Stalked (Rogues Shifter #2) (20 page)

He sh
ook his head and looked bewildered. “You have no problem spending that kind of money on a few rag tag vampires?”

“This is your nest, your vampire family, and you seem to care about what happens
to them, otherwise you would've killed them like you did the others. You and Sasha have a history, maybe even a friendship. How can I not help you? Anyway, I get the feeling that money isn’t really a problem for us. Tell me if I’m wrong. I’ve felt uncomfortable asking about your personal finances.“

“Y
ou can ask me about anything. I don’t live extravagantly because that just isn’t my nature, but we will never have to worry about money. I’ll be happy to get you an appointment with my accountant who can lay it all out for you in black and white.”

I looked around the beautiful, modern kitchen and thought about the Saab and the Porsche he kept in the garage
. Then there was the emerald jewelry he'd given me and his seven or eight hand tailored Italian suits. It made me wonder what he thought was extravagant.

I wanted to bring up something else that had been going through my mind lately so I figured this was as good a time as any. “Garrett, the team should be paid for working a job.”

He smiled at me. “Rob, Sinc and Kyle have been paid consultants for years now. You and Ethan should get your first checks in a few days. You get paid every two weeks, or if you prefer, you can get it all when the job is completed. Make sure you keep your receipts. When I bring in Aaron or Maya or any other consultant, I pay them too. Liam won’t take money. It’s insulting to the fae, apparently.”

“You’re paying me
out of your money?” I frowned.

“The team was my idea. I’ve put up the money to make it a reality. I pay the salaries.” He saw my face and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“There are some things I want to do and I don’t want to use your money.”

“
My
money is now
our
money.”

“So I’m paying
myself
a salary?” I had to grin.

He laughed. “Yes, and you’re very generous. Oh, by the way, we have a company name. Rogues, Inc.”

“Perfect.” I laughed too. “So what about the nest?”

“You are like a
dog gnawing a bone.” He chuckled and went over to the wall phone.

“Hello
, Aaron. I need Andy and Ralph to come to my house this evening. I’m renovating my basement and building another house. One day for the basement and a month and a half tops for the house. Stop cursing at me and call them." He winked at me. "No, Jackie isn’t kicking me out or making me move down to the basement.” He was laughing. “Yes, you can come too. See you later, around 7:00.”

He hung up and dialed another number. “Bonjour, Francois. J’ai une faveur
à te demander.”

Chapter Seventeen

While he spoke to Francois, I fed Samson and went into my room to change into black jeans, and a dark burgundy silk halter top. We were going to have guests and sweats didn’t cut it. Back in the kitchen, Garrett seemed to be speaking to Sasha, so I pulled Liam’s lasagna out of the freezer and set it in the oven. Weres were always hungry. I put more beer in the fridge and made 2 loaves of garlic bread and a huge salad while it heated up.

“Is Francois coming over?”
I sent to Garrett around thirty minutes later.

He nodded and sent back, “
Yes they all are, around midnight. The weres should be gone by then”

“Whoopee.”
I went to the wine cellar—yes, I said wine cellar—and got two bottles of Francois’ favorite red wine and handed them to Garrett to uncork so they could breathe.

“You’re turning into the consummate hostess.” Garrett’s gorgeous blue eyes were lit with light from the overhead chandelier and his mouth was turned up in a crooked smile. He looked like a proud husband.

“I am so not Mrs. Cleaver.” I tossed my hair, put my hand on my hip and posed seductively.

Garrett’s eyes took me in appreciatively. “When you look at me like that my brain ceases to function.”

“It’s fun to have power over a big strong vampire.”

“You have no idea how much power you wield. Je suis a votre clemence.
I am at your mercy
.”

“Hmm,
I like that line. I expect to hear it often, Monsieur.”

“Oui, Madame.”

The doorbell rang so I watched Garrett walk to the door in his fitted black slacks and button down silk shirt and sighed in appreciation. Forcing myself to turn away, I pulled the lasagna out of the oven and set it on the stovetop.

“Hi Jackie.”  Aaron was already in the kitchen. I put down my oven mitts and turned, only to be swept up and spun around. I was dizzy and giggling when he put me down.

“Why the fun greeting, Aaron?”

“You cooked.” He shrugged his shoulders and grinned. Aaron was Garrett’s cousin and they looked a lot alike, with the same great smile and beautiful blue eyes. Aaron’s hair was a sandy blonde and he was dressed in his usual jeans and tee shirt. However, his casual dress and playful attitude didn’t take away from the intensity of the power I felt surging around him whe
never he was near me. He was a pack leader, an Alpha werewolf, as powerful in his own circle as Garrett was in his.

“Well, it’s Liam’s lasagna. I just heated it up”

“Even better. I've heard about your cooking.” I laughed and threw my oven mitt at him. He caught it and handed it back to me with a sheepish grin. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I’ll help you serve it up.” He grabbed some plates and dished out the lasagna, while I got the beer, the salad and the garlic bread on the table. I was fishing a soda out of the fridge for myself when Garrett and the other two weres walked in.

I'd seen them
before at the duel and also met them at my bonding party. Andy Sims was dressed in dark jeans and an open flannel shirt over a black tee. He had medium brown hair, light brown eyes and a pointy chin. He was around 5’9” and fairly slim. Ralph O'Donnell was tall, maybe 6’1” with very broad shoulders, long bright red hair wrapped with a black bandanna and dark blue eyes. He wore cargo shorts and a tank.

I
extended my hand in greeting. As we exchanged the usual pleasantries, I automatically tapped into the lines. Although there was power around them, it was nothing compared to Aaron’s.  A were normally couldn’t access the lines except when he was shifting to his animal form, and then it was done unconsciously. However, an alpha with Aaron’s power was able to use it when he fought and also in many of his everyday activities that required him to hold tight control over his pack.

“Gentlemen, Aaron and I have
served up some lasagna. Would you like to join us?” They both laughed at seeing their alpha wearing an oven mitt, thanked me with warm smiles then sat down to eat. By the way they were shoveling the food into their mouths, I doubted that they'd been referred to as gentlemen often, but I enjoyed their enthusiasm. Of course, Liam’s lasagna was legendary, loaded with delicious meat and cheese and spices, so the wolves and I cleared most of our plates before anyone spoke.

“So you’re going to help us renovate the basement and build the house next door?” I asked.

Andy nodded with his mouth full. So Garrett answered. “Yes. They were the ones who built this house. I trust them completely.”

I looked at the two wolves
with awe. “You built this beautiful house? It’s amazing.”

“Thanks, Jackie.” Ralph had answered since A
ndy's mouth was full again. For a smaller guy he sure could eat. “What do you want done with the basement?”

I looked at Garrett who smiled and sent, “
It’s your idea, you tell them
.”

“We need the large room at the bottom of the stairs made into a comfortable common room with a big TV and three of the smaller rooms into bedrooms.”

Andy was finally able to speak. “Kinda gloomy down there for company. Why don’t you use the second floor bedrooms?” Garrett and I rarely went upstairs except when we had time to watch TV on the big screen in the den or to play Wii. There was no first floor family room, since Garrett felt he’d rather have a super large kitchen, an office and two first floor bedrooms along with his large living room. But upstairs there were three more bedrooms and two full bathrooms along with a nice balcony that looked out over the backyard and the woods beyond.

“They don't need
any windows. It’s for his nest.”

  "For vampires?”
Aaron choked on his lasagna.

Garrett looked a little annoyed. “Yes
, for Sasha, William and Heinrich.”

The tone of Aaron's voice had chilled.
“From Eleanor’s nest? The ones who were hissing at you at the duel and would have been happy to rip off your head?”

“They’re
my
nest now. They’ve sworn allegiance to me.”

“And you trust them?” He gl
anced from me back to Garrett. “You trust them around Jackie?” Tension crackled in the air between them.

I
felt the need to butt in before they really started to fight. “Aaron, Garrett knows what he’s doing with his nest. It’s only temporary. That’s why we’re building the house.”

“You’re building a house for your three vampires? You're bringing Eleanor's old nest permanently into the
same shifter community that you're trying to protect?”

Garrett eyes were narrowed and cold as he looked
as his cousin, the Alpha. “Yes. They are mine now and it's my choice. The community will be safer if they're here with me." They stared at each other for a few seconds and then Aaron spoke again, his mouth turned down in a frown.

“I see that this is none of my business, however I’m on the record
as being strongly opposed to your plan.”

“Duly noted.”
Garrett replied with a scowl. Werewolves and vampires were often at odds. Garrett allowing more vampires into the community, especially ones with an extremely violent history, was perceived by Aaron as being rash and possibly dangerous.

I heard a disappointed sigh from the other side of the table. Andy and Ralph had kept quiet during the exchange, understanding that the project was going to be put on hold because
of this latest development. They were probably counting on the money. If Aaron didn’t want them to do the work, they couldn’t go against his orders.

Aaron
, having heard the sigh, broke from Garret’s gaze and glared a warning their way, making them look down immediately, a sign of respect for their alpha.

Garrett spoke in a softer voice with a more persuasive tone. “If I don’t take them in, then they’ll be on their own to go wherever they choose, to do as they wish. They might fall back on old habits.”

Aaron’s eyes flared with anger. “You could kill them. I don’t understand why you haven’t. Eleanor’s nest killed three of my pack, Garrett: men with families. One of them was tortured.” His voice cracked with raw emotion.

“The vampires who were responsible for the death of your wolves have
been executed. I killed two of them and Jackie killed Antoine. I would never disrespect you or your pack by leaving them alive." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Yvette is going back to Paris with Francois. Sasha and Rick put their own lives at risk to protect me several times, and the youngest one, William, was one of Eleanor's main victims. They've adapted well so far. I feel they deserve a chance.”

"And if they slip up?"

"I'll take care of it personally." Aaron looked into Garrett’s almost identical eyes and, after a few seconds of deliberation, nodded. A compromise had been reached.

He turned to Andy and Ralph. “You can do the work, but only while the vamps are resting. I won’t have any confrontations
between you.” They nodded and looked relieved. Everyone started to eat again except for me.

Garrett looked at me curiously. “Lost your appetite?”

“I’ve overdosed on the large amount of testosterone floating around the room.” I glared halfheartedly at Garrett and Aaron for ruining a perfectly nice meal. The wolves cracked up at my annoyed expression, laughing loudly in between bites. “
I’m glad they find me so entertaining
,“ I sent to Garrett.

He squeezed my hand and looked contrite. “
Pardon, mon amour. Aaron and I agree to disagree on many subjects.”
He kissed my hand and smiled his yummy smile, knowing exactly what to say to bring me around. I turned my attention back to the delicious lasagna.

We finished dinner and I cleared up while the weres and Garrett went into his office to lay out plans for the renovation downstairs, which really only needed some electrical outlets and lighting, paint, carpeting and furniture. When that was worked out they started brainstorming ideas for the new house. After everything was loaded in the dishwasher and wiped clean, I curled up on the couch with my favorite author and didn’t think to look at the clock. No one did.

The doorbell rang and I sprang out of my seat.
Shit!
The vampires were here. I went to the door and opened it before Garrett could stop me. Maybe this was a good time to get things straight between all of these males. My inner cheetah purred. Perhaps a little payback was in order.