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“Tell me more about Murphy.” I wanted to know about the mother, but Murphy took priority.

“He has a base upstate. That’s all I know.”

“Tell me something I don’t already know.” My patience was wearing thin.

“You know about the base?” He sat forward. “Then why don’t you take him out?”

“Because I need details.” I’d found a few possible places that could be their compounds, but I didn’t have enough evidence yet.

“I don’t have those. I just know he’s upstate.”

“There’s more.” I could always tell when someone was holding back.

“Murphy’s there, but I don’t think the boss is.”

“The boss?” So I was right. Murphy wasn’t in charge.

“Yeah. I don’t know anything about him.”

“Who do you know about?”

“Murphy and his brother, Fin.”

“Fin?”

“Yeah. He dated Casey for awhile, and I think he’d be a decent guy if it weren’t for his brother.”

“So he may be the easier one to break?”

“Exactly.”

“Got it.” Kid brother who liked Casey. Great. Like a lot of other things, that bothered me more than it should have.

A knock on the door had us both turning.

“Rhett? I thought I heard voices in here. What are you doing back so soon?” a woman asked from the doorway.

“Ah, I decided to cut my research short.”

I slipped out while they talked. I needed to discover more about the boss. Whoever it was, wasn’t someone I wanted to meet unprepared.

***

Allie had a knack for always calling me at inopportune times. It’s not like she called often, but when she did, there was always a reason.

“Hello, princess.” I grabbed my phone as I toweled myself off. I’d heard her ringer just as I was finishing up. If it were anyone else, I probably would have let it go to voicemail, but upsetting Allie would just make things worse with Levi.

“Hi. This isn’t a bad time, is it?”

“Not unless you mind talking to me when I’m naked.” I had to push her buttons. She might be my best friend’s mate, but it was too hard to resist.

“Thanks for that fabulous mental picture, but believe it or not, I didn’t call to confess my burning desire for you.”

“Good. That could have made things awkward with Levi.”

She sighed. “I’ll get to the point. You need to make things right with Casey.”

“I did make things right. I told her to stay away.”

“Jared!”

“Allie!” I stepped into a pair of pants.

“You need to do something. I don’t want her beating herself up about it anymore. It’s not good for her.”

“What’s she beating herself up about?”

Allie groaned. “Seriously? Are you that dense? She feels awful about sleeping with you. She opened herself up to you just to have the door slammed in her face. She needs to know it’s not her fault.”

“She can’t care that much. She’s back with Toby.”

Allie sighed. “I don’t know what happened with you two, but it wasn’t love. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were under a spell or something. The girl’s crazy about Toby, she has been the whole time. I asked you to stay away from her.”

“And you’re not in charge of me.”

“Technically, I am, but anyway.”

I laughed. “Technically, you’re in charge of me now?”

“I am the queen.” I heard some rustling.

“What are you doing?”

“Packing.”

“Packing for what?” I put on a t-shirt and took a seat on the edge of the bed.

“The wedding and honeymoon.”

“Why would you need to pack anything for the honeymoon? Aren’t you guys going to a private island or something?”

“What does that matter?”

“Like Levi’s ever going to let you get dressed.”

“Okay, on that note… fix things with Casey.”

I laughed. “You’re such a prude, and I’ll try my best.” But I was pretty sure my best wouldn’t be nearly good enough.

Chapter Twenty-One

Casey

I’d missed so many shifts at work that I knew there wasn’t a chance I was coming up with the money for fall tuition. You’d think with everything else going on, I wouldn’t be worried about paying for classes, but college was the only thing in my plans. I’d never imagined a future that didn’t involve a degree of some sort. I decided to take a walk over to the financial aid office. Maybe there were some other scholarships I could apply for. Too bad there wasn’t a special one for non-humans. I smiled to myself as I pushed open the door to the office.

“Sign in at the desk.” A woman barely glanced up at me from where she sat behind a glass partition.

“Thanks,” I mumbled as I scrawled my name on the bright white sheet of paper. There were four names above mine, three were scratched out. I assumed the remaining name belonged to the guy sitting in the corner, intently concentrating on his phone. It was probably a game.

I took a seat on the opposite side of the room from the cell phone kid and started flipping through a magazine. It was one of those fashion ones I would only ever read in waiting rooms.

“Donaldson,” a woman called. The kid pocketed his phone and followed her down a narrow hallway. I glanced up briefly before returning to an article about fall fashion predictions. I’d read the entire magazine and another by the time the women returned.

“Bates,” the woman called, and the cell phone kid slunk out of the office. It didn’t look like his meeting had gone particularly well. Hopefully, mine would go better. I followed her down the hallway.

“Ms. Bates, please take a seat.” The woman gestured to a chair in front of a light wooden desk.

“Thanks.” I sat down.

“What is it that I can help you with today?” She leaned back in her chair.

I noticed her name plate. Noreen Talbot.

“Well, Ms. Talbot, I’m here to see if any additional aid opportunities may have opened since I was last here.”

“Let me see what I can find. Can I see your student ID?”

I passed the plastic card over to her and she began typing on her computer. The ID was only good for another few months before it expired. I hoped to come up with the money before that happened.