Page 445 of Love Bites

CHAPTER21

SEVEN YEARS

When Lorenzo found out I was going straight to Austin’s house, he insisted on personally delivering me to his doorstep. It was the first time I’d ever ridden in a Ferrari, and I might have enjoyed it under different circumstances. He said it was an Enzo and chuckled about it because that’s what his friends called him for short. I thought it looked more like the Batmobile.

The car rolled to a stop in front of the house. Lorenzo exited the vehicle and walked around to open my door. He offered me his hand and I accepted it—all while Austin stood on the porch watching.

Nothing awkward about this at all, I thought.

Lorenzo corralled me against the car, but not forcefully. He cupped my cheek with his hand and brushed the pad of his thumb across my cheekbone. “Call me before the sun goes down, Nashoba. I don’t like that you’re in a house full of men and so close to going into heat. If Cole couldn’t look out for you last night, I have little faith he can protect you with his own.”

“Don’t doubt Austin,” I said, moving his hands away. “You don’t know him. This is about a girl that you two had a thing over, but I’m not about to get caught in the middle of your testosterone war.”

Austin’s boots crunched across the gravel and he neared the front of the sleek black car.

The wind kicked up Lorenzo’s hair and he clasped his hands behind his back.

“I want to speak to you alone,” Austin demanded.

Lorenzo accepted his invitation with a simple shift of his body.

“I’d very much like to hear an explanation of why you left a female Shifter unconscious in a parking lot,” Lorenzo said, lifting his chin. “You’re not fit to take care of a woman, but given you have none in your pack, your inexperience comes as no surprise.”

Austin flexed his jaw and straightened his shoulders just a fraction.

I stepped between the two men before declarations of love turned into declarations of war. “Where’s my mom?”

“Take Alexia to her mother,” Lorenzo said, backing down. “I do not wish to upset her as it is a happy day to see mother and daughter reunited. Another time, Cole.”

Before Lorenzo could get inside his car, Austin captured my arms and looked me over with concerned eyes. “Did he hurt you?”

I shook my head, but secretly his words melted me just a little bit. They weren’t the angry “I’m going to kick someone’s ass” kind, but were spoken with sincerity. Which also made me a little mad.

“Wherewereyou, Austin?”

The Enzo revved so loud I jumped, and Austin let go, glaring at Lorenzo as if he could incinerate him with his eyes. Then I noticed his bruised knuckles and pulled up his hand.

“What is this? Did you run off fighting again? And what happened to your eye?”

He was still looking me over as if he didn’t believe I was unhurt. Without a word, he cupped the back of my head and pulled me to him, murmuring in my hair. “I thought I lost you. We were in public and I couldn’t shift; I thought the Mage had taken you. Then thirty minutes later, Ivan called and said he had your mother. It was chaos. My brothers went to track you down and I picked up your mother to bring her home safe, as I promised. She’s the one who clocked me in the eye.”

I laughed against his chest. Why did I find that such a disturbingly funny mental image? My mom—of all people—punching Austin Cole.

“What happened to your hand?”

He stepped back and shook his head. “Your ex was in the parking lot when I went to get the car.”

“Beckett?” I said in disbelief. “Why washethere? What did he say?”

“I want you to stay away from him, Lexi. He’s not right in the head. We can talk about this later.”

I hurried inside the house, my heart racing. The twins were in the atrium sitting in lawn chairs while a thin cloud of smoke escaped from the grill. I walked through the hallway until I reached a room with the door closed—one I hadn’t been in before. I lightly knocked and pushed the door open.

“Mom?”

The walls were the color of cinderblock. Four packages of gum were lined up precisely on the black dresser to my left. Three pairs of polished boots sat against the wall, and I immediately recognized Reno’s dark shades on the dresser. Tidy wouldn’t be the word I’d used to describe the room, but immaculate. My mom slept with her back to me on a twin-sized bed to the right.

Without saying another word, I curled up behind her and hugged her shoulder. She shifted a little and glanced back at me.

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