Page 21 of Chased

Boomer said, “Which means he can hack the parental controls in about thirty seconds. But you can tell him if he spoils it for you, I’ll blow up his drones.”

Breanna laughed. She said to Madison, “I guess you met Boomer when you came in. His real job is explosives and weapons expert.” She eyed the suitcase and added to Boomer, “And just so you know, Switch isn’t gonna let you move in with us just because our TV is bigger than yours. Even if you do bring your cute pink suitcase.”

“Har har,” Boomer said. “This is hers.” He jerked his head at Madison, then said to her, “Cisco and Matéo brought your car in and took it over to the motor pool. I was coming up here, so I got to be the bellboy. I accept cash tips. Also whiskey, cookies, and dick kiss—”

“Shut up, Boomer,” came Sanchez’s voice from behind her. “And keep your fucking dick to yourself.”

“Whatever, dude,” Boomer said. “Never hurts to put it out there.” Sanchez growled, and he added virtuously, “Geez. Not literally. Some people think of nothing but sex.”

Breanna said briskly, “Well, let Madison get settled in before you start sexually harassing her, okay? Thanks for bringing her stuff up, though.”

“I appreciate it,” Madison said, hoping they were kidding about the harassment.

“No prob.” He looked Madison over. “Your luggage smells like coffee, by the way. Which is weird. You okay to carry it up to the cabin? You look like something the cat dragged in. For an extra tip, I’ll do it.” He gave an exaggerated leer.

“I got it,” Sanchez said. “Go away now.” Boomer flipped him off, waved at Breanna and Madison, and departed.

Breanna spun around to face Sanchez. “I thought you left. What are you even still doing here?”

“Lurking,” he said. “I get paid to lurk. It’s my job. And also, your cookie ingredients are out in the truck with our supplies. You want them?”

“Oh, you picked them up? You’re an angel.”

Sanchez snorted, but Madison saw a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. It seemed everybody liked Breanna.

Breanna said, “Can you drop them off at Switch’s and my cabin? And if you really don’t mind taking Madison’s suitcase up…”

“Not a problem.”

“Great. Okay then. We better go now, before something else—”

Before the whole sentence was even out of her mouth, Breanna’s phone blew up with a whole series of text alerts. “Oh, look,” she said, rolling her eyes. “A shiny new crisis. Fuck my life.”

She scrolled through the messages, then said apologetically to Madison, “I really need to deal with this right away. You can grab some coffee while you wait. And a pastry, if you’re hungry. I’m sorry.”

Sanchez said, “What, you trust me with the suitcase, and not with her? I know where the fucking cabin is.”

Breanna stared for a second, and then seemed to recover herself. “Okay. Well, if you don’t mind…” She turned to Madison. “I’ll be up later, to make sure you have everything you need.” She headed back to the front office.

Sanchez said, “Did you fix your blisters, down at the market?” Madison nodded. “Then we’ll walk. It’s not far.” He picked up her suitcase, sniffed, and frowned. “It does smell like coffee.”

So okay, she’d escaped with three pounds of coffee in her suitcase. Big deal. Madison said, “Coffee is the most important meal of the day. I brought my own.”

And she followed him out the back door.

Chapter 10

Walking across the compound next to Sanchez, Madison was once again overwhelmed by the sheer power of his presence. He seemed to be all leashed aggression and dominance, and yet here he was, picking up cookie ingredients for Breanna and carrying her suitcase.

Teen soaps and luggage carrying—it was not what she’d expected of a place full of professional wolf soldiers. Nothing here was what she’d expected, and she didn’t quite know how to handle it.

She especially didn’t know how to handle Sanchez and his lurking, especially because he wasn’t helping her out by talking.

Searching for something to say, she happened on, “How do we get into the cabin? Don’t we need keys?”

Sanchez gave a little snort. “Keys? This is a wolf pack, babe. We have each other’s backs—we don’t steal from each other.” He paused. “Well, except for Dealer. He’s a professional thief, so he has to keep in practice. He’ll give the stuff back, though.”

That sounds fun, Vixen remarked. I would like to steal things. Maybe he would teach us? Except if he stole our things, we would have to bite him.