Geek Chic (23 page)

Once they were alone, she let Beck pull her in for a hug. “Do you think it’ll work?” Nami asked him.

“I’d be shocked if it didn’t.”

“What’d they do?”

She didn’t miss the way he tensed. “Who? Do what? We just talked to him.”

“Never mind. I don’t want to know.” She looked up into his blue eyes. In the lights from the parking lot, they looked almost midnight blue. Slipping a hand around his neck, she pulled him in for a long, slow kiss. “I don’t care what they did, as long as it works.”

Chapter Twenty

No, Nami didn’t know, didn’t
want
to know, why Dewi’s talk with Da’von had worked. But nine days later, by the time she got up that next Friday morning, checked the phone records first thing, as had become her new habit, she saw that Da’von still hadn’t had any contact with the man since that night the previous week. A few strange numbers had shown up in that time, as a text or a call to Da’von’s number. But only once each, meaning Da’von had blocked them.

Nami didn’t know why Dewi’s talk had worked, but she also realized it didn’t
matter
why it had worked.

Although she still struggled against that green-eyed monster that made her want to hate Dewi for her previous relationship with Beck.

This, however, had changed her perception a little.

Okay, had changed her perception a
lot
. Obviously the others cared about Beck very much to offer to help the way they had. On that basis alone, she knew she’d bite her tongue clean through, but she’d tolerate Dewi. Not just for Beck’s sake, but for Da’von’s as well.

It was the least she could do. Especially since Da’von had talked to Beck, and Ken, a couple of times on the phone since that night. Da’von had even asked Ken for some help with an assignment from one of his classes. Beck had joined them twice for dinner at Lu’ana and Reggie’s house, and Da’von had acted warm and friendly toward him both times.

Her brother was reaching out—and keeping his word to block Jarome—which blew Nami away with gratitude.

The problem with Dewi is me,
not
her. I’ll just have to make myself get past it.

As Nami was getting out of her car that morning before picking up her bus, her phone rang. That early, she knew it couldn’t be good news.

And when she saw the caller’s phone number, it confirmed her suspicion.

Jarome Drexler.

She almost sent it to voice mail. Instead, she decided to go ahead and answer it.

“Yes?”

“What did you do, you little bitch?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Why does Da’von keep blocking me on his phone?”

“He told you he didn’t want to talk to you no more. And neither do I. Stay out of our lives.”

“You have no right to interfere in my relationship with my son.”

“I have every right, you selfish bastard! You hang around with criminals, you’re trying to get Da’von into that damn gang of yours, and I won’t have you ruining his future.”

“He needs to be earning money. He said you don’t even let him work.”

“No, because he’s in school.”

“You fix this, Nami. You fix—”

“I’ll fix you, you come calling ’round again. You leave him alone. He told you himself.”

“You had something to do with that.”

“Yeah, I did. Not just me, my sisters, too. I raised him, if you’ll recall, because Momma died and your no-good, worthless punk ass was in jail. You ain’t a father. You’re a sperm donor. Not even a good one.”

“I’m warning you—”

“You warn me all you want. I’ll call your probation officer and tell him you’re harassing us. Don’t make me send you back to jail, asshole.”

She hung up on him.

Damn, that felt good!

For years, she’d dreamed of having that conversation with him. Well, she’d had dreams of delivering that message in person, followed by a stinging slap across the asshole’s face, but that would do.

When her phone immediately rang again from his number, she silenced it. She knew she could block the number, but that would have to wait until later, when she had time to go in and do it on her account app. She’d have to wait until her lunch break to call Beck and update him about the call.

When her phone vibrated that Jarome had left her a voice mail, she ignored that, too.

Don’t want that waste of skin ruining my mood today.

She had a good job—well, a steady job—she had her family…

And she had Beck.

Life. Is. Good.

* * * *

At her lunch break a little after eleven that morning, she waited until she was inside the drivers’ lounge to check her cell phone. There was one flirty text from Beck, and several more missed calls and voice mails from Jarome.

She almost deleted those without listening to them, then decided she might want to know what he said so she could tell Beck.

The first one Jarome had left, after she’d hung up on him that morning, was another veiled threat. Then another call demanding she talk to him.

And another.

And another, with the warning to tell Da’von to text or call him.

Then one that chilled her, left only fifteen minutes earlier.

“Listen to me, bitch. Me and Malyah are sitting here with some of my friends and catching up. You give me my son by the end of the day, or my friends will enjoy getting to know Malyah better. No cops, either. Do this the easy way, Nami. Don’t be stupid. Da’von’s a man, and we was gettin’ along just fine before you interfered. If you don’t, if you make me hurt her, Lu’ana and that baby of hers will be next.”

She tried calling Malyah’s number several times, each time the call going to voice mail immediately, as if the phone had been turned off.

Her sister never failed to answer, or at least text her back, when she called. Even if it was just her short-hand code for a meeting, or that she was driving.

And she never turned her phone off without notifying Nami first.

Cold, sharp, painful fear filled her. She wanted to dial Jarome’s number back, then hesitated.

The cops?

What would she tell them? And what would they do, anyway? She had no doubts some of the gang-bangers the son of a bitch had hung around with before wouldn’t hesitate to kill Malyah, or at the very least rape her.

And their “no snitches” code would mean not a damn one of them would speak out against any of the others.

No, cops wouldn’t be able to help her.

Beck.

She reported in to her supervisor that she had a family emergency and got someone to take over her route for her. Then she went outside and called him.

When he answered, his strong, sweet voice sounding a mile-wide with his smile, she burst into tears.

“Nami, baby, what’s wrong?”

“He took her, Beck. You gotta help me. He took her.”

“Took who? Honey, calm down. Where are you?”

She finally sobbed the story out, Beck’s tone turning murderous. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes to get you. You stay there, and you stay near the building.”

When he pulled up next to the transit center, she ran to his car, almost diving into the passenger seat. He hugged her, holding her. “Shh, we’ll get her back, baby. Let’s go. Dewi and the others are waiting for us at her house.”

“We have to go find her!”

“I know. We will. But we need Dewi and the others, and we need a plan first.”

* * * *

Everyone was waiting for them when they arrived at Dewi’s house.

“Shouldn’t we call the cops?” Nami asked, panic threatening to take over.

“Not yet,” Beck counseled as they headed inside. “We need to talk to Dewi and the others first.”

Inside, Beck gave the quick version, then Dewi and Badger followed up with direct questions for Nami.

“We have to help her,” Beck insisted.

Dewi looked torn. “You know the rules,” she said to him.

“Please, she’s my sister. Please, you have to help me! No telling what that bastard will do to her.”

Dewi stared at Beck. “You have to tell her,” she said. “You know what has to happen.”

Fear crept into Nami’s heart. “Tell me
what
? What has to happen?”

Silence hung heavy over the room, the others all staring at Beck, until he finally turned to Nami and spoke. “I have a secret. We all do.”

“Please tell me you didn’t lie to me about not being a criminal.”

“No, I didn’t lie. It’s…more than that.”

“Tell her, Beck,” Dewi said, her tone edging toward commanding, as if she struggled not to cross an invisible line Nami didn’t understand. “I can make her forget later if it goes bad, but you have to tell her now, before we go any farther. I can’t involve humans in pack business if they have no ties to the pack, and you know that. You have to show her.”

Beck’s gaze held Nami’s as he started unbuttoning his shirt. “I have—
we
have—a pretty big secret. Dewi’s right. We can help you, but to do that, you have to know what’s going on. What we really are. Well, not Ken, but the other four of us.”

He pulled his shirt off and dropped it to the floor, kicked off his shoes, and started working on his slacks.

“What are you
doing
?” Her sister’s life was in danger and this guy was stripping in his friend’s living room?

“I have to show you,” he quietly said. “There’s no other way. Otherwise, you’ll never believe me.”

She couldn’t not look at his body as his pants and briefs joined the rest of his clothes on the floor. “Badger, Martin, please don’t let her faint.”

“Faint? What are you—oh my
god
!”

Before she could blink, there was now a large wolf with Beck’s blue eyes standing where he had just stood.

She staggered back a step, feeling Badger and Martin grabbing her elbows to keep her upright.

“Steady, lass,” Badger gently said. “It’s all right if ye need a minute. Ken here fainted when he saw Dewi shift fer the first time.”

Ken laughed. “Gee, thanks for telling her.”

“Well, ye did, man. No shame in it. Especially not considering what ye went through later.”

Nami tuned them out. “Beck?” she whispered.

The wolf nodded, letting out a soft chuff.

“We’re wolves,” Dewi said. “Wolf shifters. And Beck has pinged on you as his mate. He’s been holding off claiming you because he wanted to make sure you loved him for who he was, not because of a mating bond. Admirable, but the dumb shit has run out of time.”

Beck the wolf looked at Dewi and growled.

“Oh, stuff a sock in it, Beck,” Dewi said. “The whole reason we’re at this point now is because
you
didn’t claim her the first day you caught back up with her. We would have warned the jackass off her family from the start, because she would have told you immediately when she found out her brother was in contact with the douche.”

Nami turned on her. “Hey! You can’t talk to my…” Her voice faded, her outrage draining as she realized what she was going to say.

Dewi arched an eyebrow at her. “Yes? Your
what
?”

Beck changed back into his two-legged self and walked over. Nami’s breath caught in her throat as he gently brought her hands up to his mouth and kissed her palms.

The man apparently had no problem running around stark-naked in front of his friends. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” he said. “I couldn’t, for obvious reasons. This is a secret you
cannot
tell anyone. Not your family, not your friends.”

“What
are
you?” She felt faint, like any moment her brain might unhinge from her body and take off into oblivion.

“Wolf shifters,” Dewi repeated. “Not like werewolves. We can control when we shift. No full moon bullshit like in the movies. Before we can save your sister, however, you have to be mated to him.”

“Dewi, stay out of this,” Beck, his tone sounding growly.

With speed Nami couldn’t even imagine, Dewi was in Beck’s face. “Unfortunately, I
can’t
stay out of this, because
you
got us into it in the first place. Either claim her now, or I have to use Prime on her to change her memory, and Badger will take her back to her car. Then she can call the cops and hope that the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office can track down that son of a bitch and her sister before her he kills her. And if I have to do that, I
will
edict you to abandon all contact with her.”