Sinclair
When I arrive at the home of Ella’s former employer, it takes all my strength to push my wolf down deep. The last thing I need is to actually murder a human, no matter how badly I might want to.
She deserves it. My wolf mutters mutinously, think about how easy it would be. Then she’d never be able to hurt Ella again.
Maybe so, but Ella wouldn’t like it. I remind him, recalling how the precious creature had worried for the children, even when her own safety and happiness was on the line.
Hmph, she’s got you wrapped around her little finger. My wolf accuses.
Oh, like she doesn’t have you in the exact same position? I scoff. I’d like to see you resist her when she’s blinking those beautiful big eyes up at you, begging you not to orphan innocent children.
Please, you spoke over the phone! He reminds me, his voice trailing off into growls of longing as he pictures her. You couldn’t see her eyes or those plump, pouty lips or the sweet swell of her belly. You couldn’t smell her delectable scent or…
And I’m the one who’s whipped? I roll my eyes as I knock on the heavy rosewood door.
To my surprise, Jake and Millie answer the door, tilting their blonde heads up to me with excited grins. “Mr. Sinclair!”
My wolf calms as soon as he sees the children, softening like the big teddy bear he is. “Well hello!” I drop down to their level, unable to resist their adorable smiles. “I haven’t seen you two in ages, what have you been up to?”
“We haves a new nanny.” Millie whispers conspiratorially, reaching out to play with my tie.
“She never takes us on walks in the neighborhood.” Jake explains, clearly blaming his new carer for our increasingly infrequent meetings. “She’s too lazy and she hates being outside.”
“That’s too bad.” I commiserate, pulling Millie into my arms and lifting her up as I ruffle Jake’s hair affectionately. “Doesn’t she know growing boys and girls need to get out and explore?”
“I don’t thinks so.” Millie frowns seriously. “She’s not very smart.”
“I miss Ella.” Jake adds miserably. “Mommy’s been saying lots of mean things about her, but we don’t believe her. Ella was the best nanny we’ve ever had.”
“Well I know Ella misses you too.” I confide. “You know she’s living with me now?”
“She is?” Jake gapes. “You mean you get to play with her all day long?”
“Whenever you wants?” Millie adds in awe.
“Well, not whenever I want.” I confess. If only they knew how badly I’d like to stay home with Ella all day, both playing and not playing. “My job keeps me very busy, but she’s there in the morning and when I get home at night. She tells me how badly she wants to see you.”
“Maybe you can convince Mommy to let her visit?” Jake suggests, staring up at me so hopefully I feel guilty for thinking that nothing I could possibly say to their horrible mother will make her come around.
“I can try.” I promise, patting the boy on the shoulder, “and you two should know you’re welcome at my home anytime.”
Maybe we should get rid of their mother after all. My wolf insinuates in my head. Think how happy Ella would be if we brought them home with us.
I’m not stealing children just to make Ella smile. I argue, tempting as it may be.
Spoilsport. His objections are interrupted when Jake and Millie’s mother appears at the top of the stairs. She stops dead when she sees me. Her face pales, but she plasters on a phony smile. “Mr. Sinclair, to what do we owe this honor?”
“You and I need to speak.” I answer coldly, surprising the children. I set Millie on the ground, smiling widely so that they know my harsh tone is not directed at them. “Your Mommy and I need a few minutes alone, but I’ll come say goodbye, before I leave. I promise.”
Their mother calls for the nanny, her voice very shrill. The children are swept away by a middle aged woman with a grim face, and I’m struck by how uninterested she seems in her charges. She doesn’t even speak to them as she leads them out of the room.
“Well, Mr. Sinclair, what can I help you with?” Ella’s blackmailer questions, as if she doesn’t already know why I’m here. She guides me into a parlor, gesturing towards a plush couch. “Please, have a seat.”
“No.” I declare firmly. “Call me crazy, but I don’t think false politeness is appropriate when you’re threatening my family.”
Her eyes go wide, and her heart rate increases, racing violently in her chest. “I–I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Do not lie to me.” I growl, letting some of my wolf’s ferocity bleed into my voice. The woman reels back, shivering for reasons she doesn’t understand. She may have the dull intuition of a human, but even humans know when they’re in the presence of a lethal predator intent on destroying them.
“Please, it wasn’t what you think!” She lies, her voice unsteady and choking with defiance.
“Oh I’d like to hear this.” I state ominously, prowling towards her. “I’d like to know what kind of twisted logic made you think it would be wise to try and blackmail the most powerful man on the continent.”
“But I wasn’t blackmailing you!” She immediately objects, too stupid to realize that I wouldn’t be nearly this angry if I had been her target. “I only wanted people to see that grasping little gold digger –”
“If you have any brains in that foolish head of yours, you’ll stop while you’re ahead.” I interrupt, clenching my hands into fists.
“You may have no sense of loyalty yourself, but where I come from, if you threaten one member of the family you threaten all of them. If you insult one, you insult them all.”
“But that isn’t, I would never –”
“Let me tell you the situation you’re in.” I cut her off again, my voice as deep as it can become without devolving into wordless snarls. “You first fired my fiancée when she did nothing wrong. You deprived your own children of the most loving caregiver they could ever hope for. You spread rumors among your friends to ensure Ella wouldn’t be able to find another job.” The wretched woman is cowering against the wall now, having backed away from me until she could move no further.
I don’t show her any mercy, I continue stalking until I’m towering over her. “Now if it had been up to me, I would have destroyed you for that alone, but not Ella. She’s much too good, not that you ever saw that. So I agreed to let you go on living your obscenely prosperous life without interference.”
I can smell her fear – sour and acrid. “But then you learned that despite your efforts to ruin Ella’s life, she found happiness with me. Now I don’t know if you’re just so bitter and heartless that you couldn’t stand to see a hard-working young woman succeed, or if you saw my fortune and decided to try and steal part of it for yourself. But either way, you came into my home and called the mother of my child a cheap whore. You threatened to spread your lies in the tabloids. You tried to extort a man who could take away your wealth and your freedom with a single snap of my fingers, and you hurt the woman I love.”
I’m sure my wolf is glowing in my eyes, and suddenly the aroma of urine fills the air. I can see the hot liquid running down the woman’s stockings, and my adrenaline spikes with the knowledge that my prey is well and truly cornered. “You also alienated the only person who was protecting you from my wrath in the first place.”
“I’m sorry!” She sobs, shaking like a leaf. “I was a fool, I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ll do anything, just please don’t hurt me.”
“Shut up, you stupid cow.” I bite. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not even going to ruin your life, because Ella still loves your children even though they’ve got a worthless hag for a mother. But mark my words, if I ever see you near my family again, I will destroy you.”
I proclaim, speaking with absolute conviction. “If the lies you tried to blackmail us with ever get out, if a single word of your vitriol makes it to a tabloid editor– whether you are the source or not – I will take away everything you care about in the world.”
She nods, sobbing and snivelling like a child. “I-I promise. You have my word.”
“Good.” I growl, starting to turn away. “And for the record, you absolute idiot – I own stock in every press outlet and newspaper from here to the coast. No one will ever publish a story about me without asking for my permission first. You think about that before you ever consider trying to get your story out as leverage against me.”
She sinks to the ground, and I leave her to wallow in her own shame and piss. I keep my promise of course, I go to wish the children farewell, and go home to tell Ella the news.
