“I’ll give you my credit card,” Micah said.
Elain shook her head. “Your money’s no good, boys. We want to do this for her.” She walked over and hugged Mai from behind. “Our treat. No ifs, ands, or buts. Ain will get with our attorney today and find out what to do about getting you a new ID. She’s a shifter, too, so no worries there. You’re family now.”
That finished Mai off. She squeezed Elain’s arm as her tears freely flowed. “Thank you. I don’t know how to thank you all for saving me. I wish I could just tell Paul Abernathy to go fuck himself.”
The kitchen went silent. Mai sensed she’d said something incredibly wrong. “What’s the matter?”
“You’re talking the Abernathy Clan?” Micah asked.
“Yeah.”
Lina chimed in. “As in his grandfather is Rodolfo Abernathy?”
“Great-grandfather,” Mai said.
Lina squeezed her eyes shut. “Shit.”
“What,” Micah snarked. “You didn’t see that?”
“Bite me, wolf boy,” Lina shot back. She squeezed Mai’s hand. “The great-grandson of Rodolfo Abernathy is your baby’s biological father?”
Mai nodded. “Why?”
Elain sighed. “It’s a long story. Let it suffice to say we’re already on Abernathy’s shit list.”
“I’m sorry,” Mai nervously said.
“No, don’t worry about it,” Elain reassured her. “Seriously.” She smiled at her. “Lina’s going to fry the creep’s balls as soon as she can anyway.”
“What?” Ain asked with a frown.
Elain smiled and blew him a kiss. “I’ll fill you in later.”
His face darkened, but he didn’t challenge her.
They plied Mai with breakfast until she thought she’d pop. Then, after she grabbed a shower, alone, and dressed in some of Lina’s clothes, which were about a size too big for her, the women piled into Elain’s car and headed out with Lina sitting in front next to Elain and Carla in back with Mai.
“Where are we going?” Mai asked. Jim had given her his cell phone until they could get her one of her own, which Micah said they would do that afternoon.
“To Port Charlotte,” Elain said. “It’s a little bit of a hike, but they have a mall there.”
Lina smiled. “I have credit cards, and I’m not afraid to use them.”
“Amen, sistah!” Elain said with a laugh. They bumped fists.
They all laughed. During the drive, Mai realized how at ease she felt with the women, and it made her miss her own mom even more. As they pulled into a parking space at the mall, Mai spoke up. “I just want to say again how much I appreciate this. This is the first time in a couple of years I haven’t felt alone or worried what would happen next.”
Carla hugged her. “It’s all right. We’re all here for you.”
Lina giggled. “Yeah, and since my incendiary skills aren’t as random as they once were, I’ll have your back, sister.”
Mai wasn’t sure what that meant, exactly. Still, she appreciated the sentiment nonetheless.
Micah anxiously watched Elain’s car drive away. Ain walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. “They’ll be okay. Trust me, buddy. You don’t want to get in their way.”
“What if that guy shows up looking for Elain? Or if Paul Abernathy comes after Mai? We’re already on the Abernathys’ shit list as it is.”
Brodey snorted. “Dude, seriously? Lina’s with them.”
Zack outright laughed. “She’s hormonal and in a mood to shop. I pity the fool who tries to mess with her right now. He’ll be picking his flash-frozen balls up from the floor.”
“Yeah,” Rick agreed. “Unless she roasts him in his shoes. All we need now is Callie, and those women would be an unstoppable force to be reckoned with.”
“Besides,” Ain said, “we have other business to attend to. Mai gave me her information so we can work on getting her replacement identification. Liam, you and Jim and I need to run over to the attorney’s office and see what we can do. She can fit us in this morning. Maybe she’s got some contacts and can get us fake IDs for Mai and Liam with different names so they can’t be tracked through the system. That guy’s family is connected. It wouldn’t take a PI long to track Mai with legitimate ID.”
“Well,” Brodey said to Micah, “it seems this is why the Goddess put you and Jim together.”
“That’s what I was thinking. Still, it doesn’t make sense. Jim is my mate. Why did I pick her, too? Have you ever heard of anything like this ever happening before?”
Cail shrugged. “No. But are you really going to question it?”
“No,” Micah and Jim said together. Then they smiled at each other.
“One little problem,” Ain said. “You can’t take her back up to Maine. Not while that guy is after her. I’m going to need to call Jocko and talk to him about all of this. See how we should handle it. He’s probably going to be upset with me for the way Elain dashed in and out.”
“Simple,” Micah said. “We just won’t go to Maine.”
“No, not that simple,” Ain said. “You haven’t even gotten up there with Jim. You can’t just blow off Clan protocol like that.”
Micah frowned. “Sure I can.” His voice turned into a low growl. “Watch me.”
Brodey chimed in to defuse the situation. “Don’t go circling the wagons before Ain even talks to Jocko. They might tell you it’s fine, given the circumstances.”
“I won’t risk their safety,” Micah said.
“Yeah, and if we all go to Maine and leave you here alone, you’re just as vulnerable,” Ain said. “Anyway, let’s handle one thing at a time. Everyone go get dressed so we can head to town.”
After an hour of shopping in the first department store, Mai had the beginnings of a wardrobe. The women refused to let her balk when she looked at price tags. They took the first load of purchases out to the car and loaded them in the trunk before heading to their next stop.
Mai didn’t miss that no one left the sight of the others, that they all stayed together.
When they took a break in the food court a little later, Mai said something about it. “Y’all are worried about Paul finding me, aren’t you?”
Lina patted her hand. “I’m not going to lie and say everything is hunky-dory. Let’s just say we’re already on the Abernathys’ radar and don’t want to take any chances. I haven’t seen all the details yet. Unfortunately, my Whack-O-Vision doesn’t work on demand. But no, the trouble isn’t over.” She smiled brightly. “Don’t worry. If the asshat does show up, I’ll blast him. No one should fuck with us today, at least. So let’s enjoy our shopping.”
Mai rubbed her hand over her belly. “I’m scared,” she admitted. “I haven’t even been to the doctor yet.”
“We’ll talk to Ain when we get back,” Elain said. “We’ll see if there’s a doctor we can take you to. Please don’t worry. You’re family now.”
“Yeah,” Lina echoed. “And if there isn’t one around here, we’ll get you in to see my doctor. She’s a cougar shifter up in Tampa. I’m sure she’d be happy to take you on as a patient.”
Marston sat off in the distance and glanced over his newspaper occasionally to make sure the women still sat there.
Dammit.
That dragon woman was with them. She was dangerous, and she could identify him. He had to be careful, but this was his first chance to grab Elain Pardie without her men around. If he could just figure out a way to get her alone, even for a couple of minutes, he had a chance.