After thirty minutes or so of her brother digging away, Ronnie asked, “Any word from Ricky?”
“He’s still in Russia. Not sure when he’ll be back. Apparently the bears aren’t playing nice.”
“They never will,” Shaw mumbled around a mouthful of popcorn.
“Why do you say that?” Ronnie asked.
“Russian bears are notoriously difficult to negotiate with. I still don’t have a hotel in that country because Russian bears are so damn difficult.”
“Well, I hope my brother’s being safe.”
Reece shrugged, now going through a box of old children’s books. “He always is. You’d only have to worry if it was me going over there.”
At least Reece was self-aware of his limitations.
“Hey,” Ronnie asked, “who the hell was that girl you were talking to today?”
“You’ll have to be much more specific than that.”
“The one who cut the tar out of that bitch Laura Jane.”
“Someone cut up Laura Jane?” Shaw asked, grinning.
“I couldn’t do it, of course,” Ronnie reminded him. “I am part of the same Pack and she hasn’t done anything to me. But this girl went after her with a blade and her claws. It may take her, like, two whole days before her wounds heal.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Reece said. “I can’t figure out what she is.”
Ronnie blinked. “What she is?”
“Yeah. She won’t tell me. It’s driving me nuts!”
“Oh, Lord, Reece. You’re not interested in this one, are you?”
“Nah. She’s way too terrifying. I’ve seen Laura Jane in a fight and that small female didn’t even give that She-wolf a chance to be her dishonorable fighting self. She beat Laura Jane to being dishonorable. I can’t date anyone like that. But I do enjoy that in a friend. She’ll make a good friend.”
“You’re such an odd boy.”
“Here it is!” Reece exclaimed, holding up a very old book.
“What is that?”
“Don’t you remember? This is The Infamous Book of Smells.”
Shaw’s head snapped around. “The what?”
Surprised, the siblings looked at the lion.
“You never had The Infamous Book of Smells?” Reece asked.
“Was I supposed to?”
“How were you able to tell the difference between grizzlies and black bears?” Ronnie wanted to know. “Or mountain lions, cheetahs, and leopards?”
“I learned as I went. Isn’t that how you guys did it?”
“Eventually, but every Pack pup starts out with—”
“The Infamous Book of Smells?”
“Exactly.”
“Which is what exactly?”
Reece brought the book over to the table. “It’s scratch and sniff for kids. With the scent of different breeds and species. I learned so much before I even cut my first fangs.”
“Yeah, but that’s an old copy,” Ronnie reminded him.
“You think the scents have faded?”
“No. But it’s not the most updated.”
“I know. That’s what I want.”
Sitting on the chair closest to Shaw, Reece began on the first page and went through each. Scratching and sniffing. Scratching and sniffing.
Fascinated, Ronnie watched her brother until he suddenly stopped at a page. Scratched. Sniffed. Scratched. Sniffed. Studied the page. Scratched. Sniffed.
“This is it. This is the one.” He looked at the page again, his brow pulling down.
“What is she, Reece?”
He looked up at her, still frowning.
“Show me,” she pushed, now completely curious. She had to know!
With a shrug, Reece turned the book around and held it up the way their pre-school teacher used to when she would read a page, then show the class the accompanying picture.
Ronnie’s mouth dropped open before she demanded, “Good Lord, Reece Lee Reed! This is the woman you want to be friends with?”
“Now more than ever!”
Shaw threw up his hands and Ronnie just sighed. Her brother . . . some days . . . honestly, some days.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Toni had just rolled onto her back, her entire body taking a long, luxurious stretch when there was a knock at Ricky’s door and it opened. Without warning.
She yelped and pulled herself into a ball. Ricky immediately stretched his body over hers, blocking her from Vic Barinov’s sight.
“Oh. Sorry. Was I interrupting?”
“Yes!” Ricky yelped. “You were.”
“Sorry. But you guys do have to get ready if we’re going to get to your meeting with the—”
“Meeting?” Toni scoffed.
Now, after a night of free-running through the beautiful Siberian wilderness and getting wonderfully tossed around the bedroom by Ricky Lee Reed, Toni’s sense of panic was no longer clouding her mind. Instead, she just felt annoyance at the bears wasting her damn time.
“They’re not going to meet with me. They have no intention of negotiating with me. We might as well just head the hell home rather than waste another damn day on this bullshit.”
Barinov shrugged. “Of course. I’ll get the car ready and let the hotel know we’re checking out.”
Ricky grabbed the sheet and pulled it up so it covered Toni all the way to her neck. Then he sat up, his body still blocking her, and said, “Wait.”
His hand on the doorknob, Barinov looked back at them.
“Do you know what’s going on with these bears?” he asked.
Toni didn’t know why Ricky was asking Barinov about anything. Other than ensure they arrived on time and that Toni was safe, he didn’t seem too involved in any of this drama.
“You know”—Barinov began—“I really shouldn’t get involved.”
See?
Ricky reached down and grabbed his jeans from the floor. He pulled out his cell phone and speed-dialed a number. He put on the speaker and for a few seconds they sat around silently listening to the phone ring.
“Yep?” a voice answered from the other end, and Barinov immediately rolled his eyes, momentarily reminding her of Kyle after he’d been caught tormenting Oriana about her non-existent weight problem.
“Hey, Dee,” Ricky said into the phone. “How ya doin’?”
“Fine.” There was a pause, then Dee asked, “You back in New York?”
“Nope. These Russian bears are being real difficult.”
“Mhmm. Never liked them Russian bears.”
“We haven’t mentioned you,” Ricky told her. “I don’t think they would have fond memories of you or your daddy.”
“Heh.”
“Anyway,” Ricky went on, “I’m not sure what to do. Any suggestions?”
“Isn’t Barinov there?”
Ricky looked up at the hybrid. “Yeah. He’s standing right here. But he said he shouldn’t get involved.”
There was a long sigh from the other end of that phone. “Take me off speaker,” Dee ordered, “and hand Barinov the damn phone.”
Ricky did just that and after baring a rather long fang, Barinov put the phone to his ear. “Hey, Dee—Well . . . yeah, I . . . no need to get nasty, Smith. Yeah. Fine. Whatever.” Barinov disconnected the call and tossed the phone back to Ricky.
“You’re a prick,” the hybrid snarled.
“I’m a Reed. We were never taught to play nice with others.”
Barinov stepped away from the door and looked over Ricky’s shoulder to focus on Toni. “You were negotiating with the bears as soon as you stepped out of the car the first day,” he abruptly told her.
Startled by that response, Toni sat a little taller, holding the sheet to her chest. “Wait a minute . . . what?”
“You didn’t know?”
“Did I look like I knew?”