Inferno (18 page)

“That monster is no relative of mine,” Maggie said in a chilly voice devoid of every emotion except anger and betrayal. “Anyone that would steal from family and do what he did to that sweet boy deserves to go to hell.”

“They’ll have to find him first,” Gabe said as he pushed away from the doorframe. “When the police went to question Charles, the house was empty, and I do mean empty. Everything had been packed up and moved. They even took the chandelier.”

Abe’s jaw dropped. “Do you think he knew the police were coming?”

Gabe’s amber eyes twinkled with something cold and deadly, something that Abe had only seen on a few occasions, ones he’d rather forget. “I think that Charles is smart enough to know that we would never stand for what he did to Danny. I have no doubt that Charles started packing the second you stepped out the front door of that fancy mansion.”

“I put a hold on that last payment,” Ben said. “He’ll have to use whatever he already stole from Danny to flee.”

“He won’t get far,” Mike said. There was something dark and foreboding in his eyes. “I’ve called a few friends and asked them to look into Charles and his associates. We’ll find him, and then he will learn what it means to betray a bear.”

Abe was glad he wasn’t Charles O’Shay. He didn’t know much about Gabe and Mike’s work in the military but he knew the missions they were sent on were the kind that no one heard about, even if they died. Abe knew that only a certain type of person could do dangerous work like that. Gabe and Mike put their lives on the line time and time again so that others didn’t have to. It made them hard men, unforgiving of those that betrayed their country or their family.

“If you find him,” Maggie said, “you will bring him back to Pacific Cove to face justice there.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Mike nodded toward the older woman. No one argued with Maggie Flynn. She might be as sweet as pie but her mates doted on her and had for over fifty years. They didn’t suffer fools, even if that fool was someone they all felt had been family.

“Losing his wife the way he did changed Charles,” Jacob said. “You all know that. I don’t think he ever quite got over it. Charles might have been raised in Pacific Cove but he wasn’t a bear. I don’t think he ever really understood what being a shifter was.”

“You and Adam lost Isaac,” Douglas Flynn said. “It changed you but it didn’t turn you against your family.”

Abe watched as his Dad glanced at his Pop. He knew they were talking through their twin bond when Jacob nodded and fell silent. Abe was dying to know what had passed between them but he would never ask. The bond between twins was sacred.

“Did the authorities say what was going to happen to Charles’s wife?” Maggie asked.

Abe drew in a breath and raised his eyes to Maggie’s. “She was arrested and I suspect after the gun she had is tested and her fingerprints come back on it, she’ll be charged with Darren’s death as well as the attempted murder of Danny.”

“Why do you think he did it?” Maggie asked.

“Charles?”

“No, the lawyer,” Maggie said. “Why do you think he did it?”

“Mariana is a very beautiful woman,” Ben said. “I imagine she seduced him to get him to do her bidding.”

Abe’s eyebrows shot up when Maggie shook her head and said, “Gold digging bitch.” He quickly glanced at the others in the room to see if they had heard her. More than one man was biting his lip and glancing away.

Yep, they had heard the grandmotherly woman swear just like he had.

“Do you think Mariana set the fire?” Abe asked.

“It’s entirely possible,” Ben said. “The debris I saw in front of Danny’s door wasn’t that heavy. She could have easily put it there.”

“Plus,” Gabe said, “if she had Darren helping her, it would have been even easier.”

“How did she think that killing Danny would induce you to release that money to her?” Adam asked.

Abe shrugged. “She was insane. Insane people think other people will do insane things.”

“I made sure to tell the police about what I knew concerning the fire,” Ben said. “If there’s a connection, I’m sure they’ll find it. I’m just glad the firemen were able to put out the fire before there was too much damage. Danny’s apartment plus the one below him and above him were the only ones to get damaged. After the investigation is done, most of the residence can return home.”

Abe smiled sadly. “That will make Danny happy.” It was just too bad the man had to lose everything he owned because of some psychotic bitch.

“Why did Thomas and Clara never say anything?” Abe asked. The siblings had spent the last twenty years watching over Danny. Why had they never said what was going on?

“It looks like all of their communications were intercepted by Charles or one of his family members,” Gabe said.

“They could have called,” Abe insisted.

“They could have except Charles threatened to send them back to Pacific Cove and make sure none of us had any contact with Danny if they said anything. Since they were the only ones Charles allowed to have any sort of contact with Danny, they felt it was better if they stayed and tried the best they could to take care of him.”

Abe didn’t like it. It just seemed to him that if either Thomas or Clara had said something, they could have saved Danny a lot of pain and heartache.

“Son,” Maggie said, “Charles had full legal custody of Danny. He could have easily made it so no one had contact with him. Thomas and Clara did what they thought was best.”

Abe frowned, still not liking that explanation. “I guess.”

“I’m going to go see if I can find out anything on Danny’s condition,” Gabe said as he walked toward the door. Mike was up and behind him before he more than a couple of steps. Abe was guessing that Gabe said what he had so Mike could have a good excuse to stretch his legs and get out of the room full of people. Mike didn’t like crowded rooms, even when that crowd was family.

“We need to arrange for Danny to sign up for online classes at the nearest college,” Ben said out of the blue. “He’s going to want to finish school.”

“He will.” Abe smiled. “He’s going to be a great graphic artist.”

“I thought he had been going to school for six years,” Maggie said., “Does it take that long to get a graphic’s degree?”

“No, not usually,” Ben replied. “I suspect that he could only afford to take a few classes at a time. You have to remember, none of the money we sent to Charles actually got to Danny after he moved out. He had to pay for everything himself.”

“He must really want that degree.”

“He does,” Abe said. “That’s why I think it’s important for him to be able to finish it.” Abe stood. “I think I’m going to go get Danny’s kitten some—Shit! The kitten!” Abe’s eyes darted around the room, looking for the cat carrier. When he didn’t find it, he slapped himself in the forehead. “Oh my god, we forgot Danny’s kitten.”

If anything happened to Danny’s kitten, the man would skin them alive. He adored that little fur ball.

“You mean this little thing?” Mike asked from the doorway as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a little ball of white fluff. “I found her in the truck when I went to get the tires fixed.” Mike shrugged. “Figured you might be too busy worrying about your mate to worry about her.”

“Thank you, Mike. You don’t know how much I appreciate it.” Abe took the small bundle of fur. “Danny would be devastated if anything happened to her.”

Mike nodded as if he understood perfectly. “I’ll grab her carrier and bring it up for you.”

“Thanks.”

Not a minute after Mike and Gabe walked out of the waiting room, the door opened and a man in blue surgical scrubs walked in. “I’m looking for the family of Daniel O’Shay?”

Ben and Abe rushed forward. “That’s us.”

The man’s eyes widened when he took in the rest of the people standing and walking toward him. “All of you?”

Abe nodded.

Well.” The man chuckled. “He did say he had a large family.”

“He said?” Abe swallowed hard. “Then Danny’s okay?”

The man’s smile was wide and happy, which just about made Abe’s legs give out. “He went through surgery fine and is in recovery. He was awake and charming the nurses when I saw him last.”

“The surgery went okay?” Abe asked. If everything was fine, why in the hell had it taken so long?

“For the most part. The bullet entered Danny’s chest just above his heart. That’s why the surgery took so long. I wanted to make sure that we caught any bleeders and repaired whatever damage the bullet might have caused.”

The wince that suddenly crossed the man’s face concerned Abe until the doctor began to speak again. “Considering Danny’s medical history, I thought it best to insure the easiest recovery for him.”

Abe smiled as relief flooded him. “You’re Dr. Jones, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am.” The man frowned. “How did you know?”

“Just before Danny passed out, he told us to get him to Dr. Jones at City General and you’d take care of everything.”

Dr. Jones chuckled. “Danny is somewhat of a regular customer around here.”

“Not for long, Doc,” Abe said. “We’re taking him home to Pacific Cove where he belongs.”

“You’ll have to bring him back for the wedding,” said a nurse as she walked in with a rather stalky dark haired man.

“Wedding?” Abe asked.

The nurse smiled as she took the hand of the man she came in with. “Vinnie and I knew we liked each other but we never said anything until Danny convinced Vinnie to take me out for a cup of coffee after another nurse started trouble with Danny and me.”

The dark haired man chuckled. “Things kind of snow balled from there and Betty agreed to marry me when I asked. Since he had such a hand in it, I wanted Danny to be my best man.”

Abe smiled at the affection he could see shining between the two humans. He hoped Danny looked at him like that one day.

“What happened to the nurse that caused the trouble,” Ben asked as he stepped over to stand beside Abe.

Abe understood the question. He didn’t like the idea of anyone messing with Danny.

Doctor Jones grinned as he rocked back on his heels. “She was transferred.”

“No one messes with our Danny,” Betty said.

While Abe liked the idea that Danny had so many people in his corner, he wanted it to be perfectly clear that Danny had him and Ben now.

“No one will mess with Danny again,” Abe said. “He has me and my brother now.”

And they were going to spend the rest of their lives making sure Danny was safe and happy. That’s what mates did.

Danny stuck his head out the window and drew in a deep breath of fresh country air. He knew he had smelled clean air like this before but he didn’t remember when. As far as he was concerned, it was an anomaly. Now, he understood why people in smog-filled cities went to air bars. Pacific Cove could bottle the stuff and make millions.

“Almost there, love.”

Danny pulled back into the cab of the truck and glanced at Ben, who was driving. Abe was asleep in the backseat of the truck’s king cab. They had decided to drive through the night to get to Pacific Cove instead of stopping halfway and sleeping.

Danny was so excited to finally see the place he was born he could hardly sit still. Since he woke in the hospital, that had been all he could think about.

Well, almost.

There was one other thing he had been thinking a lot about. There had been more than one rub off and blow job exchanged since he was released from the hospital. Well, to be honest, there had been a couple of blow jobs in the hospital but they had been quick because Danny had been too afraid of getting caught by one of the nurses.

But there had been nothing else.

Danny would have been nervous that Ben and Abe didn’t want him anymore if they hadn’t gone out of their way to show that they did. Between the make out sessions, the cuddling, and the deep discussions to get to know each other, Danny felt like they had been together forever.

He was just horny as hell and had been for weeks. It seemed like it had been forever since he had felt Ben or Abe’s dick pound his ass. It might have only been a few weeks, but still…no man that was mated to two gorgeous studs should have to go six weeks without getting bent over something.

Danny glanced over the seat to the sleeping man in back. Maybe…Danny undid his seatbelt and then kicked off his shoes. He reached for the opening to his jeans. The sound of his zipper going down echoed through the cab of the truck like a locomotive horn.

“What are you doing, Danny?” The words were harsh and rough.

“Playing.”

“Playing?”

Danny nodded as he watched Ben out of the corner of his eye as he slowly lowered his zipper. His semihard cock was nestled comfortably in his boxers but waking up rather quickly. By the time Danny had his zipper completely down, the head of his cock was sticking out of the top of his boxers. Danny pushed them down and hooked them underneath his balls.

He trailed a finger over the head of his cock, wiping away the drops of pre-cum that had gathered there as Danny watched Ben’s lust spark to life in his eyes. One thing Danny learned over the last few weeks was that he liked being watched by Ben and Abe. Neither man hid their desire from him. There were times when Danny thought he was going to ignite from the lust burning in their eyes as they watched him.