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“He’s tried to purchase a gun today.”Edgar grabbed her hand when she looked as if she was going to fall backwards.“I’ll learn to give you information the next time I give you something.”

“No, don’t do that.It just occurred to me that he’s going to try and kill us all for money.”He held onto her when she swayed a little bit.“I’m all right now, young man, and I’m glad that you told me.I kept telling myself that he’d not be like that, not even to his own mother, but I know better now, and it’ll make me keep an eye out for him, too.I won’t be as trusting anymore about what he says to me, either.I don’t like this feeling that my son is such a monster, but I know in my heart and mind that he is.Thank you for that.”

“I’m here for you anytime.Can you take any more news, or have you had enough for now?I can and will tell the others about what he’s up to, but you asked me, and I’ll do anything within my power to make sure that you are all right.”She said that she knew that, too, for some reason.Then she told him to never not tell her something because he thought she couldn’t handle it.“Good.He’s taken out insurance policies on Tabby, Mandy, Earl, and your husband.He didn’t know that they were not going to be cashed out if he’d not paid on them.Tommy was going to take the one out on you when he got some more cash from the other four accounts.Tommy is now trying to deal with his faerie talking to him all the time and telling him that his ideas aren’t going to work from now on.”

“How much was he expecting to get from killing us all off?”He told her.“Four million dollars.I guess I thought that it would be for more.He’s never been a good planner.”She put her hand over her mouth when she spoke.“I made that sound like I’m disappointed in him for only taking out a million dollars on us.My goodness, what you must think about me.”

“I think that you’re a good woman who has been dealt a shitty hand in her son.I don’t know yet why he thinks he’s deserving of the money or killing you all off, but I will tell you that he’s not very smart in thinking that he can outwit me.I’ve dealt with his kind all my life, and I know how to make the system work for me and you.”She nodded again, and he could see the tears as they flowed down her cheeks.“If Tabby sees that I’ve made you cry, she’s not going to be happy with me.Especially when I tell her about your son.”

“I’ll talk to her.”Gina started away but turned back to him.“I’ll tell my husband about this ifyou’d not mind.I don’t want him to know today, right now anyway.They’re all having such a good time that I don’t want to ruin this for them.I should have waited, too.That’s on me, not you.But like I said, Edgar, if I need to know something, I want you to tell me right away.I can’t fight what I don’t know about.”

“I understand, and I will do that for you.”When she stepped away from him, Edgar reached out to his entire family to let them know what was going on.He told them everything, including Tommy going to trade his system for a gun and how that had turned out.Edgar also told them how Fred was working on the man to keep him off guard.“Fred is talking to him, but he’s not allowed to show himself to him.I believe that it would be certain death for the little man.”

“You can be sure of that, I’m afraid.”He told his dad that there were several that were working on Tommy and that he didn’t want any of them harmed.“You’re a good man, son.I don’t know that I would have thought of everything that you have to keep your mate safe.She sure is having a wonderful time tonight, don’t you think?”

“I think she’s the most beautiful creature ever created, and I can’t believe that she’s all mine.I love her so much, Dad, that I’m almost disbelieving about how I feel about her.”Dad chuckled, and it made him smile.“I’m going to go and find her and talk to her about tomorrow.She’s not going to open to the public anymore, but she has drivers coming in and loading up.I think she’s just excited to have the place open for business.”

“I’m proud of you both right now.”He thanked his dad for what he said and found it difficult for him to contain his own tears.His father was the best.Both his parents were.“You be a good son and keep an eye on your new little family, and we’ll watch your back.Don’t ever think that I don’t have your back, son.I’d die if anything were to happen to any of you.”

“I feel the same way about you and Mom.”Finding Tabby proved to be a little difficult, but once he did, he couldn’t believe how much she was glowing with happiness.“How about I take you away from all this, and we get some real food to eat?I understand why you wanted to have fresh out with this thing, but I’m starving for real food and think you might be as well.”

“I could easily eat a horse right now.”She eyed him kind of side-eyed.“You don’t eat those too often, do you?”

“I think that it’s been decades since I wanted horse meat.And even then, I think my dragon only ate a small portion.”She looked shocked at him.“I’m kidding, honey.I swear that the only time I’ve eaten horse was when I was fighting a war between castles, and that was all there was for any of us to eat.”

“I don’t want to know.”He said he could give her that, no information.“Thank you.Now, tell me what has made my mom so upset.I saw the two of you talking.It’s about Tommy, isn’t it?Tell me, please.I’ve had a really good day, and I need to know that he’s not around here and going to fuck things up for us.”

He told her everything, including what his dad said about keeping the faeries safe.Once she had all the information that he had to give her, she wandered away from him.He let her go because it was a lot to digest right now, particularly about her own brother.When she came back to him, she hugged him tightly and thanked him.It was all he could do not to tell her she’d be stronger still if she bonded with him—that worried him enough—but he wasn’t going to pressure her into anything she didn’t want to have happen.She was his mate, and he’d do anything in the world to not have to keep her safe from her own brother.Tommy would be dead right now if he’d been allowed to kill the younger man as soon as he heard what he was up to.

Chapter 5

Tabby wanted a burger and fries.Mandy had gone home with her parents again and was spending the night there.The only place to get them was at the small ice cream shop not far from where the plant was.She stood in line in her business suit and smiled at the kids, teenagers who were there getting their nightly quota of soda and frozen delights.

“I just thought of something.”She turned to Edgar as he stood in line behind her.“You’ll never gain any weight now either, with the exception of when you’re carrying our children.If you want any.”

“I do.Not right away, I don’t think.I’ve only just got my business up and going, and I don’t want to take away from that right away.Because when we have children, I want to be able to devote all my time to them and not work.Is that all right?Mandy has been asking too if we’ll have her a brother or sister.I think she’ll be a good helper to us.”He kissed her on the nose, and she smiled at him.“Are you getting out of a conversation, or is that the way you’re telling me yes, it’s all right?”

“It’s more than all right with me that you want to spend time with our children.I’m thinking perhaps we should have a dozen or so, but that’ll be up to you.”She laughed when he shut her mouth for her.“I’m joking.We’ll have as many children as you wish and no more.I’m just happy to have you in my life.I could care less about anything that tries to take us apart.”

After putting in her order for dinner, Edgar ordered the same thing but doubled his order.He’d not been kidding when he said that he was hungry.She wondered if he’d eat like that all the time and was glad that they had money or she’d—Tabby thought of feeding their children and thought of all the calories they’d have as being part dragon.She asked him about that.

“Yes, they’ll eat a great deal when they’re old enough to go out on their own to find dinner.However, we’ll teach them how to be discreet about how much they eat at one place.It’s why, as a family, we never go to all-you-can-eat places.We’d put them out of business if we were all to get our fill.”She laughed, thinking about one of them going up to a buffet and taking out the tray of fried chicken as their starter meal.She turned to look at him when he said her name.“They’ll be dragons, too.Because of us being so magical, all of our children will be dragons when they’re born.”

“I did wonder about that.Emma was telling me that she will only carry the hatchling for five months, and then it will be an egg for them to watch over for another six months before it will be born.She’s both excited and terrified at the same time to be having a dragon, the first of many, she told me.”Picking up their food, they went to sit on one of the picnic tables that were provided for people having dinner.“How many eggs do you have at one time?I’m sure they’re large when they come.”

“The eggs will be small for her to birth.Then, as the dragon grows within it, the egg will accommodate itself for them.By the time they’re ready to be hatched, they’ll be about the size of a nine-month-old baby.It will also be a human-looking baby until it reaches the age of maturity.That’s about twenty-five.”She asked if they could shift before that.“No.They’ll know that they’re dragons but won’t be their true self until they reach that age.It’s safer for them that way.Not just for the hatchling but for all of us.Can you imagine a teenage dragon having a temper tantrum?It would be a disaster for everyone around them.”

They both laughed, and she finished her burger and played around with her fries, thinking about her brother Tommy.He’d not always been like he is now, she wondered.The longer she sat there thinking about him, the more she realized that he’d always been somewhat of a prick to everyone that was around him.

“When I was ten and him fourteen, Tommy ruined my birthday cake.Mom had gotten me what I wanted, and that was just a plain white cake with my name on it.No roses or any of that fancy work they usually put on the cakes.I couldn’t stand those flowers—too sweet for me.But Tommy wanted tohave chocolate cake.Which I don’t like chocolate at all.While we were in the yard having a celebration, Tommy was in the house covering my cake with cocoa powder, like an inch thick of it all over the cake and any presents that were around too.”Edgar said that he was a jerk.“You’ve no idea.And when he was punished for his actions, Mom said that the next week, she’d get me another cake, and we’d celebrate without him.I think that was when he ended up in military school and out of our house by then.He didn’t do so well there either, just so you know.”

“No, I don’t imagine that he would.Not with someone telling him what to do every day.”By the time Edgar had finished his meal, she was ready to go home.“I can do that for you.But remember, we have plans for in the afternoon tomorrow.You have orders going out in the morning, and the rest of the day is for us.After that, I’m assuming that you’ll be too busy for your poor old husband.”

She smacked him on the arm and laughed.“I’ll be too busy for a lot of things, but not you nor Mandy.You two are going to be first and foremost in my life from now on.Even if I have to hire someone to come in and take over for me sometimes.I was talking to Mom, and she said that I need to hire someone like that anyway so that I’m not working myself to death.”

“I have my brothers to take over for me when I need some time off.Sidney is really good at contracts, too, and can usually take over for me at a moment’s notice.Dyson too.He doesn’t care for it as much as Sidney and I do, but he’ll help me out when I ask.”She nodded, thinking more and more about getting a person in who could take over for her, even if it was only a day or two a week.Since they were open every day to get products out, she wasn’t going to burn herself out by being there all the time.“Are you all right?”

“Yes, I was thinking about how many hours I’d be putting in if I didn’t find someone to work for me a couple of days a week.Dad used to do that, work every day until Mom put her foot down.He was really stressed out a lot of the time, and it was affecting his health.”Tabby told Edgar about the heart attack scare they had with her dad and how he’d gotten out of the business altogether and turned it over to her and Earl.“He always covered for us when he saw we were beginning to stress out, but he never went back for more than a day or two a month.He was scared when the doctor told him that he was overweight and his heart was working too hard to sustain the kind of abuse that he was putting it through.He lost weight, started walking around the block every day, and was a better man for it.I was terrified myself when I was told what the doctor had told him.”