Page 32 of Alec

Oh, this was too much fun to resist, Bodach thought. It was also a chance to end all the speculation about Olivia Gibson for good. “I can take you to her apartment.”

As he drove the mortal from the cemetery across town, Bodach coaxed him into revealing why it was so important for him to find a granddaughter he’d never met.

“McKell, my daughter, was our only child,” Gardner said. “She disappeared when she was sixteen, and since she stole money from us I wanted nothing more to do with her. My wife, however, thought she might be in trouble, and spoke to her friends at church. No one had any idea where she had gone. We spoke to the police, but they were of no help.”

“Why spend twenty-eight years looking for your daughter?” Bodach asked. “She obviously didn’t want anything to do with you.”

“I believe McKell was so ashamed of herself for the sins she committed that she could never come home.” Gardner rubbed his eyes. “Now that she’s gone I can only pray for her soul. Olivia, however, belongs with her family. If she will agree to come home with me, and repent her sins, then we will forgive her and accept her. I will even name her as my heir.”

He glanced at the mortal. “Are you very wealthy?”

“Money is not an issue.” He made a dismissive gesture. “It’s more important to us that Olivia come back to her blood. I’ve already arranged a good match for her with the son of our oldest friends. She’ll want for nothing.”

“That sounds lovely.” Bodach found a parking spot right in front of the apartment door, and smiled at Gardner. “Come, I’ll introduce you to her.”

When she opened the door Roxy was wearing only a damp bath towel and had her hair in curlers. She immediately squealed and flung herself into Bodach’s arms. “You came back, baby.”

“I wanted to make sure you were all right, my dear.” Since she remained enchanted, against her ear Bodach murmured, “From now on your name is Olivia Gibson. Introduce yourself to the old man.”

Roxy’s eyes glittered with tiny red lights as she drew back and regarded Jarom Gardner. “Hello, sir.” She gave him a meltingly sweet smile. “I’m Olivia Gibson.”

“How do you do. I am your grandfather.” He caught her as she hurled herself at him, and tried to dodge the big plastic curlers that swung into his face. At the same time his hands drifted down close to her buttocks. “Ah, McKell was very wrong to take you from us. I’m here to correct that sin.”

Sin indeed, Bodach thought, watching Gardner finally squeeze Roxy’s bottom.

The girl drew back and frowned. “She was? She did? I thought I was an orphan.”

“You most certainly are not,” Gardner said firmly. “If you’ll come back to Utah with me, I will allow you to join our family. We will take care of you from now on.” He looked down at her breasts and cleared his throat. “As long as you obey me, of course.”

“Why don’t you go inside, Jarom?” Bodach suggested. When the old man let go of Roxy, he put an arm around her to keep her beside him. “I believe I have solved all of your financial problems, my dear girl.”

“You have?” Roxy leaned over to check out the old man again. “You want to do a threesome with that guy? I don’t think you’re into him.”

Bodach shook his head. “From this point on you are his granddaughter, Olivia Gibson. Do you understand?”

Her curlers bobbed as she nodded. “I’m Olivia. The old guy’s my grandpa.”

“Get rid of all your real identification and pack your things. Go back to Utah with him, join his family and do whatever he wants you to do.” Bodach patted her bottom. “Be a good girl now.”

“You sure you don’t have time for a quickie, baby?” she asked, looking hopeful again. “My pussy is already soaked, you know.”

“You don’t need me.” He really was going to miss her, he thought as he stepped back inside. “You have your grandfather. Why don’t you go take care of him now?”

Roxy blew him a noisy kiss before she rushed back into the apartment. “Grandpa! Do you know how much I love you already? Let me show you!”

Alec haunted the passages and towers every night for the next week, looking for what had attacked the chambermaid. During the days he kept watch over Olivia as she worked in the gardens. To free up more of his time for both, he juggled his duties with the other senior men in the clan. He could not sleep anyway, and his efforts began to take a toll on him, gnawing away at the ragged leash he kept on his temper. He had to keep silent to avoid snapping at his brothers over nothing at all.

“Already you owe me at least four moons of watch duty,” Farlan told him one morning when he asked the seneschal to take his turn in the tower. “I’ll do another, but ’tis the last time, War Master.”

He made a careless gesture. “You may ask anything of me that you wish.”

“That yew longbow you carved over winter,” Farlan said at once.

He favored that bow above all the others he possessed, and a month past would have told the seneschal to go fack himself for asking. “Fine. ’Tis yours.”

“Now I ken something’s amiss with you,” the seneschal said. “Forget the bow. Tell me what you’re doing, Brother.”

“Safeguarding the stronghold and our people is my duty,” he reminded him. “The bow is yours, with my thanks.”