Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) (30 page)

“What kind of trouble?”

“The female kind,” Joseph answered with a grin.

Nate rolled his eyes. “He used to drag me to bars and
pubs and then abandon me to flirt with girls only to eventually break their
hearts.”

“I made a few smile once or twice before any hearts
were broken.”

Nate laughed. “So you’re going to stay for a while,
where’s your suitcase?”

“What kind of a bum do you take me for? I’m not going
to assume you’d invite me stay.” His expression was wounded, quickly changing
to a grin. “But it’s on the porch just in case you did.”

“Of course you’re welcome to stay with us, right,
Meg?”

I felt a shiver of goose bumps when he said “us.”
“Yes, of course. I would like to hear about this lady trouble you got
yourselves into.”

Joseph’s wicked smile returned. “
Ah
…don’t you
worry, Love. Nate was a perfect gentlemen, as much as I tried to change him.
I’m surprised he’s with you though. He never wanted to form attachments,
worried that the blasted Rowan would find out.” He turned to Nate. “Why did you
finally give in? Is it because she’s yours?”

I opened my mouth to object to being called Nate’s,
but Nate spoke before I could. “How did you know? Did you smell me on her?”

“Yes.”

Nate scowled, a look I hadn’t seen on him in weeks. “I
was afraid of that. No wonder Rowan found her.”

“How long did Nate ignore you before he made his
move?” Joe asked me.

“Three years. You know him well, I see. But he didn’t
make a move.
I
kissed
him
.”

He looked impressed. “Good for you.”

Nate stood up, obviously uncomfortable with the
conversation. “Why don’t we go up to the main house and visit with Will?”

Joseph stood up, following Nate to the door. “I
haven’t seen him since I beat him at poker and that was what, twenty years
ago?”

Nate nodded. “About that. Get your suitcase, I’ll get
the gun and we can discuss our plan.”

The main house was quiet when Nate opened the door.
“Will?” Nate yelled.

“In here.” Will’s voice floated out from the office.
We took a few steps toward the door when Joseph breathed in deeply. Nate and I
watched as he wandered around the foyer, sniffing. He followed some scent until
he got to the staircase. He was about to climb it when Nate called to him.
“Joseph, what are you doing? Is it Rowan?”

Joseph spun around. His eyes were glazed, his nostrils
flared. He seemed disturbed about something. He looked back up the stairs and
then back to us. He shook his head with a furrowed brow. “Nothing, let’s go.”
He hurried to the door that led to the office, his shoulders tense. Something
was bothering him. He pushed it open and Nate and I followed him in.

“You still owe me twenty grand, old man,” Joe
bellowed, his words dripping with laughter.

Will, who was hovered over papers on his desk, looked
up. His face held a look of surprise then quickly turned to pleasure. “Joseph!
Nate didn’t tell me you were coming.” He stood up and walked toward him with
his arms out. They embraced quickly then pulled apart, smiling at each other.
“How did the opening go?” Will asked, leaning against the desk.

“Good, I don’t think Frank really liked me at first.
I’m guessing he was jealous of how young and handsome I am.” He showed a
lopsided grin that I was guessing he used a lot. “Taking orders from a fellow
of nineteen was the root of it all. But after a call from Richard everything
was right as rain.”

Will nodded. “He’s a little bull-headed, but a good
businessman. He didn’t take the secret as well as others did. But there’s
nothing he can do about it. If he doesn’t like it he gets disowned.”

I turned to Nate and raised my eyebrows, asking
silently what Will meant. He shook his head, holding his palm up. I took that
to mean he’d tell me later. “Um… Mr. Riley, is Lauren in her room?” I asked,
realizing she might know what her father was talking about.

“Call me Will and yes. She’s upstairs.”

“Thank you. I’ll leave you three to discuss business
while I go see Lauren.” I glanced at Nate, making sure he didn’t need me for
anything.

He paused, looking unsure if he should let me out of
his sight. “Stay away from the windows.”

I rolled my eyes at him before walking out the door.

My flip-flops made a slapping sound on the marble as I
climbed the stairs heading to her room. Her door was almost vibrating from the
loud music behind it. I knocked, knowing she wouldn’t hear me and then pushed
it open.

She was lying on her bed, on her stomach. Her feet
were dangling up in the air behind her as she thumbed through a magazine. She
was dressed in a pink Hard Rock Café T-shirt and white shorts. Her sand-colored
hair was in a loose ponytail, as if she threw it up quickly just to get it out
of her face. Lauren never followed the trends like most of the kids in our
school. She dressed nicely but didn’t care if the jeans she had on cost one
hundred dollars or twenty dollars. Fashion wasn’t important to her. Like me, it
was clothes to cover the body. It was rare to find someone like that in our
world.

She glanced up from the magazine. “Hey, I’m sorry. I
didn’t hear you.” She leaned over to her stereo, turning the volume down to
low. “What’s up? You and Nate come for a visit?” she asked, sitting up and
leaning back on her headboard. I stepped over and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Actually, Nate brought Joseph over to see your dad.”

“Joseph. Who’s that?”

“Apparently, Nate’s best friend. He came to help look
for Rowan and he’s staying with us. It sounded from the conversation down there
that he works for your dad’s company.”

“Joseph; it doesn’t ring a bell.” She shrugged and
lifted her arms behind her head, leaning against them. “Is he hot?”

I grinned. It was nice to talk to a teenage girl, now
that I was on lockdown and sure to be surrounded by nothing but old werewolves.
“Yeah, if you like rugged, shaggy-haired guys with accents who seem to be
always up for a good time. He’s not as serious as Nate is. Which is a nice
change, but he’s a werewolf.”

“So? Nate’s a werewolf.”

“I know, but I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t know
until I was already in love with him.”

“Would it have mattered?”

“Maybe.” I shook my head. “I don’t know…Probably not,”
I said with a sigh. “Hey, have you ever heard of any members of your family not
taking the secret as well as others?”

She frowned. “Yes. But it all comes down to money. My
father is the head of the company, since my grandfather retired to Florida.
When Granddad dies, my father will be in charge legally. He will also own half
of the company. But then, of course, there’s shareholders and stuff about the
business that I don’t understand. But no one in our family will ever own the
whole company. Nate’s father wanted to be sure Nate would be taken care of
after he died. So, in his will and all wills after his, it states that if
someone tells the secret, he or she will be disinherited. Cut out, no money
ever from Riley Department Stores. The estate is huge. Nate’s father was
responsible for a lot of the stores, but after he died, Nate and his brother
William bought a lot of land and buildings. So between the stores, the company,
real estate and other things I don’t know about, there is a lot of money to go
around. Except if you tell his secret, you get nothing.

“There’s also the letters. They make you care and love
Nate, so you don’t want to tell, but mostly they let you get to know him before
you find out. Most people would not do anything to harm him. But there are a
few and some in the past that have tired. They were cut out and never heard
from again.” She picked up her magazine again, about to open it; instead she
threw it back on the bed.

“Oh yeah, remember when I said my father will own half
of the company?” I nodded. “Nate owns the other half and there is no way to
change it. Even if he wanted to. And if he dies, his half goes to Riley House.
If someone happened to think they could have it all if he somehow ceased to
exist, it would be a waste of time.”

“Are people really that greedy?”

“Some, yes. There normally is never an issue and I’ve
never heard of one since I found out three years ago, but I guess there have
been problems.” She tilted her head. “So you said this Joseph is cute? How
old?”

“I’d say a hundred and fifty.” I reached over and
picked up the magazine she had discarded and was surprised to see that it was a
fashion magazine.

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Oh, come on,
how old does he look?”

I laughed. “He said that someone at another store
didn’t like taking orders from a nineteen-year-old, so I guess he was nineteen
when he changed.”

“Awesome,” she said with a wicked grin.

Standing up, she flew to her closet, taking out a
black fitted low-cut top. After she pulled her other one off, she shoved the
new one over her head. Pulling out the ponytail, she looked in the mirror and
gave her hair a toss. “Let’s go,” she said, taking my hand and leading me down
the stairs.

When she reached the office, she swung the door open,
interrupting Nate. He was holding the gun, showing Will how to hold it.

Joseph spun around and stared at Lauren. His pale blue
eyes were intense, his nostrils flared. He started toward us and was in front
of Lauren in a flash.

“Hi,” Lauren stammered, taking a step back. She seemed
a little uncomfortable at his closeness.

Joseph only stared at her.

“Oh no,” I heard Nate say, who was suddenly standing
beside Joseph. “Joe, can I see you out in the hall for a second?” He grabbed
his friend’s arm and pulled.

Joseph didn’t appear to hear him. “Who are you?” he
whispered to Lauren, oblivious to Nate, who was still tugging on his arm.

Lauren blushed, looking at me for help, but I just
shrugged my shoulders. She turned back to him. “Lauren. You must be Joseph.”

He didn’t answer her, only took her hand to kiss each
of her knuckles. Nate gave up on subtlety and yanked his arm hard. It pulled
Joseph out of whatever trance he was in. He looked around as if stunned, then
looked back at Nate. With his head down, he quietly followed him out into the
hallway, closing the door behind him.

Something about Joseph’s stare reminded me of
something. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

The Wolves

Lauren and I rushed to the door, resting our heads against
the oak.

“Girls,” Will whispered loudly, disapproval dripping
from his voice. When we looked up at him, he smiled. “What are they saying?”

We listened hard, but couldn’t hear them. We both
turned away, walking over to the leather sofa and sat down. “Nothing. We can’t
hear a thing,” Lauren answered as she put her feet up on the table in front of
her.

“Too bad.” He shrugged. “Girls, come here, I want to
show you how to use this.” The gun was in his hand. We stood up and walked over
to him. He held it out toward the wall. “Just point and shoot. But see this
here?” He pointed to a lever on the top of the gun. “That’s the safety, if for
some reason you’re alone and you see Rowan. The chances of that are slim, but I
want you to be careful. Pull the safety up, then it’s just a matter of aiming
at his heart and shooting.”

The door swung open and Nate and Joseph walked
through.

“Don’t hesitate, because that’s all it will take for
him to get away or attack. Just shoot,” Nate explained. “But I’m never letting
you out of my sight, so it doesn’t matter. But I agree with Will, better safe
than sorry.” Nate wrapped his arms around me. “I’m going to go see if I can
pick up Rowan’s scent. I want you to go back to the cottage with Joseph. He’s
going to stay with you.”

“What about you? Shouldn’t he go with you?”

He frowned and stared out the window. “No, you’re his
target. After I sent you away yesterday he told me that he would kill you, but
first he was going to keep you around for entertainment.” The pain in his face
at repeating those awful words was obvious. But I did tell him I wanted
honesty. I heard Will curse behind me.

“Lauren, Will, stick together and don’t leave the
house. Lock up after we leave, it won’t matter, but just do it. Joseph, Megan;
let’s go.”

“But—” Joseph started to protest, staring at Lauren.

Nate cut him off. “No. Let’s go.” His voice was firm.
I couldn’t wait to get back to the cottage to find out what was going on.

I followed them out, giving a confused look to Lauren,
who shrugged her shoulders in return.

I climbed in the car beside Nate. Joseph was already
in the back seat, his knees bent up with no leg room.

“What was that? Why won’t you let me talk to her?” Joe
asked, sounding frustrated.