“Isn’t that why that idiot you were dating last year ended it?” Miki asked. “Because of your commitment to your family?”
Toni gazed at the two women but didn’t respond. It wasn’t until Freddy put his hand on her knee and gazed up at her with those big brown eyes that Toni suddenly burst into tears.
“Well, you can stay the night if ya like,” Bobby Ray offered. “Doubt they’ll come looking for you here.”
“Why is that?”
“I tell Sissy that the Pack males hate staying here because the wild dogs get on their nerves.”
“But the wild dogs always have pie and brownies. And tons of action movies to watch. Why wouldn’t we stay here?”
“Because if the She-wolves think y’all hate it here, you might actually get some peace and quiet.”
“Then add in the fact the dogs never keep liquor around this place . . .”
Bobby Ray grinned. “Exactly.”
“She’s crying, Irene,” Toni heard Miki say, panic in her voice. “She’s crying!”
“Well, I don’t know what to do. She’s never cried around me before.”
“Um . . . Freddy, go into my room and get the box of tissues on the dresser.”
“And nothing else!” Toni managed to sobbingly yell after her brother as he charged into Miki’s room. “Just the tissues!”
Don’t worry. Toni had a very good therapist working with Freddy on his stealing issues, too.
“I’m so sorry, Toni,” Irene said, sitting on one side of her. “I didn’t mean to upset you like this. You’re not someone I purposely torment.”
“It’s all right,” Toni said, wiping her face with her hand. “It’s not your fault.”
Miki sat on the other side. “You should go back to Washington. Go tomorrow. Take the job. Your family will be fine here.”
“I can’t leave them,” Toni finally admitted to Irene and Miki—and to herself. “I can never leave them. Ever. First I’m the babysitter, then I’m going to be the spinster aunt, taking care of their brilliant kids one day. My small room filled with the knickknacks brought back by the children as they’ve traveled the world and lived their wonderful lives.”
Irene sighed. “Were you watching the original ‘Brideshead Revisited’ again?”
“I’m going to be the nanny. Left alone in her room, listening to the radio . . .”
“Will Winston Churchill be giving speeches?” Miki teased. “Come on, girl. Buck the fuck up. Your family can only get you down if you let them. Look at my friend Sara. She could have let her bitch grandmother totally destroy her. But instead, she just waited until she died, threw a party slash funeral, then her whole life changed for the better.”
“So you’re saying I should wait until my parents die?” Toni asked flatly.
“It’s a start—”
“No,” Irene argued. “Waiting on death is not an option. Especially since both sets of your grandparents are still alive. But you do need to start weaning your family off your proverbial teat as soon as possible.”
“Ew.”
“They shouldn’t be able to rely on you for their every need, Antonella.”
“Yeah, but—”
“No, buts. This is what I want you to do.” Irene put her arm around Toni’s shoulders. “You are going to stay here with your family this summer. I’m going to ask Ulrich to get you a job at one of his businesses. I know he can find you something. You will take the job and you will do the job. While you work, you will begin the weaning process.”
“They won’t like it.”
“I don’t care. I want you to be happy, and that means you cannot and will not continue to be the Jean-Louis Parkers’ gal Friday. Am I making myself perfectly clear?”
Toni nodded, sniffled. That’s when she realized Freddy hadn’t come back yet. “Freddy!”
Her brother charged out of the room with a box of tissues. She briefly thought about strip-searching him, but that seemed excessive. Instead, she yanked a tissue from the box and blew her nose.
“Now,” Irene continued, “because I know how your family can be . . . and by that I mean your mother . . . I’m going to stay with all of you for at least the next month.”
“Aunt Irene, that’s not necessary.”
“It’s not a bother. Actually, I think you’re doing a lot of people a favor.”
“How’s that?”
“Well, my sons will be in Van Holtz cooking camp somewhere in Montana for the next month. For the next two weeks, Holtz and Ulrich are going to be in Germany for that big Van Holtz family meeting and then when they get back to the States, they’re going to Montana for the last two weeks of the cooking camp.”
“What about Ulva?”
“Who?”
Toni smirked. “Your daughter. The one you keep saying is a product of Satan although you also say you don’t really believe in the Judeo-Christian belief system.”
“Oh. Her. The demon child is going with her father to Germany. Whether she goes to cooking camp, I don’t know. I don’t care.”
“So . . . who am I helping by keeping you here?”
“The Pack back in Washington. Apparently they find me a little terrifying and off-putting. I’m not sure why. I have no claws. No fangs. I guess, technically, I could set them on fire with that cream I accidentally made a few years back, but it’s not as if I’d ever do that . . . unless, of course, I had to.” She glanced off, shrugged. “But I haven’t had to . . . so why worry?”
Toni and Miki locked gazes, then quickly looked away because they didn’t want to explain to Irene why they were laughing. No. Explaining that wouldn’t really help.
Ricky looked at his phone, saw all the missed calls from his sister, and turned it off completely. He simply didn’t have the time or energy for this.
Ricky was a big fan of looking forward not back.
He adored his baby sister, he really did. But Lord, she could work an issue. Work it until it was nothing but a nub. Ricky already knew that’s where this was headed. Ronnie Lee would make the whole thing an issue, and Sissy would blow it way out of proportion for no other reason than Sissy liked to blow things way out of proportion.
Still, he’d worry about all that tomorrow. Right now he was going to sit on this couch in the wild dog’s big living room and watch the wild dog’s extremely big TV for a few hours. The house was quiet with most of the dogs bedded down for the night, so Ricky was looking forward to a little alone time.
Of course, that alone time lasted all of fifteen seconds before he looked over and realized there was a young wolf sitting next to him. Johnny. Bobby Ray tried to pretend he’d only adopted the kid with Jessie because his mate already had plans to do just that, but Ricky knew it was because the wolf liked the kid. True, he was in that awkward, not a pup but not a full adult either stage, which could make for some tough times, but the kid definitely had some promise. Lots of it.
And, just like Bobby Ray at that age, it seemed the boy was having some problems that at the moment Ricky Lee could easily relate to.
“Why,” Johnny asked Ricky without much preamble, “do females have to make everything so damn difficult? They ask you a question, you answer, they flip out.”
“Well—”
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” the eighteen-year-old went on. “Nothing. I answered a question. That was it. Now it’s being thrown in my face.” He pointed at himself. “I don’t need this. I don’t deserve it.”
Johnny relaxed back into the couch, and moments later, the wolfdog female he’d most likely been complaining about came sauntering through the living room.
Kristan Putowski, one of the oldest Kuznetsov Pack pups, waved as she walked by. “Hey, Ricky Lee.”
“Hey, Kristan.” Yeah. Kristan was a cutie. And when Ricky Lee was eighteen, he would have been all over that like a bad rash. So he understood what Johnny was going through. Especially when Kristan’s friendly wave to Ricky Lee turned into the middle finger just for Johnny.
“I’m not apologizing!” Johnny yelled after her.
“That ain’t subtle,” Ricky Lee told the boy once Kristan was out of the room.
“Subtle?”
“Yeah. Subtle. Can’t go around yelling at a female shifter. They’re mean, boy. All of ’em.”
“I’m not scared of Kristan Putowski.”
“Should be. It’s them friendly cute ones that’ll cut a man—and have no remorse about it.” Ricky leaned in a bit and lowered his voice. “Have you two . . . ya know?”
“What? No! Never! Kristan’s like a—”
“Don’t say she’s like a sister.”
“Why not?”
“Because that’s exactly what Bobby Ray used to say about Jessie Ann . . . and you saw how that relationship ended up.”
“Oh.”
“Besides, hoss, we both know you’d only be lying through your fangs.”
The boy sighed. “I put up with her. Okay?”
“Putting up with her’s good. Staying away from her’s even better. At least for now. Give it a few years. You’ve got a girlfriend?”
“I’m too busy for a—”
“Mistake number two.”
“When did I have mistake number one?”
“You need to get yourself a little girlfriend. Nothing you’re planning to make permanent. Just someone to keep you out of trouble.”
“I’m never in trouble.”
“You will be if you keep hanging around Kristan.”
“Yeah.” Johnny sighed, big hands combing through his hair. “I know.”
Toni dropped onto her temporary bed and blew out a breath. That’s when she saw the large TV with a big red bow around it, the DVD player, and the stack of brand-new DVDs.
Her father. He knew the one thing she loved to do after a long day of dealing with her siblings was sit in front of her TV and relax.
She was nearly across the room to see what DVDs he’d picked out for her when a familiar and very welcome scent caught her attention. She charged back across the room and threw the door open.
“Cooper!” Toni threw herself into her brother’s arms and hugged him tight. “When did you get back?”
“I came straight here from the airport.”
Toni pulled back and looked up at her brother. “Wait. How did you know we were here?”
“I got a text from Mom when I was waiting for my layover in Geneva.”
Sure. She texted Cooper in Geneva but not Toni a few city blocks away.
“I’m so glad you’re home,” she said. Not meaning their Washington house but back with the family. “You staying for long?”
“Well, when I got back into LaGuardia, I got a call from Aunt Irene, who told me very clearly that I was needed home because I have to share sibling duty before you snap like a twig.” He smirked. “Did you really cry?”
“Oh, God.” Toni dragged her brother into her room and closed the door. “I had a moment of weakness. Okay?”
“I didn’t know you had any weaknesses.”
“Very funny.”
Coop dropped his travel bag to the floor and took off his denim jacket. “What’s going on?”
“Just the usual.”
“Not that usual if I’ve got Aunt Irene calling me. She never calls me. I don’t think she ever calls anyone. Not even Mom.”
“She doesn’t like talking on the phone unless it’s actual business.”
“She doesn’t like talking on the phone or she’s worried the government’s still listening in to her calls?”
“Both.”
He nodded and dropped into a comfortable chair across from Toni’s bed. “Well, big sis, I’m here to help. You. Mom. Dad. Whoever. I’ll be especially efficient if you let me beat up Kyle and tell Oriana she’s getting fat.”
“No,” Toni told him firmly. “You can beat up Kyle, of course . . . he clearly needs it. But I’m working to ensure Oriana doesn’t get any eating disorders. So no comments on her being too skinny or too fat. You can, however, tell her that she seems dumb compared to the rest of the family and that her eyes are too close together.”
“Oh! And her nose is pinched?”
“Absolutely.”
The pair laughed and Toni felt so much better. Coop wasn’t only another sibling, he was one of her best friends. They were only three years apart, so Toni didn’t have to take care of him as much as she had the others, and that maternal thing had never really kicked in. Instead, they’d spent a lot of time getting into trouble and pissing off Coop’s piano teachers. Like their mother, Coop was another child prodigy. The first of the Jean-Louis Parker siblings, but not the last. Yet for whatever reason, he was also the most normal. He seemed to take after their mother the most, with very few signs of OCD, no extreme arrogance, and no penchant for setting fires.
Funny thing was, of all their siblings, Cooper had the most reason to be arrogant. Tall and incredibly handsome, with the body of an Olympic diver, brown eyes, and shoulder-length black hair that had hints of gray, white, and gold, Coop was an international superstar. Those who didn’t even like classical music came to see him perform. His concerts were always sold-out affairs no matter what country he was in, his audience always filled not only with the wealthy but the powerful. Dignitaries, royalty, politicians—all came to see Toni’s younger brother play piano. Then there were his CDs and DVDs, which had made her brother independently wealthy. And yet, at the end of the day, Coop was still a jackal. And that meant his family continued to be the most important thing in his life.
So when Coop was home, he helped Toni with the other siblings as much as he could. Just like their sister Cherise, who came four years after Coop. But his talent kept him on the road a lot and having him home was a wonderful treat for Toni. Because Coop got it. What was “it”? She couldn’t say . . . she just knew her brother got it. And she adored him for that.
“You tired?” she asked him.
“Wide awake. Why?”
“Daddy brought me a TV and a shitload of DVDs.”
Coop sat up in his seat. “You think he has Anne of a Thousand Days in that pile?”
Toni’s eyes grew wide. “If there’s a God in heaven . . .”
That was the other thing she liked about her brother. They both had the same taste in movies and TV. A geeky taste, but still . . .
Okay. So maybe this summer wouldn’t be so heinous after all.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ricky Lee had fallen asleep on the couch while watching TV, but he wasn’t annoyed when a young pup woke him up by tapping on his forehead with a tiny little fist.
“Morning!” the pup said with a whole lot of doggie cheer. “The moms are making breakfast. Do you want them to include you?”
“Depends. What’s for breakfast?”
The pup leaned in and whispered, “Waffles, I think. Because you’re here and Aunt Jess likes you, which she says is surprising because your sister still gets on her d-word nerves. But I wasn’t supposed to have heard that part.”
Ricky snorted and whispered back, “Well, I’m glad you told me. I like to know everyone is happy I’m here. And I love waffles. So yeah, I’m up for breakfast.”
“Okay!” the pup cheered and charged out of the room.
Chuckling, Ricky swung his legs off the couch, stood, stretched, and yawned. Then he gave himself a good, once-over shake and headed to the kitchen. The wild dog adults—male and female—were busy getting the kids fed. The wild dogs always fed their pups before they ever ate. Honestly, nothing entertained Ricky more than to watch the wild dogs and lion males dining together. Lion males did not wait for anyone before they ate, and in the wild, Ricky was sure that always held true. But here in Manhattan, with the wild dog Jessie Ann in charge, the lion males had learned to wait their turn or suffer her wrath. Of course, her wrath mostly involved lots of yelling, threats, and nipple twisting, but whatever she did, it was effective.
“Morning, y’all.”
“Hey, Ricky!” Jessie poured him a cup
of coffee and handed it to him. “Sleep well?”
“Yep. Also got to watch a Xena: Warrior Princess marathon on DVD. Which one of y’all is the big fan anyway?”
The adult wild dogs shrugged and said in unison, “All of us.”
Of course.
“I’m going to go out on the stoop for a bit,” he told Jessie Ann.
“That’s fine. We’ll call you when we’re done feeding the kids.”
Scratching his head and yawning again, Ricky made his way down the hall, out the front door, and sat on the fourth step of the stoop. It was real early for most wolves. They’d get up to go to work on time but not just to greet the day. They were mostly nocturnal. But Ricky liked early mornings, even in New York City. The sun just coming up and the people usually friendly. So sitting on that stoop, drinking that coffee, and waiting on his waffle breakfast was what he’d call a good way to start off the day.
Actually, he really couldn’t think of things getting much better . . .
Toni was up, dressed, and walking down the stairs by six the next morning. Her appointment with Ulrich wasn’t until around ten, but she was used to getting up early because of her siblings. Mostly, because classes started very early in the day and she needed to be around to mediate and moderate. Already, she could hear Kyle and Oriana arguing about which of them was more important and more talented, and which should be allowed to use one of the rooms on the first floor as their art studio /practice room.
Toni knew she’d not only have to find out exactly what classes the kids were taking, but she’d have to start working on a schedule as soon as possible. When dealing with so many pups at one time, schedules were critical to managing the insanity. This, of course, applied to any large family. But a family of focused, driven little nightmares needed schedules the way breathing beings needed air. It was the only way to survive without unnecessary bloodshed or jail time.
And that was what Toni did best, wasn’t it? She managed the schedules of her family, negotiating agreements and timelines, while threatening important body parts when necessary.