16. Rory

16

Rory

S ebastian dropped by Rory’s office the next morning. “Good morning, Brother.”

“Morning,” Rory said. “I’m sorry, I’m not taking any new clients. You look guilty as hell anyway.”

“I probably am. However, I just stopped by to get some free coffee. Your receptionist makes the best coffee.”

“For you. It’s because she has the hots for you.” Rory laughed.

As if on cue, Mary Ann knocked on the door and said, “I brought you both a cup of coffee. Sebastian said he needed one and you always need one,” she said to Rory while smiling at Sebastian.

She brushed by him, making sure that they touched. Rory tried not to laugh as the woman looked like she was going to melt on the spot. Mary Ann put her hand on Sebastian’s back as she slowly left the office.

“Just holler if you need anything else,” she said, in an attempted sexy voice, as she batted her eyelashes at Sebastian.

“Close the door behind you, please,” Rory said.

Reluctantly, she stepped out of the office and shut the door. Rory grinned at his brother.

Sebastian held up his finger, shook his head, and said, “Don’t even start. That poor girl can’t help it. I’m so irresistible.”

“You keep telling yourself that,” Rory said. “So, what’s on your mind. I know you didn’t stop by here just to make Mary Ann’s panties wet.”

“I might have. The poor girl needs a treat once in a while,” Sebastian said. “I just came by to hand you the written reports that my guy in Wyoming did, although I already told you everything.”

“So did Savvy. I asked her why she didn’t tell me why she was a witch from the very beginning. She said that she didn’t think it would matter. She wouldn’t use her witch powers to take care of the kids unless she had to protect them – which she did when Eva came out of the woods.”

“What about her mother?”

“She was honest about her and said that they hadn’t talked in a very long time – since Savvy was sixteen or something like that. She said that her mother isn’t very powerful and more of a hanger-on to Matilda, Beth’s mother.”

Sebastian nodded. “That is what the reports say.” He studied Rory for a minute and then asked, “You had sex with her again, didn’t you?”

“Is it that obvious? Do I stink or something? I did take a shower last night.”

“No. I just know you. You can’t hide things like that from me.”

“Yeah, we did.” Rory sighed. “I’ve told myself a hundred times to keep my hands and dick off of the nanny. Then, last night, we checked on Drake because he had a bad dream. She was so tender and motherly to him, and they clearly love each other. It was beautiful.”

“You’re becoming poetic,” Sebastian said. “Are you falling in love with her?”

“I don’t know what it is. I can’t get her scent out of my head. It actually haunts me and makes me feel warm inside like I do after I’ve had a few beers.”

“You’re in trouble, boy. Zac, our fearless alpha, said he knew that Olivia was his fated mate the first time he laid eyes on her because of her scent. Look at them now.”

“I loved Eva, but I never detected any kind of scent on her.”

“Maybe you weren’t in love with her. And she obviously isn’t your fated mate. You needed her to come into your life so that you could have Drake and Cat. Then, she went down the path she chose because she needed to make room for Savvy, who is your fated mate.”

Rory nodded and said, “I guess that is always a possibility. I do feel something for Savvy. Something more than just lust. I just don’t know what it is.”

“It’s not like you have to rush into anything,” Sebastian said. “You don’t want to get hurt, you don’t want to hurt Savvy, and you damn sure don’t want to hurt the kids.”

“Yep, yep,” Rory said.

“Speaking of Eva and the kids, what’s going on in that corner?”

“She wants to spend time with them. I let her go to the playroom and talk to them. They didn’t say a word to her except to tell her that Savvy is family and that they love her.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Oh? How did that come about and what was her reaction?”

“Eva tried to put a block on a Lego castle they were building. Drake pulled it away from her. Eva told them that they could do things together and that she could be there for them. Cat said they had Savvy. Eva got a little angry and said that Savvy wasn’t family. Drake said that she was family and that they love her. Eva started to say something, but I decided to get her out of there before she said something that the kids wouldn’t forgive her for. After she left, they asked me if they had to spend time with her. I told them that they wouldn’t be forced to do anything they didn’t want to do, but that they should give her a second chance.”

“What do you think?”

“I think that she’s going to hang around for just a little while. Then, she’s going to get wrapped up in the new television show she’s playing in and will forget about the kids.”

“Luckily, you have a good lawyer who can fight anything she tries to put out there,” Sebastian said.

“True enough,” Sebastian said. “I have to meet with a client. We hanging at Howlers’ tonight?”

“Yeah, after the kids go to bed.”

After lunch, he met with another pro bono client. Their daughter, Vanessa, was a straight A student. She participated in a lot of after-school activities and was well-liked by all of her teachers. She was also getting bullied, particularly by a girl named Nancy. Vanessa and her family had reported the issue to the school several times, but nothing was done about the situation. At one point, Vanessa had enough and the two arranged to meet outside of school grounds to settle the issues. Nancy threw the first punch. Vanessa tripped Nancy and slammed her head against the ground until she was unconscious.

The district attorney wanted to try Vanessa as an adult, even though she was only fifteen. Vanessa admitted that, after the fact, she realized that she had gone too far. However, during the fight, she was frustrated, scared, and tired of being the constant target of bullying. Nancy was going to be fine.

Rory liked Vanessa and thought that she was genuinely a good girl who’d had enough. All too often, bullying victims took their own lives, resorted to self-harm, drinking, or substance abuse. They feel powerless, especially when the people who are supposed to protect the victims, don’t.

He was tired by the time he made it home. After he and the pups shifted and went for a run in the woods, he was about ready to just call it a night. However, after they were in bed, he decided to go to Howlers’ for a while – if for no other reason than to put some distance between him and Savvy.

“The Silver Fangs are pushing it,” one of the Griffin members said. “They are making problems in some of the towns just outside of Angel’s Creek.”

“Let their law enforcement deal with it. We’ll handle it if it becomes a problem in our community,” Sebastian said.

“You mean when it becomes a problem,” another Griffin said. “They have made it clear that they are going to start trouble with us.”

“Let them,” Rory said. “They can start trouble all they want to, but we won’t go looking for it.”

“They started something when we went on our ride,” another Griffin said.

“And I handled it when Blackjack swung on me,” Sebastian said. “If the rest of the club had swung on you, then you would have defended yourself until the threat was neutralized. We don’t fight to kill. We fight to neutralize, just like I did with Blackjack.”

Most of the Griffins agreed that way was the Rory and Sebastian’s edicts, although there were a few who grumbled. It was clear that they wanted a fight. Rory wasn’t sure if it was because they felt as though the Silver Fangs had insulted the club by following them on the ride or if it was because they simply wanted to fight.

The next hour or so, they talked about their lives, until a couple of the Griffins started to get a little rowdy.

One of them, Mike, walked over to a pretty woman sitting with her friend.

“Hey, gorgeous. I was wondering if I could buy you a drink and we could get to know each other.”

“No, thanks. I’m with my friend.”

Mike got closer to her, pushing his body against her side, and said, “You don’t need to be so stuck up. I think we could have us a real nice time.”

“I don’t think so. Please back off.”

Mike reached for her, but Sebastian grabbed his arm, twisted it around Mike’s back, and pushed up.

“You’re going to break my fucking arm,” Mike yelled.

“I’m going to break more than that if you don’t take your sorry ass home. But first, you will apologize to her for interrupting her dinner and showing your ass.”

Mike growled, and Sebastian wretched his arm up further.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

The woman grinned and said, “Apology accepted.”

Two other Griffins grabbed Mike’s arms and hauled him outside.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. Please let me buy your dinners and drinks tonight,” Sebastian said.

“No, thank you,” she said. “That’s not necessary.”

Rory called Sean over and handed him enough money to pay for their food and drinks, plus a large tip for the waitress and bartender.

Jade walked over and grinned. “You shouldn’t have stepped in. Melissa has two black belts in two different martial arts, knows how to street fight, and has a mean streak a mile wide when she gets riled. I would have loved to see her literally tie Mike into a knot. He would have never looked at another woman again.”

All of the Griffins laughed and one of them said, “When Mike’s wife finds out what he did tonight, he won’t ever look at another woman again.”

“How is she going to find out?” Rory asked.

The woman smiled and said, “I’m going to tell her.”

Laughing, Rory handed Jade enough money to cover his and Sebastian’s drinks. He said, “I need to get home. I’ve got to get my beauty rest.”

“Lord howdy, do you ever,” Sebastian said.

As expected, the house was quiet when he got home. It was only a little after ten, so he hoped that Savvy was in the library – and, at the same time, he hoped that she wasn’t.

It was empty, but the light in her suite was on. He put his hand up to knock, but then muttered, “Leave her alone until you get your feelings sorted out.”