Beneath the Skin: de La Vega Cats, Book 3 (3 page)

She waved it away, and he would of course ignore it and do just what he wanted.

He opened the door before Dario could knock. “Mia, can I contact you again? I might have some questions about what you may have seen.”

She looked him over warily before giving him her cell number.

“Thank you again. I’m in your debt.”

She shook her head quickly. “No. I keep telling you, there’s no debt for doing what’s right.”

Damn. He liked this one. Too bad she was a Porter.

He nodded. “All right then. Thank you again.”

Dario looked him up and down as they got back to the street. He tossed Gibson the keys knowing he’d need that control.

“Max thought it best to send me. I put Robby on the search.”

His brother was smart that way. “Good idea. First let’s go back to where I was.”

They walked over, finding the spot easily enough. Dario combed through the bushes in front of the small park and around the apartment buildings lining the street. “Large cat prints.”

The place stunk with Bertram’s cats. “I’m beyond understanding here.” He stood, stretching a little, the wounds from the shots still burned, though they were healed over on the outside.

Dario took a call, turning his attention back to Gibson. “Craig and Emmy connected with Robby and Matt. They’re working together to track the cats now.” Robby and Matt were the two from his team that Gibson had sent out to escort Bertram and his cats from town. Craig and his mate Emmy were also on his team and some of his best hunters.

“What’s the story then? I know I didn’t mumble when I told them to stick with Bertram’s cats until at least the state line.”

Dario knew there’d be hell to pay if someone had messed up. Gibson was pretty laid-back unless his orders didn’t get followed. And if they weren’t, he underlined just why he was in charge to start with.

“They followed them to the state line. They checked in with me at that time.”

A raised brow as Gibson thought a moment. “So they waited and turned around to come back? Foolish, no? I want Bertram Simmons and I want him as soon as possible. I don’t give a fuck if he’s got to be dragged back here by the scruff of his neck.”

Bringing an Alpha from another jamboree to show obeisance was unusual. And maybe if they hadn’t
shot
him he’d have more mercy. But this was nothing less than a declaration of war and de La Vega demanded answers.

Gibson would get those answers.

He got back in the car, and they headed over to Max and Kendra’s where he was quite sure half his family would already be waiting.

“You got shot? Gibson, what did I tell you about that?” Imogene opened the door mid-lecture before she hauled him into the foyer, looking him over with a mother’s eyes.

No matter that he was the most feared Bringer in the country, that gaze took him right back to about seven years old and he had to resist the urge to make an excuse.

“It’s not like I wore a sign around my neck saying
shoot me
.” He frowned, but his mother was made of far sterner stuff than to even give the look a second glance.

“Mami, let him get inside.” Max came out and put an arm around their mother as he shot his brother an apologetic glance. “Come through. Kendra’s worried and I want to hear the whole story.”

Kendra looked up from her screen and came over. “I won’t fuss. But I’m glad you’re all right. Sit, and after you talk business, someone is totally going to tell me who this Porter family is and why it’s all so
escandalo
!”

Max heaved a sigh, but Imogene laughed. Kendra lightened Gibson’s heart. She was perfect for his overly serious older brother. She made him laugh, poked at him and didn’t take him too seriously. Max’s leadership was only enhanced by her at his side.

“Look, I met with Bertram’s Bringer this morning along with his human lawyer. I set them straight on what the rules were and then told them to get out of our territory before calling to get the permission they needed to be here. I checked in with Max when the meeting ended. I had my people follow them to the state line. I thought it was over. Apparently not.”

“They used silver. It’s not even an overreaction, it’s just totally nonsensical. We’ve never had beef with them. Hell, they’re some tiny little jamboree. I don’t think I’ve dealt with them at all before this.” Max ignored the sound of their sister-in-law Renee entering the house along with their brother Galen, and Galen and Renee’s other mate, Jack.

Renee walked right up and hugged him tight before kissing both cheeks. “This isn’t good. I am not a fan of my best boys getting shot. Gibson, did you look too good to someone’s wife or something?”

Kendra, who also happened to be Renee’s sister, laughed. “Dude, there’s some other mystery too. Porters, whoever they are, are involved.”

Galen shot him a look.

God. Women. “Let me finish the story before getting to the Porter thing.” He told them the rest of the story, all he knew anyway, and then turned to Kendra and Renee.

But before he could say a word, Renee shoved a mug of something mildly stinky into his hands. “First drink this. It’ll help with the poison the silver left behind.” He should have known better than to have assumed he’d get away without some of her potions. She was a healer. A nurturer. He pretended to be annoyed, though she touched him with the way she cared for the people in her life.

Of course it tasted like the bottom of a shoe, so he gulped it down and fought back the grimace he wanted to make.

“Cats using silver on each other. What is the world coming to?” His mother nearly growled.

“I don’t know what this is all about, but if I don’t get answers and very soon, I’m going to have to get mean.” Max began to pace and his wife watched him carefully.

“Let me tell you the story of the Porters and de La Vegas. Cesar’s father and his brothers were all very close. Jorge, that’s Cesar’s father, took over jamboree leadership from their father when he was a pretty young man. His right-hand cat was his next oldest brother, Silvio.”

Imogene, warming to the story, took Gibson’s hand before she continued. “Silvio had an eye for the ladies.” She rolled her eyes. “Legendary, even for a de La Vega male. He began to court one of the cats in the jamboree.”

“Oh uh oh, I can see where this is going.” Kendra shook her head.

Imogene nodded. “Indeed. Lettie was one of the most beautiful women in Boston in her day. Still packs a punch in her seventies. Lettie’s parents went to Silvio’s family, the alpha pair, and demanded they either make him back off or get serious about their eighteen-year-old daughter. Who he got pregnant.”

Gibson sighed. He really hated this story. He wondered if Lettie was Mia’s grandmother or great aunt? Wondered too, what she had been raised to think about his family.

“Of course he had to marry her. It wasn’t so long ago that a boy who got a girl pregnant would marry her because that’s what you did. Especially in a tight-knit shifter community. Wedding plans went forward, but a month before the date Lettie lost the baby. But they didn’t cancel the wedding. He made his bed and he made it with a young woman he got pregnant. Cesar’s father was beyond old school. He was an old-school shifter. The day of the wedding arrived and the church was full. Full of everyone but Silvio and one other cat, a female by the name of Charlotte.”

Kendra’s features left no doubt just how outrageous she thought Silvio’s actions were. “He left her at the altar? Please don’t tell me he went to Vegas to marry Charlotte.”

“Not Vegas. But he ran off with her for several weeks, and when they came back, they were married and she was pregnant with the first of three children she gave him before he imprinted on yet another female he ran off with for good. Abandoning his wife and kids back here.”

Kendra shook her head slowly. “Wow, that sort of is a scandal. So the Porters clearly hate the de La Vegas for a reason, though Silvio isn’t here anymore.”

“It gets worse. He and Charlotte spent a great deal of time talking poorly of Lettie when they returned. Charlotte, who I do like, couldn’t ever really get past her jealousy of Lettie, so she was quite unpleasant on that subject. The Porters pulled back, though they never left the jamboree entirely. They attend major gatherings and answer all the calls made. But they don’t do anything more than what is required. Jorge made amends with them I know, but there’s an enmity to this day.”

“Whatever the current state of de La Vega, Porter drama, Mia carried me back to her apartment and saved my life. Quick thinking.”

“Cesar and I plan to thank her ourselves. She did a great service to this jamboree and to my family.”

He barely managed to keep his cringe inside. “I don’t know if she’s going to like that.”

“It was two generations ago. Ridiculous to be held back by that man whore Silvio’s dastardly deeds.” His mother waved lazily. She’d clearly made her mind up, and he had nothing to do but hope it went all right.

He tried to push to stand, but his mother put a restraining hand on his shoulder. He reined in his impatience and squeezed her hand. “I need to get back out there. I want these cats found and dealt with. Nobody shoots me and walks away without a lot of pain.”

Imogene simply kept her hand in place, one brow arching.

“You’ll do no such thing. You will nap for three hours at the very least, and you’ll do it here so we can keep an eye on you.” Renee stood and Galen sent Gibson a look.

The look told him he was on his own.

He gave Renee a smile and cocked his head a little. “
Bebe
, really I’m fine.”

“No you aren’t.” Her response made him frown. This is what love got you. Bossy women. He had enough bossy women in his life but his brothers kept bringing more home.

Renee waved away his expression. “You have silver in your system. It’s a poison, remember? You need to rest to let your body get rid of it all. Once you’ve rested and are back to one hundred percent, you can go hunting. Don’t give me your
grr
face, it doesn’t work on me.”

Kendra nodded and moved between him and the door. His mother shrugged and gave him a little push toward the stairs. “So, you’ll nap and eat before you go back out. Go on up, the bed is made.”

With a barely restrained sigh, he got up and trudged past his brothers, neither of whom seemed to have a damned bit of control over their wives.

Renee put a hand to his cheek, and he paused to let her fuss a little before he moved up the stairs and toward his old room to take a nap like a cub for God’s sake. He hid a smile as he gave one last look at them before the stairs curved out of sight. If anyone outside the family ever found out what a total marshmallow he was for the women in his life, his cred would be shot to shit.

Chapter Three

Mia looked up from the counter at the sound of the chimes. Imogene de La Vega came in. Mia only knew this was the former alpha female because she’d long admired the woman’s sense of style when they’d attended the very few jamboree events her parents had allowed over the years.

Imogene wasn’t the type of female one forgot.

She shot a quick look to the landing where her father was explaining the difference between two bottles of Malbec to a customer before she headed to intercept Imogene. Hopefully she could handle this before anyone even noticed.

“I’m looking for Mia Porter.” The expression Imogene wore told Mia the woman knew exactly who she was speaking with.

“That’s me.”

Imogene looked her up and down and nodded once. “I’m pleased to meet you.” She held out a hand and Mia took it automatically. She didn’t offer her throat or any other submissive behavior.

“I’m Imogene de La Vega, and I wanted to come and thank you in person for saving my son’s life. I apologize that it took me three days to get here.”

Surprised by the visit, Mia nodded. “I imagine your schedule is fairly busy. You’re welcome. I did what anyone else would have. Is he all right?”

“As you might imagine, or maybe not since you don’t know him very well, but he got some sleep that night he was shot and then got right back to the search for those who shot him. He’s hard to keep down. Even when he was a baby he just never stopped in that gruff, taciturn way he has.” Imogene paused to look Mia over carefully and it made her a tad defensive.

“Did he find them?”

Imogene shook her head. “Not yet. But my children are steadfast. Gibson won’t give up until he’s successful. People like those who harmed him can’t understand that. Would you have some time? Perhaps to get some coffee across the way?” She indicated the tiny Cuban coffee stand on the corner.

“Really, it’s not necessary.” She lowered her voice. “My grandmother will be by later. It would be better if you know”—she paused, trying to find the politest way to put it—“you weren’t here.”

“It’s been over fifty years. What happened was wrong, but it looks to me like she got a much better deal. She built all this with your grandfather. I think it’s silly to hold a grudge this long. Don’t you?”

Mia knew she whipped her head a little, but her grandmother had suffered a lifetime’s worth of sorrow at the hands of the de La Vega family and that wasn’t silly. It was fucked up beyond measure, and it had turned her grandmother into a stone-cold bitch who loved her family fiercely.