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Chapter 1
Brennan
Ipaced back and forthin the room, my camel Brunello Cucinelli loafers gliding silently across the floor. “You have no idea where she is at all?”
The head of the Mondello Human Services Department wriggled nervously in his chair, clearly unsettled by being in front of me, in a room this luxe. “No sir, we don’t. We’ve been looking at next of kin, but everyone we’ve found has been unwilling or unable to take the boy. We don’t want him stuck in the system. It’s costing the state too much as it is.” He muttered the last part quietly, but not so quiet that my grizzly bear ears didn’t pick up on it?
“Excuse me?” I growled, half-man, half-bear at that point, giving him a hard stare. My fangs lengthened and heavy brown fur grew around my face and neck. I was secretly a softie, but nobody could stand up to a combination billionaire-grizzly-bear showing his teeth.
All the color drained from his face. “I didn’t say anything, sir.”
“I understand you’re bitter and overworked, pal, but don’t talk about the kids you’re supposed to take care of as if they’re some sort of burden. They’re victims of an unjust system. You’d do well to remember that.”
The man pressed his lips together, chastised and afraid to say anything else to an alpha with my power, both physically and financially. As well he should be.
In the meantime, I had a massive problem on my hands.What the hell am I gonna do with a baby?
I turned my back on him. “Give the paperwork to my executive assistant, we’ll get things sorted out.”
“You’re going to take the baby, then?”
“I’m going to take the baby, yes. You can go. Send me someone else to help with the process. Someone with a little more empathy.”
He stood up, tugging down the hem of his blazer. “Yes, um, yes sir.” I stared at him with beady bear eyes until he scurried out of the room. With that done, I dropped into the nearest chair with a huff. I picked up the manila file folder that was left behind for me. I pulled out the picture. The baby was six months old, with dark hair and green eyes, chewing on his fist and looking into the camera as if it was he was just begging someone to love him.
Peter was his name, and everybody called him Petey. Some instinct within me swam around, as if it was in my blood. The kid looked like my sister. He looked like me. He was my blood, so I wasn’t gonna let him down.
“What the hell am I gonna do with a baby?” I asked again, out loud, as I stared up at the ceiling, praying for some help.
Later that day, I was sitting around a huge table at the top floor of a buddy’s skyscraper, drinking sparkling water instead of my usual brandy. I had a lot to think about, and I needed my head to be clear.
Palmer waved his glass around. “Are you out of your mind? Taking a baby that isn’t yours?”
My voice was flat when I answered. “What am I supposed to do, man? He’s my nephew.”
“You haven’t talked to your sister in years.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that he’s my blood. I’m gonna do right by him.”
Richie spoke up. “Why not? It won’t be any skin off his nose to pay somebody to keep him and raise him. He’ll have the best of everything. What orphan kid wouldn’t want that?”
“I’m gonna raise him myself, Rich.” All heads swiveled toward me.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Why not?”
“This is a whole baby. It’s going to turn into a whole person. Not to mention, they’re going to be a teenager before they become a person who can get the hell out of your house.”
I swished my water around, watching the bubbles rise. “I know what it means, Rich. He deserves to have an adult in his life who cares enough to raise him right. Besides, you know I always wanted kids of my own. It seems like it’s never gonna happen, so why not do this for the both of us?”
Trevor patted my shoulder. “Look at our little Brenn-Brenn, all grown up and becoming an A-Dad. Welcome to the club. You’re gonna be so happy until he projectile vomits on your suit right before you walk out of the door.”
“Not to mention the exploding diapers,” Vince added in.
“I cannot wait until he experiences the exploding diapers.”
I shook Trevor’s hand off my shoulder, laughing. “It can’t be that bad, can it?” Vic and Trevor exchanged a look.
