Double the Price (SeXlection #2) (10 page)

“I know I hurt you but please stop this,” I rasped as I moved to sit on the bed. “I didn’t understand. I still don’t, but I want to talk. I should have handled things better and I’m sorry. Will you forgive me? Talk with me?”

“I will do whatever you want of me, master.”

I started to get slightly hysterical and somewhat annoyed, because while he was upset, I wasn’t sure I deserved this either. “Neil, I’m
your
Neil!”

“Yes, master Neil.”

I felt as if he’d slapped me now and decided to go another route. “I read about your needing to shift. Have you been able to run at all since you’ve gotten here? We could convert the other guest room into a sunroom or find a place for you to go run if you want?”

It was hard for people to fathom all the space I had when they heard
apartment
but they had to keep in mind mine took the entire floor. Whereas most floors housed four or five apartments before the luxury floors that only had two apartments. Then there was the penthouse where my spoiled ass had the whole floor so I had more square footage than some houses that could be considered mansions. Hell, the place was worth eight figures if I wanted to sell it.

Still he stared at the wall. “Cecil, are you going to ignore me?” Nothing. “Answer me.”

“I have not run around besides the apartment while you were at work, master Neil,” he mumbled, his eyes blinking but staying closed longer than normal, like a sleepy droop before they opened again. “I would be pleased with whatever my master wants and I will answer or do whatever you order me to.”

“But otherwise you don’t want to talk to me is what you’re saying,” I snapped as it sunk in what was going on. “Fine. Play games, Cecil. I came in here to apologize, grovel, and fix this after I
accidentally
hurt you. But you’re making a choice right now to put this wall between us I never did. When you want to stop and be my fine ocelot again and listen to my apology, talk this out, you know where I am.”

I stood and walked out of the room, proud of myself for not slamming the door and acting like a child as he was.

Cecil never came out of his room and we didn’t talk. I went to work the next morning and still his door was closed. I was a
beast
at work, and when I had a lunch meeting with Craig, he asked me what the fuck was going on.

“I fucked up,” I admitted with a sigh, staring down at my sandwich. “I did something and I can’t take it back and Cecil…” I shook my head. “I don’t know how to fix it and now he’s overreacting. It’s bad, Craig.”

“First, I suggest you cancel poker night because the last thing you want after a dinner party
everyone
is talking about is a flop poker night that makes it seem like one dinner is all you can handle before your house falls apart. Second, you fucked up. It doesn’t matter if he’s handling it badly. You have to see it from his side. He has very limited options in life and whatever happened he could be reverting to the fear of going back to the brothel or having a bad master. It’s not a fight with a lover, Neil.

“He gets a big fat pass because of what’s he’s been through and what he’s
done
for you already. Give it to him and fix this. You
love
him and—”

“No, I don’t,” I argued.

“Jesus, Neil,” he hissed, narrowing his eyes at me. “
Yes
, you do. When are you going to see that love isn’t a weakness, it’s a blessing and a strength. Not everyone will turn into your father. My parents love each other. You’ve seen them, been around them. You know love is real and can be a good thing. Stop letting your past rule your present or you will lose the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Who cares if he’s a slave because of our
laws
. Fuck the law. Cecil is awesome. Love him, learn to love him before you lose him and yourself because that’s what happens when you miss your shot at happiness.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you said
fuck the law
before,” I muttered, staring at my
attorney
with wide eyes.

“I’m a lawyer and I love the law. That doesn’t mean I always agree with it. I’m with you. I hate the slave/shifter thing. It’s bullshit. But it’s not up to me. I will say there are always ways around things. Work around this and be with the man you love because he’s worth it.”

“Find me some ways,” I hinted, not sure what I’d do with all of them but Craig knew I liked having options always. It was just smart.

I hurried through the rest of my day and actually left work before five. I ignored my assistant’s, Miranda’s, hanging open mouth. Asking my driver to swing by the sushi restaurant I knew Cecil had wanted to try but hadn’t asked me to, I bought a selection of his favorites. Hey, I could pay attention too. It was probably wasteful with all the food we had at home but he ate like a horse so I wasn’t all that concerned.

I’d read about that in the literature and it was typical shifter metabolism.

When I arrived home, I was more determined than ever to fix things no matter what he threw back in my face. I set my stuff down in the kitchen and glanced around before ducking into the living room.

No Cecil. Shit. His door was still closed so I knocked before entering with his sushi.

“Hey, I brought you something special to eat,” I greeted, trying to make it sound more as a peace offering than as a bribe. Ten feet into the room and I almost dropped the fish. If the sheets hadn’t been moving slightly to tell me he was breathing, I would have thought Cecil might be dead.

He looked
that
bad.

I set the container on the nightstand and dove to the floor next to the bed. “Cecil? Babe? Are you there?” I shook him, and after a bit, his vacant eyes looked at me but it was as if nothing was really there. His cheeks were sunken in as if he’d been starved for months, not skipped two days of meals at most. He looked almost as if he was aging rapidly, skin drying out from more than dehydration.

He looked like a fucking dying cancer patient or some type of other extreme terminal illness.

I didn’t know what to do so I went with the first thing that popped into my head even if it was desperate—because we were
there
already—and even if it cost me whatever business I could have gained from the relationship when they found out. I pulled out my phone and connected the call before I gently lifted Cecil from the bed, wincing when I smelled urine. Fuck, he was so bad off from whatever this was he couldn’t even get up to go to the bathroom?

What the
fuck
was going on?

“Anatoliy, I screwed up,” I blurted out the second I heard his voice. “We had a fight after the dinner, and I was going to make it right, but something happened and now he’s like half dead. I don’t understand what’s going on. It’s not in the stuff I read. Please, help me.”

“Slow down, Neil,” he ordered. “What do you mean
like half dead
?” I rambled off what I was seeing and how Cecil was acting.

“How does this happen in two days? It’s been
two
days, not even, since after the dinner and I messed up. He looks like he’s been starving and dying for months. What is going
on
?”

“I do not know,” he muttered. “But I might know someone who does. He’s in London though, Neil. You say he was listening to your orders. Try that. Order him to eat and hydrate. That might help for now until we have answers.”

“Okay, I can do that. Please, just call whomever. I’ll do
whatever
. Just help me save Cecil.”

“Of course, my friend.” He hung up and I dropped the phone before drawing him a bath.

Then with Cecil still in my arms, I grabbed the sushi and set him down on the edge of the tub. “Cecil, eat this,” I demanded as I held out a piece to him. Immediately he opened his mouth. “Good, good, thank you, baby.” He chewed it and swallowed it and I gave him a few more pieces, slowly as the bath readied—but not the whole container because I didn’t want to overwhelm his system. Then I lowered him in the tub and went to get my phone, realizing there were other calls I had to make.

But the moment I let him go, he slid under the water.

“Oh
fuck
,” I bellowed and half dove in there after him. It was a
huge
tub so my whole upper half and suit was wet after I fished him out. I quickly cleaned him up and wrapped him in the big fluffy towels I knew he loved. Then I set him on the floor just so he didn’t go tumbling off the toilet seat or something, unplugged the tub, stripped off my wet clothes, and wrapped a towel around myself.

I grabbed the sushi and my phone on the way back to the kitchen. Normally I would
not
have thought raw or smoked fish the best thing for someone in his condition but he was part cat. Next I called Craig and told him I needed help, big time and to please get his ass over to my place. Like any good friend would, he didn’t ask questions just told me he’d be there as fast as he could.

Then I called Miranda and told her to cancel, push back, or let my vice president handle my week because I had a family emergency.

“But, Mr. Morgan, you don’t take
time off
,” she whispered as if it was a dirty concept.

“There’s a first for everything and emergencies happen,” I drawled. “Call me if there’s anyone being difficult or something I have to handle personally but this is serious and I’m needed at home so really it had better be for real if I get a call.” And then I hung up. Right then I could give a fuck about the business.

Any of it would survive a while without me while I focused on saving Cecil’s
life
.

When Craig showed up, he let himself in with the key he had to my apartment, and I heard a thud behind me when he saw me on my knees in front of Cecil, ordering him to eat. I had my ocelot just about swaddled in the towel, propped up in the kitchen chair so he didn’t fall over.

“What the fuck is going on, Neil?” Craig whispered as I glanced at him over his shoulder. He’d dropped a six pack of the cheap beer we used to drink in college, probably having thought I needed to tie one off and some nostalgia would help. The cans were rolling all over the kitchen and I heard one hissing as it leaked wherever.

“I don’t know. I came home and found him like this,” I admitted, tears burning my eyes. “I called Anatoliy. He’s trying to find us help.” I filled him in on the rest while he dumped the leaky can in the sink and picked up the others. Then he was my research guy, looking up what was best for cat shifters when feeling ill.

Turned out the lemon-lime soda I’d been planning was about the worst thing possible and the answer was green tea.

“How the fuck was I supposed to know that?” I grumbled as I put it back in the fridge. “Your stomach hurts, you have a 7-Up.”

“Dude, cats and dogs eat grass when their stomachs hurts,” he argued.

“Does he look like a fucking cat?” I snapped, gesturing to Cecil.

Craig pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “No, but now green tea makes complete sense. Happy medium right? Works for humans—though I think that’s mint herbal—completely organic, just about grass for a
cat shifter
.”

“If I’m left in charge of fixing this, he will
die
,” I rasped, wrapping my arms around my stomach and bending at the waist. “I read the packet Saturday night. None of this was in there. I’m not prepared for this.”

“Hey, one step at a time. You cared enough to fucking call Anatoliy, man. Do you know how many people wouldn’t have blown that chance to get someone like him on their side for their slave?”

I stood up straight and got in his face. “He’s not just my slave!”

“I know that,” Craig assured me gently, giving me a half hug. “But in this country, he is. I’m on your side, Neil.”

“I know, I know,” I muttered, breaking away and making the tea. Craig took over and I fed Cecil a little bit more. We glanced at each other when there was a knock at the door, and I went to answer, doing a double take when Anatoliy was standing there. “Thank you for coming. I hate to be rude and blunt but—”

“I need to get on Skype with my contact,” he answered my unasked question. “He wants to see Cecil for himself before pointing us on a course of treatment and confirming this is worth getting on a plane.” I nodded, closing the door behind him before leading him into the kitchen. The second he saw Cecil, he let out a litany of Russian, shooting me a death look.

“He was lethargic, depressed yesterday afternoon when I went to apologize,” I explained, understanding his reaction completely. “But
nothing
like this. I swear it to you. I thought he was pissed and throwing our fight in my face, only acting as my slave after what happened. I left him to cool off and found him as you see him when I returned from work half past six. He had wet the bed and well—you’re seeing him as I am. His color has come back some now that he’s bathed and eaten. How does this happen in one day?”

“I don’t know.” He pulled out his phone and pushed a few buttons. “Get on a plane. This ocelot is dying. I believe this man, Samuel, and I was here at this house forty-eight hours ago. I have never seen a change in a shifter this fast. He looks to be on death’s door.” He nodded a few times and then glanced at me. “He’s eating when you order him to?”