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“Fuck that noise,” Bec said with a wave of her hand. “I couldn’t be happier for Mila! You guys are loving and supportive. Not to mention you’re both hot as fuck. If Mila wasn’t your third, I’d probably have a few wet dreams featuring you two.”

Gio laughed despite how uncomfortable Bec’s outrageous words made him feel. “Please, I didn’t need to know that last part. What did you need to talk to me about?”

“I wanted to give you a little insight into Mila’s parents,” Bec explained. “They are both very smart people. I’m surprised they’re content with having a thriving practice in South Dakota, but maybe they like being big fish in a small pond.”

“Why do I care about that?" Gio asked, more curious than confrontational. He wasn’t interested in finding out any more about James and Barb. They weren’t nice to Mila and that’s all he needed to know.

“Right, I get that, but here’s what I want to explain. Smart people with low social and emotional IQs think it’s their duty to reproduce so their genius can continue on,” Bec explained. “They don’t look at children as little lives that need to be protected and cherished, they see them as a legacy. Mila’s smart, but James and Barb decided early on that she didn’t have the ambition to do anything noteworthy, so they turned her into the nanny. She grew up with the idea that it was her job to take care of everyone else.”

“Is that why they had so many children?” Gio asked. In his day, families had many children because some of them would die young. With the advent of modern medicine and much higher survival rates, he was often surprised when couples chose to have more than a few offspring.

Bec nodded. “Yeah. They figured one of the kids would be really smart and go off to become an MD or DVM. They would've even been fine with a PhD as long as it was something in the sciences.”

Gio was curious now. “Did any of the children do that?”

“Nope,” Bec said with relish. “Anthony is a social worker. Vivi works in telecommunications. Dustin is a wildlife ranger, but he’s the golden child because he got a master’s degree in wildlife biology. Dawn got her degree in finance but hasn’t done anything with it. She manages a store in Sioux Falls, and I think she’s pretty happy there. And of course there’s Em, who apparently wants to run away and join the circus.”

“I thought she wanted to move to LA and be an actress,” Gio pointed out as he digested all the information Bec gave him.

Bec chuckled. “Same thing to Barb and James. Anyway, that's the whole story. They used Mila all her life as nanny, cook, chauffeur, nurse, and whatever else they needed. They want her back because even though they don’t value what she did, they aren’t doing well without her. The rest of us simply want her to be happy. You guys and this place make her happy, so she needs to stay here.”

Gio appreciated Bec’s words. He could still hear fighting in the kitchen. Bec seemed to be the only levelheaded one.

“We have one room here,” he offered. “Everyone else needs to go to a hotel, but you can stay with us if you like.”

Bec beamed at him. “I’d love that. I’ve missed the hell out of Mila. Seeing her here makes me think I want to move too. Maybe San Diego is the place for new starts.”

Gio nodded. “Perhaps. After I’ve booked the cars to get these people out of here, I’ll show you the room.”

Bec laughed and pulled her phone out of her small purse. “I’ll help.”

It took some effort, but eventually they got everyone into cars and sent them off to Hotel del Coronado. It probably wouldn’t have happened if Gio hadn’t put Barb in thrall to get her into the car. He didn’t do anything more than make her want to leave for the night. Even that made Mila’s eyes narrow suspiciously.

He needed to tread carefully using thrall on her family.

Mila stepped up to stand next to him with a panting Babette in her arms as they watched the cars disappear onto the street.

“I need to invest in more wards,” he rumbled. Up to this point, his wards only kept out non-humans, but perhaps it was time for more extensive wards.

“I’m so sorry,” Mila said, tears swimming in her eyes. “I never thought that would happen!”

Bec scoffed. “I knew Barb and James would get desperate. You made their lives so easy, they would be idiots not to try and get you back.”

Mila shook her head, looking resolute. “I’m never going back.”

“Damn right you’re not!” Carter said, wrapping both arms around her and Babette. “Even if you decided to move back, we’d be going with you.”

Gio hid his grimace at Carter’s statement. It was true, they’d do anything to keep Mila happy. Hopefully they could find some way to keep the parents there and the three of them here.

Bec stepped in front of all of them. “Just watch your backs. James and Barb won’t give up easily.” Then she yawned big enough that Gio heard her jaw crack. “Shit, I’m exhausted. I was up all night going over a brief. You should get some sleep because they’ll all be back bright and early to start the whole argument over again.”

“So this is what it’s like to be damned,” Gio muttered.

Carter

It might be bedtime for Bec, but it was “morning” for the rest of them. Mila had easily switched to a more nighttime schedule so she could spend more time with Gio. They ended their nights by making early morning deliveries of pastries to a few businesses before coming home and nestling down in bed with Gio.

No sooner had Mila sent Bec off to bed, then she rushed off to the kitchen and started putting ingredients together with enough force to cause chaos. She sent flour up in a nice little dust cloud. Sugar was spilled across the island and the salt container went flying onto the floor.