“Do you want Dad and I to come up there?”
She shook her head, even though her mother obviously couldn’t see her. The last thing she needed on top of everything else was to deal with introducing her parents to two men. Mom, Dad, these are my mates…
“No, Mom. I’m fine. Don’t worry. I’m so busy I wouldn’t even be able to spend time with you. I’m putting the apartment out of my mind for now.” That much was the truth. After she visited the place and grabbed her important belongings, she needed to pretend it didn’t exist for a few days. Her brain was full.
“Okay, but let us know if anything changes and you need us to come up. Dad can probably get a few days off work.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’ll be okay. I’ll call you after the race when things start to calm down and I can think.” As if that’s gonna happen…
“Sounds good. Be safe. Love you, sweetie.”
“Love you too, Mom.” Rebecca set the phone down, her fingers clenching it tightly. The entire conversation made her nervous. There was no way she could add her parents to the pile of craziness that was her life.
“You okay, baby?” Griffen’s fingers tightened on her thigh and then stroked up and down her bare leg.
“Yeah.” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She needed to get her mind back on track. The men surrounding her with their weird pheromones weren’t helping. That wasn’t something she could change if she wanted to, which if she were truthful with herself, she did not.
Minutes later, Miles pulled up to the building where Rebecca had lived for the past two years. The front was cordoned off with no-trespassing tape.
He parked and climbed out, helping Rebecca ease to the ground on shaky legs. Sharon immediately emerged from the car already parked in front of them and nearly ran to greet them. Rebecca had called her that morning. She should have known the woman would want to meet up with them first chance she got.
After a quick hug for Rebecca, and then one for her brother, she also squeezed Miles around the waist and then stepped back. “You look good,” she said as her gaze roamed up Rebecca’s frame. “Mating works for you.” She winked.
Rebecca rolled her eyes. “You aren’t mad?” she asked Sharon.
Sharon furrowed her brow. “Why would I be mad?”
“You specifically said you didn’t like to introduce your friends to your brothers for this very reason.” Rebecca chewed on her lower lip, worried about Sharon’s reaction to this development.
Sharon giggled. “Oh, gosh, no. This is fantastic. I’m excited for you. Random girls pretending to befriend me to get in with my brothers is always annoying, but you aren’t random. Can’t help what Fate brought. That’s different.”
Rebecca forced a smile. The entire thing was taking some getting used to. She could almost ignore the bizarre as long as they were alone in Miles’ house where they spent most of their time having sex. Stepping out into public made her realize how big of a deal this was.
It wasn’t like she could parade around town on the arms of two men. After much discussion, and for the sake of simplicity, the three of them had decided she would pretend to be with Griffen publicly for now.
With that thought in mind, she wasn’t surprised when Griffen came up to her side and set a hand on her lower back.
“Do you think they’re going to let me in today?” she asked Sharon.
“Seems like it. Someone from the fire department is meeting us here to make sure you’re safe while you clear out some things.”
Rebecca nodded as she stepped closer. The damage to the building was worse than she’d expected, although it did indeed appear to be more extensive two units down from her.
Running through her mind nearly constantly was the thought of the threat against her. Human, shifter, or phantom?
In any of those cases, whoever it was missed their mark if they intended to mess with her in particular. Her unit had suffered the least damage.
Take that, whoever you are.
Miles chuckled behind her, and she turned to glare at him for invading her mind again. He held up both hands in surrender, not looking the least bit contrite.
Sure enough, minutes later, a truck from the fire department arrived, and two uniformed men greeted her. They introduced themselves, shook hands with her party, and then opened the door to her apartment to let her inside.
They’d attached an extra lock on the handle to keep out looters and prevent the owners from trying to sneak into their condemned place.
Rebecca reached out for Griffen’s hand and squeezed it as she surveyed the damage. Everything was wet, and black soot covered most surfaces. It would be hard to retrieve much of worth.