Page 264 of Secret Shifters Next Door

He chuckled and pointed a thumb at the house. “Saw your car pulling up the drive on the security camera.”

My face must have betrayed my emotions. As soon as I was halfway up the steps toward him, my dad’s smile faded and a look of concern creased his brow. He grabbed me and pulled me into a tight bear hug.

Gio Francis was a man feared by many. Almost no one in town—or the state, for that matter—dared do anything thatwould anger or upset him. It was no secret what he and the rest of my family did, at least through word of mouth. The police had never been able to dig up any evidence they could use to arrest them. Deep down, I knew what they did waswrong. But they were family. I loved my father. Loved him as much as I loved anyone in the world. I loved my entire family. My uncles, cousins, everyone. They all loved me in return, and love was bigger than what you did for a living. I squeezed him back as hard as he hugged me.

“It’s not easy being home again, is it?” Dad asked.

With a shake of my head, I let go and took a step back. “Nope. It doesn’t help that you’re sick. How are you feeling this morning?”

“I’ll be fine, baby. Don’t worry about me.”

“Have you scheduled your first chemo treatment?”

A shadow passed over his eyes, and I guessed the answer before he spoke. “Not yet. I’ve still got time.”

I gritted my teeth. “Dammit, Dad. Stop being stubborn. There are some things even the great Gio Francis’s ego can’t overcome. Sometimes you need more than strength of will. I can’t lose you, too. Don’t you understand that?”

A shadow of shame and fear passed across his face as my words struck their target. He lowered his voice, unable to meet my eyes. “It’ll make me weak.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s the point. It’ll take a toll on your body, but it takes a bigger toll on the cancer.”

A smile that seemed sadder than it should spread across his lips. “And I’ll lose all this beautiful hair.”

I laughed despite myself. Dad was already bald. The shiny pate atop his head hadn’t changed in all the years I’d been alive. Sometimes I wondered if he'd ever had hair. All the photos of him, even those of him as a child, he’d sported a shaved, bald head. If I ever saw a picture of him with hair, I’d probably faint.

My laughter made his smile grow warmer, and I could tell hearing it made him feel better. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, then took me by the shoulders and looked into my eyes.

“All right, kiddo. No one has ever said Gio Francis was a coward. I’m not gonna let a doctor and his medicine turn me into one. I’ll have Mike call the hospital and get me into treatment as soon as possible. Sound good?”

Tears sprang to my eyes. I’d been so certain he’d refuse to get treatment, that he’d be dead this time next year. Knowing that he was going to get help took a massive weight off my chest.

I smiled and wiped at my eyes before wrapping my arms around him again. Being held in my father’s embrace was exactly what I needed to get my mind off Blayne.

THREE

BLAYNE

The sun was bright and the sky a cloudless blue when I pulled into the coffee shop’s parking lot. The fresh, early morning air smelled sweet. If it had been any other day, any other circumstance, I’d have said it was a beautiful morning. Instead, I had to deal with this shit.

After slamming my truck door, I jammed my fists into my jacket pockets and stalked toward the shop. Right before I stepped inside, a familiar silhouette appeared through the smoked glass of the front door. Tate and another broad-shouldered young man stood at the counter.

I sighed. Of course they’d be here. TateandJared. My eyes narrowed at Jared’s back. Even after everything that had gone down, I still wasn’t certain he was on our side.

Jared was the adopted son of Antonio, the asshole who’d founded the hunter organization we were up against. Like Tate, he was a dragon shifter, but Antonio had drugged Jared to suppress the dragon inside him. That had been part of Antonio’s sick plan to create some sort of super soldier who would destroy every shifter. My suspicions of Jared stemmed from what an asshat he’d been in his adoptive family’s employ. His ass-hattedness had been the result of Antonio’s treatment of himhis entire life and the stress of his dragon being suppressed, but still…he’d assaulted Celina and had attacked a couple of our security guards.

The guy couldn’t really be blamed for being a little messed up. He’d been raised by a sociopath and had grown up with a psychopath like Mariana for a sister. I trusted him because the other guys did, but it was a slow and grudging trust that gradually increased with every passing day. Besides, he was just as much in the hunters’ crosshairs as we were because Antonio had disowned him when Mariana was killed.

I was pulled from my thoughts when Tate glanced over his shoulder. Frowning, he turned toward me. “Blayne? What are you doing here?”

“I could as you the same thing,” I said, nodding toward the two of them.

Jared raised a couple of boxes. “Tate wanted to grab some stuff for the office.”

“Yeah,” Tate said. “Muffins and pastries. Just waiting for the coffee. So, why’re you here? And why do you look pissed?”

I titled my head back and looked up at the ceiling as I composed myself. “I told Ava I’d meet her here. I’m gonna tell her about—” I stopped to glance around, making sure no one else could hear “—the curse. Once she rejects me, we can get on with our lives.”

Tate’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Already? Man, you work fast.”

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