She snuck a quick look at Renee, who nodded at her.
“All right. Don’t think that saving-gas comment was even a factor. You can’t interfere with anything I do there. Got me? It’s important.”
“Do I look like the kind of guy who would interfere with your lessons?”
She and Renee both snorted a laugh. “Yes. Yes, you do.” She turned to her sister. “I’ll see you later. Can I bring anything but the cake I made?”
“Nope. Just you two. We’ll take the wine though, Max. You have good taste in wine and in women.” Renee looked back to Kendra. “Tell Mary I’m excited to be starting lessons with her.”
“I will. See you in a bit.” She walked around to the end of the counter and hugged her sister. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
* * *
Max watched her, his lovely witch, as she interacted with her sister. Their magick swirled around them. He and Jack had likened it to pixie dust, but Galen called it catnip. Galen was probably closer on most days. Heaven knew he loved to simply roll around with her, her skin under his hands, against his lips, her scent wrapped around him.
The shifters who guarded Kendra and Renee both loved to hang about and chat with them. Max understood it, he liked to do that too. Beautiful women who gave off magick like perfume in their wake. Of course his men wanted more of it. Luckily for those men who were entrusted with the care and safety of these two women, they also knew and respected the connection between man and animal, witch and woman.
“You’re beautiful today,” he murmured as they got on the elevator. “I love you in that color blue.”
She looked him up and down. “I’m certainly glad to wear casual clothes instead of suits and all. But you look like you stepped out of a magazine ad.”
It wasn’t as if others hadn’t complimented him on his looks or his clothing. It had happened before she came into his life. But when she said it, when she noticed him and said so, it meant more. He wanted to preen around for her, silly as that sounded in his head, he still wanted to do it.
The elevator doors opened and oh, his lucky day, Beth stood in reception talking with their father. He tried not to bristle. Despite her flaws, he loved his sister and wished she’d let go of her past and embrace the women Max loved so much.
Their father who turned, saw Kendra and...beamed? Indeed he did. Smiling like a fool, Cesar de La Vega made his way to them, his arms open.
“Kendra! It’s lovely to see you.” He wasn’t as big and braw as his sons, but he was a presence so large he could steal the air from a room, command a jamboree without question or hesitation. But that wasn’t who his father was right then.
That man, that cat softened and drew Kendra into a hug, the sort he only used with family. The importance of the gesture squeezed around Max’s heart, warmed him.
“Cesar, how are you?” Kendra, smiling, took his father’s hands in her own after the hug broke.
“Better now that I have yet another beautiful woman brightening my view.” He turned to Beth, whose sour expression made it clear what she thought of Kendra. “Doesn’t Max’s lady bring something special to a room every time she enters it?”
“Now you’re just poking at her, Cesar,” Kendra teased.
“I don’t need your help,” Beth nearly snarled, bringing Max’s protective instincts to the fore.
“I’m sure you don’t.” Kendra looked Beth over. “Pregnancy suits you.” She turned back to Cesar. “It was lovely to see you. I need to run now, but I’ll see you Sunday at dinner.”
Cesar continued to smile. “Oh good! Imogene said she was going to ask you today, so I’m glad she found you already.”
Beth, robbed of her moment to be a bitch, sniffed haughtily and stomped off.
Kendra heroically held her bland facial expression and the next-in-line part of Max loved it. Loved that she would run the jamboree at his side and he’d know she could do it.
“I’m going to pop my head in and see if Galen is around.” She hugged Cesar again and to Max’s surprise and total pleasure, she rubbed her cheek along his father’s. With that, she waved over her shoulder to Max and disappeared down the hall.
His father raised his brows and nodded approvingly. “She’s a hard-ass. You wouldn’t know it to look at her, but she’s tough. I like that.” He paused a moment. “Sunday will be important. Does she know how much?”
“She understands a lot more about us, about our culture, than I thought she did at first. She asks questions, observes. I imagine she’ll know, yes.”
“You have to let her do it on her own.” His father’s eyes darkened. “It won’t mean anything if she doesn’t do it herself.”
“She has magick, Papi. Unlike Renee and some of the other humans others have brought around, she will defend herself. And she can. I’ve seen her do it. She can handle herself and once she does, they’ll back off.”
His father tsked. “Some won’t ever accept her and you’re the one who needs to be ready for that. It was hard on Galen. Still is. He loves Renee and can’t understand why everyone can’t see in her what he does.”
Max growled low and his father growled right back. “Don’t you growl at me, boy. Don’t you forget who runs this ship.”
“This isn’t about that and you know it. I’m going to be sure she knows she should feel free to knock anyone who fucks with her on their asses. I haven’t discussed the issue of taking on a cat, haven’t asked if she’d be willing to change. But she can handle herself either way. However, if a single claw is unsheathed in her presence I will do my job. She is mine, Papi. Mine to protect, and I will. These cats are mine as well. Yes, yes I know you’re in charge. But I will be someday and I will not tolerate any threats against my woman.”
“You’ve begun imprinting.”
Max laughed, but it was rueful. “From the first moment I laid eyes on her. In the midst of Renee being harmed and threatened, chaos all around and she stalked in and helped. Even got bitchy with me and Galen at times. She made Renee better, stronger, accepted her sister in a way that told me she was special and strong. I haven’t marked her. The past, her past, stands between us. She’s human, they like a slow courtship.”
It was Cesar’s turn to laugh. “Boy, if you can’t see the love written all over her each time she looks at you, you’re a fool.” He headed to the elevators. “I’ll see you Sunday.”
He could see it. It was the reason he was content to give her space to figure it out herself. Smiling, he lifted his face and found the trail of her essence. Her scent, the magick she shedded as she moved.
And followed.
* * *
Beth thought she could out-bitch Kendra? Pfft. Kendra’s former in-laws had been the most vicious people she’d ever met, and they did it while smiling tightly and holding their religion in front of their behavior like it excused them rather than condemned. She’d lived around those people for three years and she was still standing.
No one would ever take her humanity from her again, least of all some spoiled, snotty jaguar shifter who thought the world revolved around her. Worse, the woman had messed with her sister and that could not be tolerated.
Her annoyance melted when she caught sight of Galen standing in his doorway speaking to his assistant. When he noticed her there, he smiled and headed toward her. “To what do I owe this visit?” He hugged her.
“I’m here with Max. He’s still talking with your father so I thought I’d cruise past your office to say hello.”
“Renee told me she’s starting with Mary this weekend. I wanted to tell you thank you for all you’ve done. She’s so much more confident now when she uses her gifts. She’s finally believing she’s worthy of using her magick, that she can and do it right.”
“You don’t have to thank me. She’s my sister and more than that
, she’s a witch. None of us should be ashamed of what we are and what we can do. Our mother can’t teach her, she barely taught me. But I can help and that’s the way it’s supposed to work. Mary will be good for her.”
“And do you? Believe you’re worthy?” he asked softly.
“Most of the time.” She shrugged. “We’re damaged, all of us human beings. But it’s about getting past that and being better than the people who try to harm us. Being better than they expect. That’s revenge.”
Galen looked at her for a long time without speaking. “I’m glad you’re here, Kendra. I’m glad to be your family.”
Max loped down the hall toward them, her attention snagged on how he moved. She’d been in denial really, or on a deliberate I’m not going to think about that kick when it came to him.
It wouldn’t help her. She was already in so deep with him that there was no turning back.
“Got my stuff. Ready to head out?” He slid an arm around her shoulders when he reached her, kissing the top of her head.
“Yep. I was just saying hello to my brother-in-law.” She looked back to Galen. “I’ll see you in a few hours for dinner.”
Galen snapped his fingers. “Crap. I forgot. I’m supposed to invite you both to dinner tonight. I left a message with your assistant.” Galen smirked at his brother and she snorted at how they were together. It was cute. Though she’d learned from Renee the two brothers would sometimes end up in physical dustups, she had no doubt there was deep respect and love between them. And they were predator animals under the skin after all, even if they were dumb dudes for punching instead of negotiating.
“Yeah, yeah. I got it. Renee invited me too just a few minutes ago downstairs.”
“Catch your ugly mug later then.” Galen turned back to Kendra. “Nice to see you. And thank you again.”
* * *
“So,” Max began as he pulled out of the parking garage and headed across the river to Mary’s place, “I think you should let me replace your car. It’ll make me feel better to know you have it. I worry about you.”
Christ, already? How had he learned? “How the hell did you know?”
He paused a moment and she realized she’d jumped to conclusions. He’d probably only thought she hadn’t gotten the money yet. Damnation.
“Know what?” The ease in his voice was such a ruse. She knew he was on the scent and wouldn’t let go until she told him everything.
“Nothing. Nothing.” No one ever said she was smart all the time.
He continued to drive with that ease of his, even though Boston was the craziest city she’d ever driven in.
“You know I’m not going to let it go. So tell me. Though, well, interrogating you could be quite entertaining. I could lick you and lick you until you begged me to let you come.”
Even annoyed, she couldn’t stop the shiver that worked through her at that visual. “Fine. Fine. I’m just taking my time to find the car I want. The insurance company’s check arrived already.”
“So why wait? I can take you to a great lot one of our cats runs out in Brockton. He’ll be fair.”
Gah. This was totally her own fault. “I want to save up a bit more to get exactly what I want. When I get to that point, I’ll be happy to use your friend though. Thank you.”
He growled, the sound thick with annoyance. “They didn’t give you enough money to replace the car with one you want.”
“It happens.” She shrugged. “I’m fine with waiting so I can afford what I really want.”
“This is stupid, Kendra. I have the money, why not let me help?”
“I’ve already said no thank you. And really, Max, how many people ride mass transit every day? It’s safe and easy to use. Totally convenient from my place to the school.”
That damned smile of his took his lips, curving them upward in a most alluring way. “What if you get stranded?”
“I can take a cab. Or, if all else fails, call my boyfriend to come get me. But where do I go that late anyway? I’m not twenty-two hanging out at after-hours bars. I’m tucked up in bed by ten. Or if you’re with me, midnight or so.” Max loved to spend hours on sex, and who was she to complain about that?
“What if you borrowed my car? You know, just until you get the rest of the money saved? Or, you could take a loan from me for the rest if you won’t let me pay for it.”
“Max, it’s very sweet that you’re concerned about me and all. But I’m fine. It shouldn’t take me very long, another two months or so. Jack hadn’t let go of his lease for the space at his apartment so I even have a place to park.” She’d moved into Jack’s old apartment. Had tried to resist, there was no way she could really afford it if he’d charged her market rate. But of course, like everyone else in her new family, including Renee, they’d appealed to safety and space. And relative closeness to Renee’s house.
“Concerned is a very soft word for how much it freaks me out that these fucking witches are out there looking to hurt you, to rob you of your power and your life.”
“If they come for me, they’ll come for me in my car or on the T, or in my house or when I’m getting groceries. Whatever. It’s not a lack of a car that exposes me. I’m learning how to defend myself.”
“And then what?”
She turned to him. “And then I plan to teach those skills to every witch I know and who is interested, because we shouldn’t let fear of other kinds of magick cripple our ability to protect ourselves.”
“Which will piss off some of your people, right?”
“Yes. I imagine when it comes down to it, I’ll face a lot of criticism. But at least they’ll all be talking, even if it’s only to criticize me. We are not safe the way we are now. It’s far easier now to track us, what with computers and readily available digitized information.”
He muttered in Spanish and then caught her looking and cursed, in English.
She laughed. “You keep forgetting I speak Spanish, don’t you?”
“So you’re taking on a revolution. You know that, right? You’re taking on a huge fight.”
“Yes. I know staying silent and protecting only myself and my sister is a cowardly, selfish thing. There are too many others who don’t know enough and will be at risk. What would you have me do? Keep quiet? Is that what you’d do?”
“I hate it when you do that.”
He pulled around behind Mary’s small house as she directed him to.
“Do what?”
“I hate it when you’re doing the right thing and I have to admit that even when I know it’s dangerous and I could lose you.”
She sighed inwardly. No matter how she tried to hold him out, he simply found a way in, leaving her defenseless against him.
“I’m not going anywhere but inside to learn some stuff. I asked Mary if it was all right to bring you, by the way, so she knows you’re here.”
Max wanted to meet this woman anyway, being welcome was a good thing.
He wasn’t expecting what greeted them at the door though. Why he’d imagined this Mary as a tiny, bent, shriveled woman, he didn’t know.
A tall, elegant, dark-haired woman with pale green eyes that didn’t miss a trick opened the door, smiling when her gaze locked with Kendra’s. “You’re here and positively glowing.” She looked around Kendra to Max, giving him a slow perusal. “You’re Max de La Vega, and I imagine, the reason for the glow. I’m Mary Pierce, please be welcome and come inside.”
Another surprise greeted him as he followed Kendra into the small house. He’d expected clutter. Books and crystals and stuff. Instead, it was spare, clean lines, white furniture, dark woods.
“I think it would be good for you to watch Kendra work. You have a lot of power, a lot of magick in you. It’s tuned to hers as hers is to yours. This feedback loop has helped her, though I don’
t imagine she’s told you. It means she has to articulate how much she cares for you.”
He smiled, more at the sigh of affectionate annoyance Kendra had made than anything else. He knew she cared for him, it was obvious in everything she did, in the way she let him take over at times, the way she made room for his need to protect and love her.
“I’m glad to hear it. Glad to hear I’m helping, because I have to tell you this whole business makes me very nervous. I’m not a man prone to sitting and letting things happen. She’s being threatened, my sister-in-law is being threatened. These are my people, I need to know they’re going to be protected.”
“I’m giving her the tools to protect herself,” Mary countered, still wearing that smile of hers. His cat liked this woman very much. She was strong and utterly capable. This meant she had the ability to protect Kendra in her own way. Mary was part of Kendra putting down roots in Boston and the man approved mightily.
Kendra, obviously annoyed, huffed the smallest of snorts. Knowing she respected Mary, Max understood what an act of willpower it was that she hadn’t snapped a comment or two at them. Max held his grin back.
Kendra stepped neatly between Mary and Max, taking control again. “I appreciate you seeing me in the evening, Mary. We need to be somewhere later, so if you two are done discussing me?”
Mary just patted her hand. “Go on through. I put a chair in the corner for Max. I’ll be right in.”
“Through here.” Kendra led him down some steps and out into a garden room of sorts. Lots of natural light from the large windows.
He took her hand, pulling her back to him. She allowed it, looking up into his face. “Thank you for letting me in. I know it’s hard for you and I know there’s a good reason for it.”
“Like the tide,” she said softly. “You sweep in and I tell myself to tread water. To go to higher ground and I just...don’t. I like it, apparently.”