As if on cue, we heard the sound of a car coming down the road. Caleb glanced in that direction and then back at me. He pulled his hand out of my shirt and struggled with himself to let me down. I wanted to remove my legs from his waist probably less than he wanted me to.
I stood before him, still pinned between the truck and his body and let him keep his body close to mine. It felt good to have a source of warmth pressed to me. He watched the car approaching and let out another noise. This time he sounded aggravated. He pulled back from me and smoothed my skirt down.
"I think I"m going to have to take a rain check on this. Here comes your buddy."
Somebody up there likes me!
I turned to see who he was talking about, then I saw the black luxury car pulling off to the side of the road in front of Caleb"s truck. I watched as Ken Harpel stepped out of the car. He took his black sungla.s.ses off, set them on his seat and stood to straighten his navy suit. He b.u.t.toned a b.u.t.ton on his jacket and readjusted his baby blue tie. The morning light made Ken"s sandy-blonde, short hair look lighter than it really was. His large football player-like frame seemed at ease in his expensive style. Being the head of the Paranormal Regulators, the division of the government that deals with any and all supernatural related incidents, made Ken a well-respected, wealthy man. Ken"s overzealous personality ensured him his place in the sun.
He looked at Caleb and me and smiled. His white teeth showed off his tanned skin more than anything else. Caleb backed away from me so I could go to Ken.
"Hey, Gwen, I heard you were back in town. I had to come see it for myself," Ken said, putting his arms out. I didn"t hesitate. I went right to him and tossed my arms around his neck. He picked me up off the ground and swung me around. "Where the h.e.l.l were you, kiddo?"
"Kiddo? You"re turning into your grandmother," I said, laughing. It was true. Ken"s grandmother, who everyone but Ken called Nana always referred to people as shorty or something similar. No one seemed to mind, or at least no one voiced a concern about it. That could be because his Grandma was a witch, but I couldn"t be sure. Nana could drop a hex on you faster than you could blink.
Ken hugged me tighter to him. I could smell the deep rich scent of his cologne and had only the fondest memories of that scent. I kissed his cheek lightly as he put me down and glanced over at Caleb. Ken walked away from me towards Caleb. He extended his hand outward and Caleb took it, shaking it firmly. Seeing them standing together warmed my heart and gave me hope that maybe we really could all get along.
"Hey, how was your job out in California?"
Caleb"s face tightened. I knew he didn"t want to bring this up again, but Ken didn"t know that.
A change of subject was in order.
"So, tell me about the office? How"s everyone doing? How"s my replacement working out for you?"
Ken gave me an odd look. "Your replacement? Gwen, I"d never replace you, ever." He shook his head again, like he was trying to brush off the absurdity of my question.
"Ken, I took off for four months and never called in to tell you where I was. I"m pretty sure that is more than enough grounds to fire me."
"I will never replace you. I don"t care if you go to the freakin" moon for a year, Gwen. You"re indispensable and it won"t ever happen. I"ve even been coming out to the farm to help that vampire get the place in order." He stared off in the distance, towards the farm. I knew that the vampire he was referring to was Pallo. Ken didn"t know about Giovanni and me, or at least I didn"t think he did. "So, did you see your new home office?"
I shook my head. When I"d left four months ago, I"d been using the dining room as an office. Now it was an honest to G.o.d dining room.
Ken smiled. "Well, call me after you see it. It"s in the barn on the right... upstairs. That vampire and I spent a lot of nights planning the thing." He offered a broad, white smile. "You"re linked directly to the PR Department"s computers and databases. We"ve also got you linked up with Necro World. He insisted on that. Anyway, there is an a.s.s-load of reference materials there and you"ve even got a mini-lab. There"s a s.h.i.tload more out there. I can"t believe you haven"t seen it. It"s great. We"re all set-up to be able to fit the team in and work at your place if need be. That"s part of the reason he had so many efficiency guest quarters built out there. After the incident with Rick, it"s nice to have another location for the team to work at when needed."
The incident with Rick that Ken was referring to was still a very touchy subject with me. Rick, a Para-Reg with a lot of years under his belt, had been slaughtered in his office at the PR Department, by his own sons. It was something I"d never get over. He"d been a mentor to me and I missed him terribly.
I shook off the negative feelings and tried to focus on Ken. He seemed genuinely excited about the office out at my place. I was actually anxious to see this newly done office now myself. I glanced towards Caleb to find him attempting to look as enthused by the talk as we were. It wasn"t working.
Ken arched a brow, his attention moving to me. "G.o.d, I almost forgot. I wanted to be the first one to tell you. I made that vampire swear not to leak a word of this to anyone." He put his hand out and took mine. There had been a time in our life when we"d held hands every chance we could. That time had pa.s.sed and a part of me mourned it. He took a deep breath in and I knew whatever Ken had to tell me, was big. "Gwen, I asked Beth to marry me and she said yes."
I felt like someone had just hit me with a double-decker bus. I stood there moving what he"d just told me around in my head. I knew that he and Beth had been dating. I just didn"t know how serious it was. Beth had been the realtor who"d helped Ken and me house hunt when we were engaged. They"d started dating shortly after Pallo and Caleb came back into my life. Ken and I had already been done for six months prior to that, but we"d still managed to squeak in some fantastic s.e.x since then.
Yeah, a movie of the week for sure.
Caleb pushed up next to us, seeming rejuvenated by the news. "That"s great, Ken! When"s the big day?"
He certainly didn"t have to force a smile anymore. He had one big enough for the both of us. I had little doubt that Caleb viewed this as one less compet.i.tor on the market for my affection. He was right. Ken was now off limits. In truth, the moment I had taken Giovanni"s outstretched hands all those months ago and allowed him to whisk me off to Tuscany, I had put up walls around my heart. Ken was the easiest to block, though I wasn"t entirely sure why. I was still working on cementing the walls in front of Caleb and Pallo.
"Gwen, are you all right? You"re happy about this, right?" Ken asked.
I pulled him close to me and grinned. "Of course I am. You just caught me off guard, that"s all."
"Well, when I got the invitation for your wedding, I thought, you know... you and Caleb might be on to something. It"s not like I"m getting any younger and Beth"s a great girl."
I turned and stared at Caleb, my eyes wide and my curiosity piqued. "Invitations?"
Caleb tried to walk away. I grabbed his arm, forcing him to answer me. "Your father kind of had them shipped out about a week after the engagement party. But, hey look at the bright side of this. Ken received one and they only went out to the people who could cross over into the Dark Realm... the ones who were more than human, so Ken"s obviously got some magikal blood in him, aye?"
Ken nodded. "Thanks to my Grandmother. She got one, too. She"s pretty excited about it."
"So are we," Caleb said rather void of any real emotion.
A less enthusiastic groom I"d yet to hear.
Chapter Twenty-Four.
"Is there anything you"d like to do now?" Caleb asked.
I checked the digital clock on his dashboard and let out a sigh. It was only going on one o"clock. The day had been moving very slowly ever since we"d b.u.mped into Ken. The news of his coming wedding had taken me completely by surprise. That wasn"t the biggest shock. The biggest shock was when Ken stood there and called Beth on his cell phone. He handed it over to me and she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. After I picked myself up off the ground, I found myself agreeing to this absurdity. I thought the day couldn"t get any stranger. I was wrong. Ken asked Caleb to be one of his groomsmen.
Ken said he"d asked that vampire, Pallo, as well, but Pallo had refused because it wasn"t wise for him to go hanging out in a church. I hadn"t really given it much thought before, but Pallo was right, that would be bad. Caleb seemed all too eager to agree to be there for Ken. I was betting it was more a way for Caleb to see Ken removed as a threat with his own eyes, than out of friendship, but I"ve been known to be wrong.
Breakfast had gone well. It was quiet, but nice. Caleb tried to make small talk once or twice. Neither one of us were sure what to say. It was plain to see there were still a lot of issues between us. My biggest issue of all had been on my mind all day, Giovanni.
I hadn"t thought to grab my purse, so my cell phone was still back at the house. I wanted to talk to him, to hear his heavily accented voice tell me that I was doing the right thing. I needed to have some rea.s.surance.
"Hey, Gwen. Anybody home up there?"
I turned and stared over at Caleb. Concern laced his features. I couldn"t blame him, I had every right to still be mad at him, but I wasn"t. I smiled and watched his expression soften.
I looked out the truck window and watched the zoo signs start to fade off. After breakfast, Caleb had surprised me and taken me over to the city zoo. He had a friend of his let us in early and I got to see the new baby tigers that had just been born. I loved it. Caleb knew exactly what to do to make my day. Neither, Pallo or Giovanni would have ever thought of doing something like that. No, they tried to tempt me through money or their sophistication. I had little interest in either of those and Caleb knew it. He had plenty to spend, but knew that seeing the baby tigers would suit me better.
Of course, I did have issues keeping thoughts of being attacked by a giant white one out of my head, but I kept that to myself.
"So, I thought I"d let you pick what we do next."
"I guess we should nose around some bridal shops," I said quietly as resolve settled over me. At the rate we were going, there would be no talking my father out of the wedding. Pallo was right. My father would never allow a vampire to be next in line for his throne. Bucking the system could cost Giovanni his life. Someone once told me that if you love something, you let it go and if it was meant to be, it will come back to you. Maybe, just maybe, if I stopped clinging to the hope of happily ever after with my Tuscan lover, we would find a way to be together.
Yeah, and my faerie G.o.dmother will pop up any minute telling me I"m a born again virgin.
Caleb slammed on the brakes, yanking me from my thoughts. I"d have ended up through the windshield if I hadn"t had my seatbelt on.
"Caleb!" I yelled, moving my hands off the dash.
He put his hand out and touched my leg. "You"re serious. You want to do this?"
Locking gazes with him, I did my best to judge if he"d lost his d.a.m.n mind or not. "Caleb, it"s not like I"ve been given a choice." His eyes filled with pain. I touched his hand and moved closer to him. "No, don"t take it like that. I mean, my father is insistent on this happening and I can"t stop it. Neither one of us can. We might as well make it as ours as possible. I only have one thing to talk about with you ...."
He turned his face and looked out the window. A car horn sounded from behind us and he glanced in the rearview mirror. He gave a little wave and pulled the truck into the first parking spot he could find.
"Let me guess ... Giovanni," he said, quietly. I nodded. "Gwen, I"ve tried to tell you at least a hundred times that he"s no good for you. I hear myself repeating the same d.a.m.n conversation with you that I had three hundred years ago. Nothing I say is going to change your mind and I"m not willing to watch you run out my life again. I told you that if you felt the same about him at the end of our arrangement that I"d be all right with that-with him and since I played a part in getting the week shortened, then I guess I have no choice but to keep my promise."
I tried to throw my arms around him but got caught on my seatbelt. He laughed as I tried to frantically get it off. I did and tossed myself on him. I planted kisses on his cheeks and eyelids.
"Thank you ... thank you ... thank ..."
He pulled me back. "Don"t thank me yet. It"s you who"s got to figure out a way to juggle the two of us and how does he feel about this? I"m a.s.suming you told him about it."
"He kind of is the one who pushed me to go through with this arrangement. I think he"s got a soft spot for you." I let out a small laugh, thinking about Giovanni staring at Caleb"s naked body. "Yeah, I think he"ll be fine with it. You know, he"s even trying to get me to fix things with Pallo. He keeps talking about how the three of us are meant to be united and how he wouldn"t dream of standing in the way of that. I don"t know about all that, I just wish ..."
Caleb"s hands tightened on my arms. "You just wish we could all be one happy family."
I looked away. I thought that was what I"d been hoping for, but now I knew. I wished Giovanni was my one and only mate and that I didn"t feel so drawn to the other two. I couldn"t tell Caleb and not hurt him, so I nodded my head slowly. "Yeah, one big happy family."
"Gwen."
"Yes?"
"Suppose we do go through with this wedding and I keep my end of the bargain to let Giovanni remain in your life?"
I bit my lower lip. "Yes?"
"Would you be willing to allow me the same freedom?"
"Caleb, when you were in California, did you meet someone?"
He exhaled loudly. "I met a lot of people, Gwen."
I gave him a hard look. "Someone special?"
He was quiet for a moment before shrugging. "I honestly don"t know. I mean ... I thought I did but I don"t know."
I knew without being told that was end of that conversation. At least for the time being.
Chapter Twenty-Five.
Caleb and I didn"t head straight back to the farm. Instead we stopped off at Necro"s Magik World and picked up a week"s supply of blood for the boys. Pallo had a large cooler that he kept it all in and Caleb, for some reason had a key to his place. It was awkward, but necessary. We loaded up Styrofoam coolers and then did a pit-stop at a regular grocery store.
I looked in the back seat. We were set for at least a week. I was worried about having enough refrigerator s.p.a.ce, but Caleb made a good point, each one of the guest houses Pallo had built over the barns had little kitchenettes in them. We could use those refrigerators and the cooler in the bas.e.m.e.nt. We had more than enough room.
I looked over at Caleb and wondered what he was thinking. We"d both managed to make a mess of things again. We were good at that. He stayed quiet all the way back to the farm. I leaned over and put my hand on his thigh. He brought it up to his lips and kissed it.
"We need to get with our parents sometime soon to see where they"re at with wedding preparations," I said softly.
He pulled the truck up and stopped in front of the house. "Yeah, I guess."
I guess?
Not the answer I was expecting.
Opening the door, I climbed out. Ken ran out from the right back barn, loading a gun as he went.
I couldn"t help but laugh at my life. Only I would come home to find a man loading a weapon, looking like he was expecting a full on attack.
He came to a stop in front of me. "G.o.d, Gwen, you"re taking this Malita threat pretty lightly don"t you think?"
"What threat?"
His jaw dropped. "James told me what Malita said before you mystically tossed her a.s.s out a window. She told Caleb"s enemies where to find you. I did some digging, called some of my connections and it"s true. She put the equivalent of a hit out on the both of you. Those rouge Para-regs won"t pa.s.s up an opportunity to strike, guys. Not if what I heard is true." He looked at Caleb. "If they kill you, they can either keep or kill Gwen. Think of what would happen if they took control of her. Think about the Dark Realm and what"s up for grabs there, not to mention it"s her life we"re talking about here."
I just stared at him, not really shocked by the news. My life wasn"t exactly roses and sunshine. It was fight for your life and run from the big bad demon. Anymore, the horror of it all had almost become mundane.
Ken grunted. "See. Taking it lightly."
I shrugged. "You think I"m not worried, you should talk to him." I pointed at Caleb. He gave me an odd look and turned to Ken.
"What"s in the gun?"
Ken holstered it. "Silver bullets, I just switched over. Your buddy Mikhail suggested it after I told him what was going on."
Mikhail, hearing his name, came walking out of the house. Candy and Brandy followed closely behind. Mikhail came out and stopped near Ken. He was a little shorter than Ken, but they looked a lot alike. Both had sandy-blond hair that was short, but not too short, and both had five o"clock shadows. Mikhail"s eyes were more of an amber color than Ken"s and Mikhail was wearing only a pair of jeans, no shirt, no shoes. That was in sharp contrast to Ken"s navy suit.
Candy and Brandy still looked like they shopped at a leather surplus p.o.r.n shop, but seeing them stand by Mikhail told me where their loyalties lay. Fritz"s absence didn"t go unnoticed by me. I hoped he"d left the d.a.m.n country. He was a creep and I didn"t care for him in the least.
They all helped us unload and put the food and blood away. By the time we were done it was close to dusk. Everyone seemed to agree that the other lycans wouldn"t be coming tonight. It would be too soon to try and organize that size of a group, but they"d be coming soon.
James walked into the kitchen and saw Brandy trying to start dinner. He glanced at me and I shrugged. She"d insisted on wanting to pull her weight. I tried to talk her into something a little less taxing, but she wouldn"t take no for an answer. James walked up next to her and smiled. She handed him a piece of garlic to chop and he pretended to be melting. Garlic hurting vampires was a myth, sort of like them not being able to eat food.
Caradoc entered next. He was dressed like a page out of a Dracula book. He had on his white, puffy pirate shirt that tied in the front and his skintight black pants and boots. I"d always thought that he"d have made an excellent front man for an eighties rock band. He looked at all of us.
"May I ask what it is that is troubling all of you?"
Everyone turned to me. "What?" I asked. "Look at him." I pointed to Caleb. "If he had kept his a.s.s where it belongs instead of gallivanting out to California they wouldn"t be here at all! For once it"s not my fault!"
"Who would not be here?"