I laugh as I watch them. This family has helped me in so many ways. It’s not just the love and support that they all share. It’s the fun and happiness they bring to each other. They make me think of my parents and how much they would’ve loved Lake Renegade.
All major decisions in Lake Renegade are handled by the council. There are seven of them: Enea, Leonardo and Antonio Mancini, Giacomo Bastianini, Zeus Athanasiou, Panagiotis Nikolaidis and Elio Salvadori. I have a meeting with them today, there’s something I’ve been thinking about that I need their approval for. I really hope they say yes.
Lily
As I was walking to work today, it felt like I was being followed. I’ve never felt unsafe here…until today. I keep looking around, but I don’t see anyone or anything that could be making me feel this way. But I can feel the hairs on my arm standing at attention. And it’s really creeping me out.
When I finally get to my office, I take a minute to settle myself. It takes a few minutes to shake the feeling I was having on my way in. I’ve been a full-time staffer here for two years, and everyone here is great to work with. I used to think that I wanted to work at a big, fancy newspaper or magazine. But now I know this is what I love. Small town local news, it lets us get to know the people we write about. The only time I don’t like it is when something happens and we have to expose people we know.
The first thing I do today is check my email. I’m working on another book for an author. I work with five authors and three of them use me exclusively for their series. One of them is Carter James, he’s a best-selling author. This is the third book I’ve done for him. He’s the one that I’ve never talked to on the phone or in person. Only emails and text messages. The others, I’ve met in person, and we talk on the phone weekly when I write books for them.
I’ve sent Carter the first half of the book and I’m waiting for his feedback. I’m getting nervous about it, he’s never taken more than a few days to read and let me know if I’m on the right track. This time it’s been two weeks. I keep wondering if he didn’t like it.
I try to get my mind off of waiting and decide to answer emails and get my articles ready for this week’s print. We used to do a daily printing, but now we do one on Wednesday and one on Sunday. Unless there’s something important that requires a special edition to be put out.
Unknown Text: You should be more careful about things you write
I frown at my phone. I’ve never had anyone get mad at me for something I’d written. So I have no idea what this is about.
Lily: Who is this? What are you talking about?
Unknown Text: Just be careful. Or you might find yourself in the same situation
What in the fuck? What situation? I haven’t written any pieces for the newspaper that could put me in a bad situation. The last article was about the Christmas fair. And I’m finishing up a piece for the New Year’s festival for this Sunday. But no one’s read that yet, not even my editor. Could it be Carter? But why would he threaten me? And I don’t know the number that it came from. I decide to text Carter.
Lily: Hey Carter, I was wondering if you were having issues with the book. Please get back to me as soon as you can
I hate waiting for things. I’m not a patient person.
CHAPTER THREE
Lily
Somehow, I get through half my day without texting or emailing Carter again. I need to finish up my article on the festival. We do it every year and it lasts for a week. There’s food and craft vendors that are there every day starting on Monday. Because it’s Texas, it doesn’t get super cold here. So holiday festivals are always fun to do. Last year, it stormed the week of the festival, so this year we’re prepared. We have a huge tent setup instead of everyone being outside. It’s like a circus tent and we have fans inside to help with circulation. As I’m making a list of the vendors and food stalls, my phone chimes.
Carter: I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you. The book is great. How long do you need to finish it?
Lily: That’s a relief. I can get the rest of it done in two weeks. Three, tops. Will that work?
Carter: That’s perfect. Thank you again for all this, you’re a great storyteller
Lily: I appreciate that. Thank you. I’ll be in touch soon
It’s such a relief that he’s liking the book so far. This one is different than what I’ve written for him before. The other books were ex-military romance. This one is an assassin that kills the wrong person and then they fall in love with the wife of the person he killed. It’s definitely interesting and romance has been a fun genre to write. The other romance authors I work with don’t write dark themes. Only Carter’s books have killing in them.
After getting his texts, I’m pretty sure that the other texts weren’t from him. So who the fuck are they from, and what the hell is it about? Maybe they’ve mistaken me for someone else? I mean I don’t even write human-interest stories for the paper. I write about things going on in the community, so those texts must have been a mistake.
I spend the rest of the day getting the article ready and turned in. We don’t work weekends unless there’s something that requires a special edition for the paper.
“Have a great weekend, Lily, see you Monday,” my editor, Jameson, says as I wave goodbye to him.
I pack up my stuff and head out too. I haven’t heard from that weird texter again, so maybe it really was a wrong number. I’m excited to work on Carter’s book this weekend.
Tristan
I don’t know why I’m so nervous to talk to the council. I know all of them and I doubt they’re going to deny my request. I head to the Cimaruta MC clubhouse, it’s where they have all the council meetings. I’m also considering prospecting with the MC. Most of the family is either prospecting or is already a patched member of the MC, even the ones in the Mancini Mafia. Yep. Mafia. Some days I feel like I live in a TV show. We have mafia, MC and shifters. Now the shifters were the ones that took me by surprise the most. I mean, come on, if anyone had told me that I would be around real-life shifters? I would’ve laughed at them. But they’re real, and holy shit I wish I could be one. The Athanasious are polar bears and the Nikolaidises are white tigers. Both are equally impressive.
Each of the families occupy an area of the property, and in the middle is a huge campground. There’s a few ponds and trails for hiking. We even have a sanctuary. Right now we just have otters in it, but I heard there’s plans to bring more animals in. It’s peaceful and beautiful, every time I take a walk there, I feel like I’m home. It’s where I want to set down roots and eventually raise a family.
