“And that leaves Georgios,” Remy said.
“He is of the sea,” Kieran explained. “Georgios was selected by the gods to protect everything in the sea.”
“Guid names,” Brian said, gruffly. “Very guid names for our Nessies.”
Chapter 23
Trailing behind Steel, Cain tried to keep up, but his head felt like it was on a swivel, moving from side to side, as it took in his surroundings. Never in his life had he been in a house as big as this one, and it was blowing his mind. This was his new home and that thought kept rocketing around his brain until he was sure his head was going to explode.
Glancing over his shoulder, Steel grinned at the look on Cain’s face, remembering the same on Jackson’s the first time his mate took the tour. He stopped and turned around, waiting for Cain to catch up and when he did, Steel said, “This is the Great Room…the center of the house, and there are two wings off it, north and south…mainly bedrooms.” Then pointing left, he continued, “There’s the dining room and, beyond that, the kitchen.”
“Where’s the garden?” Cain asked.
“Out back,” Steel replied. “I can show you after you’ve had something to eat.”
The house and the property on which it stood puzzled Cain. No one had told him that some shifters were wealthy, but obviously some had to be to afford a place like this. In fact, in his entire life, he’d never known or even heard of someone being this rich and that meant Jackson could hire anyone he wanted to help with the ‘human problem’. He wasn’t sure if Jackson called it that, but that’s how Cain had started to refer to it in his mind. The ‘human problem’. He was a human so did that mean he could be a problem to Jackson, too? And if he became one, would Jackson kill him after he’d fulfilled his purpose?
It was all too much for his brain to handle so, instead, Cain did what had helped him in the past; he shoved all his questions aside and thought only about the current situation. Turning his gaze downward as they made their way to the kitchen, he focused on the back of Steel’s shoes, staying so close to him that there was no way he could avoid bumping into him after the Alpha Mate stopped abruptly, once they were inside.
“What are you doing here?” Steel asked. “And where’s my dumb ass brother?”
“Stop calling him that,” Dakota said.
“Nope…not until he fixes his shit.”
“Your brother has ‘fixed his shit’ as you put it,” Dakota replied. “We talked, he listened to me and we came to an agreement about his control issues. And since you gave me the day off, we’re heading up to my special spot.” Then, lifting a packed picnic basket, he added, “We are gonna spend the rest of the day eating and doing the hanky-panky…something that’s been sadly lacking in our lives since Mac ordered me to stay in bed because of the complications.”
“Please,” Steel held up his hand. “I got the picture. Go…and take all your talk of hanky-panky with you.”
Listening, Cain didn’t understand most of Steel’s conversation with the man in the kitchen, but he did know what hanky-panky was. Peering around Steel, he looked at the man who’d planned what he thought sounded like a great afternoon, especially since it’d been a long time since he did the hanky-panky with anything other than his fist. And even that had stopped once they put him into solitary since he was under camera surveillance twenty-four hours a day.
Remaining silent, Cain watched as the man left, but not before memorizing his face so he could ask him about where to go to have some fun—that is, if he was given permission. Adding it to his list of things to ask Jackson about, Cain sat down in a chair the Alpha-Mate had pointed to.
“Anything you don’t like to eat?” asked Steel, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed against his chest.
It took a moment for Cain to realize the question was directed to him because he was busy looking around the kitchen Shaking his head, he said, “Nope…I like it all.”
“That makes it easy,” Steel murmured, taking the ingredients he needed out of the refrigerator.
After watching Steel start making scrambled eggs, Cain continued his survey of the room, impressed by the sheer size of it. Finally, when his mind demanded answers to the many questions floating in it, he asked, “Who were you calling a dumb ass?”
Chuckling, Steel threw ten slices of bacon on the griddle before saying, “My brother.”
“Why’s he a dumb ass?”
“He was screwing up with his mate, Dakota, who is also Jackson’s brother, by the way.”
“Dakota…that’s who you were talking to?”
“Yup…and I advise you not to piss him off since he usually makes all the meals.”
“He’s a chef?”
Nodding, Steel said, “He is…and a damn good one.”
“Are there any other chefs?”
Pausing, Steel thought for a moment. “Well, I’d call Theo a chef-in-training.”
