Nancy looked over her coffee and to the old fashioned in front of Jason, “Maybe I should have gotten one of those.”
“You think so?” he smirked as he took a sip of it.
She drank some of her coffee, “It was either stay up or it was chill out. I am leaning more to staying up.”
“So, what has you so determined to lack sleep?”
“I am still tracking Lin’s lady, though I can’t find a damn thing on her.” She took another drink, “I think I need a snack.”
Rebekah walked past them with a tray of pastries to replace in her display, “I have an entire quiche in the kitchen.”
“Yes! I will take it…all of it.” Nancy waved her hand, “Thank you.”
“You’re really helping me out,” Rebekah shrugged and went back into the kitchen.
Jason looked to Nancy, “You couldn’t find anything on her?” That meant she had truly been keeping the relationship hidden.
“Not really, just her vendor records. Oh! And a lot of her work, very impressive.” she looked at him, “What was she like in person?”
“Very tiny and she was having a lot of adrenaline from the incident so, I could not tell you fully how she is as a person. But she does give hefty discounts to anyone that does civil service.” He shrugged, “I would say that she is a decent person.”
Nancy smiled, “Good. I want one of her trays for a gift.”
He laughed, “You’re just wanting to see what has Linnaeus so flustered.”
“I can’t deny that.” She drank her coffee and looked over to the now moving door of the kitchen.
Rebekah placed the pie in front of her in a to go container, “Thought I would make it easier for the both of us.” She placed a plastic fork down next to it, “Anything else?”
“No, thank you though, I think it will keep her busy for a while.” Jason snickered as he watched Nancy start in on the container, “People probably think that we don’t feed you.”
“It’s my metabolism, you know that.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin, “And before you ask, yes I took my thyroid pill this morning before work.”
“Good, I didn’t want to have to yell at you.” He patted her head and tucked his arm back under his chest as he leaned on the bar, “Now back to the subject at hand. Did you see if she reported anything at all?”
“Nothing too outrageous. She has two uncles that are drug addicts and they are estranged from her family. Both are on a restraining order, other than that, nothing.” She took another bite, “Are you thinking that you should have let her press charges?”
Jason shook his head, “She was not in the right mindset for that. And even if I had I doubt that she would have gone through with it knowing that he would probably get off anyway.”
She swallowed down the bite and felt bad for her, “Poor thing. She probably preferred to be only seen on her own terms.”
“And if her uncles are that dangerous? Yes, that explains why she never made a fuss and would handle things herself.”
“Well, at least we know that if she does reach out for help that we have resources for her.” She took a hit of the coffee and sighed, “Perhaps her falling into Lin’s lap isn’t a bad thing. He is really a good guy. When I had my diagnosis, I think it affected him even more than it did you.”
“Yeah, but he was really sure that you had cancer.” He looked to his drink, “At a point I did too.”
“Hey, I told you guys the day you hired me that I would never willingly leave.” She patted his shoulder, “And I couldn’t have asked for a better place to be after leaving the FBI.”
“Yeah, not so many politics here.” He cut his eyes at her, “Did you use the database to find her?”
“No, I instead made my own phone calls.” She turned back to her food with a shift of her shoulders.
“Nancy Kruger!” He exclaimed.
“What?!” she mocked. “I care too much about my boys, you think that I will let you guys date just any hussy?”
He lifted his brows in surprise, “Oh…you sly little shit.”
“Heh, you’re just upset because I think you deserve more than just whatever is here.” She shot him a look of ‘you know I am right’.
“Never know, I might just have someone walk into my life one day.” He took another sip of his highball glass.
“Yeah, and if he ain’t king material, not worth it.” She poked at her food, waiting for his reaction.
He laughed, pulling her into a one-armed hug. “This is why I had to have you around, you’re too much fun.”
“Oh…” she waved him off as she looked over to see Louis come in, “Hey!”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Sorry that I am late.” He took a seat next to her and went for a bite of the quiche, only to get a smack from her. “Ow!”
“I’m hungry enough to not share.” She moved in her chair to lean back a bit, “How is our boy doing?”
“He’s caught up. All my years of knowing him and I can tell you I have never seen him act like a fool.” Louis shook his head as Rebekah walked to him with a dark roast coffee with two sugars and a splash of half and half. “Thank you, precious!”
“You’re welcome!” she called back.
He looked back to them, “What happened that made him leave the office early?”
“The woman from last night?” Jason looked at him.
“Yeah?” Louis tied back his dreads, immediately intrigued.
Nancy swallowed a bite, “It was a call and she was there.”
“Actually, it was worse than that and it affected him.” Jason took a breath, “There were marks left on her and when he realized that she reacted the way she did out of fear, Lin didn’t take it so well afterward.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that he will be much different to her tonight.” Louis took a drink, “Other than that, how is the new medication? Thyroid getting regulated?”
She nodded, “Yes. I am doing a lot better, thank you.”
He smiled at her, “We were worried about you.”
“I was too,” she closed up the container. “So, how is the restaurant plan going?”
Louis shook his head, “I knew you were going to ask it.”
Jason nudged her, “You know that he doesn’t like it when you talk about his heartbreak.” He looked up at him, “But I did see this lovely building for sale on the corner of Camp Creek and Third.”
Nancy smacked him as Louis just stared at them, “You two bitches….”
They grinned at him, “We only do it out of love.”
“Yeah…” he gave them a side eye as he took a drink.
Linnaeus took a long breath as he looked in the mirror. He knew that he had to keep his amenity, though he wanted to know more about her. Questions continued to run through his mind that he wanted to ask her, not to mention he almost wanted to be alone with her. His fangs were not prominent, but he saw himself as a predator, even though he found himself wanting to protect her. He rolled up the sleeves on his button down, the soft grey contrasting well with his sharp icy blue eyes and rich dark auburn wavy hair combed back. His black slacks and matching boots complemented his lean muscular form. He knew her strength was also incredible and now he felt no better than those that harmed her in the past.
He glanced at his charcoal and black vest that was hung up on his closet door, debating on how much he would impress her. The hell was that? Impress her? She just went through one hell of a day and now she was coming back here to him and the risk of the fates taking her too early was very much a reality, even if he attempted to intervene in their plans for her.
He cursed himself as he had a vivid vision of her the night before. She was not even typical when it came to looks that would attract a man, but after last night he felt like he wanted more from her. Only now that he knew and saw that she had suffered at the hands of such a brute he wanted to take his time with her. To let her know that she was not alone when it came to burdens, he had his own curse that he now had to deal with.
He needed to get it together.
“Come on, Lin!” he scolded his reflection with a snarl, “You’re going to get her, come back and…have dinner….”
Have dinner. He really did not want to be a cliché to her. He wanted for her to be comfortable with him, but he had to protect himself as well. Was listening to Josephina really a good idea? Was being present and across from her in actual shadow even going to work? He prayed it would if he did go through with it. He found himself wanting to take her anywhere else, not back here. He knew he would have to take a leap of faith and trust Josephina’s judgement. He could not hide from her forever nor was it fair that he attempted to do so.
He placed on his leather muzzle and looked himself over. You look ridiculous. He told himself before moving to go down and help the women finish getting everything together.
“I can’t wait to ask her about it!” Lottie giggled as she pulled down the plates.
Josephina worked on the sauce, “Lottie, darling, please don’t overwhelm her. We want to try and get them to talk more to the other.”
“Is she truly cursed?” Margret cocked her head to the side as she walked back in from the dining room to get the glasses.
Josephina breathed in and added in a small pinch of extra parsley, “We are about to find out. Don’t give away that we know or suspect anything. I want him to use this time to start to court her.”
The other two looked at the other and back to Josephina.
“What are you talking about?” Margret asked.
“I thought she was going to be our sacrifice.” Lottie found she was happy it might not be the case, “You mean that we can keep her?”
“Not like a pet, but she will not be given to him.” Josephina told them as she kept her eyes on the stove.
Lottie’s eyes lit up, “I knew there was something about her!”
Margret looked at her, “She’s not Rambo!”
Josephina held her tongue, knowing this was about to get much worse for them and she hoped that this woman could help them get out of this bind.
Linnaeus came down the stairs, Beth and Beau stood at the first landing. He stopped and looked at them with a smile. “What do we think?”
“You should wear this instead,” Beau handed him the same black mask that he wore the night before when he walked her home. “It’s less scary.”
“Less scary, huh?” he took it from him and removed his muzzle and replaced it with the black neoprene one. “Better?”
“Much.” Beth giggled.
“Now, rules.” He knelt in front of them, “The adults are going to be eating dinner so you guys are going to have to stay hidden and play quietly. After we finish you may ask Louis if it is safe to come out or you can get Lottie. Please behave yourselves and mind your manners while she is here.”
They pouted, “But—”
“No. And no taking her around the house yet, there is too much work to do and I don’t want either one of you causing her to accidently be hurt. So please stay in the safe places, you can take her to your play room, but not my side of the wing. Understood?”
They looked at each other and solemnly nodded.
“Good.” He stood and made his way to the dining room, seeing that they had indeed managed the lighting. Linnaeus strode to the kitchen, “I’m going to get her. I am sure that Louis will be on his way back soon and we should be back right before the first course is served.”
The ladies all stopped to look at him and each of them grinned. His eyes darted from between the three of them. “What?”
“You look very handsome,” Lottie fought to keep from squeaking. “Not used to seeing you like this, but wouldn’t it be better without hiding your face?”
“Lottie, you know that my job…” he took a breath, “I want her to get to know me. Not be worried because of what could scare her away due to her past.”
Josephina arched her brow, “You keep dressing like that when you pick her up for a date and I am sure that scaring her will be the least of her worries. You might be the one that needs protection.”
He turned red and they erupted in laughter, knowing even with his face half covered he was embarrassed and nervous. “I’ll see you ladies in a bit,” he went for the front door and grabbed his leather jacket, checking to make sure that he grabbed his keys and wallet from the table next to the front door and the coat rack.
Beth popped up behind him and tugged on his hand, “Linnaeus?”
“Yes, Beth?” he looked down at her.
Her eyes were large and a soft pout was on her thin lips, “Can we be here when she comes? Before dinner?”
His face softened and he nodded. “Sure thing, kid.”
She grinned and disappeared before him, giving him the chance to slip out of the door.
