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She sat and looked at him across the kitchen island. The kids were mercifully still asleep.
“Difficult? Yes, it is ‘difficult’.” She practically spat the word. “And more than a little confusing. I’ve never had a kidnapper be so, so…” She appeared to be struggling with her words. “Soniceto me – or have suchnicekids.” Her voice was slowly rising as her eyes shot fire at him.Her pretty blue eyes.“In fact, shockingly, I’ve never had a kidnapper at all! And good coffee is not gonna get you out of this, Mr. Wright.” She took another extra big sip defiantly.
Was that a joke?He almost laughed out loud.Stay focused, buddy. He had to admit, she was not the timid little thing he had first gauged her as. He shut down his wolf as best he could before it further commanded his attention.
“The name is Rollo. And look, I’d rather not get into it, but like I said, yesterday was an emergency, and technically, that emergency is not exactly totally over.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you just going to keep me hostage indefinitely?” Now she was getting annoying, he decided. Right and wrong aside, he was trying to enjoy his morning coffee.
“Look, you have no idea what I am dealing with, okay?” he said as he stood up to his full towering height. “This goes way beyond you.”
Dammit.He knew she didn’t deserve any of that, but it wasn’t even eight and she was giving him a headache.
“Well, then why don’t you try telling me what could possibly be so important that you felt…feel, the need to keep me prisoner? ’Cause to be honest, it really isn’t adding up to me...”
Rollo sighed and looked down at the cup of coffee in his hands. “Look. It’s shifter business, okay?”
“Oh Jeezuz…See? This is why I swore no more shifter clients! You guys are all crazy, with your god damn complex feelings and deep emotional struggles – and always seem to be up to one kind of “shifter business” or another. And you may have the best behaved little pack of pups I have ever seen, but four is pushing my nanny powers…”
He did like her, he decided, even if he didn’t really want to. It was more than a little inconvenient on a few levels. His wolf gave a howl.He mentally gave it a kick to shut it up. He didn’t have time for this.
“And you think I’m having a blast, alone with the four of them? But they are my responsibility. All of them. Those little guys have a home here. I am all they have.”
Her mouth was opening and closing like a fish. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Look, I know this isn’t your problem, but did it occur to you that maybe they aren’t all mine to begin with?” He looked at her. “Two of them, theyoungesttwo,” he said with emphasis to highlight the challenge, “they are my brother’s. Theyweremy brother’s, mydeadbrother’s, okay? So now, they’re mine. And guess what?” He had nothing left to lose, he was going for broke now. “The guy who killed their parents is still out there. And we’re pretty sure he’s hurt others. More than hurt, killed. He is a very dangerous individual. Yesterday was the first time we even got close to catching him, and I just couldn’t miss the opportunity that maybe, just maybe, I could get him, and put him away for good. Or better yet, kill him on the spot. No judge, no jury.” He hadn’t meant to but he had begun to raise his own voice this time, amid his sweeping gesturing. “Cause here’s the thing. We don’t really know why he targeted them, or if he will come after the kids, so yeah, I am a little worked up. Oh, and if you are wondering, my ex ran off. Okay, twice, actually. But the second time, well, one day she was here, and the next she wasn’t. Just a note. ‘Sorry, I just can’t anymore’. So, sorry I kidnapped you, but I guess I am just under a little stress at the moment. So, yeah, maybe I’m not gonna win any father-of-the-year awards, but I am doing the best I can.”
For a minute, there was just silence.
“Um, well, alrighty then. So, I guess that’s a check on the ‘emotional struggles,’ then?
He just glared at her.
She took a deep breath and blew it out. “Look, Rollo, is it?”
He nodded.
“I’m sorry about your brother, but what I’m hearing is that I might be in danger. Is that what you’re saying? Or I should say, more danger than I thought I was? And who is this “we” you are talking about? Friends who also work in ‘security?’ You have to let me...” She stopped abruptly at the sound of approaching footsteps.
“I’m hungry…” said Bucky as he rubbed his eyes.
He looked at her, and despite what she had said, and what she was clearly about to say again, he thought he saw her looking at him differently.Maybe a little softer?
He got up, “Okay, champ. Let’s get you fed!” He knew soon the rest of the boys would follow.
Rollo hated telling that story. Any and all of it. But given the circumstances, it had seemed necessary. What was he supposed to do? Make her watch the kids at gunpoint? Besides, it was the truth. And there was no guarantee it would sway her at all. But he needed her on his side, that’s what it came down to. And from what he had seen, she actually was good with the boys. Despite her anti-shifter claims, she seemed to genuinely like them. And based on what he had heard, they liked her too.
Enough of this.
“So, look, just work with me on this, okay? I’ll make it worth your while,” he said as he began getting cereal bowls down from a cabinet. He was almost at the end of his rope here. Yes, none of this was her fault, but he had just laid it all out for her. Fine, so he had maybe sorta, kinda kidnapped her, but was it too much to ask for her to have a little faith in him? His wolf stopped its frolicking to give him a pronounced side eye. And that was another thing, what the hell had gotten into his wolf? He pushed it all aside.I’m not going there.
Winona stepped back. “Work with you, huh? Do I have a choice? And you didn’t tell me who ‘we’ is.”
Rollo let out an exhale.
Man, this is getting involved.
“You know about shifters, right?”
