Blood Diamond (37 page)

Richard leaned over me to poke Nicole in the arm. “The cop who arrested me was the feisty blonde, and she gave me a card with her number on it. I’m feeling very traumatized right now.”

“You are traumatized, but not because of the cop. Sorry, Jackson, but I think you’re going to have a Richard-shaped shadow hovering around you for a while.”

“Mine,” he confirmed.

Amber came down the stairs two at a time, carrying the white bag of prescriptions, which she tossed to Nicole. “I think that’s all of them. Richard’s right, mostly. I think high is an understatement. The painkillers are the good stuff, and half of the others cause some sort of impairment or another. How are you still walking in a straight line, Jackson?”

Without opening the bag, Nicole handed them to Richard. “Say hello to your new drug dealer, Jackson. You should see him in Yellowknife. If someone in the pack is on medications for any reason, he’ll make house calls if he has any reason to believe doses aren’t being taken right on schedule.”

“Hello,” I told Richard.

Richard laughed, nudging me with his elbow. “Damned straight it’s my job. I’ll fight Gerald for the right if I must.”

Alex came up behind me, resting his chin on top of my head. “I’ll keep him from roughing Gerald up, don’t worry.”

When Alex started rubbing at my shoulders, I leaned forward with a groan. “Please don’t stop.”

“I told you, Jackson,” Amber said, sitting at my feet. “Every last one of them is touchy feely.”

“Hey, Alex. Where’s your mate? I haven’t met her yet.”

“Since one of us needs to be functional tomorrow, she’s playing pretend as the family dog. Last I checked, she was curled up between Ruth and Beth, sound asleep.”

“I’m still amazed that Gerald is so accepting of you Fenerec.”

“Accepting? He was the one who suggested one of us change into a wolf and sleep with the girls. We’re humoring him, since it’s his house and he’s in love with the idea of having someone protect his girls through the night. No one is going to get anywhere near them with Lisa on guard duty. She’s a light sleeper, and she adores children,” Alex replied.

“That’s one thing about Fenerec I like; almost all of them love children. I’ve come to the conclusion it’s an instinct,” Amber said, using my legs as a backrest.

“Gerald is a sneaky son of a bitch,” I grumbled.

“You do realize that’s a compliment, right?” Nicole asked.

“I’m rather interested in the fact that he just cursed in front of two ladies,” Richard commented, digging through the bag of prescriptions, taking a bottle out and reading the label. “What the hell do they have you on? Half of the pharmacy? Ah, this one is an anti-nausea medication. Please tell me you haven’t been vomiting. When was the last time you ate?”

“On the way home, which was around one in the morning,” I replied. “I’m pretty sure I’m not because of the medications.”

“Good.” After rattling the bottle at me, he pulled out another one. “Oh, hey. You weren’t kidding, Amber. He really is on the good stuff. Lucky.”

“And what about you?” I demanded, jabbing his ribs. “You broke your arm.”

“It’s mostly better. A little achy, but it’ll be healed by morning.”

“Fu—”

Richard clamped his hand over my mouth. “I’ll just stop you there, Jackson. Be quiet. You’re tired, drugged, and need a warm bed with your woman. You’ll end up saying something you’ll regret at the rate you’re going.”

“That’s probably the best idea I’ve heard all night. Evelyn’s fuzzy, soft, warm, and perfect to curl up with right now. Once you go to bed, we can all get some sleep, now that Richard’s convinced you’re actually alive.” Nicole glowered at her husband. “As if Gerald would lie about something like that, you dimwit.”

While I wanted to go upstairs to be with Evelyn, I didn’t want to disturb her and the thought of climbing two sets of stairs made me wince. “She is soft and warm,” I agreed.

“He’d end up on maybe half the bed—if that—in his determination to let her rest undisturbed,” Amber said, shaking her head at me. “When I was fetching him, she was curled up on the pillow still, and the bed looked untouched otherwise. Why don’t we bring her down here? You might act all macho now, Richard, but you’ll end up pacing outside of their room in a panic, like some crazed stalker.”

“She’s got you there,” Nicole said. “All right. I’ll go bring her down. You’ve been up and down the stairs enough tonight, Amber. My turn. She doesn’t even clock in at thirty pounds, so I won’t have any trouble with her at all.”

“As if you’d have trouble with her if she weighed in at three hundred pounds,” Richard mumbled without looking up from reading medicine labels. “Welcome to the pack, Jackson. I hope you’re not shy, because you never know who you might wake up with in the morning. Think about it this way: at least you won’t get cold in the winter.”

Chapter Eighteen

When I had fallen asleep, I had been on the couch with Evelyn on my lap. When I woke up, I was on the floor in the center of an explosion of cushions and pillows. Yawning, I took in the upholstery carnage, coming to the conclusion that the Fenerec’s skewed view on personal space extended to property as well.

If my guess was correct, they had pillaged every couch and armchair in the house to build their nest. I had no recollection of how I had gotten into the middle of the mess, but Sir Rufus Fuzzybottom was on the pillow next to my head, staring at me with his beady black eyes. Evelyn was sprawled over my chest, and there was a gray wolf using my shoulder as a chin rest. When I stretched my legs, I ended up kicking Richard, who mumbled a complaint and grabbed hold of my ankle. Nicole rolled over, stretching her arms out over her husband’s chest, blinking at me with sleep-glazed eyes.

“Good luck escaping that mess,” Vicky said from her perch on the arm of the stripped couch. “I’m relieved you’re looking so well. I was certain there was no way you could have survived that crash. For Anderson’s sake, I’m glad you’re Fenerec tough.”

“Thanks, I think,” I replied, yawning again. Scratching Evelyn behind her eyes woke her. With a big yawn that showed all of her teeth, she rammed her head under my chin, warbling a canine complaint. “Where are Amber and Alex?”

“Upstairs, holding the Normals at bay. That’s Lisa, I think,” Vicky replied, pointing at the wolf using me as a pillow. “How are you feeling?”

“All things considered, fantastic.” I wiggled out from underneath Lisa, wrapped an arm around Evelyn, and lurched upright. When I fought to pull my foot free of Richard’s grip, he tightened his hold on me.

I kicked until he let go. “He’s a leech.”

Undeterred by my aggressive removal, Richard latched onto my other foot, mumbling something incoherent.

“Let go, Richard,” I demanded.

He yawned, and without opening his eyes, he replied, “It’s not time to get up. What time is it?”

“A little after ten,” Vicky replied, pointing at the clock on the wall.

“Too early,” Richard complained, twisting around to bury his face in Nicole’s hair. He didn’t let go of me.

Sitting up and wiggling out of Richard’s grip, Nicole yawned and said, “It’s time for his medicine, so hands off. Good morning, Jackson.”

Richard scowled, but his grip loosened enough for me to pull free. Scooting out of his reach, I tried to figure out how to escape the cushion nest and get up without dropping Evelyn.

“You’ll get used to it one day,” Nicole assured me, prodding Richard in the ribs. “You’ll learn to lock your doors if you want privacy.”

With a barrage of poking and nips, Nicole drove Yellowknife’s Alpha over the sea of cushions to the coffee table, which had been pushed to the side. “Where’s the meds?” he asked, squinting at the polished surface.

Vicky sighed. “You’ll have to get them from Gerald. Jackson, he asked me to tell you that once you’re awake, he has an errand to run with you.”

“I can’t win, can I? I wonder if this errand involves another trip to the hospital,” I grumbled.

“I’m afraid I don’t know.”

“Have you heard from Elliot?”

For a moment, Vicky smiled before her expression smoothed. “I have. He’s fine, in Atlanta, and dealing with the fallout from the crash. The Canadians are dealing with the investigation, and he’s trying to get involved with it. So far, it’s been a lost cause for him.”

“I don’t suppose you can rein him in, can you?” I begged.

“I’d be delighted to. Sometimes, he’s simply too enthusiastic and focused for his own good. Alas, he’s good at what he does, which is why I keep him around.”

“You must be the sort of boss that no one dares to cross,” I commented, rubbing Evelyn’s ears until she ducked her head to escape me. When she stared up at me, I bent over and kissed the tip of her nose, “Good morning.”

She nipped my chin.

“I need to find her some clothes.”

Vicky chuckled. “Already taken care of—Zachary texted Gerald with her sizes yesterday. Maggie and the girls went on a shopping spree for all of us.”

“I need to give him a raise.”

“So it seems.”

“When are you headed back to Atlanta?”

“I have a flight out tomorrow afternoon. Anderson asked me to keep an eye on you until then.”

Shaking my head, I shifted my grip on Evelyn, scratching under her chin. “I think I have enough supervision. At the rate I’m going, I’m going to need a rescue or an exorcism to get rid of Richard. Thank you for helping to take care of Evelyn for me.”

Vicky got a puzzled look on her face. “We’re pack.”

I got the feeling she wasn’t too happy about that fact. “If you think it’s weird, let’s just say I’m quite used to being on my own myself.”

“Don’t listen to him, Vicky,” Nicole said, using Richard’s back as a chair. “If he isn’t scheming with someone, he’s off telling people how to run their businesses for them. He’s good at what he does, but tends to act like he’s a lone wolf when he’s not.”

“I am a lone wolf,” Vicky retorted.

“Not anymore you aren’t.” Crossing her arms over her chest, Nicole leveled a glare at my brother’s mate. “Get used to the idea. You’re pack by your own right. We want you, and now that we have you, we’re not letting you go. Add in the fact that you’re important to Jackson’s brother, that makes you important to him, which in turn makes you even more important to us.”

Setting Evelyn down next to me, I climbed to my feet with the help of the couch. “I think I’m going to go upstairs and leave you Fenerec for this talk. I need to see what sort of errands Gerald has in mind.”

Before I could ask Evelyn if she wanted to come with me, she trotted to the staircase, watching me with jade and gold eyes. After bending over to pick up Sir Rufus Fuzzybottom, I followed after her, limping my way up the steps. When I entered the kitchen, Gerald and Maggie were the only ones in the kitchen.

“This isn’t a hotel, it’s a madhouse,” I informed Gerald, hopping up on the stool next to him. “Good morning, Maggie. Vicky says there are clothes for Evelyn somewhere?”

Hopping down from her stool, Maggie paused long enough to kiss my cheeks before she took Sir Rufus Fuzzybottom from me. “I hope you like pink, Miss Evelyn. The girls helped with the shopping—and by help, I mean dictated.”

“Evelyn makes all clothes and colors look good,” I declared. “Gerald, I have been ordered by Richard to take my medicine.”

“Medicine comes with breakfast. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, or all of the above?”

“Pancakes.”

“It’s obvious you aren’t a Fenerec. No bacon? I’m not sure we can be friends if you won’t have bacon,” he muttered, sliding off his stool to head to the stove.

“Evelyn can have my share if that’ll make you feel better.”

Maggie chuckled. “You’re just wisely avoiding Gerald’s bacon. He either burns it or its floppy. Floppy bacon is just gross. If you want good bacon, I’ll come make you some after I take care of Evelyn and make certain she’s all settled.” Evelyn put her ears back, staring at me before sighing and following after Maggie.

Once the pair was gone, Gerald said, “I have been told that the photo I took of you with the Fenerec and Sir Rufus Fuzzybottom is the most adorable thing that Ruth has ever seen. She demanded that we have it framed so it can be in her bedroom forever.” He poured me a cup of coffee and slid it across the island in my direction. “Amber told me you had an adventure with Richard last night.”

“It was an interesting evening.”

“She was suitably impressed by your masculinity.”

I choked on my coffee. “What?”

“It seems that she was impressed that you were sufficiently secure in your masculinity to avoid an outburst of homophobic insanity. According to her, that can be a bit of an issue with men learning how affectionate Fenerec can be with those in their close circles.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I spluttered. “It’s not like he was trying to sleep with me.” The only Fenerec I was interested in sleeping with was Evelyn, and I counted myself among the luckiest men alive that the feeling was mutual.

“I have photographic evidence of him and his wife curled around your feet while his brother and his wife were using you as a pillow. Poor Evelyn was forced to sleep on top of Alex just to be near you. I have no idea how you slept through that nonsense. I woke up with every last pillow in my house missing. Maggie wouldn’t stop laughing. They took
mine
, but left hers.”

“They stole your pillow?”

“Right out from under me. I didn’t feel them do it, those rats.”

“Well, I’m innocent of all wrongdoing. When I fell asleep, it was on the couch with Evelyn.”

Gerald chuckled, pausing in his mixing of the pancake batter to point the spoon at me. “You better watch yourself with those Fenerec. Richard’s the guilty party with his wife as an accomplice, but the clever bastard sacrificed his brother and Amber to take the fall. Alex I can scold, but Amber? She’ll jam her gun down my pants and fire if I don’t watch my mouth with her.”

“As if you’d scold a guest, even after stealing your pillow. Vicky said we have an errand to run?”

Glancing at the basement door, which was still open, he pointed at it with his spoon and shook his head. Getting up, I closed it before joining him at the counter. “Okay, what’s going on that you don’t want them hearing?” I whispered.