I kept repeating to myself it was none of my business. None. Absolutely none, but she didn't know Harry like Idid.
Well...I didn't exactlyknowhim. I knew of him and every time I saw him I wanted to send my fist crashing through his perfect whiteteeth.
I knew hiswife.
Yep.
Ol' Harry Lupin was keeping secrets. In Midnight Cove he was a powerful ally of his alpha. Above board, participated in charity. Kind and courteous to people. Helped old ladies cross the street and shit. In the eyes of the citizens here, Harry was a wolf who could do nowrong.
But...he was keeping secrets. Big ones. And I wasn't quite sure how he did it. After all, Mark was an Alpha you didn't screw with and with noses like homing beacons, Mark had to have smelled the woman onHarry.
Plus, the dude had kids. Three if I wasn't mistaken. Three little half breed wolves who were going to one day surprise the hell out of their moms during a fullmoon.
Lila was a former client of mine. She'd come to visit me for a period of three months, desperate to save her marriage to the piece of crap who'd just driven away withKatie.
I'd cast the bones for her, saw a grim picture ahead of her, and gave her some advice. I refrained from flat out telling her to leave the sorry sack because I did have some professional barriers, but I did tell her staying with him was going to bring her nothing but heartache. And based upon the way he looked at Katie like she was a juicy, bloody steak, I had to admit I was probablyright.
I threw down the hammer I was holding in disgust and let out a harsh laugh at my behavior. I was a contractor. No more. While I might have carried her to her room and she might have made me breakfast, no intimate promises were made. No contracts other than the one to fix her house was carried out. Katie was a free, single woman and she was not my responsibility. It was not my duty to tell her what kind of man she'd gone off with. Also, who was to say this was even more than anythingfriendly?
I closed my eyes and let out a couple of deep breaths. Lila had come to me beside herself. She claimed Harry traveled for work and was gone more and more. During that time, I'd seen him out and about. She'd given me a picture to help me focus my magic. At first I'd given him the benefit of the doubt. He had a good reputation with everyone and seemed to be a rising star within hispack.
Until one night I'd seen him exit the back of a club dragging a blond woman behind him. I'd been hired by the owners of the club to do some work on their roof and my day had gone long. I was just packing up my truck when the door slammed and I looked up to see Harry and the strange woman. She was trying to get away from him, but he growled and his eyes went yellow. The woman meekly followed him. I couldn't make out what he was saying but he was angry and she was terrified. He raised his hand to her, cowering beneath him and a violent slap rang out in the night. I almost stepped out from behind my truck, but I was no match for a werewolf at the time and I knew I would only make the situation worse. I'd quietly removed my cell phone from my pack and was poised to dial for emergency services when he stalked back into the club. I'd ran over to the now unconscious woman, scooped her up, and placed her in my truck. I stayed with her until she was released from the hospital with a smashed cheekbone and bruises covering the entire side of her face. She allowed me to drive her home, but when I begged for her to contact the authorities, she beseeched me not to. She said Harry would kill her and her family if Idid.
I didn't like it at the time, but I'd agreed. To this day it still stuck in mycraw.
I never told Lila, but at our next appointment I beseeched her to look deeper at the man she married. From what I knew, he'd never abused her, but there was something deadly lurking in the supposedly mild mannered man, and him being out with Katie killed something inside ofme.
About an hour later, I heard a key inside of the lock and I stepped out to see one of my assistants letting themselves in. He looked completely freaked out and rattled something off in Spanish. I shook my head. "Crazy, I know. Make sure you lock the door." He did, and in a hurry, before he crossed himself and bolted from thedoor.
I snickered to myself. I'd avoided answering the door for the last hour even though the bell had rang multiple times. It was a total shitshow outthere.
I told my assistant where to pick up, and I did my best to concentrate on my job. My actual job. Worrying about Katie had taken up too much of my day today. I needed to pick up the pace and get my head back in the game. If I saw anything concerning about Harry, I'd become involved, but it was too early right now. I didn't want to overreact and make her think I didn't question herjudgment.
I snorted at myself. Look at me, a modern man, not being all dickish and macho. I wanted to respect her space, but I also kinda wanted to smackmyself.
11
The doorbellfinally stopped ringing at 7 p.m. I'm not sure if there was some kind of unofficial truce time, but I was grateful for the reprieve. My house was full of flowers and the aroma was beginning to get downright overwhelming. I'd have to toss some of themtomorrow.
My lunch date, though I hesitated to call it that, with Harry went surprisingly well. He appeared to be kind and concerned on the surface, but my radar was on constant alert since Jeff. I think he knew it, too. Harry approached me hesitantly and a little bit sheepish. Part of me appreciated it, but the other part of me wanted him to be a little more assertive. Perhaps that would come in time. When he got to know me a littlebetter.
I scoffed at myself. Like I was ready to get into another relationship. He'd just offered me lunch, not a diamond and a honeymooncruise.
I was in the kitchen whipping up a batch of pesto when Martin finally emerged from the bathroom. Sheetrock was buried in his hair and he looked a little more disheveled than usual, like he had been fighting with something in thebathroom.
"How's it going?" Iasked.
"Good enough." His tone was short and to the point. "I should be finished in a few days and I can move on to other projects in the house. A few weeks from now I can start on theoutside."
I nodded. "Good to hear." I pointed at the food processor. "I'm making pesto. Should be done in a few if you want a bite toeat."
"No thanks." He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "I have an early morning ahead of me if I want to stay ontrack."
I studied him. Something was off. Especially in his manner. It was a complete 180 from where it was this morning. "Is something wrong?" Iasked.
Martin shrugged. "I don't want to overstep my bounds here, but I just want you to know that one day, there's going to be someone who loves you despite the things you can do for them. You aren't meant to solve other people's problems. When you love someone, you stand by them, not solve things forthem."
As I stood there goggling at him with my dirty pesto spoon up in the air, he snagged two fresh cookies from the batch I made earlier, rapped on the counter twice, and left as if he hadn't just said something completely profound and honestly kind of assholish tome.
