“Kind of got this down to a science,” Smitty noted as he clung to the coffee mug like his life depended on it.

“So many kids,” Jess said, “we have no choice.”

Jess poured herself a mug of coffee, and as she placed the pot back in the machine, she said, “I’m going upstairs to pack. When I come down, you’ll be gone.” She patted his cheek. “See ya.”

One stubby Russian finger poked him in the head. “How did you screw up? Are you slow?”

“Don’t poke my head.”

“Don’t pick on him.” May topped off his coffee. “I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding.”

“No, Jess is quite sure he is fool. And I think I agree with her.”

“Why are y’all picking on me?”

“Because,” Phil snapped, “if you screw this up, we’re stuck with Sherman Landry or an equivalent.” Phil glared at him. “That is unacceptable to me.”

“Sorry I’m screwing up your life.”

“Just get it right.” Danny let out a deep breath. “You’ve got one more shot here. We’re going to our Long Island house.”

“And?”

“Marissa Shaw’s property butts ours. Do the math, hillbilly,” Phil snarled between clenched teeth.

“That’ll work,” May said with that constant cheerfulness. It was annoying. “You can ‘accidentally’ meet up with us at some point.” She winked at him.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“You better,” Phil bit out. “Because if I have to deal with Landry on a regular basis, there will be hell to pay.”

“Mornin’, sunshine.”

Brendon, dressed in only a towel and fresh from his shower, slowly turned away from his kitchen sink and faced the man who had quickly become the bane of his existence. His sister had been right, it seemed. She said you take on one Packmate, you take on them all. Now, nearly every day, he found some wolf wandering around his home, eating his food, watching his TV—and he wouldn’t even discuss the bathtub incident.

“Why are you here?”

Smitty held up a bowl of plain yogurt. “I was hungry.”

“This is a hotel. You can get room service. In another room. Even better, another hotel—in another state.”

“True enough. True enough. But I do have a question for you.”

Brendon took a deep, cleansing breath. “Okay.”

“Your sister has property near the Kuznetsov Pack’s, right?”

“The one out on Long Island?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah. So?”

“Any plans for this weekend?”

Brendon folded his arms in front of his chest, his patience sprinting out of the room.“Spit it out, canine.”

“Thought we could bring the Pack there, maybe Mace and Dez, since we have this long weekend coming up. Make it a family thing.”

“And you want to take them to the property that just happens to butt up against your girlfriend’s Pack’s?”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

Yet.

Brendon had been there. He knew the possessive look in the man’s eye. Poor idiot. He had no idea. None. But Smitty had given Brendon’s boneheaded brother a job that kept him in New York and out of trouble. More important, Smitty had brought him Ronnie Lee. For that alone he owed the man, although under torture he’d never admit that out loud. “All right, little puppy, we can go. Besides, it’ll be fun watching her ignore you.”

“That’s real kind of you, hoss.”

“Well, ya know... ” Brendon grinned. “I do try.”

Chapter 23

Jess loved this. Loved coming to this place. To this sanctuary. To relax and be at peace.

“So you gonna marry this guy?”

Jess sighed loud and long. Of course, when you brought the pups along, one risked the whole sanctuary thing.

“Why,” Jess asked while sitting on the front porch of the Long Island Pack house staring out at the woods dusted in snow, “must you ruin my weekend with your incessant questions?”

“I asked one.” Johnny sat down in a chair next to her, a cup of hot chocolate in his hands. “After what Kristan told me and now seeing him in your apartment, I was just wondering—”

“Kristan was supposed to keep her mouth shut.”

“Yeah, good luck with that.”

“And you didn’t see anything.” Jess took Johnny’s hot chocolate and sipped it. “So what are you wondering anyway?”

“If you marry this guy—”

“I’m not going to marry him.”

“—will that change the whole adoption thing?”

Jess turned in her chair and stared at Johnny. And she kept staring until the boy twisted uncomfortably in his chair. “What?”

“See this?” Jess pointed at her face. “This is my unhappy expression.”

Johnny’s lips turned up a bit at the corners. “Your unhappy expression?”

“Yes, this is the expression I get when I’m unhappy.”

“Oh. And you’re unhappy because... ”

“Because you actually think that some man, any man, could make me change any of my decisions. I didn’t know you saw me as such a wuss.”

“I don’t. It’s just... ” Johnny shrugged. “My mom changed her whole life over a guy, and she was one of the toughest women I knew.”