Mortal Sins, page 19
part #5 of World of the Lupi Series
Dad said, “Does it have something to do with that gold ring on your left hand?”
“Why, yes.” Mom’s smile was too big, too bright, like she wanted to smile the rest of them into happiness. Or maybe she wanted to make herself happy, as if her feelings might catch up with her face if she smiled hard enough. “I got married last month, and my husband and I want Toby to live with us.”
LILY wasn’t sure why she was on Sherwood Lane. She’d had a surprisingly useful interview with the conspiracy nut, who’d gotten excited about being part of an investigation once she convinced him she wasn’t hauling him off to some secret location. He’d given her a tentative ID on one of the dogs and was calling around, compiling a list of other missing pets
Now she had to build on that. Sherwood Lane wasn’t exactly out of her way, but there was no reason for her to be here … no reason except Rule.
If this was the damned mate bond tugging at her … Almost, she turned around and headed back to the main drive.
But it didn’t feel like the mate bond. She knew how that felt pretty well now, and it was a physical tug, not this … this emotional static. Like she wasn’t thinking straight and wouldn’t until she saw Rule.
Maybe she’d turned psychic. Cullen was due in sometime today, and she did need to talk to him. Maybe she’d psychically picked up on his arrival.
Lily snorted. More likely, she admitted, she was being stubborn. Uwharrie National Forest butted up against the woods where Rule had found the bodies. She wanted to talk to the ranger there about any unusual increase in the number of dead animals—but the ranger’s station was over ten miles away. The mate bond wouldn’t let her go that far, so she’d either have to send one of the other agents or get Rule to come with her.
It pissed her off. She … Hey, look at that! There was a white Taurus pulled up behind Rule’s Mercedes. Automatically she took note of the plates. A rental? Cullen would be renting a car in Charlotte and driving in.
Huh. Maybe she was psychic.
Lily parked along the curb in front of the Asteglio house and got out.
The front door opened. A tall, dark-haired woman with blunt, sensual features stepped out, saying something over her shoulder to Louise, who followed. Louise didn’t look happy. The two of them were so involved in their conversation—which involved dinner plans and someone named James—that they didn’t notice Lily until they were about six feet away.
The dark-haired woman finally saw her and jerked to a stop. Louise did, too. Her hand fluttered to her chest. “Oh—Lily. I wasn’t expecting you at this hour.”
“Lily?” The other woman’s full lips curved up. “I see. You’re short, aren’t you? Much shorter than I’d imagined.”
“And you’re more rude than I’d imagined, given my acquaintance with your mother. You are Alicia Asteglio, right?”
Dark eyebrows lifted. “I was.”
“Alicia,” Louise chided, “you’re beginning this poorly.”
Alicia shrugged. “I do everything badly, according to you.” She left it at that, stalking off to her car, where she paused. Her eyes were intent, but her voice was soft, the tone somewhere between coaxing and pleading. “I’m trying to make things right, Mama. Believe it or not, I am. You’ll call about the time?”
Louise nodded once, tight-lipped.
Her daughter got in her car, slammed the door, and backed out quickly.
“You’re upset,” Lily said carefully.
“Upset?” Louise made a noise that was not a laugh, though maybe she’d meant it to be. “She got married. She got married last month and didn’t tell me, didn’t want me there … Yes, I’m upset. She thinks I should be happy for her. I suppose I am, but …” She shook her head.
Sounded like everything was all about Alicia. Her feelings counted. Her mother’s didn’t. Lily experienced a distinct twinge. She didn’t do that to her own mother, did she? “Was this a sudden thing?”
“Sudden for me. I don’t know about her. She’s been living with James for the past six months, in Beirut.” Abruptly Louise started for the house. “I’ve never met him. Spoken to him on the phone a few times, and he was pleasant enough, but what does that mean? Oh, never mind me. It’s Toby I’m worried about.”
Worry put a hitch in Lily’s breath. “Is she going to oppose Rule’s custody?”
“It’s complicated. Everything to do with Alicia is complicated. Do come in, dear. Have you eaten?”
Lily assured her she didn’t need to be fed, though she did check out the coffeepot as they passed the kitchen. Empty. Oh, well.
Rule and Toby were in the den—Rule on the phone, Toby sitting beside him, arms crossed, staring at the floor. Rule had his expression shut down. Toby had storms all over his.
Toby looked up as Lily entered behind Louise. “I’m not going to stay with her.”
“She has legal custody of you still,” his grandmother said wearily.
“Didn’t say I wouldn’t go. I said I wouldn’t stay.”
Rule broke off his conversation. “You’ll stay,” he said tersely. “If you do go with your mother, you will not run away.”
Toby’s expression left that somewhat in doubt—especially considering he’d run away to his father once already. Lily looked at Louise, her eyebrows asking the question for her.
“Alicia has decided she wants Toby. She says she’ll let him decide, however—if he comes to stay with her and her new husband first, for six months.”
Lily’s eyebrows shot back up. “Is she still living in Beirut?”
Louise shook her head. “She’s in D.C. again. It’s technically a demotion, because she’ll be at a lower salary grade, but James—James French is her new husband—was transferred there by the agency he works for, and she wanted to come back to the U.S. with him.”
Eight months ago Alicia had chosen her career over her son when she moved to Beirut. Apparently a lover rated more sacrifice. Lily did her best to keep her distaste from showing. “And getting married makes her want to be a full-time parent?”
“I’m surprised,” Louise admitted, her voice low. “She wants this chance, for both her sake and Toby’s, but she’ll abide by Toby’s wishes if he ends up choosing his father.”
Lily looked at Rule. “Get it in writing.”
Rule nodded, but his attention was clearly with whoever was on the other end of the line.
Louise sighed again. “He’s talking to his attorney now.”
“I’m not going to stay with her,” Toby repeated.
Lily went to sit next to him on the couch. “Why not?”
He frowned, obviously thinking she was being stupid. “Because I want to live with Dad and you.”
“And we want you to. Six months is a long time.”
“Yeah! And she could have talked about it with me. She could have told me she was getting married to this James guy and asked if I wanted to live with them, but she didn’t. She just up and says we’ve got to do things her way, or else.”
“ ‘Or else’ meaning she’ll fight Rule’s custody suit?”
“She said she won’t pull any punches, that it will all come out, and she made her face look like this”—his expression mimicked a fox, sly and knowing—“as if she knows secrets. But she doesn’t. I never tell her any Nokolai stuff.”
That didn’t mean Alicia couldn’t find out, figure out, or make up something. “It sounds like a choice between two things you really, really don’t like—either stay with your mom for six months, or have a knock-down, drag-out battle for custody.”
“Dad won’t.” Toby’s eyes glistened. “He says six months isn’t forever, and that I don’t understand how bad it would be if we had a big fight in court.”
“Well, he’s probably right about that. What doesn’t he understand?”
Toby blinked, then frowned slightly, thinking that over.
Louise stroked Toby’s hair, but spoke to Lily. “Rule has been very restrained, but he’s upset, of course. I’m upset. To-by’s upset … I suppose Alicia is, too, though I wish she’d talked to me about her plans. I wish … I don’t think she’s doing the wrong thing, necessarily. But she’s going about it the wrong way.”
Lily kept her voice mild. “You think it would be good for Toby to live with her?”
“Not permanently, no. If I could say …” She sighed. “Well, I can’t. But I think Toby should have a chance to mend things with her. She’ll continue to be his mother no matter who he lives with.”
Rule disconnected. His eyes went straight to Lily. “You didn’t stop here to see if we were having a crisis.”
“I thought you might be able to go see a forest ranger with me.” She spread her hands. “Obviously not a good idea right now. What did your lawyer say?”
“He advises me to take what she’s offering, but to go through the judge so it’s binding. We’ll suggest a shorter period than six months, too.” He gave Toby a nod. “There’s no saying we’ll get it, but we’ll try. He’s going to find out what he can about James French.”
Louise gave Rule a chiding look. “I’m sure that’s not necessary. They’re coming to dinner tonight. We’ll get to know him then.”
Tonight? Oh, the fun just kept on coming. Lily stood and said to Louise, “Look at it this way. If we have some of the facts about French’s background, we won’t be grilling him over the pot roast.” Lily gave Rule a glance. “I might be able to help with that.”
He gave her the ghost of a grin. “I hope you don’t mean the pot roast.”
“No.” Louise shook her head. “It will not be pot roast. We just had pot roast. And James,” she added grimly, “is vegan.”
Toby frowned. “What’s vegan? Is that where he’s from?”
“It means he doesn’t eat meat. No beef, chicken, or fish.”
Toby’s mouth fell. “Not at all?”
“No,” Lily answered when a glance at Louise showed her to be preoccupied. “Not if he’s a practicing vegan. He also won’t wear leather or eat eggs or dairy products. Nothing that comes from an animal.”
“Lasagna,” Louise muttered. “No, no, can’t make lasagna without cheese. I’d better check my cookbooks.” She started for the kitchen.
“There will be vegan recipes online,” Lily called after her.
“I can look them up for you,” Toby said, shoving to his feet. He glanced at his father and whispered quite audibly, “It’s not like I care about this stupid James guy, but Grammy hates it if she doesn’t have the right stuff for guests.”
Rule laid a hand on Toby’s head. “It’s all right if you like Mr. French, Toby. That takes nothing from me. At Clanhome you care about and are cared for by many people, not just me.”
“But Mr. French isn’t clan.”
“No, but as your mother’s husband, he’s family. We don’t always like everyone in our family, but it’s perfectly acceptable to do so.”
“Is it okay if I don’t like him?”
“As long as you’re polite, yes. But I hope you’ll give him a chance.”
Toby looked scornful. “He doesn’t eat meat.”
“He’s not lupus, so we shouldn’t require him to live as we do. Though we’ll have to make sure your mother understands that your dietary needs do include meat, if you end up staying with her for a time. Now, I could use a run. What about you?”
Toby brightened. “Yeah! Maybe we could run over to the park and practice corner kicks? And if Justin and Talia could come—”
The doorbell rang.
Lily glanced that way. “I’ll get it.”
Louise had pulled a thick cookbook out of a cabinet. She tucked it under one arm. “No, dear. I prefer to answer my own door.”
Lily followed. Not that she thought someone was going to jump Louise, but—okay, she did think that. “Use the spyhole, okay? I don’t want—”
Too late. Louise had already swung the door open. Her hand fluttered to her chest and her words came out in a whisper. “Oh, my sweet Jesus.”
TWENTY-THREE
THE man on the porch had eyes the unlikely blue of the Aegean Sea. His hair was cinnamon and spice, his features a marvel of symmetry, with the sensual mouth balanced by a jaw firm enough to keep all that beauty from leaning toward the feminine. As for his body … well, most women would agree it deserved an hour or two of study, like any work of art.
Of course, the perfect jaw was stubbled, the spicy hair hadn’t been combed, and the flawless body was clad in jeans worn to threads in spots and a T-shirt that supported people’s right to arm bears. His athletic shoes were almost new, however—and muddy. No socks.
He hadn’t worn socks on his wedding day, either. Or shoes. Or a shirt.
The ocean eyes were amused. “Hello, love. If you’re not going to shoot me today, would you mind putting your gun away?”
Lily slid her weapon back in place without apologizing and stepped aside. “Good to see you, too. Louise, this is Cullen Seabourne. Cullen, this is—”
“Cullen’s here!” Toby cried. “Hey, Dad, Cullen’s here!” The thud of running feet proved that not all lupi moved as quietly as drifting snow. Toby darted around Grammy and Lily to hurl himself at the scruffy demigod on the porch.
Cullen caught him and swung him up to ride on his shoulders. “You’ve grown again. Just keep doing that, don’t you?”
Toby grinned. “It’s my habit. I like growing. Maybe I’ll be taller than you when I’m finished. Did you bring Cynna?” He peered around, as if Cullen might have stashed Cynna someplace close by. “Where’s Cynna?”
“In San Diego by now, if her flight wasn’t delayed.”
Toby twisted to say seriously to his grandmother, “Cynna’s cool. She’s having Cullen’s baby in a couple or three months—I forget when, exactly. She an’ Cullen went to Edge, then when they came back they got married, only I couldn’t go to the wedding, so I missed seeing the dragon. Some people in the clans are mad about him getting married, but I’m not. Dad’s not, either, but Cullen says Dad’s jealous ’cause he’d like to get married to Lily, too, only he can’t because he’s Lu Nuncio and all, but I don’t—hey!”
Cullen had turned Toby upside down and was holding him by the ankles, shaking him gently. “Way too much information, short stuff.”
Toby giggled and tried to climb up his own body to right himself.
“I see.” Louise’s response, delivered in a faint voice, said she didn’t see at all. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Seabourne. Rule told me you were coming, but in all the confusion I’d quite forgotten. Do come in.”
“Take off those shoes first,” Lily said. “Did you walk here in the rain or something?”
Cullen glanced down at his shoes as if he’d forgotten he was wearing them. “Hmm. No, I made a stop along the way. Down, sport,” he said, depositing Toby on the porch. He bent to untie his shoes.
“We’re gonna go run, then kick the ball around some,” Toby said excitedly. “Maybe Justin and Talia can come, too. They’re my friends. Maybe you can come with us.”
Cullen glanced up from wet, knotted shoestrings, smiling. “Not right away, I’m afraid. I need to talk to your father about some clan business, and I suspect Lily means to snag me for some assistance with her case.”
“Now?” Toby’s face fell. He looked at his father. “Do you have to do clan business now?”
Rule hesitated only a second. “It can wait until after lunch,” he said as easily as if he weren’t desperate to hear what Cullen had flown here to tell him. “But I don’t think Lily can postpone her business as easily as I can. We’d better let her have first shot at him.”
“Hey,” Cullen said. “No shooting.”
That made Toby giggle.
“Go,” Rule said. “Call your friends, see if they can join us. Whether they can or not, we’re headed for the park. Oh, and bring me my shoes, please.”
“Okay.” Toby took off for the stairs.
Cullen gave Rule a thoughtful glance. “You don’t mind waiting on our business?”
There was a longish pause, and Lily saw Rule’s lips quiver once, ever so slightly, before he said, “He needs to run.”
That telltale quiver meant he’d been subvocalizing. It was the way lupi communicated when they didn’t want others to hear, speaking softer than a whisper without moving their lips. For a brief period several months ago, Lily had been able to hear subvocalizations, too, but it hadn’t lasted. The mate bond giveth and the mate bond taketh away. Capriciously.
Rule smiled at Louise. “I’ll order pizza for lunch. If Toby’s friends wish to join us—”
“By all means,” Louise said. “Justin and Talia are always welcome.”
Cullen had finally gotten his shoes off. He set them neatly beside the door and padded inside barefoot. “Mrs. Asteglio.” He gave her the kind of smile guaranteed to melt anyone equipped with a doubleX set of chromosomes. “I’m glad to have this chance to meet you.”
Louise pinked up again. “It’s my pleasure. You’re quite a favorite of Toby’s, you know. Do come sit down and let me know what I can get you. There’s some carrot cake left, and I can put on some coffee. Or would you prefer iced tea? It will take a few minutes to brew, but I refuse to use that nasty instant.”
“I never turn down cake, with or without tea. However …” He sent Lily a glance. “I’m afraid I have to be terribly rude and speak privately with Lily about her case first.”
“Of course. I’ll get the tea started.”
“In here,” Lily said to Cullen, gesturing at the living room. Louise wouldn’t intentionally eavesdrop, but the open arrangement of den and kitchen would make it hard not to overhear.
Rule put a hand on her arm and spoke quietly. “Cullen called me from the airport. I told him about the situation with Alicia and about Talia’s ghosts.”
She glanced at Cullen. “Did you—”
She was stopped by the herd of elephants on the stairs combined with Toby hollering out the great news that his friends would join them at the park, and here were his dad’s shoes, and could they go now?
