Page 18 of Tossed into the Mob (The Wolves of La Luna Noir #4)

EIGHTEEN

brOCK

I studied the ring on my left hand.

It’d been two days since our wedding. It could have been a disaster, but we’d created the best memories from everything that went wrong and made the day so right.

Being married was different than I'd expected. My emotions were jiggly, and the world smelled different somehow. Even my dreams were more vivid.

Treyton was still the same guy who brought me coffee in bed and held my hand when I needed calming.

He made me the center of his universe. But now that we were married and mated, I was part of something.

It wasn’t just that I belonged to the Durand family, but Treyton said I was now part of the pack.

My emotions were up and down, and I got teary-eyed thinking of our wedding day and how it’d been so much better than what we’d planned.

I did worry about Dad. He and I were so close, and I didn’t want him to feel excluded or that me mated and married to a shifter was distancing myself from him.

But he’d enjoyed the wedding, even though the humans were outnumbered by the shifters.

and he’d spent time chatting with Treyton’s cousins’ human mates.

He’d flown home this morning with Treyton’s folks and uncle, and Madd had gone back to whatever job Flint had assigned him to.

We were still in Flint’s guest house for another few days before we returned home, though Treyton and I hadn’t decided where we were going to live permanently. He said he’d bow to my wishes because I had to consider my dad.

“You’ve been standing there a while.” My mate appeared, still in his PJs with a cup of steaming coffee.

“Any chance there’s some wedding cake left?”

“Cake for breakfast? Why not?” He drew back and gave me a look. “Coming right up for the best husband and mate there ever was.”

“Do I have to say it?” I pinched his butt, and he squealed.

“Yes, that’s the rule.”

“Fine.” I huffed. “I’m the only husband and mate there ever will be.” I got the words muddled, but they were heartfelt. Besides, I was focused on leftover cake.

We sat at the kitchen island, and I considered going for a swim after breakfast. Treyton sat opposite me and brushed his leg against mine. It was our thing. Even if I didn’t need soothing, we touched one another constantly and enjoyed the serenity that being skin to skin gave us.

“You’re doing a lot of thinking over there for someone on their honeymoon.” We didn’t have a lot of money, neither of us had much savings, and when Flint and Tony offered us their self-contained guest house for as long as we wanted, we accepted.

“Just thinking about how good it feels to be official.” Mating made me part of La Luna Noir, and marriage satisfied my dad. Though he had been marked by Emilio, he was human enough that he wanted to see me wearing a ring.

“Any regrets?” He eyed me over the rim of his mug. “About marrying into a family of criminals?”

Treyton was the furthest thing from a criminal. And he wasn’t a great shot, having injured Riggs in the shoulder, while I shot his beast in the heart.

“I’ll let you know when I fill in my tax forms. Somehow I doubt there’s a box to check for a shifter pack member.”

My mate let out a hearty laugh and glanced out the window. “I see Rudy’s car in the driveway. Wanna go over and see what’s going on?”

That seemed like a bad idea. Perhaps Treyton was used to differentiating between a business meeting and a family get-together, but I didn’t want to barge in without an invite.

“What if they’re discussing something top secret?” It was nothing to do with me, and I didn’t want Flint shouting at me.

“My cousin rarely, if ever, holds important business meetings at the house. It’s his rule to keep his private and work lives separate. The worst that could happen is he locks us in the basement.” He chortled.

What was it with his family that they enjoyed making jokes about Tony’s time in the basement? “Don’t say that.”

He grabbed my hand, but I was still in my pajamas and I protested. “It’s family. No one will mind. Besides, they know what we’ve been doing.”

“Drinking coffee and eating leftover wedding cake?”

He slapped my butt, and we raced over the damp grass to the house. We went in the side door and climbed the few stairs to the main level. It was empty, and Treyton said they must be in the study. But that suggested it was business.

This house was huge, and it was usually filled with children’s laughter, but today it was deathly quiet.

The family had been living here when Rudy’s mate was assassinated, and even though it was light and airy, I’d have preferred to be in the basement with the door locked from the inside than sneaking through these corridors.

When we reached the study door, Treyton gave a quick knock, and Flint said to come in, as if they’d been waiting for us.

That was a little odd until I realized this was a ruse.

Treyton had set up a surprise, and he’d concocted a story about a business meeting.

He was the sweetest, sexiest mate, always giving me gifts or surprising me with a picnic, as long as I brought my plastic sword to ward away zombies.

I giggled as we charged into the room and were met with the same surprised expressions as the night Treyton introduced me to the family, though perhaps it was ‘cause I was still in my PJs.

There were four shifter family members present, and there were two people I didn’t recognize. Their stunned faces made me pause, but this was part of Treyton’s plan, I was certain. The family were good at pulling off practical jokes, but I was going to best them.

“Thanks for assigning me a high-ranking position in La Luna Noir. I accept. Do I get a fancy title like Associate Vice President of Bad Guy Elimination or just a really big gun?” I made a finger gun and pretended to shoot, yelling “Pow pow.”

No one moved, and they didn’t giggle or tell me I’d caught them out.

I hesitated again, but hey, I was part of the family and they were jerking me around.

It wasn’t until Treyton glanced at me, his face a mask of horror, that my heart did some weird shit and I figured I was taking my last breath.

Or Flint was about to kill me. Either way I was going to die.

“Treyton!” There was no mistaking the fury in Flint’s tone. “I thought you were Uncle. This is private. Get out.”

My poor mate. As the shifter and the blood family member, he was bearing the brunt of his cousin’s ire. But I was the one who’d messed up.

“It was me. I thought you were pranking me. Sorry.”

My mate's face was drained of color as he took my arm and guided me out of the room. When we closed the door, I took hold of him and apologized. I’d made it worse. If I hadn’t been an ass, Flint would have said it was private and to leave. Instead, he was furious.

“It’s my fault. I should know better than to assume we could charge in. I’m sorry.”

But as we headed to the side door, Hunter called us back. “Flint wants to talk to you.”

Damn. Flint had already given us a tongue lashing. If being locked in the basement was in our future, I hoped it had wifi.

I gripped Treyton's hand, overcome with my own fury. Yes, my mate made a mistake and so had I, but Flint already chastised us. Did he forget to say something and wanted a do-over? My mate had spoken of being bled. I understood it was a shifter punishment, but I didn’t care to witness that.

I straightened my spine and told Treyton to follow me. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then closed it.

“We’re here, and I don’t appreciate being hauled in for a second round of reprimands.”

Again there was a shocked silence, and the air in the room crackled with tension.

Flint appeared to be considering his words. “I’m glad because that’s not why I wanted to speak to you.”

“Oh.”

“Adrian and Chase,” he pointed to the two non-family members, “came to us with a problem they want us to solve.” He pointed at me and Treyton.

I hated that gesture, but I’d already spoken to him in a way my mate or any pack member never would, so I’d ignore the finger in the face for now.

I had to remember Riggs was dead, Dad was alive, and I didn’t have to be on the defensive 24/7.

Deep down, I wondered if I needed a therapist and was carrying deep-seated anger at Flint for killing Emilio.

“Their daughter has been kidnapped.” Most of the people in this room, including me, had something in common with Adrian and Chase. I bit back that response because that would have been disrespectful. They must be terrified.

Their daughter, Daphne, was sixteen and had been walking home from school when she was taken.

The kidnappers were demanding a huge ransom, so the family must be rich and/or prominent.

Adrian’s voice trembled as he spoke. I understood the fear and devastation because of what I’d experienced when Dad had been presumed dead.

“And they told us not to go to the police,” Chase added. “Not that we would have.”

They didn’t scent as shifters. After being around Treyton and also his family, I’d picked up the distinctive aroma that identified people as shifters, not that I could decipher what kind of shifters they were.

Ranger launched into an explanation of how Adrian was to meet the person who’d abducted his daughter in a restaurant to hand over the money.

They’d have a team outside the restaurant in case things went sideways, and while the kidnapper was salivating over the money, their security team would perform the extraction.

“How?” There was more than one raised brow in the room, but I didn’t understand why they couldn’t get Daphne now.

Hunter filled in the details. “We don’t have a definite location, but once the kidnapper arrives, we’re hoping to identify where they’ve been based on the scent of soil on their shoes and anything else they’ve brushed up against.” He said they’d take out the people guarding her, get Daphne to safety, and when the kidnapper returned with the money, they’d deal with him and grab the money.

Wow! They’d thought it through. I was impressed.

“But we need someone in the restaurant that doesn’t stand out as La Luna Noir,” Flint explained. “No one will suspect a pair of kids on their honeymoon.”

“Yes,” I yelled. “We’ll do it.” I was intrigued and a tad excited. This was my chance to prove I wasn’t just Emilio’s son.

But everyone was looking, not at me, but at my mate. Shit, I should have spoken with Treyton first. I had a lot to learn about being a couple.

“Can we talk?” He jerked his head toward the door. Damn, was I going to get another dressing down?

“Sorry.” I made a face and scrunched my eyes closed as if to ward against his anger. But I should have known better. He had on his disappointed face which was somehow worse.

“I want to say no way, this isn’t my world. I love babies and new dads. But this will give you a taste of what my extended family does. And I can’t let you do it alone, as it has an element of danger, so I guess I’m in.”

I flung myself into his arms. “Everything we went through to find one another was also dangerous.”

“Mmmm. I was hoping that was in the past. But this should be straightforward.”

We sat with Flint and the others and hammered out the small details, and after everyone filed out and my mate and I dawdled, Rudy sidled up to us.

“Your scent is different, Brock.”

It must be the adrenaline.

He tootled off down the hallway. “Just so you know, I was able to scent my sons-in-laws’ pregnancies, so I’m an expert now.”

“What?” Treyton and I yelled. “Pregnant?”

What if Rudy had made a mistake? His nose might not be reliable.

“Oh my gods, a baby, Brock. We made a baby.”

How could he be so certain? But I brushed a hand over my belly, and I knew. I was carrying our child.