Chapter 2
two
The parking lot at GSG was bustling the way it did during Brentwood’s annual Bark in the Park, when we offered free nail trimmings for dogs visiting downtown to enjoy dog-friendly games and treats with their two-legged besties.
Except these festivities weren’t restricted to canines, the animals were in crates, and the manual labor was provided by my temps from the Walsh clan.
“Ana.” Jess wiped her face on the hem of her tee. “You’re here.”
Spring was in full swing in Brentwood. Too bad it felt more like summer.
The number of helpers wilting in the heat made me wonder where the clan had moved from for them to struggle this hard with the humidity. Temperatures would soar over the coming months, so I hoped they acclimatized before then. Otherwise, they might never leave their couches or the AC.
“Where else would I be?” I cracked a smile as I waded into the action. “How’s it going?”
“We’re almost done loading the first batch, but we’ll have to make two trips.”
Two trips meant twice the risk, but Liam must have signed off on it for her to speak with such certainty.
“I bet Liam will love that,” Sloane mumbled behind me, proving our thoughts aligned on which Walsh we both deemed most likely to throw a wrench in the works. “Where is he, anyway?”
“I’m shocked he’s not overseeing the loading.” I could tell he was the micromanaging type, and it made for a curious dynamic between magnus and maguri. “I don’t see him or Rían.”
“They’re inside with Rochele.” Jess smoothed her tee. “There’s a weird noise coming from one of the wash station drains.”
Weird noise was code for expensive. “Which one?”
“I’m not sure.” Jess dropped her gaze. “I didn’t think to ask.”
“No worries.” I curbed the urge to rest a calming hand on her arm, afraid she would cringe away like my packmates did when I touched them, as if latency was a disease they could catch. “I’ll go investigate.”
The perils of retrofitting an old Victorian included fussy plumbing and temperamental electricity, but the place had character. And, most importantly, the biggest lot on the street. Plenty of room for kennel runs and storage. All the necessities to keep our animals happy and healthy.
Soft growls directed me to the correct washing station.
I walked in to find a pair of long legs incased in denim sticking out from under the elevated tub in Station Two.
The boots would have identified him as Rían, even if the cramped fit of his large frame hadn’t given him away.
I crouched next to him, ducking my head into the opening. “You sound frustrated.”
A dull thud rang out, followed by a ripe swear, and he pried himself out of the confined space.
“Hey.” He shut the cabinet and leaned against the door. “I hope you don’t mind I took a look.”
Blood trickled from his hairline into his left eye when his gaze flicked up to mine.
“Your head.” I tipped forward onto my knees beside him. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“I should have been paying closer attention.” He wiped his face on the back of his hand, smearing crimson across his cheekbones. “I get locked in sometimes when I’m tinkering and forget to monitor my surroundings.”
“Dangerous attribute for an alpha.” Sloane anchored her hands on her hips. “Where’s your beta?”
“Good question.” Rían tore his focus off me to scan the room. “He was here a minute ago.”
“Stay put.” I set my hand on his forearm, his muscles tensing under my fingers. “Let me grab a rag from the laundry.”
Amusement pulled on Sloane’s lips as she watched me dash to the dryer and select a clean cloth. We used them for wiping down tables, but we washed everything with a laundry sanitizer to kill bacteria.
Hip braced against the sink, I squirted soap on the fabric then checked with Rían. “Is the water on?”
“Yes.” Brow furrowed, he watched me work up a lather. “I cleaned out the P-trap and put it back in, so I was testing for leaks.” His eyes widened when I knelt beside him again. “You didn’t have a clog, so I’m not sure what was making the noise.”
“Hold still.” His chin pinched between my finger and thumb, I washed his face then pressed the cloth to the cut.
Sure enough, it had healed itself in the last minute.
“There.” I turned his face this way and that.
“I think that’ll do.” I rose, preparing to rinse out the cloth, when I ruffled his hair. “Good boy.”
A howl of laughter as Sloane bent double and smacked her thigh drew Liam from wherever he had gone.
Mortification sank in as I snatched my hand out of Rían’s hair and stumbled back, tripping over his boots and banging into a rack of grooming tools in my haste to escape.
I made it one step before he caught me by the ankle.
Good thing too. I had been poised to step in a mini lake that would have sent me skiing across the floor.
“Easy.” Rían shifted his hold until he cupped behind my calves to brace me. “I’ve got you.”
“Habit,” I panted, throat tight, wishing I could slide down the drain with the bubbles.
“I get it.” His thumbs stroked the creases of my knees. “It’s like saying I love you to end a business call.”
“Yes.” I clung to his reasoning with both hands. “You’re not a good boy.”
“You never know.” He caught his bottom lip between his teeth. “I might be.”
On the verge of melting into the puddle already at his feet, a rasping growl that tapered into a rattling hiss saved me from embarrassing myself.
Yeah. Okay. Fine.
Embarrassing myself again.
Happy to embrace the distraction, I extricated myself from Rían. “That’s the noise?”
“That’s the goblin in the sink drain,” Liam confirmed, eyes on his cousin. “Did it attack you?”
“What?” Rían tracked my cautious steps as I picked my way to the tub. “No.”
“There’s a bloody rag in the sink.” His eyebrows winged higher. “Care to explain how your blood got on it?”
For a second-in-command, Liam was mighty bossy. He didn’t give one whit he was talking to his alpha. No. His magnus. Dad would have slapped the taste out of Mercer’s mouth if he spoke to him in that tone.
“I hit my head.” He gusted out a sheepish laugh. “You know me.”
“I leave you alone for five minutes to call a plumber…” Liam stuck out his hand, clasping forearms with Rían. He grunted with the effort of hauling the much larger man to his feet. “How did you survive for a whole year without me?”
Another grumbling snarl jerked my attention back to the drain, and I leaned over the edge, sniffing for clues.
I exhaled with annoyance when nothing but the usual wet-dog-hair smell hit my nose.
Factor in the bleach we used for wiping down hard surfaces, the industrial strength cleaners, and the selection of shampoos, conditioners, and fragrance mists, and it was a miracle I could smell a damn thing.
“No luck?” Sloane, trusting my senses, didn’t check behind me. “I’m guessing Rían struck out too.”
“Too many competing scents,” he confirmed from behind me, close enough the warmth from his chest radiated into my spine. “Do you think it’s a trapped animal?”
“This is an old house.” I curled my fingers over the lip of the tub. “Banging pipes come with the territory, but even this old girl isn’t usually so vocal. I would feel better eliminating any possibility there’s a living creature calling for help.”
“Good thing we’ll be closed for a few days.” Sloane bumped her shoulder into mine. “We can exorcise the goblin in the sink drain, scrub GSG top to bottom, and oh! We can finally touch up the paint in the cat room. We can even get Clary out here to paint that mural you wanted while we’ve got time.”
Clary was a local artist Brentwood commissioned to paint a series of murals across town.
Plenty of other businesses had booked slots with her too, impressed with her bold style.
I wanted a meadow scene with our favorite clients acting as models, but paint fumes were a big concern for the birds, and they weren’t the only ones with sensitivities I couldn’t afford to ignore to indulge my FOMO.
“You’re right.” I grinned over at her. “I’ve been looking at this wrong.”
More than my sham of an inherited house, GSG had become a symbol of my independence.
Proof that I could stand on my own two feet.
That I didn’t need the Sartori name to earn a living or to validate me.
I could turn this setback into a success.
I just had to dial down my self-doubt and crank up my motivation.
“It’s an opportunity.” She nodded once. “Not a setback.”
The ruckus from the drain fell silent again, and I sucked in a deep breath. “Let’s get to work.”
With Sloane’s words ringing in my ears, I turned to face the Walshes. I didn’t miss the furrows cut across Rían’s forehead, but I had crated animals in an idling van waiting on me to get my butt in gear.
Time to test the length of my leash and step outside the wards.