I used the side step to get out of the truck and almost tumbled on my ass. Lorenzo stayed in the truck until I made it inside and then he sped off with a few intentionally loud engine revs.
Reno cornered me in the front entrance, gripping his keys tightly. His brows were low, but they weren’t dark, and he looked like the kind of guy who could star in his own action movie. A tiny scar on his lip caught my attention, but not for long when his eyes narrowed. “We got a camera hooked up outside your apartment, remember?”
I shrugged. “I don’t really care if you have an issue with this. Lorenzo’s going to help.”
“That’s not how it works,” he said gruffly, hanging his keys on a nail above the letter R.
I kicked off my shoes and, in Naya fashion, put my hands on my hips. “Then how does it work? My mom was kidnapped and my little sister was abandoned on the side of a fucking highway. She’s lucky someone didn’t snatch her or run her down. Tell me, Reno, how does it work that I can’t get more people helping out since you guys won’t call the cops?”
“Human cops aren’t going to solve your problem,” he replied in a you should already know that voice. “And we don’t bring other packs in our business unless the Packmasters come to a mutual agreement. That’s problematic. You want to be beholden to someone you don’t know? He’ll want the favor returned, and it’s going to be a big lump-sum payment.”
“Well, he’ll have to get on the payment plan because I’m flat broke.”
Reno blocked me from going into the living room and poked my shoulder with his finger. “The plan is you.”
Then he walked off.
Denver shot me a judgmental glare when I strolled into the living room. Maizy rolled around on the floor while cartoon animals on the big TV paddled across a river.
“Did she take her nap?” I asked.
“She’s not tired. Are you, Peanut?”
I looked down at her restless legs and back at him. “Of course she’s not tired. How much sugar did you give her? Maizy isn’t used to eating sweets all the time; she gets hyper and then throws fits because she can’t sleep.”
He leaned back in his chair, crossed his ankles, and laced his fingers together across his stomach. “I’m not apologizing for giving her candy,” he replied in a smartass tone.
“Ooo, Lexi!” Maizy squealed, whirling around. “Denny has a biiiiig yellow candy jar with lots of different kinds of candy. There were worms and bears and chocolate and—”
While Maizy listed off what she had for lunch, I smiled. “Uncle Denny is going to watch you all day, would you like that?”
She squealed a yes.
Punishment served. Once Maizy got wired and tired, Denver was never going to give her sugar again. Especially when her magic wand made an appearance and she started whacking him on the head to transform him into a prince.
He acted nonchalant, so I hauled my bag I’d brought with me into Jericho’s bedroom. Austin had a point. Staying in the same room with Maizy was too risky. Even though I had no recollection of turning into a wolf, I knew I must have been dangerous by the scrapes I’d put on Austin.
“Well, well,” a familiar voice said from behind me as I was bending over and making up the bed. The door clicked shut and I peered over my shoulder. “That’s the position I like the most,” Jericho said, holding the door up with his shoulder blades and staring at my ass.
“Long night?” I asked, noticing the hickeys on his neck. I tried to avoid looking at the shiner on his eye because I felt responsible. On the other hand, it didn’t appear to have been of any hindrance to him getting laid.
He stripped away his graffiti T-shirt and tossed it onto a pile of clothes on the floor. There were more hickeys, and mostly around his navel area. I guessed groupies liked staking their claim on a rocker with their mouths.
“You sleepin’ in my bed, Goldilocks?”
“I can’t stay with Maizy for obvious reasons. Austin told me you guys have more control over your wolf and I’m new to all of this.”
He moved his mouth around as if he were sucking on a piece of candy. “You’re taking it pretty well.”
I shrugged. “I’ve always had to be the rock in my family; I guess it’s not in my nature to go apeshit over finding out I have paws and a tail. I’m handling it the best way I know how.”
“Denial?” Jericho snorted and tossed a set of keys on his dresser. “I can say this because I’m his brother, but maybe you should stay away from Austin.”
“Why?”
His eyes hooded behind the long strands of loose hair that had fallen free from the band he’d used to tie it back. “A girl like you wants a man who can control his temper. Austin’s not quite there yet. He’s good, real good. We’ve watched him grow up and become alpha material, but he has a switch in there and if you flip it the wrong way, then look out.”
“Everyone has that switch,” I argued.
“When Wes died, that switch stayed flipped for a long time.”