AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So, she didn’t show up for work or call, huh?”
“Yeah, that about sums it up,” she nodded, but the movement must have hurt her head because she winced.
“Look, I am going to take the lead on this.You just, put that ice pack back on, go home, take some aspirin.I will check in with you later.”
“Oh no, I have to work.Someone has to clean this mess-”
“I will see to it.”
His Lion approved of the idea wholeheartedly.Though not in his job description, it felt entirely right that he should take care of the tiny female.She was so soft, so sweet.
Mine.
Fuck.He gritted his teeth, fighting against the impulse to shout the word now that it took root in his mind.But now that he thought it, he couldn’t exactly unthink it.
Mine, his Lion growled in agreement.The great, dark-maned beast chuffed loudly, pressing his human half to stake his claim.
“Where do you live?”he asked, taking down her address, which was conveniently located around the corner, “And your number?”
“What?”
“I need your phone number, so I can call to tell you when we are finished processing the bakery.I’ll call a clean-up crew to take care of the glass and replace the window.Don’t worry, I know Mr.D’Angelo’s insurance and security firms,” he added before she could ask.
He wrote down the number, heart pounding as he did.He wanted her.No doubt about it.
The other thing wasn’t a lie.All the businesses in town that were owned by supernaturals were governed by the Council.They took care of things like this.Protecting their own against crimes and vandalism, especially when they were committed by other supes.
“I guess I should get going,” she stood up after a few more minutes of questioning.
“I’ll take you home Ms.Donato,” Rami insisted.
The Lion would allow for nothing else.
Mine.
ChapterTwo
“Mama, I told you already.I am fine.It’s just a bump on the head,” Noemi poured herself a tall glass of iced sweet tea and sat down at the tiny table in her eat-in kitchen.
Every apartment she’d looked at in NYC seemed to be the same size.As in teeny weeny.Still, she loved some of the older homes with their big sandstone brick facades and wrought iron fences.The architecture was so different from back home.Noemi especially loved the ones with the tiny secret gardens out back.She noted several in the neighborhood, and they all called to that special place inside of her that loved to commune with nature.
People never expected to feel that way in the city, but it was truly teeming with life.So much energy existed in New York.All of it flowing in and out of the millions of people, animals, and plants.The structures and monuments,heck, even the graffiti, were full of life.
It wasexciting.Different.New.Interesting.And exactly where she was meant to be.Thoughts of a certain sexy as all get detective flittered through her mind, and Noemi had to agree.Maybe destiny had brought her to NY.Maybe the detective was her future, she wondered, biting her lip as all manner of naughty thoughts filled her brain.
“Noemi!Honey, can you hear me?”
Ugh.Why did that Officer Grotes have to call her mother when he found her on the floor?For Pete’s sake!The woman was never going to let this go.
“Don’t you think you should come back home where it’s safe, Mimi?They don’t even have decent sweet tea up there!”
Noemi rolled her eyes at her mama’s use of her childhood nickname.She was sweet, but she cared a little bit too much.Truth be told, she was downright meddlesome when it came to her only daughter.Noemi gritted her teeth against the many criticisms of her choice to move, but she did not react.She was there now.Living her dream and finding her true path.
“I make my own tea.And we’ve been over this a hundred times.New York is my home now, Mama.Besides, you know why I am here,” she told the older woman firmly, but with the respect instilled within her since she was knee high.
“I know, but someone else can do all that.Please, I need you safe, Mimi-”
“Mama, I haven’t used the nameMimisince I was four years old,” she laughed trying to brighten the mood.
