She was so damn cute as she worked herself into a frenzy in my defense. If it had been any other day, I would have helped her work through her mad with a nice, hard fuck. But that wasn’t possible until I’d put protections in place to keep her safe—after I filled her in on the shit they’d actually pulled, which was unfortunately worse than whatever she was dreaming up in her head. “I wish that was what I had to tell you.”
Her already fair skin paled. “Are they…? Have they—”
As soon as I realized how she’d taken what I said, I interrupted her stammer. “Your parents are physically okay, and Larissa’s dad is going to do his best to make sure they stay that way.”
“Crap. Link’s involved?” She cringed at my nod. “Then I guess the reason they aren’t returning my calls is more serious than I expected.”
After I filled her in on the details Link had shared with me, she jumped off the bed to pace back and forth. “I can’t believe them. Even knowing I’m in danger, they still won’t risk their precious business over some stupid deal?”
I didn’t really want to cut her parents any slack, considering the situation they’d put Calliope in, but I hated seeing her so upset. “From what you’ve told me about your parents, they probably don’t realize how far this guy will go to get what he wants. The risks they usually take are purely financial. They aren’t used to dealing with people who are willing to cross any boundary to get what they want.”
“My parents aren’t dumb,” she huffed, coming to a stop in front of me and crossing her arms over her chest. “They aren’t returning my calls for a reason, and I’m willing to bet it’s because they realized they’re in a situation they aren’t used to dealing with and don’t want me anywhere near it.”
“It wasn’t the best decision to make. They should’ve let you know what was going on so you could protect yourself, though. But in the end, their mistake doesn’t really matter,” I reassured her, tugging on her hand to pull her close. “Even if this guy comes looking for you to use as leverage against them, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“What? No.” Calliope shook her head. “I don’t want you to get hurt protecting me.”
I pointed at my chest. “I shift into a six-hundred-pound tiger, remember?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you’re invincible,” she argued with a frown.
“When I’m going up against humans who have no idea what they’re facing, it’s pretty damn close.” My added strength and ability to heal went a long way, and if shit got serious, I could always shift into my tiger.
“You better be because I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you,” she grumbled, burying her face in my chest as she fisted her hands in my shirt.
She didn’t have to worry about me; I wasn’t going to let anything ruin the happiness I’d found with my mate. It was her parents’ adversary who was in for a world of hurt if he tried to pull Calliope into this mess.
9
Calliope
The one upside to the trouble my parents landed me in was that it helped clarify things in my head. Getting a college degree didn’t really matter to me—the life I wanted to build with Tane did. I dropped all my classes without any problems because it was before the deadline and moved my stuff out of the dorm even though it was paid for through the end of the semester.
All the drama also seemed to feed my muse because I’d made great progress on a couple of designs that I could totally picture on the runway in New York. That was a good thing because Tane had told his mom all about my dream to have a show during Fashion Week, and she called me every day to ask for an update on my designs. She and my sisters-in-law were on a mission to make it happen at an insanely fast pace. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve suspected that Tane had let her know we were holding off on getting pregnant until after I fulfilled my dream so I could focus on my family without any work responsibilities pulling me away from them. But that was something we’d agreed to keep between ourselves for now, and I knew my hunky mate would never do anything to betray my trust. Plus, he hadn’t left my side since he found out what was going on.
“I can’t believe I still haven’t heard a peep from my parents. I mean, their priorities have always been a little messed up, but I’ve never doubted their love for me. And they’ve always been protective of me.” I shook my head, feeling dumbfounded by their silence, considering the circumstances.
Tane came out of the en suite bathroom and padded across the room toward me. Taking the sweatshirt I’d grabbed from the closet out of my hand, he tugged it over my head and guided my arms through the holes. “Link probably took their phones away so they couldn’t be tracked.”
“Maybe,” I conceded with a sigh. “It just sucks that they’ve let that stop them from getting ahold of me when you wouldn’t. I’m sure Link would’ve let them call using his phone or something.”
“Damn straight. Nothing would stop me from talking to you,” he agreed, wrapping his arms around me to pull me against his chest. “His entire club could try to lock me down, and that still wouldn’t keep me away from you.”
I grinned a little at the thought of Tane going up against Larissa’s dad and his crew. As tough as
