Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Genevieve
After what the family told me last night, there’s a part of me that’s afraid.
How could I have not seen what Julian and Randall were really like?
Could they really be killers? I lived with them for seven months, shouldn’t I have seen something?
And oh my god, shifters. Holy shit, they’re real.
Wait till my family learns all that I’ve learned.
Waking up in Michel’s arms was the best sleep I’ve had in forever. It’s like I could feel his love and protection as I slept. Somehow even after making the wrong decision with Julian, I’ve found my future with Michel.
I’m a little worried about my family finding out about Julian.
They were always worried about my decision to move here and now they’ll know how horrible my decision really was.
I have five hours to stress about this. I know my parents wanted to ask about Enea and Zeus picking them up.
I told them I would explain everything when they got here.
But I know they’re worried. Hell, I’m worried.
“Make sure you keep an eye out for Julian or Randall,” Michel says as we get ready.
“Do you think Randall would come around?”
“I don’t know, what was he like when you lived with them?”
“Randall only talked to me when he had to. He mostly stayed in his room when we were all home.”
“So you never spent time with him?”
“Well, I did a few times. I came home from school and he was home. Usually they were always on the same shift. But there were a few times that they weren’t. Randall was an odd one. He always gave me the creeps. Like there was something that wasn’t right about him.”
“I think that what the family has found out about the brothers is real. And I worry that they’ll try to get to you.”
“I’ll have Eros and Adonis with me.”
“Maybe Seraphina should be with you. That way she can go with you to the bathroom too. Let me text Enea.”
Michel
Michel: Hey, I was wondering, maybe Seraphina can be with Genevieve? In case she needs to go to the bathroom?
Enea: Good thinking. Tell Eros to switch places with Seraphina
Michel: Okay, thank you
Enea: You’re welcome, we’ll be leaving in a few hours to go and pick up her family
Michel: Okay, thank you, drive safe
“Enea agreed, so Seraphina and Eros will switch places.”
“Do you think they’d try to get me in the bathroom?”
“Stranger things have happened before. I rather not take the chance, we don’t know who they really are. And the more we learn about them, the more they worry me.”
I walk over to her and hug her. “They’ll all help keep you safe, as least until we can figure out who the brothers really are.”
“I hate that I was such a bad judge of character. I didn’t see anything wrong with them. I mean, Julian was a little secretive sometimes and Randall was weird. But I never would’ve thought it was because they were serial killers.” She frowns.
“I don’t think it’s something you could’ve seen. I’ve seen TV shows about serial killers and most of the time no one knew. In fact, some of them lured their victims to them because they were charming. You know that none of this is your fault, right?”
“It feels like it is.” She sighs.
“Mon rêve, look at me. Nothing that has happened is your fault. You fell in love with a man you thought would be there for you. That’s not a bad decision. That’s you trusting with your heart and I love that about you.”
“Thank you for loving me,” she says softly.
We head out to the living room and let Seraphina and Eros know that they’ll be switching places for bodyguard duty. Then we order up breakfast, I always forget how much shifters eat. The look on Genevieve’s face makes me laugh.
“Okay, now I know you’re a snake, what are the rest of you?” she asks the brothers.
“We’re polar bears. And the Nikolaidises are white tigers. Oh! And our oldest brother Ares, his wife is a red panda.”
“Oh my god, a red panda? They’re adorable!”
“Don’t tell her that.” Adonis laughs.
“They like to be called bearcats, they said that they’re not really pandas. Sakura’s bearcat is a feisty one,” Eros adds.
“And she bites.” Apollo chuckles. “She doesn’t usually bite us, but she bites Ares.”
“My snake still wants to nibble on you.” Seraphina smiles innocently at Apollo.
“We’ve talked about this. No.”
“Why not? I mean I’ve seen Seraphina’s snake. She’s not too big and if you’re a polar bear, I don’t think it’ll hurt…” Genevieve says as Apollo’s shaking his head no.
We’re all laughing at the look on his face. He looks kind of terrified at the idea.
“Genevieve’s right. You know my snake loves you, she’d never really hurt you.”
Apollo snorts. “What if she mistakenly bites me with the wrong venom? I could die.”
“Psh. I don’t think you’d die”
“Yes, they’re like this all the time.” Eros laughs. “Seraphina’s snake has been asking to ‘nibble’ on Apollo from the beginning of their relationship.”
Seraphina continues to try and convince Apollo to let her snake nibble on him.
I wish Genevieve and I could just take time off and hide out in the room.
But I have daily stuff I have to do for the hotel and she’s determined to save up some money.
Just another reason I love her, even though I’ll never take her money for this room.
And eventually I plan on asking her to either move in with my family or we can get our own place.
Either plan works, as long as I get to go to bed and wake up with her.
Genevieve
My day goes by faster than normal and before I know it, I see Enea and Panagiotis coming towards the front desk with my family. I run over and hug each of them. My maman is crying as she holds me.
“I’ve missed you so much,” she says as she hugs me tightly.
“Where is Michel?” my papa asks.
“He’s working, Papa. But you’ll meet him soon. He usually meets me for lunch. Why don’t I check you in so you can drop your bags in your rooms. Michel made sure you all had your own rooms and they’re all adjoining.”
I get my family checked in and get all their room keys ready. They all leave to drop their bags off, they plan to have lunch with us and then nap. My papa was already yawning.
“Your family is adorable,” Abigail says to me as she smiles.
“Thank you. I’ve missed them so much. It’s weird how you know you miss people, but when you see them, it’s like it’s amplified.”
She nods. “I know what you mean. When my brother moved away, it was the worst for me. He tried to stay after our parents died. But he just couldn’t. He’s tried to get me to move closer to him.”
“You don’t want to leave Storyville?”
“I feel like I’m closer to my parents here. Most of my memories are here, so I can go places and I feel them here with me. I know that sounds weird.”
“No, that doesn’t sound weird, I understand that. For me, sometimes it’s the opposite because of Julian. But I was kind of lucky. We never really went anywhere. So I feel like Michel and I can make new memories.”
“I love that for you. I’ve known Michel for a long time and he’s always been so nice. But now I can see how happy he is. He smiles all the time and when he looks at you? That’s how I want the man I choose to look at me.”
I smile and hug her. She’s told me a little about how her parents died. I can’t imagine losing mine. I see Michel walking towards the front desk and I can’t help the smile on my face. He’s so damn cute, the smile on his face makes me feel so wanted.
“Hi, mon rêve. Did you’re family get here? Hey Abigail,” he says as he kisses me. Abigail smiles and says hi.
We decided this morning that we weren’t going to hide our relationship. I told him that I didn’t want people to think badly of me. And he said fuck them. No one can tell us what’s right for our relationship. Only we know what’s best for us.
“Oui, they just went up to their rooms, they’ll be back down to join us for lunch. They’re all really excited to meet you and your family. Enea and Panagiotis said they were going to get your siblings and meet us at the restaurant.”
“Sounds good. I’m kind of nervous to meet your family.” He chuckles.
“Don’t be. My maman and papa already love you for all you’ve done for me. And my sister said if she wasn’t married, she’d ask about your brother.” I giggle.
“I wonder what kind of woman will tame Henri.” He laughs. “Did your sister bring her whole family?”
“Oui, they’re all here. And I’m a little afraid to have to tell them what we think Julian and Randall have been doing.”
“I know, but it’s going to be okay, they’ll also learn that you’re not alone. We’re all here to keep you safe.”
“In case I haven’t said it, thank you. For everything. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you. But I appreciate you so much.”
“You don’t have to repay me. I would do anything for you.”
I take his hand as we make our way to the restaurant. I see my family there and they’re all waving and yelling my name like lunatics. I can hear Michel snickering.
“They’re awesome.” He laughs.
“They’re crazy.” I laugh.
I introduce my family to Michel, as they’re hugging, the rest of his family and the Lake Renegade family get to the restaurant. It takes a while to get everyone introduced. There’s lots of laughing and hugs all around. I love how happy my family looks as they meet everyone.
We all sit down to have lunch together.
“We have a lot to talk to you about, but we would rather not discuss it out in the open. So after lunch, maybe we can go to my room and talk,” Enea says to my parents.
My papa nods in agreement.
“It must be something bad.” My maman frowns.
“There’s just a lot to discuss and we’re not used to talking where people can hear us.”
My parents agree and we all talk about other things as we have lunch. It’s easy conversation and I love how everyone just seems to get along with each other.
We get to Enea’s room and sit down. I’m so worried about what my parents will think and feel. It’s such a strange situation to be in. Imagine knowing your daughter was living with a serial killer. And not just one. TWO.
Enea starts by explaining who they all are, but he leaves out the part about the two shifter families. I have to say, I appreciate that. By the looks on my parents' faces, I’m not sure they could take in that part too.
“Before we go any further, we want to say thank you for being here for our Genevieve.” My papa looks at everyone in the room. “While we have the feeling that there’s more that we’re going to learn, we feel better knowing she hasn’t been alone.”
“Michel and his family have made sure that Genevieve is safe. They called us to look into Julian because Michel was worried about who he is.”
“I also want to say that we felt like there was something odd about Julian. But we tried to be supportive for Genevieve. But we did tell her we worried,” my maman adds in.
Enea looks at Sebastiano and nods.
“I don’t know how to say this nicely, so I’m just going to lay it out for all of you. We think that Julian and Randall are serial killers.”
There’s a collective gasp from my entire family.