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Authors: Shelly Laurenston
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should not be stuck in Manhattan hoping to beg a job off the cousin off my mother’s best friend’s mate.”
“Come on now, you know Ulrich loves you.”
“Shut up, Coop.”
Her brother laughed and the sound of it made Toni smile despite the fact she didn’t really want to.
“Speaking of which, did you see Mom and Dad yet?” she asked him.
“Nope. They were sleeping by the time I went to bed.”
“I haven’t seen Mom since before I took Freddy to Aunt Irene’s hotel room yesterday . . . which makes me nervous.”
“Why?”
“Don’t know. Just feels like she’s up to something. She wanted me out of the house for a reason last night. I mean, she’d normally take Freddy over to see Aunt Irene herself.”
“You have a point.” Hearing the latest argument from their siblings, Coop’s head cocked to the side as they hit the top of those last stairs and started down. “Kyle and Oriana?”
“Of course. But Cherise is going to handle it.”
“She is?”
“She needs to try,” Toni reminded him.
“I wish her luck.”
“Look, it could be worse—” Toni began as she and Coop reached the last step, but Toni’s words were cut off when she saw her mother. Dressed comfortably in loose jeans, a B-52s T-shirt that was older than Toni, and her favorite battered “rehearsal” tennis shoes, Jackie headed toward the front door. Normally this was nothing for Toni to notice or remotely worry about . . . normally. But now Toni understood why her mother had avoided her and Coop last night—because her mother wasn’t alone.
“Mom?”
Still walking, but not turning around, Jackie said, “I know what you’re thinking, Antonella.”
“You have no idea what I’m thinking or you’d probably pop me in the mouth.”
“Trust me. I have a plan.”
Of course she had a plan. Jackie Jean-Louis always had a plan. She was a plotting little jackal who was always up to something as long as it benefited her career or her children. But unlike some musicians, who could be downright psychotic about their careers, Jackie was just sneaky. She never did anything to take someone else down. Jackie didn’t have to because she had full confidence in her skills as a musician. Ever since she had picked up her first violin at the age of three, Jackie knew that she was unbelievably talented and no one would ever be able to bump her out of the spot she’d earned as one of the world’s finest violinists. No one.
But Jackie wanted to take that next step. She wanted to be the mentor of the next “world’s finest.” She’d had lots of students over the years, many of whom had gone on to wonderfully successful careers. But none that were quite in her league. They’d never be quite as successful as she. Quite as well-known. She wanted that student who would turn her into The Great Master.
And that, Toni knew, explained the dog walking beside her mother. Not a shifter but an actual dog. The family hadn’t had a pet since the feral cat they’d found under their home that kept hissing at them. They’d give it food and, after a few years, it wandered away. It was the perfect pet for the Jean-Louis Parkers because they only paid attention to it when they felt like it. It didn’t need to be walked or taken to the vet or dealt with in any way except to toss it some food and gaze at it for a few minutes when one of the kids needed “inspiration.”
But real dogs needed lots of things that no one in Toni’s family was capable of providing at the moment, including her and especially her mother.
Yes. Her mother. Who opened the front door and told the dog, “Go take your walk, sweetie. When you’re done, come back and scratch on the door. I’ll let you in.”
The adult dog, appearing to Toni’s eyes to be a rescue her mother had picked up somewhere, saw that open door as a bid for freedom. It bolted and Toni’s jackal ears immediately picked up the early-morning traffic barreling down the street.
Running purely on
“Come on now, you know Ulrich loves you.”
“Shut up, Coop.”
Her brother laughed and the sound of it made Toni smile despite the fact she didn’t really want to.
“Speaking of which, did you see Mom and Dad yet?” she asked him.
“Nope. They were sleeping by the time I went to bed.”
“I haven’t seen Mom since before I took Freddy to Aunt Irene’s hotel room yesterday . . . which makes me nervous.”
“Why?”
“Don’t know. Just feels like she’s up to something. She wanted me out of the house for a reason last night. I mean, she’d normally take Freddy over to see Aunt Irene herself.”
“You have a point.” Hearing the latest argument from their siblings, Coop’s head cocked to the side as they hit the top of those last stairs and started down. “Kyle and Oriana?”
“Of course. But Cherise is going to handle it.”
“She is?”
“She needs to try,” Toni reminded him.
“I wish her luck.”
“Look, it could be worse—” Toni began as she and Coop reached the last step, but Toni’s words were cut off when she saw her mother. Dressed comfortably in loose jeans, a B-52s T-shirt that was older than Toni, and her favorite battered “rehearsal” tennis shoes, Jackie headed toward the front door. Normally this was nothing for Toni to notice or remotely worry about . . . normally. But now Toni understood why her mother had avoided her and Coop last night—because her mother wasn’t alone.
“Mom?”
Still walking, but not turning around, Jackie said, “I know what you’re thinking, Antonella.”
“You have no idea what I’m thinking or you’d probably pop me in the mouth.”
“Trust me. I have a plan.”
Of course she had a plan. Jackie Jean-Louis always had a plan. She was a plotting little jackal who was always up to something as long as it benefited her career or her children. But unlike some musicians, who could be downright psychotic about their careers, Jackie was just sneaky. She never did anything to take someone else down. Jackie didn’t have to because she had full confidence in her skills as a musician. Ever since she had picked up her first violin at the age of three, Jackie knew that she was unbelievably talented and no one would ever be able to bump her out of the spot she’d earned as one of the world’s finest violinists. No one.
But Jackie wanted to take that next step. She wanted to be the mentor of the next “world’s finest.” She’d had lots of students over the years, many of whom had gone on to wonderfully successful careers. But none that were quite in her league. They’d never be quite as successful as she. Quite as well-known. She wanted that student who would turn her into The Great Master.
And that, Toni knew, explained the dog walking beside her mother. Not a shifter but an actual dog. The family hadn’t had a pet since the feral cat they’d found under their home that kept hissing at them. They’d give it food and, after a few years, it wandered away. It was the perfect pet for the Jean-Louis Parkers because they only paid attention to it when they felt like it. It didn’t need to be walked or taken to the vet or dealt with in any way except to toss it some food and gaze at it for a few minutes when one of the kids needed “inspiration.”
But real dogs needed lots of things that no one in Toni’s family was capable of providing at the moment, including her and especially her mother.
Yes. Her mother. Who opened the front door and told the dog, “Go take your walk, sweetie. When you’re done, come back and scratch on the door. I’ll let you in.”
The adult dog, appearing to Toni’s eyes to be a rescue her mother had picked up somewhere, saw that open door as a bid for freedom. It bolted and Toni’s jackal ears immediately picked up the early-morning traffic barreling down the street.
Running purely on
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