24. Flint

“We can postpone.”

Tony was curled up on the sofa asking how many more minutes he could stay there before he had to shower and get ready.

We were going to meet his dad and stepdad, but the dinner had been put off once already, with his father, Evan, canceling at the last minute. I’d also had to swear off once when there was a ruckus on one of our construction sites.

While I had plenty of spies—both in and out of the pack—I had no proof Foley was conspiring with Sewell and other shifters to encroach on our business. I’d kept my silence, not wanting to warn him. But if Emilio got evidence, I would deal with Foley and any others myself.

For the moment, my attention was on my mate and his dad. Tony had related how he often felt like an afterthought growing up. Not that he wasn’t loved, but his dad and stepdad were so wrapped up in themselves, they didn’t have time for him.

That was a huge contrast to my family who were all in one another’s business. They were loud and funny and hugely protective of each other. While I took no shit from my younger brothers, if some other kid gave them a hard time, I was in their face.

“I’m so tired, babe. Our little one is sucking all my energy.”

“Your dad will understand the first trimester is exhausting.” I took one look at my mate’s expression. “Tony, you have told him, haven’t you?”

He avoided my gaze and slid off the couch, padding into the bathroom. Standing under the shower, still wearing his clothes, he brushed his teeth and staggered out, toothpaste foam around his mouth.

“I wanted it to be a surprise. I’m not that far along.”

Now I understood why this dinner had to go ahead, so Tony could announce his pregnancy.

I’d booked a table at a restaurant where we could sit outside on the terrace and each table was secluded from passersby and other diners. The ma?tre d’ greeted us—I was a semi-regular customer or had been before I met Tony when I’d wined and dined clients—and led us to the table. Tony’s folks were already there, their hands clasped.

Tony’s dad, Evan, stared at me, his eyes narrowed. Both my wolf and I picked up a change in his scent, sparked by tension. Meeting your new son-in-law was a potentially prickly situation, so I wasn’t bothered by his wariness.

After Tony did the introductions, I asked his parents questions about their jobs and what Tony was like growing up. I could have pushed a little and mentioned Antonio, but Tony had forbidden me, saying any mention of his father caused his dad stress.

“We have news!” Tony was bouncing on his chair, his earlier exhaustion forgotten, and he took my hand.

Evan and Derek shared a glance, and his dad’s lips set in a straight line. It was an odd reaction when your child was smiling and with a guy he obviously cared about. But my phone beeped, and I apologized, squeezed Tony’s hand saying it was lousy timing, and excused myself.

Emilio was babbling about Foley and the Nightfall pack, he and his men had tapped their phones. But he also told me a retrieval mission had been unsuccessful. Shit, this was our bread and butter. We had a reputation of getting in and out with little fuss.

I’d have to leave the dinner early. Not a good first impression for the in-laws. But when I returned to the table, Tony was on his feet begging his parents to stay while they pushed past me. Evan hissed at me to stay away from his son, before they disappeared between the potted plants.

“What happened?” Fuck, they were insulted ‘cause they thought I’d disrespected them.

Tony was mopping up his tears with a handful of napkins. “Dad said he’d heard you weren’t a good guy and I should stay away from you.” He blew his nose. I’d have to leave an extra-large tip.

Evan may have had some idea who his husband worked for, though the Antonio/Anthony names suggested Tony’s late father kept the two parts of his life quite separate.

“I didn’t wait for you and told them about the baby.”

That brought on more tears, and we left. In the car, Tony let on that his father told him getting pregnant was a huge mistake. “He said I wasn’t responsible like he’d been, and that you’d toss me aside after the little one was born.”

I drove with one hand on the wheel and the other on my mate, wishing I didn’t have a crisis on my hands.

“Where are we going?” Tony looked out the window at the shop windows lit up and passersby hurrying along the sidewalks.

“I’m taking you home, but I have a job to do.” I could have had my guys take Tony home, but after the disastrous meeting with his dad, I refused to hand him over. Even me leaving him at home was meh, but I had to finish this job.

His head snapped to the side. “Like what?” There was a tremor in his voice.

“It’s something only I can do.” That wasn’t strictly true. My men could have done it, but they’d fucked up and lost the scent.

“Don’t lie, babe. I need you to be straight with me.”

“Fine.” I summarized that I had to retrieve a valuable piece of art and return it to its owner.

“I’ll come too.”

I sighed. This wasn’t a group activity. I’d start outside our client’s home. But tracking the thief’s scent could lead me to bars or back alleys, the forest or a lonely stretch of highway. And I’d be in my fur at least part of the time.

“It’s not a good idea.” I’d be leaving the bodyguards behind.

“Flint!” My mate had that tone. The one he’d used when we met. The feisty one. “I’m not a wilting wallflower.” That was one of his favorite responses when I went into full-on alpha-protection mode. “You mated me, you wanted me in your life, and after a bumpy ride, I agreed. You can’t shut me out by saying it’s too much because I’m human and pregnant.”

“Okay, okay. The security guys will be in the car with you.” I didn’t want a procession of three cars following me.

“I can get behind the wheel.”

“No!” He growled at me, and I backed off. “You can drive, right?” Fuck, how had I never asked my mate that before?

“Mmmm.” His sheepish expression didn’t fill me with confidence. “About as well as your dad. But don’t worry. I’ll crawl along.”

Oh gods. Why had I agreed to this? I asked the universe to keep my mate and baby safe.

The house was in an old industrial area, much of the surroundings still in disrepair. The client had bought an abandoned red brick factory and made it part home, part art gallery. There’d be few people on the streets, as most of the buildings were uninhabited.

I picked up takeout, and we ate in the car.

“This is fun. My first stakeout.” Tony shoved a fry in his mouth.

I didn’t correct him, but our work wasn’t fun. We were good at it and got paid accordingly, and sure, I got an adrenaline rush when I was successful.

The bodyguards got in my car, and I drove to the client’s home.

There was no need to shift yet, and after scouting around the front and sides of the two-story building with Victorian-style windows, I identified the aroma of a human mingling with the fragrance of sweat, tension, and oil paint.

“I’m going to take my fur. Stay here.” My beast would likely follow the scent away from the area, but I’d told the security guys where to meet me if I disappeared.

“Wait.” Tony pulled a tracker from his pack. “I’ll put this around your wolf’s neck so I can see where you are.”

My wolf leaped over a wrought-iron fence and through the tall grass of a deserted allotment, tall grass sprouting in the cracked concrete. From there he wound his way around the streets. In the distance, the soft purring of my expensive car told me my mate was in the vicinity.

Strange, my wolf noted. That our human mate is following us.

Strange didn’t begin to explain it.

My wolf traipsed over broken glass and crouched near a burned-out truck, staring into the darkness. Why the client lived in this dump of an area when he had money was beyond me, but his home was secure with high-tech alarms and cameras.

A feral cat arched its back and hissed at my beast before taking off, and mice scuttled through the undergrowth. My wolf padded and sniffed around rusted machinery and piles of trash.

The scent my wolf followed led us to an abandoned warehouse, surrounded by a padlocked fence. Part of the roof had caved in, but there was a flicker of light coming from a far corner and a lower murmur of two voices.

The stealthy humming of my car in the distance—and not for the first time I was thankful I’d spent so much money and it was so quiet—alerted me Tony hadn’t given up the chase.

This is more than weird. Our mate should be at home.

We mated a human. One with his own mind. We have to accept and love his differences.

I told my beast to concentrate on the task. We couldn’t afford another fuck-up. He leaped over the fence and squeezed into the warehouse through a broken door. He treaded over shattered glass, catching the pair as one was on the phone conducting a bidding war.

My beast handled the two men, and I retrieved the painting.

As I walked toward my car, Tony raced out, clapping. “That was so exciting.” He admired the painting. “Aren’t you going to call the?—?”

He caught sight of my face. “Oh. Ohhh!”

I waited, expecting tears and accusations, but he nodded and glanced toward the warehouse, his lip trembling, before getting in the car.