Chapter 6
“Sloane, can you hand me the basil please?” Jacob said as he stirred a giant pot of tomato sauce on the stove. He wore a bandana on his head to keep the hair out of his eyes and an apron that said “Nana’s Kitchen” on the front.
“Sure thing, babe.” Sloane handed him a basket with the freshly-washed herbs. Her apron had “Made with Love” embroidered in pastel pink script. “Here you go.”
“Thanks, Hot Stuff.” He kissed her on the cheek, then dropped a few leaves into the pot. “Sauce’ll be ready in fifteen.”
“I’ll get the pasta going then.”
Eli thought the scene was oddly domestic, considering the circumstances and who was cooking. Culinary skills had never been part of the Boston clan’s training and as far as he knew, Sloane had never stepped foot in a kitchen.
“Something the matter, Blake?” Jacob turned to face him, wooden spoon in hand, an eyebrow arched upward. “You gotta problem or something?”
Before he could answer, a voice chirped in from behind.
“Something smells amazing.”
Eli’s head whipped back toward the entryway, his breath catching at the heavenly sight of Olivia. Even with her silvery hair tied back in a neat ponytail and dressed casually in a T-shirt and jeans, she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
It seemed almost impossible that she was not only going to have his baby, but she wanted to be with him.
The urge to possess her and make her his again was overwhelming, and his wolf was not making it any easier.
It wanted him to take control and claim and mark her as theirs.
Being trapped in the backseat with her had been pure torture and if they had been alone …
“Hi,” she greeted shyly, then proceeded to sit next to him at the huge island in the middle of the kitchen. “Did you get some rest?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t know what else to say; he’d never really liked conversation nor did he have experience with women. Fucking, yes. That he knew plenty about. But being in a relationship with a female was a completely alien concept to him.
“Did you have a nice nap?” Sloane asked.
The prettiest blush bloomed on her face. “I got some sleep, thank you very much.”
“Dinner’s almost ready,” Jacob announced. “I’d ask if you were hungry but that’s a rhetorical question.”
Olivia laughed, a sound that sent a warmth through Eli’s chest. “As I live and breathe—Jacob Martin, cooking? I bet the last time were in a kitchen was when you almost burned one down when your powers came in.”
“Ha ha, very funny.” Taking a spoonful of sauce, he tasted the red liquid, wrinkled his nose, then reached for the salt container before adding in a pinch. “We actually learned to cook during our house arrest.”
Sloane snorted. “Don’t get me wrong, it was fun for the first couple of days, binge watching TV shows and ordering takeout. But soon, we were driving each other bonkers being cooped up in that studio. We needed some kind of activity or we were going to kill each other.”
“So we decided to take up cooking,” Jacob finished. “The first couple of times were a disaster, but once we got the hang of it, we found we enjoyed it.”
“And saved us on takeout bills,” Sloane chuckled, rubbing her belly. “Okay, we should be ready to plate up in five minutes. We’re eating family style, so could you guys set the table?”
“I’ll do it, don’t get up,” Eli said to Olivia, waving her away before she could protest. Sliding off the stool, he walked toward the cupboards and searched for the plates and utensils.
Setting the table was a good distraction, at least for the next few minutes.
When he was done, he sat down and to his surprise, Olivia took the place beside him, smiling up at him shyly.
“Here we go,” Jacob announced as he brought the big serving bowl of spaghetti. He pulled out the chair next to him, and once Sloane sat down, eased it back in.
“Hmmm … smells wonderful,” Olivia said, taking in a deep inhale.
“There’s a lot more, don’t worry.” Sloane nodded to the two big pots on the stove. “Eat up.”
They served themselves the pasta, as well as salad and garlic bread on the side.
Eli had to admit, the food was delicious, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten a home cooked meal.
Probably back at Sloane’s aunt’s place. And before that …
He pushed the memory away, not wanting to think about his life before coming to Boston.
“So, I have some thoughts about how we do this,” Sloane began as she brought back a third serving of pasta from the stove. It seemed she had waited until at least Eli and Jacob had had their fill before bringing up the subject of their mission.
“Tell us,” Jacob said.
“I was going through a mental list of who we can approach and who we need to be careful about. How about you, Eli?”
Swallowing his last bit of food, he wiped his mouth with his napkin. “I do, but why don’t you start?” He had a feeling they were likely thinking of the same people, at least who might cause trouble.
She cleared her throat. “While I was away, I still had a couple of people in the clan feeding me information. Members who hated Ronan. But I don’t want to risk exposing them until we’re all clear and truly rid of Ronan’s influence, so we can’t go to them. So, first on my list is Patrick Gallagher.”
“Good choice.” That would have been his first one too. He rather liked the tough old coot, almost everyone did.
“He’s one of the older members of the clan,” Sloane continued. “A retired enforcer who was in Ronan’s father’s inner circle. He’s not active in that part of the clan’s business anymore, but everyone knows not to mess with him. Even Ronan was afraid to touch him.”
“If he’s so tough, why did he let Ronan run the clan the way he did?” Jacob asked.
“He was nearly eighty by the time I arrived, not sure what he could have done,” Eli explained. “Gotta be nearing a hundred now.”
“Ninety-four, actually,” Sloane added. “Patrick is like everyone’s cranky old grandfather and the last of the old guard. Ronan couldn’t wait for him to die, so Patrick probably hung on just to piss him off. Anyway, he gets along with everyone and it’ll make sense that we want to visit him.”
“Okay, then,” Jacob said. “Who else?”
“Martha Emcott, she was my aunt’s best friend.
” Sloane had been raised by her Aunt Ella, who has passed away over a year ago and confessed to Sloane on her deathbed about Ronan murdering her parents.
“She’s a sweet old lady. She’ll be thrilled when she learns about the baby, which will only make our cover story more convincing.
” She chewed at her lip. “How about you, Eli? Who are you thinking of?”
He said the first name that came to mind. The only name, actually. “Matty.”
“Hudson? Yeah, that could work.”
“Who’s Matty?” Olivia asked.
“He’s a human member of the clan,” Sloane explained. “His dad’s a Lycan. He’s got a good heart and the kind of guy who’s everyone’s friend. He was also desperate to be part of Ronan’s crew. At first, Ronan didn’t want him because he’s human, but turned out, he was a brilliant driver.”
Eli tsked. “He could shake any tail. Drove every getaway vehicle I was in.”
“You sure you can trust this guy?” Jacob asked, skeptical.
“We don’t have to trust him,” Sloane reasoned. “We just have to convince everyone we’re coming there to visit him. And, Matty’s kind of a goofy kid. You and him were pretty tight, right, Eli?”
“S’pose so.” Like with Sloane, Eli had been protective of Matty because a lot of the guys on the crew gave him a hard time due to him not being a Lycan. If he did consider anyone a friend in the clan, it would be Matty.
“Okay, that settles that at least,” Jacob said. “Now, who do we have to watch out for?”
Once again, Eli caught Sloane’s gaze, which confirmed that they really were thinking of the same people. He nodded for her to continue speaking.
“There’s three I can think of,” she began. “One is Ronan’s most trusted captain, Sean O’Grady. And the other two are Ronan’s former bodyguards, Danny McGill and John ‘Mickey’ Mickelson.”
Eli huffed. “O’Grady was at the top of ladder in the operation, one of the youngest captains to be promoted in the crew.”
“He’s only a couple years older than us, and made no secret of the fact that he wanted a bigger role,” Sloane added.
“With only the Beta and Alpha positions above him, that meant either pushing Garret out or being named heir. Ronan knew this, and used it to his advantage. He had his nose so far up Ronan’s ass you’d think he was giving him an exam. ”
“And the other two?” Jacob asked.
A bad taste coated Eli’s mouth. “Just as bad, but mostly because they got off on hurting people. Real mean bastards.”
“So, what you guys are saying is, we need to watch out for all three,” Jacob concluded.
“If they’re as bad as you say, why wouldn’t the High Council charge them like they did with Garret and Forte?” Olivia asked.
“It’s not easy and the High Council only cares about Lycan-related crimes and that’s if they have evidence,” Jacob explained. “They’ve been using the diaries Sloane and I stole, and so far, they can only trace the murders to Garret.”
“Ronan is smart,” Sloane added. “And Garret did the deed personally. Cleaner that way. And if they hired or had anyone else on the crew do their dirty work, Garret took care of them too. All the dead bodies lead back to Garret.”
Jacob continued. “The High Council is also offering leniency to anyone who comes forward and confesses to any crime they committed against fellow Lycans, especially if they can prove that they did it under duress.”
“O’Grady, McGill, and Mickey will definitely say Ronan made them do it if it’ll save their asses.” Sloane crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s too bad you can’t be exiled to Siberia for being mean assholes.”
Eli nodded in agreement. Both he and Sloane had seen some truly terrible things over the years.