Love Found [Pack Law 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (14 page)

She shifted in her seat as her men worked their way through the pile of food on their plates. Alyson couldn’t believe how much food they put away, but it seemed a werewolf’s metabolism was much faster than a human’s, so they needed more fuel to sustain their bodies. She gripped her hands tightly around her mug of coffee and sighed.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Rylan turned to her and scrutinized her face.

“What am I going to do now that you and Jerry won’t let me work? I can’t just sit around and do nothing.”

“I’ve been thinking about that.” Tarkyn placed his silverware on his plate and gently rubbed her back. “We have to be at the club in a couple of hours. If you’d like, you can come and help out behind the bar.”

“Well, I guess I could do that. It would be better than sitting around here, idle.”

“Good.” Rylan pushed his empty plate away. “But you have to stay inside. We don’t want you going anywhere without one of us with you.”

“Sure.” Alyson sighed again. She wasn’t used to having her freedom curtailed, but until they knew where Virgil was and what he was up to, it was better to be safe than sorry.

* * * *

Alyson grabbed an empty tub and walked about clearing dirty glasses, plates, and pitchers from tables. The lunch rush hour was over, thank goodness, and her feet were aching from moving so quickly. She’d been helping Rylan and Tarkyn behind the bar while Chevy dealt with orders and invoices. Moving the full tub of dirty dishes aside, she sprayed the tables with disinfectant and cleaned them off. She was about to take the dishes into the kitchen when she caught a glimpse of a man walking past the window in the mirror on the far wall. Turning quickly, she tried to see if it was who she thought, but it was too late. The man had already passed the window.

Dumping the tub onto another table, she rushed over to the window and peered out, but she didn’t see anyone who even resembled Virgil.
It probably wasn’t him to begin with.
He was a pretty nondescript guy, and she’d only glimpsed him for a second. Telling herself not to be so paranoid, she took the dirty dishes into the kitchen and began to load the dishwasher.

Chevy was sitting at a table off to the side of the room near the entrance to the hall, eating and going over some more papers. He glanced over to her, frowned, and opened his mouth to speak. Then he snapped it closed again when he noticed the kitchen staff looking at her curiously through the kitchen door.
What’s up with them?

“Aly, when you’ve finished with the dishes I’d like to see you in my office,” Chevy called out as he picked up his papers and moved down the hallway. He waited for her answer.

“Okay.” Alyson wondered for a moment what Chevy wanted but then figured he was probably going to question her about rushing over to peer out the window. There was no way she was creating an opening for gossip about her. She was having enough trouble fitting in with the kitchen staff and trying to win over Cherry, who had seemed to take an instant dislike to her. Ever since Cherry had arrived that morning, she had been giving Alyson venomous looks. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the waitress had had her sights set on her mates. Once finished, she headed out to see Chevy. Just as she turned the corner into the hallway, Cherry’s voice carried to her hearing.

“God, I hope that bitch gets the sack.”

“Cherry, sheathe your claws, girl,” Joanne, the cook, said. “You don’t stand a chance. Haven’t you noticed the way our three bosses watch every move she makes?”

“She can’t have them all.” Cherry’s voice faded away.

That’s what you think, bitch.
Alyson sniggered to herself. They were her mates and hadn’t looked at Cherry twice even when she’d tried to flirt with her men, but she wasn’t about to rub her relationship in the other woman’s face. On the other hand, Alyson wasn’t going to hold back if Cherry wanted to pick a fight with her. She’d heard more snide remarks from the redhead in the last couple of hours than she’d heard in the past year. Cherry wore her jealousy on her sleeve, but she was too clueless to be a real threat. Earlier today Alyson had overheard Rylan chewing her out for leaving food on one of the counters overnight and spoiling it. Cherry had tried to flirt her way out of the mistake, but Rylan had been having none of it.

Alyson entered the office to see Chevy waiting for her. She stood in front of his desk.

“What’s the problem?”

Chevy leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his wide chest. His biceps bulged beneath the seams on his T-shirt sleeves. “I was hoping you could tell me that.”

“What do you mean?”

The relaxed pose gone, Chevy leaned forward and studied her intently. “Your face was as pale as a ghost when you walked toward the kitchen with the dirty dishes and your hands were shaking. I could feel and smell the fear emanating from you.”

Shit!
“Why do you have to be able to see things like that? I won’t ever have any privacy if you can all smell my emotions.”

“Get used to it, baby. Now answer the question,”
he demanded.

“You are such an ass.”

“That may be, baby, but I’m your ass now. So deal. I’m still waiting.” Chevy pushed his chair back and rose to his feet. The way his muscles rippled as he moved made her blood sing with desire. She would never get tired of being near them.

“I thought I saw Virgil pass by the window.” Alyson sighed with resignation and nervously rubbed her palms down the sides of her jeans-clad thighs. “I had my back to the window but I thought I caught a glimpse of him in the mirror on the back wall. But when I turned, he was gone. I even went and looked out, but he was nowhere to be seen. I guess after talking about him last night with your cousins, it got me a bit paranoid and jumpy.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Chevy asked in a cool voice.

Alyson flung her hands up and then wrapped her arms around her waist. “Because I wasn’t even sure it was him.”

Rylan hurried into the office with Tarkyn close behind. He walked right up to her until the toes of his boots were touching the tips of her shoes, making her tilt her head back so she could see his face. She wished she hadn’t when she saw how angry he looked.
Will I ever get used to them being able to hear me even when they’re not in the same room?

“The next time you think you see Virgil, you let one of us know. You are in danger, for fuck’s sake, Alyson. When are you going to let that independence go and let us help you?”

“I need more time. God, I’ve only known you a few days and I already want you—” She stopped herself. They didn’t need to know she was considering letting them claim her and make her theirs. Changing tack, she went on, “I can’t just let habits of a lifetime go. I’m not used to relying on anyone else but myself. It probably wasn’t even Virgil Minogue that I saw walking past. It was probably just a man with similar height and hair color.”

“What does he look like?” Chevy asked. “What was he wearing?”

“Um, dress slacks, I think.” She racked her memory. “Navy-blue shirt. Oh, he had a black jacket slung over his shoulder. He looks like any other executive type.”

“What’s his build like?” Chevy asked.

“He’s about six feet, maybe a hundred and eighty pounds. Black hair with gray at the temples, about collar length.” She sighed. “Of course, that was a year ago, when I saw him last. He could look totally different by now. And that probably wasn’t him.”

“Whether or not it was him, Alyson, you should have said something,” Rylan said in a hard voice. “You will come to one of us the next time. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal!” Alyson snapped and glared at him. When he just continued to hold her gaze, she knew she wasn’t going to be the winner of this showdown. She lowered her head and moved around him then out the office door and rounded the corner into the hall. Her body bumped into another and she gripped the other woman’s arms to stop her from falling.

“Sorry, Cherry, I didn’t mean to smack into you. Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Cherry ground out from between clenched teeth.

“Were you looking for me?”

“No. Why would I want to find you?” Cherry looked her up and down as if Alyson was something she had stepped in. “I need to speak to the managers.”

Alyson kept her face blank and made her way back to the bar, but inside she cursed Cherry with every step. She slid in behind the bar on the opposite end from Carter, one of the younger pack members who worked there through the week, and began to fill orders. She worked her way down and gave Carter a smile when they met in the middle. Lucky for her mates she’d spent some time working in a restaurant and knew what she was doing. It was Friday, and things were really beginning to hop as it got closer to dinnertime.

Every once in a while Alyson looked toward the hallway and kept an eye out for her three men. They hadn’t shown their faces at the bar since that confrontation earlier in the afternoon, and she wondered what they were doing.
Are they still talking about me? Have they had some news about Virgil?
God, why do I care what they are doing so much?
Alyson couldn’t believe how quickly she had grown to depend on them. It felt like there was an empty hole in her heart, and she knew only those three could fill it. And they hadn’t even claimed her yet. Would that make her feel more complete? Would it be harder to stay away from them?

The desire to stay with them and be a part of their lives grew the more she got to know them. Maybe tonight they could talk about it some more, she thought. She could apologize for not telling them about seeing Virgil and ask all her questions about life in the pack.

After helping Carter with the drink orders, Alyson did another sweep of the tables, collecting more dirty dishes, and took them into the kitchen. She spied Cherry at the back door. She was half in and half out of the entrance, and it looked like she was talking to someone while she smoked a cigarette. The stench wafted into the kitchen, making Alyson crinkle her nose with distaste. As she approached to ask Cherry to close the door, Cherry looked over her shoulder. Her face seemed to drain of color and then went bright red.

What’s with her? Maybe she feels bad to be caught smoking?

Cherry quickly stepped outside and closed the door behind her. Alyson gave a mental shrug and got back to her chores.

* * * *

He had bided his time, and his patience had paid off.

You can’t get rid of me by turning off your cell phone.
The phone’s GPS and Virgil’s connections had gotten him as far as Aztec, but his target had disappeared before he could close in. It was just his luck. Ten months of searching fruitlessly for Mary had given him a taste for failure, but he wouldn’t fail any longer. The bitch from the shelter might have hidden Mary too well for him to find her again, but Virgil now knew exactly where to find Alyson Redding.

When he’d lost the GPS signal, he’d switched to plan B. This morning he’d questioned one of the delivery drivers from the warehouse in Bloomfield, the one where his contacts told him she’d last been hired to work. He’d missed her only by a day, but the driver said she wouldn’t be around anymore. When he’d offered the other driver cash, the young man had told him he’d overheard his boss on the phone and she was now working and living in Aztec.

Now, at last, he’d gotten lucky. When he had seen her through that window he’d thought for a moment he had conjured her from his imagination.

Sneering with glee and rubbing his hands together, he walked around to the rear of the building, making plans. She had to pay for taking his family away. Now he had no one, not even his job. If it hadn’t been for that bitch Alyson, he would still have everything. She had to pay for what she’d done to him.

He was so much better than anyone else. Who did the slut think she was, helping his wife and daughter to leave him? He didn’t really care about his job or colleagues. It was the principle of the situation he found himself in. He was lucky he had more than enough money to live off the interest for the rest of his life if he wanted to, thanks to the money his parents had bequeathed him at their deaths and his acumen with investments. What he lacked was a way to close in on his prey. Alyson Redding was safely inside the Aztec Club, which seemed to be full of huge, fierce-looking men. Brute force wouldn’t get her out of there. Virgil needed another way.

The rear door to the club opened just as he entered the alley, and a redhead stood on the top step and lit a smoke.
Yes, this is perfect.
It was meant to be.
He approached the dour-looking woman and pasted a smile onto his face.

“Hi there, I was wondering if you knew Alyson Redding?”

She looked him up and down, eying his designer watch and clothes. A smile spread over her face, replacing the hard look she had first given him. “Why do you want
her
?”

“She’s my cousin,” he lied. “I have some bad news regarding a family member and didn’t want to have to tell her over the phone.”

“Oh, too bad,” the woman said insincerely. “She doesn’t get a break for another two hours. If you can wait, I’ll bring her out after the dinner hour.”

“Thank you. I’d appreciate it. Have you got a cell phone?”

“Yeah. What of it?”