Chapter 5 #2
Richie laughed as he thought of those he hadn’t mentioned yet. “Roman is a Silverback Gorilla shifter, and his mate, Talie, is human.”
Remi shook his head in awe. “That’s just so freaking cool. I met him briefly at my cousin, Havoc’s, wedding. I really liked him. Got a good feeling from him. He’s got a son, right?”
“Yeah, and he’s a Silverback shifter, too.
His name is Cruz and he is freaky smart.
He’s in college and taking the basics, but loading up on all the criminal justice and law classes he can get into being he’s only a freshman.
He’s looking at shifting into Pre Law as soon as the basics are out of the way. ”
“A lawyer in the family! They must be really proud,” Remi said.
“Oh, yeah. We all are. But he’s thinking a judge. Law degree is needed for that.”
“Impressive.”
“He is an impressive young man. And they have a daughter, too, who is human. She’s a social worker and I think I mentioned it before, she only lives here part time.”
“Yeah, I think you did.”
“You know Riley and Maia, obviously, because they’re part of your family from back home. Sebastian as you know is a Wolf shifter, and Cristie, but I don’t need to go there, you know her much better than we do.”
Remi smiled.
“I think I’ve filled you in on everybody. We were all given the heads up that you were coming, so they’re expecting you. They all know you’re a fire Dragon. Only advice I’ll even attempt to give you is to step softly where Cristie is concerned. We all raised her and feel like she’s ours, too.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m here to prove myself and hopefully show her that our bond can be saved. Not to force her to accept me.”
“I know. I’ve figured that out, and I’ll be sure to let the others know that, too.
I’m going to get out of your hair and let you get the rest of your things in here.
You should have anything you need in here, except dairy, but I have plenty of extra at my house.
I’ll bring a few things over for you since you didn’t get get a chance to get to the store today. ”
“You don’t have to do that. I can get whatever I need tomorrow sometime,” Remi answered.
“Naw, just give me a minute. I’ll be right back.” Richie went out the back door and set out toward his house.
Remi picked up his bag and his box and walked into the living room, turning on his lights and looking around.
The house had vinyl plank flooring that gave the appearance and texture of hard wood without the problems of having to maintain hard wood.
The walls were a soft neutral color that wasn’t really white, but wasn’t really beige either.
The furniture was a combination dark brown wood with cream colored textures accented with green throw pillows, dark shelving, and golden accents here and there in knickknacks and picture frames.
“Nice,” Remi said to himself as he set the box down on the dark brown coffee table and took the framed family picture out of the top of the box before walking over and putting it on one of the shelves of the entertainment center to the right of the large television that took center stage in the middle of the unit.
The purr of a high-performance engine caught his attention outside, so he walked over to the window to look out.
There was a bright red Ferrari Portofino sitting inside Riley’s fenced in property, waiting for the gate to open.
Once it opened, the sports car pulled forward, but came to a stop — presumably to make sure the gate closed behind it — before pulling out onto the road and driving away.
Remi’s Dragon surged forward, his orange eyes easily seeing through the heavily tinted windows to see Cristie sitting in the passenger side.
She was laughing as a dog leaned forward between the seats and licked her face.
The driver stared into the rear view, watching the gate, but was scratching the dog’s head and smiled as he glanced at Cristie, then into the rear view again.
Ours, his Dragon hissed in his mind.
Remi did his best to control the creature who wanted to snatch her out of the car and set it afire along with the male driving.
Save dog, the Dragon said condescendingly.
Remi smiled coldly. Yes, we’ll save the dog.
As the gate clanged shut, the car moved forward again, hesitating before it pulled out onto the highway to make sure nothing was coming, then as it drove away, Cristie cast a quick look at his new house.
Sees us, his Dragon growled telepathically.
Or senses us, Remi agreed.
Mate should come to us! his Dragon insisted.
In time. Give her time, Remi said trying to down play his own ire at seeing her spending time with another male.
His Dragon retreated angrily to the back of his mind, irritated that Remi wouldn’t act on his idea to get their mate and the dog out of the car then set it ablaze with the male inside.
There was a tap on his back door, pulling his attention away from the tail lights fading in the distance. Remi pulled his emotions together, and turned toward the door which still stood open, with only the screen door closed. “Come on in,” Remi said.
Richie opened the screen door and stepped inside with a grocery bag in his arms. “Got you some bread, some eggs, some butter and cheese. Got a few apples and some grapes, and a half-gallon of milk. We buy it in half-gallons so it’s easier to store in the fridge instead of so much weight on the shelves from a whole gallon.
Should be enough to get you through a day or two until you can go for your perishables.
You should be good on non-perishables, but take a look to make sure you’re not missing something you’re used to having before you go to the store. ”
“Thanks, you really didn’t have to do that. I don’t want to be a burden.”
“You’re not. You’re one of us now and you’re getting settled at night when it’s not convenient to go out for whatever you might need.”
“I appreciate that, Richie. It makes a difference.”
“Good. Oh, one other thing, we’re all welcome to eat at the restaurant whenever we want.
We don’t have to pay, but if you want to, that’s okay, too.
It used to be a diner before it burned down.
We rebuilt it a little nicer than it was so it’s more than a roadside diner now, but it’s still casual enough that we serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, so if you’d rather do that than cook, you are not the only one, my friend.
I even bring dinner home from there often on the nights I don’t work late. ”
“I’m sure I’ll follow your lead. Why cook a meal if it’s just me, you know?”
“Exactly. But it’s still nice to be able make a pot of coffee in the mornings or have an egg or two at home, you know?”
“Yep. I do.”
“Okay, I’ll leave you to it, we start cooking at 5:00 A.M. We open the store at 6:00 A.M., and the restaurant at 7:00.
The night crew will do the prep the night before if it’s one of my early nights, so all we have to do is start cooking the next day just like this morning.
But I know you just got here, so if you need to get a few things done instead, go right ahead.
I know you have options and don’t have to be at the restaurant if you don’t want to.
But if you do, I wasn’t kidding when I told Riley you were a huge addition to our team today. I’d be glad to have you join us.”
“I’m happy to help out. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. If I want to pick something up for the house, maybe I’ll just leave a little early in the afternoon.”
Richie beamed happily, glad to have Remi want to join him at the restaurant. “Sounds good to me. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Sure thing,” Remi said, watching Richie walk toward his back door. “Hey?” Remi asked at the last minute.
Richie turned to face him, waiting expectantly for his question.
“You know anybody that drives a red Ferrari?” Remi asked.
“Yeah! I do, as a matter of fact. Kaiser does. I forgot to tell you about his family,” Richie said, miming knocking himself in the head. “He’s Roman’s great nephew. His dad is Basilio Lyakhov.”
“The hall of famer?” Remi asked.
“The same. Basilio is Roman’s nephew and is a Silverback shifter as well.
His mate, Renata, is human, and they’ve got two kids, a son, and a daughter, who are both Silverback shifters, too.
Kaiser is their son, and their daughter’s name is Summer.
They’re members of the Pride also, but they live about thirty minutes away.
They used to split their time between Atlanta and here until Basilio retired some years back.
They’re here full time now. But Kaiser is in the MLB now, and is only here part time.
Summer’s back and forth as she tries to figure out what she wants to do next. ”
Remi nodded slowly. “Nice car.”
“Despite his reputation, he’s a nice kid. I know he’s about your age and you’re a grown ass man, but to us, you’re the next generation, so… nice kid.”
Remi grinned. “I get it. I’m called a kid all the time back home despite the fact that I’m twenty-eight.”
“See you in the morning, kid,” Richie teased, waving as he went out of the back door.
Remi chuckled as he walked over and closed the door before he took the groceries out of the plastic bag Richie had brought them in and put them away in the fridge, then gave all the cabinets a quick once over so he’d know where everything was.
Richie wasn’t kidding when he said he shouldn’t need much else.
There were glass canisters filled with sugar and flour, salt and pepper grinders filled to the brim and an array of spices to cook with.
He found coffee in the freezer so that it would stay fresh, and even found a box of Luzianne tea in the pantry as well.
There were canned goods, boxed sides and dinners, mac n cheese and rice mixes, and a huge unopened bag of Zatarain’s long grain rice.
There were snacks and cookies, and a couple of six packs of soft drinks, as well as a six pack of beer and an unopened bottle of wine.
He had plates and bowls and silverware and a couple of skillets and pots and even baking sheets and casserole dishes.
He went outside to his car and got the rest of his belongings, including the ice chest his mother had sent with him and put the rest of the sandwiches and drinks in the fridge and the ice packs in the freezer.
He pressed down the handle that turned on the ice maker when he happened to notice it was off, then opened a few of the cabinets until he found space for his ice chest inside one of the bottom cabinets.
He stood back and surveyed his new kitchen. He had everything he’d need.
“If the bathrooms and bedrooms are stocked like this I won’t need a single thing,” Remi said aloud.
Need kill red car, his Dragon snarled in his head.
No, Remi answered, ignoring his Dragon as he wandered down the hall to see what the rest of his house looked like.
Behind the first door on the left, he found a bathroom, and a bedroom directly across from it on the right, then another bedroom just past the first, also on the right.
At the end of the hall was a closed door.
When he opened it, he was pleased to find the master bedroom with a king-size bed in it, covered in cool grays and blues for both sheets and the comforter.
He stepped inside and noticed windows on the front and back exterior walls, and another above the bed that would look out at the animal hospital.
He didn’t see a closet, but there was another closed door behind him on the wall the door to the bedroom was in.
He went over and opened it, revealing a walk through closet, with another bathroom on the other side.
“Nice. Very nice,” Remi said. He saw the shampoo and body wash in the shower, then found towels, hand towels and wash cloths in one of the bathroom cabinets.
He wasted no time turning on the water and letting it heat up while he went back to the living room to get his duffel of clothes.
Minutes later he was stepping under the shower, groaning as the hot water coursed down over his body.
“A long hot shower, then whip up a quick pitcher of iced tea, and settle in for some TV while we wait for Cristie to come home. Nothing better,” he said to himself as he squeezed shampoo into his hand.