Aaron's Kiss Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 7) (53 page)

“I would guess it would. How long did you do this before you figured out that you could tone them down? I would guess it had been years.”

“I could hear them as a kid, just little voices in my head. Then as I hit puberty, they got louder all the time. You believed me, though. I guess it was because of your own magic. Anyway, that’s another reason I clamp down so hard. It’s like a super highway of requests. It used to give me major headaches.” Pete did not look up. She was afraid of what she might see on Sara’s face.

“Yes, I can see where that would be an issue. Pete, have you told anyone else about this? Shared this even with Dominic?” Sara asked her quietly.

Pete watched Sara stand and bring the now sleeping Mac over and gently lay him in her arms. Lizzy had fallen asleep while Pete had been talking to her mom, but Sara took her anyway.

“No. I didn’t think to tell Dominic. And before that…no, I thought it was better that people didn’t think I was more nuts than they already did. I’m not even sure why I told you, to be honest. I’m not normally a share all kind of girl.”

Sara laughed and sat back down with Lizzy. Pete kept staring at the baby in her arms and wondered what it would be like to have one of her own. A baby of Dominic’s. She wasn’t sure he even wanted kids and decided that the next time they were together and not trying to jump each other’s bones, she’d ask him. It would probably be about fifty years from now.

“I really came up here to ask for your help. Well, not really help, but Dominic doesn’t want me to leave the house without him...actually, without protection, he said. I have an appointment at two that I need to go to. I have this job thingy, and I need the money for stuff. Dunc...I mean, I was wondering if you and Mrs. Larimore would go with me? I have some things I have to get at Wally World too, you know underwear and stuff. You don’t have to go into the appointment with me or anything; I think I can handle that. Then I have to go over to the Larimore mansion to do some light install work, nothing major. What do you think?”

Pete looked down at Mac. He was a real doll baby. He had the deep blue eyes his sister had, but his hair was curly and dark. His nose was his mom’s, but he was his father’s image in every other way, including the serious expression he was giving Pete.

Sara did not ask Pete why she needed the money and she was glad for that. And no matter how mad Dominic got, Pete knew she would go on this run, with or without the two women. She had had a life before Dominic and he was just going to have to get used to her doing what she needed to get things done.

Pete frowned slightly, wondering about him. He had told her last night that he was almost seven hundred years old. And that he had been turned when he was in his late twenties. Did he have a family? She knew they would not be alive, she was not stupid, but would he have any long lost relatives? And what if once he met her family, he didn’t want her anymore except to eat? She refused to call it “feed.”

Her breath caught when she felt him move through her. Dominic was still asleep, but his warmth and love suddenly surrounded her. Life was suddenly just peachy, she thought with a huge grin.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The three of them showed up at the Mackey building at one-thirty. Pete was glad that they had stopped shopping finally. She didn’t think that buying underwear was going to be such an event that would require three hours. And the women would not let her shop at her usual store either. Wal-Mart had been fine when she didn’t have a mate, they had told her, but now she needed to buy with Dominic in mind. Pete could not make them understand he didn’t care what she had on; he would just rip it out of his way anyway. They laughed at her for nearly three hours about that, teasing her mercilessly.

So Pete bought eight dollar panties and a fifty dollar bra at a boutique, not a store. She had to admit, even if only to herself, that they did feel really sexy against her skin. The silk sliding across her felt so much different than the cotton briefs she normally wore. She didn’t tell them that when they said that she needed to buy for Dominic, she thought they meant he wore women’s panties, but knowing these two, they probably knew that anyway.

“Hello, Ms. Bartholomew. I’ll let Mr. Mackey know that you’re here. If you ladies wouldn’t mind having a seat, I’ll be right with you.”

The new receptionist showed them to a really pretty room. She had then offered them drinks and had handed Pete a remote to the large screened television before leaving them in the private waiting room.

“You work for the Mackey Corporation? Gee, they’re a big deal in the were world. Aaron said they own twenty-five businesses that only employ were,” Shade told her in awe.

Pete looked around the room. This was nice, she supposed, but then she didn’t know what constituted as a “big deal” in any world.

“I don’t know anything about this company other than what I do with their computers and software issues. I just did some freelance stuff for him. He’s one of my part-timers. I want to see if he’ll help me out on another project.”

She wanted to see if he could maybe take on a couple of college students per quarter for them to gain experience before graduating. It would help them out once out in the business world, give Mr. Mackey some cheap labor, and it looked good on the student’s resume too. It worked out well for everyone really. At least she hoped it would.

Someone came in the door just as she was about to explain the project to the two of them. Sara introduced him as Bradley Wolff, the alpha. He and Sara had known each other for a while and Shade had worked with him concerning Brent at one time, as well. If Bradley was surprised that all three of them were there, he did not let on. He shook her hand and told her that Karl Mackey had called him just after she had left the other day and told him about all she had done for his company.

“I can see Karl was right about the beauty part. I’m willing to believe he is correct about your computer skills as well. He also said that you were smart, articulate, and had a take no prisoners attitude that he envied. He had thought himself a hard ass until he met you. He was really impressed with your attitude about performances and if it wasn’t up to standard and beyond, then they were history. I agree with you, it’s the only sure way to make a business work.”

Pete turned away from him shyly. She knew that he could see her new mark, everyone could. It had actually caused a little commotion at the boutique earlier. But Shade had helped Pete through it by changing the direction of the shop owner’s attention toward a dress or something. Pete had been so grateful to her, and still was actually. Everyone thought it was a tattoo. Only other supernaturals like Bradley would be able to tell it wasn’t a tat. But the part about the business, she didn’t know anything about that; she just went with her gut. Making money and getting ahead was all anyone wanted out of life really.

When the receptionist told them that everyone was waiting, and turned to lead them to a very large conference room, Pete felt her heart rate start to rise. She stiffened, and stopped just outside the door. The room was full of people, so many in fact that some were leaning against the walls as well as sitting in all the chairs.

“I had an appointment with Mr. Mackey. I’m sorry but there’s been a mistake. I don’t know what’s going on.” Pete hated the panic in her voice, but she couldn’t help it. Crowds of people made her nervous. Especially now, she was even less sure of herself. Suddenly, she felt Dominic sweep into her.

“Love, are you all right? I can feel you’re scared. Come back to bed, let me hold you,” he whispered to her.

“I’m not there. I mean, I’m outside of the house. I’m with Sara and Shade. We went shopping and I had a meeting. There’s this appointment that I had, but it’s all wrong. I don’t like people and there are so many…”

He did not say anything for several seconds, but she could feel his anger just like it was her own. He was trying to control it, but he was very upset with her and afraid for her too.

“I thought we agreed that you’d wait for me to leave the house. Pete, you must learn to obey me. I need to keep you safe. You’re mine, and I keep what is mine.”

His anger and disappointment roared through her. Where he had made her feel good earlier, he now made her angry and hurt. And it made her own temper rise. “Obey you? I don’t need a father at this stage of my life, buster, but thanks all the same. Listen here, you arrogant ass, I’ve been taking care of myself for a lot longer than you have. And so far, I’ve done a pretty good job. I will come and go as I please, when I please, and where the fuck I please. If you don’t like that, then you can just fuck the hell off.”

Pete was pissed off and wanted to cause bodily harm to a man three times her size. How smart was that? But she did do something very mean and sent him an image of her in her new panties and bra set she had bought, then took a mental eraser and rubbed out her body, leaving just her head there. Then she stuck her tongue out at him. She hoped he got the message because she shut the door to him mentally, not waiting for his reply.

Stupid ass-wipe! He would rue the day he tried to make her try to stay like a lap dog. Next thing you know, she thought, he’ll have me barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen. “I don’t do the little woman routine,” she muttered aloud. She looked up at Shade who had a strange smile on her face.

“You okay now? They can be such cavemen when they want to be, can’t they? Oh no, I didn’t listen in, not that I could when it’s a mate thing, but I could tell by the expression on your face. Plus, I think you should know that when you are highly emotional as you are now, your eyes glow and your hair sparks. It’s really an amazing sight.”

“Shit! I forgot my glasses. No wonder that lady at the store...boutique looked at me funny when she gave me the price. I must have scared the crap right outta her.” Pete giggled. The woman had been a bitch, and maybe she was glad just a little that she had forgotten them.

“Thanks, Mrs. Larimore, that helped.”

“If you call me that once more, I’m gonna punch you in the nose. My name is Shade. Please call me that. That’s what friends do, and I do think of you as my friend.” Shade hugged Pete to her and they proceeded to the meeting. Being mad at Dominic and Shade calling her friend, for a reason she could not fathom, gave her newfound courage and confidence. She raised her chin high and stepped into the room.

Sitting around a large table were eighteen men and women, all of them were. At the head of the table was Bradley. He was their alpha, which made him their king wolf. He was the one who had asked Karl to set up this meeting, and Pete calling when she did only expedited it.

“I’ve called this meeting to introduce Ms. Pete Bartholomew to each of you, as she will hopefully be working with you all in the near future. I haven’t had a chance to talk with Ms. Bartholomew yet, but hopefully, this will meet with her approval.”

Bradley went around the table and told her who each person was, the company they were there representing, and a couple of issues he or she was having right now.

“All of you have read the report that Karl has had made for us, and as you can see, Ms. Barth...may I call you Pete?” He turned to her so fast she nearly jumped out of her chair.

“Ah, yeah, but it’s Piccadilly. Just Pete is fine.” She stammered a little, but felt good that she could make a full sentence.

“Good. Pete saved the Mackey Corporation ten million dollars over the next five years. Plus, she was able to save the company an untold amount of money by letting him know that an employee was using company funding to finance his gambling habit. Pete found a mistake in Karl’s accounting software and security hardware. Recently, she took on Becca’s Place as a client and the computer systems for that as well as Master MacManus’ and Master Larimore’s home and business securities respectively. Now, there isn’t a company in here that can’t benefit from that kind of help. I’d like to propose that we all hire Pete as our in house consultant. I’d like to have her set up an office in each of your offices and hire her own staffing to be there full time when she is off site. She would be in charge of any programming we have running, including security and finance. I’m sure there are a great deal more applications she could help us with as well.” Bradley turned to Pete. “Well, Pete, will you come and play with us?” She stared at him with open mouth. Why the cheeky bastard!

“I can’t work for you. What I mean is, I don’t think I can work for you. Shit! Sorry. Let me start over.” She drew a deep breath and looked at Shade and Sara, who had been invited to the meeting to make her feel more comfortable, Bradley had said, but also because of their prior involvement with the pack and himself.

“Please take your time. This is a lot to throw at you at one time. I had hoped to sit down with you and work out the details before this type of full scale meeting, but we also didn’t want to wait and let someone else make you a job offer. I’ve no doubt we could compete if it came to that, but I want the best for this pack and from all accounts, you’re it,” he said in way of an apology.

“I think you might be overestimating my value a bit. Plus, Mr. Mackey only had me work for a few days and I found that stuff fairly easy. I mean, I could help you out, you know, consult or whatever, but work for you full-time? What am I supposed to do with all of the extra time after I get you all cleaned up and secure? You going to fire me? I need a steady income, Mr. Alpha. I have people who depend on me for financial help that I can’t let down. This is a good offer, but like I said, I can’t think that it’ll work for either of us in the long run.”

Her belly fluttered a little. These people could eat her for lunch if she pissed them off, she just realized. Literally.

“Pete, these men aren’t the only group we have in our pack. These are just a few of the ones who could get away today. We also have several smaller and larger companies that are overseas. Believe me; we will be able to keep you busy for a very long time. Daniel Scott, I believe you’ve already worked with him, said that you suggested putting everyone on a large in-house server to make communications better. That alone he said would take you months to set up, and more to install and monitor.

“As for your financial help, I’m well aware of what you do with your income, and that would be a part of your hiring package. You would get a percentage of each savings you make the companies. Your salary will be paid weekly whether you work or not, but I don’t foresee that happening much. I know that you work with the local colleges, taking kids out on jobs to help you so that they can get on-job experience; we want you to keep that up, it’s good for the company image and a great deal of help to the communities. We believe in the same venue, give and it will give back to you. As for your donations, we have found out that you took a large portion of your payment from this company to fund a pet project of ours as well as yours. Becca’s Place is something everyone in this room has a vested interest in. For every dollar you donate and each hour you work, or have your crew work at the house, the Brotherhood will donate equal time and money.”

“Fuck. Sorry. How did you find...the teller? Should have known, it seems no one is what they seem, are they? I can’t make this decision without thinking about it. I know it’s a great deal, hell of a deal, but I won’t make a decision without giving it at least one or two days of serious thought. I mean, I don’t even own anything but jeans and tees. Not really a business suit person, then there’s the traveling. I don’t own a car, just a bike, not so nice in the winter months. Plus, Toby, I help him out sometimes. He’s a very good friend and without his help, well, I don’t know where I’d be right now. Not sitting here with you all, that’s for sure. Did I mention I don’t do people well? Well, I don’t. My language is in the crapper, and I guess you figured that out too.”

She was babbling again. She really hated when she did that, but could not seem to stop doing it when she was nervous.

“You’ll be able to wear what you want, unless it’s a formal meeting, and then only if it is required. As for travel, we have our own planes that would be at your disposal. There are even a few houses that are empty that you can take as a permanent residence on the pack grounds. A car will be provided for you, as well as a driver. Your language is crappy, but as long as you try to clean it up a bit, we should be okay. Pete…” Bradley leaned forward. “We really want this to work out for all of us. And you’re right, you do need to think about this, and if I’m not mistaken, you have a mate of your own. He might want to be made aware of it as well. You take all the time you need and just call Karl here at his office if you have any questions. Plus, here’s my private number and cell number. You think of anything, you just call one of us.”