“Don’t worry about me, Toni.” Delilah stroked her fingers gently down the side of Toni’s face, and it took all of Toni’s strength not to flinch away from that touch. “I’m always careful.”
“I know.”
With that soft smile, Delilah moved around Toni and headed inside.
“But it’s not really you I’m worried about . . . is it, little sister?” Toni said to Delilah’s back.
In the doorway, Del slowly turned around, her head dipping down a bit as she focused on Toni. Her smile spread—stretched—into a leer before she closed the door in Toni’s face.
Toni released the breath she always held whenever she attempted to figure out what the fuck her sister was up to.
Deciding she didn’t have time for this, Toni headed down the steps but stopped when she reached the second-to-last step and saw Johnny DeSerio standing in front of the wild dogs’ house and staring across the street. He was a young wolf and yet he wasn’t moving. That seemed strange. Young canines were known for their high energy.
Concerned, Toni waited until traffic cleared and jogged across the street until she reached Johnny.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“My feet stopped moving,” he muttered. “I’ve lost the ability to walk.”
“Okay. But you are standing. Standing is good. So there’s been no damage to your spinal cord.”
Toni moved around until she stood right beside him.
“I see you have your violin,” she noted.
“Do I? Maybe I should leave it inside. I’m not very good.”
“That’s not what my mother says.”
“Your mother is a foolish woman!” he suddenly exploded, and Toni had to move fast to stop herself from laughing. Biting the inside of her cheek definitely helped. When she finally got control, Toni placed her hand on his forearm.
“Would you like to get a cup of coffee with me?”
“I want to hide in my basement.”
“I know, but I think coffee and maybe some breakfast would probably be better.” She tugged his arm. “Come on. There’s a coffee shop down the street.”
“You really have nothing better to do than have coffee with me?” he asked.
Toni shrugged, figuring she could quit at any time. “Nope. Nothing better to do.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
They ended up in a Starbucks at the end of the street, and Toni not only got the wolf to drink a large cup of coffee, she also got him to eat several cinnamon buns and three pieces of coffee cake. Not the healthiest breakfast, but she was sure he’d work it off.
“So what is it?” she asked him when she knew Johnny was calmer. “What has you so worried?”
“Everything.”
Toni smiled. “Everything, huh? So . . . the economy? Wars in other countries? Who’ll win this year’s Super Bowl? That everything?”
“Since I don’t care about any of that . . . no.”
“That’s what I figured. So what is it? Really?”
“What if I’m not as good as your mother thinks?” he finally asked, taking a huge leap of faith in showing Toni his weakness, his true fear.
“You have to be,” Toni stated bluntly, “because when it comes to this, my mother is never wrong. She’s completely useless at the most basic things like math, keeping the tenses straight when she’s speaking Italian, and unless she’s making breakfast, she’ll most likely set the house on fire if she tries to cook a meal. But when it comes to music . . . when it comes to what you do . . . my mother is never wrong.”
“But”—he shoved another bit of crumb cake into his mouth—“what if she’s wrong this time? About me?”
“Because you have that kind of power, right? Quite the narcissism you’ve got going there,” she teased.
He gazed at her for a long moment before admitting, “You’re right. I’m pathetic.” Then he dropped his head to the table and sighed . . . dramatically.
Crossing her eyes, Toni eased her brother’s cell phone out of her pocket and, keeping it under the table, quickly texted her mother. It was a skill she’d developed over the years . . . texting without looking. She’d learned it from Oriana, and it was a skill she was glad to have because of times just like these.
Starbucks on corner. It’s Toni.
Need you. Another stu bout 2 b destroyed
By yer awesomeness
After a few minutes of staring at the top of Johnny’s head, Toni saw her mother rushing down the street. She skidded to a halt when she reached the Starbucks doorway, took a breath, pushed her hair off her face, and calmly sauntered into the café.
Again, Toni only managed not to laugh by biting the inside of her cheek.
Jackie casually ordered a chai tea from one of the baristas before casually sauntering over to their table.
Her mother had become the queen of being casual after lots of self-training.
“Hey, baby,” she said to Toni. “What are you doing . . . wait. Johnny? What are you doing here?”
The wolf’s head came off the table, and he blinked wide, panicked brown eyes at Jackie.
Jackie pretended to think, her forefinger tapping her chin. “Don’t we have an appointment right now?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Jean-Louis. I . . . I . . . it’s just . . .”
“Don’t worry about it.” Jackie waved Johnny’s panicked stuttering away. “I’m terrible with appointments myself. That’s what my mate helps me with. Right, Toni?”
“Sure,” Toni lied, because her father would probably be late to his own funeral if Toni didn’t make sure he wasn’t.
Jackie went to the counter and picked up her tea, then returned and sat down next to Toni.
“So,” she asked, cupping her chai tea, “what are we talking about?”
Johnny looked at Toni, his eyes begging her not to say anything.
“Movies,” Toni lied. Honestly, Toni would only lie this much to help her mother.
“I love movies,” Jackie stated. “What are your favorites, Johnny? Are you into sci-fi or stuff with lots of big explosions? Personally I hate chick flicks or anything that’s clearly trying to make me cry. I hate that.”
Knowing her mother could handle things from here, Toni picked up her backpack and slipped out of her chair.
And now, after handling this little drama, Toni knew it would be easy as hell to quit her day job.
Ricky leaned against one side of the office doorway and Rory leaned on the other while Reece stood between them, his arms crossed over his chest. Together they watched a big male lion play grab ass with his wife. Of course, it was his right. The company was partially his.
“Mace!” the full-human giggled-squealed. “Stop it!”
He had the poor little thing pinned against his desk with his big lion thighs while he man-handled—or in this case, lion-handled—Desiree MacDermot-Llewellyn, detective first grade for the shifter unit of the NYPD.
“Come on, Dez,” the big cat pushed. “Just give me ten minutes.”
“That sounds highly unimpressive for a former Navy man.”
“Unlike your Marine brethren . . . Navy SEALs know how to get the job done—quick, fast, and to everyone’s satisfaction. We don’t just storm the beach, baby. We take the whole damn country.”
Ricky looked at his brothers, and both of them crossed their eyes in disgust. Cats were bad enough, but military cats could be the worst. Combining that mane along with the ability to protect their country just made most of them completely unbearable.