27. April

TWENTY-SEVEN

APRIL

The next several days passed in a haze of anxiety and worry. All I could think of was Ryland and whatever he was planning next. It was exhausting. Steff tried to help. He and the rest of his friends pretty much had their entire company on high alert. They'd pulled all their employees off every other contract put them on twenty-four-hour rotating watches. They watched me and my family as well as Tate's. We were the ones everyone assumed would be targeted again if the hunters attempted something else. I couldn't help but wonder when they would escalate to actually trying to kill Steff and the other shifters. It made me nauseous with fear just to think about it.

The idea of returning to California had been completely wiped from my mind for days. When your life and the lives of the ones you loved were in danger, it was difficult to think of anything else. When Larry called me that Thursday, I cursed when I saw his number. I hadn't checked in with him in days. I answered the call even though I didn't want to talk to him.

"April? What the hell? I haven't heard from you in almost a week. What the hell is going on?"

I gritted my teeth but put on a fake smile. "Sorry, Larry. Been really busy."

"With getting ready to come home, I hope. I've got a big deal with a luxury car company lined up as soon as you get back. I need to let them know something, though. When's your flight?"

I snapped. I was usually pretty even keel. I'd, thankfully, never developed a lot of the diva habits and personality some women in my world had. I tended to go with the flow. Something about the way Larry was talking to me set my nerves on edge, and I exploded.

"Fuck you, Larry. I told you to see who was interested. I didn't say to go out and sign me the fuck up with anyone."

"Uh… I'm sorry… I thought?—"

"No, you didn't goddamn think, Larry. I know this may be news to you, but, and hear me loud and clear, you… work… for… me!" I shouted the last word into the speaker of the phone. "I have a lot of shit going on right now, and the last thing I'm worried about is rubbing my tits on a fucking luxury sedan, for Christ's sake. I'm not coming home any time soon. Until further notice, I'm not taking any work. Do you understand me?"

There was a long moment of silence, and I could have sworn I heard a gulp. "I apologize, April. I screwed up. I'm sorry, seriously. I'll… I'll wait for your call, okay?"

I sighed, immediately regretting my outburst. "Larry, I'm sorry. There's been some shit going on here… uh… family stuff. It's got me on edge. I didn't mean to bite your head off, but I do want to stay here and not worry about working for a few more weeks."

"Gotcha, kid. Not a problem. I was probably due for an ass chewing. Call me if you need me."

"Thanks. Bye, Larry."

Part of my anger stemmed from the scene at Kris's house when he'd found out what happened to Aiden. Kellan and I had gone over to update them on what had gone down the previous night. Kris had been pissed. He'd asked if we knew who did it, and we told him. I thought he'd go straight to the high school to try to find Ryland. Instead, he paced around his house, fuming.

He'd looked at Chelsea. "You see? This is part of why I'm glad we decided not to have kids. This is the world we'd be trying to raise them in. It's not worth it."

Chelsea had looked devastated and heartbroken. I was pissed at Kris and opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, but Chelsea stopped me with a shake of her head. I shut my mouth, but I wasn't happy about it.

As for Aiden, he seemed to have totally moved past the episode. He still didn't remember who took him or how he got to the park, but he was unfazed by it. He basically shrugged it off. It was amazing how kids could bounce back from stuff. If I'd gone through that, I'd have been in therapy for years. He was out in the yard practicing his swing the next day, though with Kellan keeping a much closer eye on him.

As a precaution, Steff was working at my house. It was more or less to keep an eye on me. I had to admit it was nice having him there. It made things a little less scary. He seemed more stressed and on edge than any of us, though. He'd walked the house, compulsively looking out the windows and testing the locks on the doors. He truly looked like an angry bear pacing his cave, looking for danger. He also hadn't eaten or slept much since Aiden was taken. He'd lost some weight, and dark circles ringed his eyes.

That night in bed, I decided to tell him how I felt. Steff was next to me, but instead of reading like he sometimes would, he had his phone out. It would have been a normal act, except for what I saw on the screen. It wasn't a news site, nor was it a game. God, I would actually have been a little relieved if it had been porn. But no, he was flipping through the different camera feeds from outside. Still unable to calm down and obsessed with keeping us safe.

"Steff, I'm worried about you."

He looked at me in surprise. "You're worried about me ? You're the one in danger."

"That's not true and you know it. At least not totally. Yes, I'm in danger, but you're the shifter. You and your friends. You're the ones the hunters want to kill. The way you've been walking around here like some robotic sentinel? Not eating, barely sleeping? You are freaking me the fuck out."

Steff's face softened, and he dropped his phone in his lap and pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize it had gotten that bad. I don't want to stress you out any more than you already are. I'll do better, I promise."

I rubbed his back as we held each other. "It's okay."

"I feel guilty. No matter what I tell myself, I keep coming back to the thought that all this is my fault."

I'd figured that was part of the problem. "You can't think that. The hunters were already here. Neither Kellan nor I blame you for any of this. Ryland is a sick, twisted monster, and you didn't make him that way."

"Right, but that's the thing. If I wasn't what I was, then he wouldn't be messing with you."

"Steff, if anything, I'm to blame. It looks like Ryland was obsessed with me before all this went down. I went out with him and gave him some kind of false hope."

Steff shrugged a shoulder and raised his eyebrows. "I guess we're a hell of a pair. I never thought I'd date a woman and have a guy be obsessed with both of us. Sounds like the plot of a bad porno."

"Gross, cut it out." I kissed him lightly. "Let go of all that guilt. All we should focus on is stopping Ryland and getting back to normal."

"Right. You're always right. I need to remember that." He furrowed his brow and stuck his chin out like a gorilla. "Me, big dumb man. You, smart strong woman," he said, grunting like a caveman.

I rolled my eyes. "Since we're talking about getting back to normal, I forgot to tell you Larry called earlier."

"What did the ever-delightful Larry need this time?"

"He fucked up, first off. He started trying to chew me out about not having made a decision about going back to LA. I put him in his place pretty quickly, but it kind of feels like it might be better to go back to LA. If nothing else, it may lead some of the danger away from you guys."

Steff growled. "If you go back, I'm going with you. There's no way I'm leaving you unprotected. Besides, you're safer here. You have me, Tate, and the rest of the guys. This is where you need to be."

I snuggled into him and ran a hand across his chest. "That's what I thought. I'm sticking around. Your guys need you here. Plus, my parents are flying in. They freaked when Aiden got kidnapped. They want to be here for a couple of weeks. They'd be pissed if I disappeared back to LA before they got here."

Steff's body stiffened beneath me. "Your parents are coming? When?"

I laughed at the trepidation in his voice. "Oh, you've got plenty of time to get ready. They should be here some time tomorrow. They'll be staying here."

"What the hell?" Steff's face went ghostly pale. "Oh, shit. Your dad's gonna give me hell."

"Oh, yeah. It's gonna be bad." I laughed.

"Ugh. It's gonna be awesome," Steff said, sounding less than enthused.

We pulled the covers up over ourselves, and for the first time in several days, it felt like our spirits were high. I actually slipped into sleep with a smile on my face.

The next day, Steff went with me to pick up my parents from the airport. I was excited to see them. It had been over a year since I'd been able to be with them in person. I'd flown them up to a ski resort in Canada to celebrate my birthday. So much had happened since then, it felt more like ten years.

The whole drive to the airport, Steff was on edge. He couldn't stop fidgeting or messing with the radio. It was a little cute watching him freak out. I understood his nerves, though. I was anxious, too. I was a little worried about how Dad would react to us being back together. It wasn't that his opinion would truly matter—I was a grown woman and could make good decisions. Still, I knew he'd be concerned that things would end the way they had before. He'd always been protective, and he hated Steff for what he did back then. Despite the past, Steff and I were solid now. Nothing my parents said, or wished, would change that.

We stopped off at a florist outside the airport and bought a bouquet of flowers for my mother. Steff held them as we stood on the arrivals platform near the baggage claim and waited for my parents. Mom was the first one to come through the gate. When she saw us, she squealed with delight. She ran to us and wrapped me in a tight hug. The comfort from that connection was almost indescribable. There was something about being in your mother's arms that made everything seem okay.

Mom held me out at arm's length and looked me up and down. "You look absolutely amazing, April. Oh, gosh, I can't even believe it. You're positively glowing."

I grinned, appreciating the praise, but she must have been lying for my benefit. Other than last night, I'd barely slept for over a week. The stress of everything, topped off with Aiden getting kidnapped, had leached any energy from me. I was pretty sure I actually looked like shit. It was still nice to hear her say it, though. Of course, Steff had woken me up that morning with his mouth. He'd given me a toe-curling, back-arching orgasm before we left. That could have been where the glow came from.

Without another word, Mom let go of me and flung her arms around Steff. His eyes bulged in surprise, and he hesitated before putting an arm around her in return. "Um… good to see you, Mrs. Knight. Here, we got you flowers."

I covered my mouth with my hand to hold back my laugh. He sounded like a robot trying to read lines. Mom didn't seem to notice. She took the flowers and was sniffing them when I spotted my dad. At fifty-six, he looked closer to forty-six and still had a handsome face. That face was scowling now, his eyes bolted onto Steff.

His gaze slipped from Steff over to me, and the look on his face immediately softened. He grinned and opened his arms. I fell into him. If a hug from your mother made you feel warm and comforting, a hug from your father was like being wrapped up in a protective blanket. I almost cried.

Dad leaned down and whispered in my ear. "I'm glad to see you, sweetie, but I wasn't happy to only hear about you and Steff before we boarded. That was a surprise I would have preferred to hear about earlier."

I winced and tried not to blush. "Sorry. I kept trying to figure out how to let you know. Then you guys were coming up. I ran out of time, and I told Mom to break the news when you were on the way. I'm sorry."

Dad glared at Steff again. He nodded toward him. "You and I need to have a man-to-man talk soon, son."

Steff swallowed hard and nodded. "I look forward to it, Mr. Knight."

The drive back to Lilly Valley was spent with us trying to give updates on our lives. Mom was interested in Steff's security firm and seemed pretty impressed by the type of people they worked for. The conversation inevitably moved to Aiden's kidnapping. We tried to give them as much information as we could without giving away too much. We didn't even bother to tell them who took him. If we had, Dad would have probably taken a shotgun to the high school and blown Ryland's head off right in front of his students. That would have only served to get Dad put into jail for the rest of his life, and the hunters would have still been after us. There was no benefit to it. As much as he hated keeping things from Mom and Dad, Kellan had agreed to it as well.

Aiden had nearly sprinted to his grandparents. Mom and Dad scooped him up and hugged him. They looked much more emotional than I thought they normally would have. The news of the kidnapping had freaked them out more than they'd let on. Kellan wasn't back to normal, either. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked like he'd slept even worse than I had over the last few days.

Toward the end of the afternoon, before Steff and I left, Mom pulled me aside. "Would you be okay if we stayed with Kellan? It seems like this has been hard on him. Your father and I would like to help out a bit. Try to take some of the stress off. Is that okay?"

Steff would be relieved to postpone his talk with my dad. I nodded. "It's fine, Mom. That makes sense. I'm sure Aiden would love to have you guys around. We'll come by tomorrow and bring Kris and Chelsea. We can have a family cookout or something."

"That's great, April. Thanks." Mom turned to Dad. "Honey, April and Steff are getting ready to go. Come say goodbye."

I hugged my dad, who then stepped over and put his hand out to Steff. The two men shook, but Dad didn't let go. Steff looked at their clasped hands, and his eyes widened slightly, worry evident on his face. I had to bite my lip to keep from grinning.

Dad looked Steff in the eyes. "We'll have that talk tomorrow."

Steff nodded. "Yes, sir."

Out in the truck, Steff let me drive. He sank into the passenger seat and huffed out a deep sigh. He looked at me and shook his head. "I may be a shifter, but your dad still scares the shit out of me."

I burst out laughing and didn't stop chuckling until we were almost home.