Family Pride (Blood of the Pride) Read online

  His grip was manlier than I’d expected, a quiet strength underlining the silk. A hunter and killer. This was not a man to be taken lightly.

  I’d have expected no less from one of Canada’s premiere wheelers and dealers in the business world. What I knew about investing could fill Jazz’s food dish but I knew Michael Hanover made a lot of money for a lot of important people.

  I couldn’t connect the stern businessman in front of me with Bran. The truth about his parents still rankled—but looking at these two made me more sympathetic to his reasoning.

  I imagined many a woman wilting under their inspection.

  Bran gave me a halfhearted grin. “They caught an early flight. Since I wasn’t at my condo they came here.” His voice trailed off as the obvious question came to mind.

  “How did you know to come here?” I let Michael’s fingers slip free.

  Bernadette took over. “We looked at the report we have on you. Address was right there on the front page. Took a few minutes to reroute the cab to this—” her nose wrinkled as she struggled to find a less insulting word than slum, “—distinct neighborhood.” She extended her hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

  It was like touching cold raw chicken. She pulled back as soon as manners allowed and gave me a big friendly smile.

  “So,” she murmured, “this is your home.”

  I felt the hairs on the back of my neck shoot straight up. I’d expected some resistance, sure—but this was like facing down a raging elephant with a potato gun. I resisted the urge to scurry around the room tidying up.

  On the other hand I’d been busy lately hunting down murderers and renegades. They balanced each other out.

  Bran cleared his throat. “Obviously we’re not ready to go out yet. Why don’t you two go home and have a bit of a rest? We’ll meet you at the restaurant?”

  “Of course,” Michael replied. “We just wanted to stop on by and say hello.” He stared at me, looking for a weakness.

  He didn’t find any.

  His mother interrupted our mental duel. “We decided to change the restaurant. There’s a charity event we have to make an appearance at before dinner. Sergio’s instead. At eight o’clock.”

  “Of course. Eight. We’ll be there,” Bran answered.

  Michael headed for the open door. Bernadette trotted out behind her husband, her high heels clattering along my hardwood floors with machine-gun precision.

  I resisted the urge to flip them the bird.

  A cool breeze rushed in the front door, smashing into my senses with even more scents. Fresh garbage from the street, dripping oil from a nearby car and...

  And one I definitely did not want to find right now.

  “Whuf.” Bran shook his head. “That was...” He paused, seeing the expression on my face. “What the—”

  I sprang past him and into the front yard, heart pounding with a combination of panic, fear and pride.

  Jess dug the toe of her cowboy boot into one of the remaining green parts of my front lawn, having been confronted by the Hanovers. She shot me a deadly scowl as she faced the pair.

  I had to give Bran’s parents points for standing their ground. I’d seen lesser men and women shuffle to one side to give the Felis leader the right-of-way.

  Bernadette moved behind Michael in a natural submissive move, using her husband as a human shield.

  I sucked in my cheeks, holding the grin at bay. Sometimes fate had a wild sense of humor.

  Michael cleared his throat, taking control of the situation. Or so he thought. “Jess Hammersmythe. I recognize you from the file. You’re Rebecca’s...” Michael let the sentence trail off, waiting for a response.

  That sort of subtle fishing for information might have worked on someone else but not on Jess.

  “Friend of the family.” Jess didn’t give an inch. Her one good eye studied the two Hanovers. I could see her assessing the pair and finding them wanting in most areas.

  It wasn’t personal. Jess plain didn’t like humans.

  Bernadette frowned. “An aunt, maybe? Her parents—” She cut off her words when her husband tugged on her arm.

  “Really, dear. There’s a time and a place for this sort of discussion and this isn’t it.” The elder Hanover gave Jess a gentle smile. “You’ll have to forgive her. She’s rather rabid about taking care of our son and wanting to know everything about the company he keeps.”

  A shadow passed over Jess’s face. For a second she looked older than her years, the crow’s feet around her eyes growing deeper and dragging the energy out of her. “I understand. All parents want to protect their young.”

  Michael pulled again at his wife’s arm. “We’ll see you for dinner, Brandon.” He gave Jess a respectful nod as they slid past her.

  Jess walked past me into the house, head held high as Bran’s parents escaped the front yard with a clattering of heels and low mutterings. I noticed their expensive sedan sitting on the street and sent up a quiet prayer of thanks it hadn’t been scratched up or worse, jacked and headed for the local chop shop.

  Not that I’d know about such things.

  “You go see what’s up with her.” Bran jerked a thumb at his retreating family. “I’ll see them off.” He shuffled off toward the car, sweat beading on his forehead. It was a case of the lesser of two evils—and I knew there’d be a reckoning on all fronts at some point for this.

  I spun on my heel and headed inside, eager and terrified to find out why Jess had come here.

  She didn’t do social visits. The last two times she’d contacted me had been job offers from the family.

  I didn’t need any more distractions at the moment.

  Jess was in the kitchen putting the kettle on for tea. Jazz, lying on the counter, looked at Jess and rolled onto her back, offering her pink tummy. I watched with a detached curiosity as Jess went through the motions of making tea, something she’d only do for an equal or a superior.

  Which I definitely was not, being outcast from the Pride. Recent events had me bordering on legitimacy within the Felis family. Barely.

  Not that I gave a damn. I hadn’t cared for over two decades and that feeling wasn’t going to change anytime soon. But this was something new, something different, and I knew there was trouble in the air.

  The Felis had managed to stay hidden within human society for centuries, keeping our feline shape-shifting abilities hidden from those who would want to study us or destroy us. We worked in human society, played in human society and even married humans—but maintaining our secret was paramount, without exception.

  Even I was sworn to stay hidden, outcast and crippled by my inability to Change on demand.

  “Brandon’s parents.” Jess rubbed the white cat’s belly.

  “Yep.” I watched Jazz slip into bliss, the tip of her tail fluttering.

  “I thought they were dead.” She looked at me sideways. “Didn’t he tell you they were dead?”

  “Not so much.” I waggled my hand in the air. “Seems his family is loaded.” I drew out the last word to eight syllables. “Natural reaction is to deny any connection.”

  “Good survival technique.” Jess dug under Jazz’s jaw with her nails, encouraging even louder purring. “Looking at those two I can’t blame him. I’d wish they were dead too.”

  “Jess.” I shot her as much of a warning look as I dared. “I’m pissed off but I can understand why he did it.” I repeated Bran’s words. “We’ve got our own family secrets.”

  She pressed her lips together into a tight, straight line before responding. “I’m not sure if I’m willing to concede the high ground to him on this one.”

  “Well, you’re not the one sleeping with him.” It came out a bit sharper than I intended.

  Jess’s right eyebrow arched. “Down, girl. Wasn’t
trying to add fuel to the fire. You’ve got enough on your plate as it is.” She grunted. “No wonder he can keep secrets.”

  I didn’t pursue that opening. Bran was one of the few humans who knew about the Felis and possibly the only one with actual status in the family. Beating down Carson in Pennsylvania had earned him respect from that Pride and it would have definitely made news on the Felis rumor mill.

  “So now you’re meeting the possible in-laws.” Jess smirked. “Sort of terrifying, hmm?”

  I didn’t answer. I didn’t have to—she’d raised two daughters and knew darned well what emotions were running wild. I pitied the poor men who’d tried wooing her girls—you’d have to have balls of steel to suggest a date, much less marriage. The two women had moved south to other Prides, away from their powerful mother.

  “I’m not too worried about that.” I waited, knowing what Jess was building up to.

  “They have a file on you?”

  I flinched at the unspoken reprimand. “I’ll take care of it.” I couldn’t blame her for being upset. She’d worked hard to keep our existence secret.

  She glared at me, the return of the iron lioness complete. “Do what you can, but realize if it gets out of control we’ll have to take measures to stop this intrusion.”

  I didn’t ask her to elaborate what would happen if I didn’t put the Hanovers off that particular track.

  I knew.

  Bran came back into the kitchen at a run, rubbing his hands together. “Okay, parents are off and all’s well. What’s up?”

  Jess’s good eye twitched. “They have a file on Reb. They had her investigated.”

  I could hear her teeth grinding with each word.

  “Standard procedure for every woman I date.” A sheepish look replaced the panic. “My dad’s worth, at last count, about five billion dollars. A lot of gold diggers out there figuring I’m worth a pretty penny.”

  Jess snorted. “You better be worth it.”

  Bran blew her a kiss. “Every penny.” He struck a pose. “I got some mad moves from those boys down at the Cat’s Meow.” He swiveled his hips at Jess.

  I felt my cheeks burn at the reference to the strip club down in Penscotta.

  Jess looked like she was caught between laughing out loud and scowling at Bran’s impudence. She compromised by shaking her head and letting out a deep sigh.

  “What did you come here for?” I deflected the conversation away from the topic at hand. “The Council need another favor? Another trip to clean up someone’s dirty laundry.”

  Jess turned her full attention back on me. The scathing look sent me back a step, closer to Bran. “I was coming by to give you an update. Let you know the Penscotta Pride’s being broken up into smaller pieces, based on current events. More of their children spreading out to other groups.”

  I nodded. It wasn’t a surprise. When we’d left the Pennsylvania Pride the Felis had taken over the local town council. Good for business but bad for keeping the Felis secret—the more contact we had with humans the more likely someone would let something slip and our secret would be out.

  Bran and I had discussed this many times, usually in bed. He couldn’t see why we kept ourselves part of, but apart from human society. We were judges, lawyers, car lot owners and hot dog cart vendors—but we always kept to ourselves. We married other Felis from other Prides, rarely, if ever, taking human lovers, never mind human mates. A human husband or wife had to be kept out of the loop, never knowing their significant other kept deep secrets. For the Felis who married humans there’d always be the sense of loss, of separation from the family.

  There weren’t too many Felis who married humans.

  “The Penscotta Board couldn’t have been too happy.” I glanced at Bran. He’d almost been killed by one of their overzealous members in an effort to keep another deep secret.

  “A slight protest, more for show than anything else,” Jess said. “But it’s all for the best. We’ve got a few of them relocating up here, believe it or not.”

  “Not Trace,” Bran growled.

  “No.” There was a touch of joviality in Jess’s voice. “Don’t worry—he knows his place.”

  “Far away from me. And Reb,” Bran answered.

  I felt a little rush of pride. It’d taken time, effort and bloodshed but Bran had finally won the grudging acceptance of the Felis and declared me his mate. He didn’t have too many kind feelings for Trace, who had tried to convince me I’d be happier married to a Felis—specifically, him.

  “You could have told me all this over the phone and avoided this entire situation,” I said.

  “I could have.” Jess pulled an envelope out of her jacket pocket and laid it on the table. She turned the heat off under the screeching kettle and busied herself with filling the Brown Betty with hot water and fresh teabags. “I thought I’d stop on by and see how you were doing, given your new, ah, situation. Taking a human as a mate sounds...interesting.” A tinge of red dyed her cheeks.

  Bran gave her a wide grin. “I’m enjoying it.”

  She scowled at him but there was a trace of humor underlying her threat. “I’m talking to Reb. Don’t want her breaking you in half.”

  Bran puffed his chest out and flexed his biceps. “I’m holding my own.”

  She dragged her eyes over him just slowly enough to make Bran flinch. “I’ve seen better.”

  I cleared my throat. “We’re fine, thank you.” I opened the package and flicked through the thick wad of twenty-dollar bills inside. “You already paid me.”

  Jess pulled down three mugs from the cupboard and poured out the tea. “The Penscotta Board decided to send up a bonus. They may be pissed at us but they appreciated your help.” She added a dash of milk to two of them and passed one mug to me. “Seems you made quite the impression on them. The club is making the Pride a lot of money and it’s helping relocate the wanderers along with boosting the local economy.”

  “I did my job.” I spun the tea around in the mug, watching the caramel-colored liquid swirl. “I did what you asked me to do. I found the killer.”

  Bran slipped by me to prepare his own tea, accepting the subtle snub.

  Jess took a tentative sip from the mug. “You kept our secret in a rather dicey situation. That’s more important.”

  I shrugged, not wanting to pursue an argument. I wasn’t going to pass up free money. “Give them my thanks.”

  “I will.” Jess gestured at the door. “The parents.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” I said. “Don’t worry.”

  “It’s my job to worry where you’re involved.” Jess looked at Bran. “You’d be best to remember that. Keep me informed on how this turns out.” She put the tea down half-drunk and walked out of the kitchen.

  I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “Damn. She still scares the shit out of me on the good days.” I fondled the thick packet of money. “But I am looking forward to putting this in the bank. Saving for a rainy day and all that—it’ll be nice not to worry about where my next paycheck is coming from for a bit.”

  Bran’s expression turned solemn. “I am so damned sorry about this entire situation.” He cradled the mug in both hands, leaning on the counter. “I’d forgotten what bastards they could be.”

  “I assume you’re talking about your parents. Consider it payback for me inflicting Jess on you.”

  “Not equal by a long shot.” He took a drink. “I’d put my money on my parents over Jess, any day.” The fear returned to his voice. “I can’t believe they pulled the file on you.”

  “They’re looking out for their son. Understandable.” I tried not to grit my teeth. “They’re not going to find anything.” I could hear the fear in my own words.

  “Jess wasn’t impressed they dug up her name.” Bran finished off the t
ea in a gulp. “And neither am I. If they start digging too deep...” He bit down on his lower lip before continuing. “They use good investigators. Not too cheap and just pushy enough to get what they want. Scum.”

  I raised one eyebrow.

  “Present company excepted.”

  “They can dig as much as they want as deep as they want. There’s nothing to find.” I poured out Jess’s tea into the sink and added Bran’s empty mug. “I went into the foster system at fifteen years old. I’ve got more documentation and paperwork out there on me than most people.” It took a concentrated effort to still my trembling fingers as I grabbed my own drink. “Jess’s people know their job. They won’t find anything other than what we want them to find.” I sipped the tea, relishing the warmth. “Better people have tried over the years and not succeeded. I doubt some overpaid punks are going to excavate anything worth worrying about.”

  Bran tilted his head to one side and smiled. “Are you trying to convince yourself or me?”

  I sighed. “Whatever’s needed to make this go away. We need it to go away.” I bit down on the last two words.

  “I can’t believe they’re still pulling this shit at my age.” Bran huffed. “And now we’re going to Sergio’s for dinner. I am so bloody sorry about this.”

  I pulled away from my worries about the report and fell into pre-dinner jitters. “What’s wrong with Sergio’s? I hear they’ve got nice food.” In my mind I flipped through my wardrobe, trying to find something appropriate. The classic black dress would have to do—I didn’t have anything else and there wasn’t time to go shopping.

  “Sergio’s is where my father takes his business partners. It’s a way for him to show off how much money he’s got.”

  “So what’s wrong with that?”

  Bran grunted. “He never does anything without a reason. There’s someone there he wants to impress, some point he wants to make, someone he wants to see us there. He doesn’t go to Sergio’s other than to see and be seen.” He ran a hand through his red hair. “We should start getting ready. I have to go back to the condo and get a suit.” He gestured down at his bare chest and jeans. “Definitely not getting in like this.”