’t want to piss off my Rosie, would you, by knocking me around? She talks a big game, but she’s nothing but a pussy at heart.” He laughed.

“Fuck around with what I consider mine and I’ll take you out.” Phillip was still laughing as he made his way to his car. York watched him. He was going to have to kill the little fucker, he just knew it. And when he did, no one would ever find the body. He’d make sure of that.

“He’s going to be trouble. I’m glad you didn’t mention you being a vampire. He might well have tried to blackmail you too.” York kissed her on the mouth and smiled down at her. “You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?”

“Only if he harms you first. You can’t die, but he is going to be trouble. And I’m going to have to teach him a lesson if he doesn’t heed what I say.” She asked him if he’d be hurt. “For harming him? Never. I’m an old and powerful vampire. I take out people worse than him for a living. I’m not worried about him and neither should you. Even you’re more powerful than he is. Remember that.”

“I will. Yes. I forgot that I have magic too.” She looked up at him and smiled. “We have to practice some if I’m going to be able to take him on.”

He agreed with her. After his family left, the two of them made their way up to their room. It was indeed their wedding night, and he was going to cause her to scream out his name at least a dozen times before morning.

~*~

Phillip rubbed his hands together and wondered if the rumors were true about how much money the Malones had. The house certainly seemed like they had more money than sense. He was going to get him some of it too, even if he had to resort to his old ways of knocking Rosie around. She’d give him anything he wanted if he only hit her a few times. She was a pussy when it came to pain.

When he’d been about seventeen, he’d had to quit hitting on her. It was that, or he was going to be spending more time in jail. Rosie had told him no one too many times, and he got pissed off. Knocking her around sent her to the hospital and him to jail.

He’d spent six weeks in anger management classes and another three months in prison for making her have to listen to him. He was told that if she even broke a nail while he was around her, he’d end up in prison again. That Rosie was planning on calling the police on him every time he drew back his fist. He believed her and since then hadn’t hit her once. It had been hard at first, but after a while, about a year, he was able to make himself stop and be nice to her when she was around. It was that, or he knew he’d be in prison again. Now he wasn’t afraid. She wouldn’t want her husband to know what sort of man he’d been. Well, he’d show them both what sort of person he was, and they’d do what he wanted. There was just too much at stake to have her having all the fun and him having to work for his.

The first thing he did was call off work for the next three days. He would get written up if he just didn’t show up, and he didn’t want that. There might not be as much money as he’d been told, and he was going to still get as much as he could. But being without a job if it turned out to be a flop would hurt him financially.

Taking the two hundred dollars to go out to eat, he was no longer worried about being behind on his payment; he had a steak dinner with all the trimmings. It was the best one hundred dollars he’d ever spent. As he was leaving the restaurant, he left a fifty on the table as a tip and smiled to the staff. Yes, sir, he was going to be known as a big spender soon, and it was all because his sister had hit it big.

He thought about the prison stint that he’d spent part of his life in. He wasn’t going to go back to that sort of life. He also wasn’t going to have to go to any anger management classes either. That shit had been for the birds. Phillip had learned his lesson there, but now that things were different for Rosie, they were going to be different for him as well. Besides, York or whatever his name had been was related to him as well, and there was no reason why he shouldn’t have a bit of what he had. Unless, of course, he wanted his pretty little wife to suffer.

York didn’t strike him as a man who would get all up in someone’s face. He was more of a lover than anything else. Laughing to himself, he wondered what the man would do if he were to punch Rosie in the face. He’d done it before but had gotten out of the habit when she called the police on him. She’d not do that again. Now with her being married and all.