Page 37

Gio

It was hard, but Gio fought the temptation to put Mila’s family under thrall to calm them down.

As much as it would make things easier, he knew Mila wouldn’t approve.

Besides, using thrall on that many people at once was tricky.

It would be better if he could get them alone and he’d tell them what to do one by one.

James and Barb were the ones that needed their attitudes put in check more than anything. How could they not realize what a special and wonderful daughter they had?

He sensed a feminine presence a few seconds before Bec spoke.

“Gio, can we talk?”

He turned and held up a finger. He was on the phone with Hotel del Coronado trying to book rooms. They were lucky, there were several rooms free. Two of the siblings would have to share, but they’d also be staying at one of the most famous and luxurious hotels in San Diego. No one should complain.

Ending the call with the hotel, he gave Bec his full attention.

“If you’re going to say anything insulting or defamatory about our arrangement, I invite you to keep your words to yourself,” he said. Mila might be willing to hear what these people had to say, but he wasn’t.

“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.

All of that went unnoticed as Mila mixed and talked.

“I’m so sorry. I bet you guys wish you’d never met me!

I can’t believe that happened. It was like we were suddenly on some seedy talk show.

The only thing that could've made it worse was if someone announced they were pregnant by Dad or something.” She gave a little hysterical laugh.

“Although they only just got here. Maybe there’s some young mother on her way to show up at the door any moment now. ”

Carter exchanged a look with Gio, unsure what to do. The vampire looked as uncertain as Carter felt. Shuffling everyone to a nearby hotel didn’t seem to be calming Mila down. If anything, she appeared even more upset than when they’d all been here screaming at each other.

“Your siblings seem nice,” Gio said, his tone hesitant.

Mila slapped down the wooden spoon she was stirring with. “How can you be okay with all this? My family invaded your home and screamed loud enough for the neighbors to hear! You should be kicking me out and telling me never to come back!”

Carter rushed up to her with a growl. He grabbed her hands, ignoring the stickiness and turned her to face him. “We all bring good and bad to this relationship. None of it will ever be bad enough to make us leave you!”

“But you and Gio didn’t bring in a bunch of yelling people,” Mila said, tears finally escaping her eyes, breaking Carter’s heart.

“Oh honey, I’ve done so much worse!” Carter said. “I’m an alpha wolf shifter. Gio has pulled me out of more fights than you have fingers. He had to pay Mikey to rebuild the inside of Downward Dog once because I wrecked the place.”

Mila blinked up at him. “Really?”

Carter nodded. “The night you brought me home wasn’t the first or even the fifth time Gio’s had to call Faith to fix me up.

Without a pack, I was constantly finding trouble.

Especially during the day when Gio couldn’t be there to stop me from picking fights.

Your family drama is nothing compared to that. ”

“I agree with Carter,” Gio said, stepping up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hunched down so he could rest his chin on her shoulder. “Your family is nothing compared to the trouble he would get into.”

“But you’re so sweet and peaceful,” Mila protested. “That first night I met you, the fight was because you were attacked by those creatures. The, um, dirmites?”

“Durmin,” Carter corrected, then decided to tell Mila the whole truth. “They might have attacked me because I attacked them the previous evening when I was trying to get to Gio. Technically I started it, but in my defense, the human they’re modeled after is an asshole.”

Mila stared at him, and for a moment, Carter was sure she was going to get upset. Then she burst out laughing. “Does this mean Gio’s the only one in our trio that doesn’t cause trouble?”

Carter was happy to correct her. “Oh no, Gio has gotten into some fights. He’s possessive. I’m impressed with his restraint tonight.”

It occurred to Carter that Gio had stayed amazingly calm despite the mean things James and Barb said. He looked over at the vampire who tried to appear angelic. Ah, so that was the game they were playing!

“One of these days, someone will touch you inappropriately, and Gio will separate their arm from their body and beat them to death with it,” Carter said.

Mila gasped, then started laughing again. “Stop, you’re making that up.”

It was good to see her happy after being so upset. To try and keep up the good humor, he lifted her hands to his face and started licking the flour and sugar off her fingers. “Yum, you always taste so good. I think you got some sugar down your shirt. Let me get that for you.”

When he tried to bury his face in the v of her blouse, Mila tugged her hands free and stepped back.

“Bec could walk in,” she said, scandalized.

“Then we should go upstairs,” Gio suggested, then nipped the skin below her ear. Carter watched her expression turn needy.

“I don’t know,” she said, looking around the kitchen. “There’s a lot I should do here.”

“It can all wait,” Carter insisted. Mila kept protesting but let him and Gio lead her upstairs and distract her late into the night.

The eclairs didn’t get stuffed full of cream that night, but Mila did!