Chapter 8 #2
“I seem to remember an article they published where Milton Smith had died when his still exploded, exposing ten grand of gold bullion in his basement. Not only was Milton not dead, he was also less than impressed when he came back from visiting his mother in Persis to find excavators tearing up his foundation.”
Jena stared at her, then shook her head. “That was a one off, and you better drink that.”
Aggie met her eye and shot back the potion. She grimaced and glanced meaningfully at the paper. “And I’d talk to Chase before you get yourself all worked up.”
“Too late. I’m already worked up, and I’d rather swallow my own teeth than talk to that jerk ever again.”
“Then you better not act surprised when you go to get comfortable and something bites you in the ass.”
Chase pulled into the compound and cut the engine to his truck.
Damn, he was exhausted. A smile lit up his face, never having been happier about it.
It sucked that he hadn’t seen Jena, but the rest of the day had made up for it.
If he’d known what an absolute hidden gem Aggie Wright was sitting on, he’d have offered to do the reno for free just to see the place shine the way it should.
Shit, now there was an idea. God, never mind what restoring that would do for his portfolio, the sheer pleasure of bringing it back to life had him like a kid on Christmas.
Most of the shitty 60s upgrades he’d seen were just thrown over the original architectural elements.
There was a freaking parquet floor with inlaid borders beneath the shag he’d flipped up in Aggie’s room for Christ’s sake.
Yeah, it needed a ton of work, but it was gonna be heavy lifting and elbow grease more than anything else—
He stopped short as he went to close the driver’s side door. The lights in his cabin were on and the drapes pulled. Fucking hell, what now? He grabbed his bag and stomped up the front porch, praying it wasn’t who he thought it was.
No such luck. Crystal was in a sheer nighty on his bed with a glass of champagne, back arched and waiting for him. “Hey, Chase-y.”
The hair on his nape rose at the stupid nickname. “Get out.” He threw his bag on the table, then grabbed her sundress off the back of a chair and chucked it at her.
She didn’t bother to catch it as it fell, her big brown eyes wide with innocence that she sure as hell didn’t possess. “What do you mean, get out?”
“Exactly what I said. I don’t want you here. I don’t want anything to do with you, and I sure as hell don’t want you on my dick. There’s the door, use it.”
She stared at him agape for a breath and then scowled. “How stupid are you?”
Chase laughed. “Excuse me?”
“This,” she said, waggling a finger between them, “is happening. I don’t know what kind of spell that witch has over you—”
His stomach dropped. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Bullshit. I could smell how hot the two of you are for each other the second I opened the door, and I know you brought her home yesterday.” Her face twisted. “Everyone knows. You’re acting like she’s your mate,” Crystal spat.
“What?” Shit. In retrospect, he’d known carrying Jena in like that was asking for trouble, but at the time…
Chase palmed the brim of his cap, ripping it lower.
“No, I’m not. So what if I hauled her ass inside?
She was being difficult. Stop making shit up, it didn’t mean a goddamned thing,” he said, his wolf snarling at the lie.
Crystal laughed. “God, you’re an idiot. It means everything.
Don’t you get it? We’re being handed the pack.
We’ll be the alpha couple, Chase. Do you have any idea how much power that is?
I’ve worked far too long and far too hard sucking up to your family for you and that fat bitch to ruin this for me. ”
Chase’s temper spiked, and he was across the room before he’d thought about it, his hand around Crystal’s throat, pinning her to the mattress. “Don’t fucking talk about her like that,” he growled.
Her eyes glittered. “That’s it, Chase-y, tell me what to do. You know how I like it.”
“So does everyone else with a dick in this town.” And he was pretty sure that included his brother, Patrick. He pushed away from her in disgust and crossed the room, grabbing a gym bag from the floor. Fuck this. He tore open his dresser drawers and shoved a bunch of clothes inside.
“What are you doing?” Crystal screeched.
“If you’re gonna keep spewing bullshit and won’t leave, then I am.” Before Chase’s wolf did something to her he probably wouldn’t regret.
“No, you’re not.” Her face contorted like she was fighting the same urge to shift. “Didn’t you just hear anything I said?”
“That you’re a gold-digging cunt who likes to crawl on top of guys when they’re passed out drunk?
Yeah, I already knew that. Hard pass on giving you the opportunity to do it again.
This,” he said waggling his finger between them, “is never fucking happening.” He snagged his work bag from the table and stormed out, slamming the door on her protests.
He’d sleep on the couch in his office. Wasn’t ideal, but at least it didn’t stink like conniving bitch.
Chase got back into his truck and gunned the engine. He peeled out of the compound and onto the dirt track leading to the main road. A shower. He needed a goddamned shower and a mind-wipe. That he’d actually been with that—
“Fuck!” he swore, smacking the steering wheel.
“You have no idea.”
Chase jumped at the disembodied voice beside him, and he swerved, swearing again as he almost hit a tree. “Felix?”
The warlock grinned as he materialized in the passenger seat. “In the flesh,” he said, plucking his collar, “and I’d like to keep it that way. My car’s by the trailhead off Summit. Do me a solid and follow me back to town?”
Chase glanced at him and then back at the road. “What the hell were you doing at the compound?”
A smug grin lit up his face. “Well, I don’t usually kiss and tell, but if you must know—”
“Dude. I don’t care who you were hooking up with, why are you in my truck?”
“Oh, yeah, that. Long story short, I called in sick and was in the guest cabin next to yours. I couldn’t help but overhear a certain bitchy blonde lose her shit about an hour ago.”
Chase grunted. “Crystal said she smelled Jena there and thinks that I’ve been acting like she’s my mate.”
“You know, I leave you two alone for one day…” Felix tsked. “Tell me you sealed the deal.”
“Not even close,” Chase snorted, “but she didn’t hex me, so that’s progress.”
“More than you might think,” Felix murmured. “This is bad. I heard Crystal make a call, I’ve no idea who she spoke to, but not long after, Malcom showed up, and they got into it.”
Chase turned onto the main road. “Into it like how?”
“Into it like a bunch of yelling—from her, not him. My God, she’s a harpy.
Anyway, she was screeching about how this wasn’t what they’d talked about, and then it sounded like he slapped her,” Felix said with no small amount of glee.
He cleared his throat. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t condone violence, but I can definitely understand the urge, and if anyone deserves to be slapped, it’s her. ”
Chase grunted, on the same page. Crystal had the uncanny ability to bring the worst out in people. Felix took a breath and kept going.
“CliffsNotes, Crystal started crying, Malcom made some rather disparaging comments about her wiles, there was something in there I didn’t catch about your brother, and then Jena’s name was mentioned. Malcom said he would take care of it and left. If he suspects…”
Double fuck.
“He said he’s watching me.” Chase pulled his truck into the trailhead beside Felix’s car. “You need to tell Jena what you heard. She wasn’t there today, and if she’s not there tomorrow—”
“I’ll take care of it, but you need to do your part. I’m assuming all of this is related to the big nuptial announcement in the paper? It’s all anyone at the compound could talk about. No one knows what to believe, but it’s not true,” he raised his brow, “is it?”
Christ, it was in the paper? “No. It’s a bunch of bullshit my father and your boss cooked up, and I’ve got no fucking clue how to get clear of it.”
“Mmm. Something tells me they’re not the only ones, and I’d recommend you play along until we can figure a way out of this mess. You didn’t confirm anything about Jena did you?”
“What? No. I told Crystal she was delusional.”
“Okay, so fingers crossed we have some wiggle room, but Malcom isn’t someone I want to tangle with, and until I can convince Jena to join the coven, she’s a sitting duck. They won’t get involved unless they have a claim on her.”
Chase blew out his cheeks. “My father wants me to give Crystal a ring. He said I have until Sunday to do it.” He scowled. “My mother wants a November wedding.”
“I’d speed up the ring thing if I were you. You need to sell that you’re all in, and if you’re going through the motions, it’ll buy us time.”
“After what I just said to Crystal? I doubt it.”
Felix shrugged. “Tell her you thought about it, and that she was right. She’s the type that’ll lap it up, especially if you grovel. Buy her flowers or whatever men do to suck up when they’re in the doghouse.” His fingers flew to his lips. “Shit. Sorry was that a—”
“No, you’re good,” Chase muttered, chewing his lip.
“Make sure you are, too,” Felix said as he got out of the truck. “The other thing I heard plenty of was speculation on your mental state.”
Chase swore. Damn it. He knew that Crystal’s remark at the cantina was going to start shit, and sucking up to her was the second to last thing he wanted to do.
But first on the list was getting Jena killed.
Fucking A. He pulled onto the road behind Felix, following him back to town.
Chase sighed, palming the brim of his cap.
Playing along with this wedding bullshit was gonna be physically fucking painful, and if Felix couldn’t convince Jena it was all a lie—cold sweat spiked over Chase’s body.
No. She’d listen. She had to. He didn’t even want to consider the alternative.
Because Felix was right. There wasn’t any other way to keep Jena safe until they figured a way out of this mess.
Motherfucker. Looked like tomorrow he was going to Fynbender’s to pick out a goddamned ring.