A knock brought his head up. “Who is it?”

  The door opened, and his father lurched into the room. “They caught ya, huh?”

  “Pretty damned obviously. What the hell is going on?”

  “Siracusa wants to take over the pack.” His father staggered to the daybed and collapsed on it.

  “Seriously, Dad, it’s better than Anderson. Donald was going to move his drug operation into your house! At least Siracusa respects pack law, and his son, Rome, is an alpha and a wonderful male. He and I have formed a deep relationship and will be able to see that Havilland pack maintains its ancient position and respect—”

  His father barked a loud, rude sound. “Oh you poor, stupid puppy. That son is about to marry Yolanda and take over the whole pack. At best, I’ll be retired to some backwater, and you’ll be sent back to New York. At worst, we’ll be lucky if we’re both not murdered in our beds.”

  “No, you don’t understand. That was before. Rome and I were married, so there’s nothing Siracusa can do. He either loses his son or accepts that we’re a couple.”

  “Oh yeah? Then how come I’m inviting the whole pack to the wedding tomorrow morning? Wanna tell me that?”

  Jules sucked in air. “He can’t do that. Rome’s already married—to me.”

  His father labored to his feet. “You were duped. That Siracusa pup needed your help to take out Anderson, so he made up this whole marriage story. Who performed this so-called wedding? Tell me that?”

  Jules frowned. “Rome’s grandfather, Lawrence.”

  His father snorted again. “See! Just another ruse to put Siracusa on top. That family doesn’t recognize gay marriage.” He lost his balance and slammed against Jules’s chest of drawers. “Shit, Benedetto Siracusa’s the most homophobic asshole on the planet. If one of the gods came down and told him to recognize your wedding, he’d never do it.” He managed a few steps to the door. “Sorry. You’re out of luck. We’re both out of fucking luck.” He pulled the door open and fell out of it. One of the guards slammed it shut.

  Jules stared after him. Take a breath. Don’t freak. Is there any chance I was played?

  He paced back to the french doors and stared out. No doubt I helped take out Anderson. And I gave Rome a lot of information to aid their cause. He forced another deep inhale. But so did Yolanda. He could have done this without me, couldn’t he?

  With a moan, he paced back toward the door to the hall. No, I was the inside source. Shit! It looked like he got captured, but maybe he told me to run so they could catch me and he laughed all the way home.

  He walked over to the daybed and flopped as his father had done. The heat of Rome’s kisses flowed over him, the passion of his love. Could he fake that? He stared at the rug. Maybe, if the reward was great enough.

  Dark, cold bitterness froze his brain, and his vision grayed. If the one true thing wasn’t true—

  Suddenly a shot, like someone made an arrow of light, leaped from his tailbone straight to the top of his head and his brain exploded.

  No, fuck! He leaped to his feet. If I believe that, I don’t just give up on Rome, I give up on life. I won’t. I may be stupid, but I believe him. He’s my gift from the gods, and I think he was as taken in as—

  Another knock propelled him to the door. His father? He opened and gazed at Yolanda. Okay. Damn.

  “Can I come in?”

  “I guess so.” He stepped back, and she strode in that confident way she had into the room.

  He closed the door, and she whirled on him. “Do you know what’s going on?”

  “I think so. Some of it, anyway. You’re supposed to marry Rome, right?”

  “Yes. Tomorrow morning.”

  “And you’ll be the alpha couple of the Havilland pack.”

  “Yes, I think that’s what Siracusa intends.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Then what the fuck are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be off somewhere gloating?” Yeah, it was unfair, but like one of his favorite old movies said, he was no monument to justice.

  She walked a few steps into his suite. “I heard that you shifted in the middle of the fucking park and helped save Rome’s life.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re alpha.”

  “Yes, so’s Rome.”

  “I heard.” She walked to a chair and sat. “I also heard that some goons had to subdue Rome and drag him back to his father’s house restrained and drugged.”

  “Shit! He told me to run and I did, but they caught me too. I didn’t know what happened to him.”

  “Somehow, drugs and restraints don’t exactly suggest a guy who’s dying to marry me tomorrow.”

  He frowned. “Do you care?”

  “Yeah, actually, I do, because I’m not exactly dying to marry him either, and I think that officially makes this a match made in hell.”

  Jules sat in the chair opposite Yolanda. “He’s already married.”

  “What? How? Who?” Her dark eyes widened.

  “Me.”

  Her mouth opened, closed, then opened again in a smile. “Son of a bitch, and I mean literally, he’s gay?”

  “Yes.”

  She flopped back in the chair. “So that’s what I was feeling—or not feeling. He’s so gorgeous, and yet I wasn’t ever really attracted to him, at least not physically.”

  “Is that why you don’t want to marry him?”

  She grinned. “Actually, I’d like to marry someone else.”

  “Who?”

  “Merrick.” She sighed. “We don’t really need two alphas in the family, and he’s so audacious and funny and fun. I could use a lot more of that in my life.”

  Jules wiped a hand over his face. “That’s about as likely as Siracusa recognizing my marriage to Rome.”

  A crease popped between her arched brows. Formidable female. “Between us we’ve got three alphas and one good nonalpha fighter. We could do a lot of damage.”

  “Yeah, but Siracusa has a small army of trained enforcers.” He sucked in a breath.

  She frowned even deeper. “What we need is a reason for pack members to side with us. To see the validity of your claim as alpha of the Havilland pack.”

  “That’ll happen when wolves fly.”

  She gave him a tight half smile. “I traveled on Delta just a month ago.”

  He snorted but then sighed. “Siracusa has the money that Havilland desperately needs. We’ve got nothing. No one’s going to side with us, even if we could make our claim appear valid.”

  Finally that fierce alpha fire died from her eyes. “Oh gods, Jules, what are we going to do?”

  “You’re going to say fucking ‘I do’ when they tell you to, and I’m going to be lucky if they don’t kill me like some prince in the tower.”

  “I noticed a certain army of guards outside your door.”

  “Yes. Siracusa wants me nowhere near the wedding of members of the pack until everything’s done.” He wiped both hands across his face. “Then I guess I’ll find out what he has in mind for my future.”

  “Damn. I’m betting he’s counting on the fact that Rome will go along with him if he thinks you’re in danger.”

  “Shit. I didn’t consider that.” But it made sense. A piece of his heart leaped in joy. The rest of him just felt trapped.

  She stood and started pacing just like he had. “I need to figure out a way to get you away from here. That will give us more options, at least.”

  “Mostly options to defy Siracusa’s enforcers and die.”

  “True.”

  “But maybe that’s better.”

  “Hey, come on, I’d just as soon not make this a Shakespearean tragedy. Let’s try to get the fuck out of here.” She laughed, though it sounded strained.

  “You’re the one on the outside, not me. Do they have you in the house?”

  “Yes. I think Siracusa didn’t have enough goons to guard three locations. They’re keeping me here in Havilland House, but I’m free to roam around. He doesn’t get that I’m an enemy. He still believes I’m all for the marriage and alliance.”

  “Are you? In favor of the alliance, I mean, not the marriage?”

  “Not really. If Siracusa’s this high-handed and backward, he’s not much better for the pack than your father.”

  “Yeah. Fuck.”

  She moved toward the door. “I’m going to think. Trust me, I’m smart. If there’s a way out, I’ll find it.”

  Jules raised his head. “I just thought of something. My father’s butler, Oscar, is loyal to him, but he also likes me. I don’t know what he could do to help, but you could feel him out. Servants see everything. He might have noticed a weakness in the Siracusa defenses.”

  “Any port in a storm, as they say.” She nodded to him as she put her hand on the door handle. “Don’t give up.”

  Just like that, she was gone.

  Chapter Nineteen

  ROME stared at the ceiling. Every cell in his body pulsed with the need to move, run, escape, and find Jules. Nada.

  His bedroom door opened.

  Rome tensed, but he didn’t move.

  “Hey, bro.” Anthony.

  Rome counted ceiling tiles.

  “Rome, sit up and talk to us.” Federico.

  “Fuck you.” Hmm, that pattern looks like a rabbit.

  “Stop being childish.”

  Rome not only sat up, he leaped to his feet, and his brothers backed up defensively. Rome glared. “Childish? Who asked you to give up your life for your fucking father’s ambitions? Who denied the validity of your sacredly sanctified marriage? Don’t you tell me about childish!”

  Anthony spread his arms. “Yo, bro, don’t tell me it’s true. You’re not really a fucking fag.”

  A growl emerged from Rome’s mouth, and Anthony’s snarky smile froze. Rome took a step toward him. “Get out of my room, you asshole, or I’ll make you wish you only had one brother.”

  Anthony backed up. “Come on, no Siracusa could be a fag—”

  Rome leaped toward him, and Anthony proved a male didn’t need alpha advantage to move fast.

  Rome turned back to Federico and scowled.

  His other brother held up his hands. “Rome, I know it’s hard to sacrifice something you want, but this alliance will be the best thing that ever happened to our family and our pack. It’s worth it.”

  “Worth it? To whom? Did our fucking father tell you that the alliance is already done? That I married Jules Havilland, the alpha heir apparent to the Havilland pack? No union could be a more direct connection between Havilland and Siracusa. It’s done. Already a fact. But Benedetto Siracusa, the homophobic, narrow-minded, backward gangster asshole, plans to set aside my marriage and force me to marry a female of lesser stature than Jules while threatening harm to the man I love. Did he tell you all that? Because if he did and you’re still here telling me how my sacrifice is worth it, I suggest you remember I’m an alpha who can shift at will, faster than you can blink, so maybe you should leave before I rip out your complicit throat.”

  Rome took a step, and Federico backed up. “He didn’t exactly explain all those details.”

  “Yeah, well, you’re just like him. Leave so I can consider ways to kill myself—if I don’t kill Benedetto first.”

  “Shh.” Federico glanced over his shoulder. “At least you’ll play a key role in the integration of the new pack with ours.”

  “You don’t really believe that. Come on, you’re smart. You know no one’s going to run anything except Benedetto. For about five minutes I believed he might love me more than he loves power. Now I know how stupid I was. Go on. Get out.” He turned, walked slowly back to the bed, and fell on it. Oh look, that tile’s shaped like a dead wolf.

  Federico opened the door. Wait. The sounds of a fight and yelling echoed from the hall. Rome sat up. “What is it? What’s going on?”

  Federico looked out into the hall, and Rome saw guards and enforcers running past. Federico yelled, “What’s happening?”

  “Anderson escaped.”

  Anthony shrieked, “How the hell did half the Siracusa army let him get away?”

  “He had inside help, sir. Apparently one of our guards was actually an Anderson man. He let more of Anderson’s dudes in, and they sprang him. But we’ll find him. Don’t worry.”

  Anthony slammed a hand against the door, which probably hurt like hell. “Shit! Be sure you do.”

  They slammed the door behind them, closing Rome in, muffling the sounds of chaos.

  Rome flopped back on the bed with a grim smile. Don’t quit the game until all the pieces have been played.

  JULES’S bare feet moved from the worn Persian carpet to the scuffed hardwood and back again as he paced liked a caged animal. Appropriate analogy. Three serious guards with serious guns sat outside his bedroom door, and two more strolled the lawn under his balcony. He couldn’t see them—the french doors were locked and barred from the outside—but he could smell them. It pissed him off, because the balcony belonged to him and Rome. There had to be a way out.

  A quick double rap preceded the door pushing open. “Excuse me, sir. It’s Oscar. I brought Miss Yolanda so you can advise her in preparation for her marriage.”

  Advise her about what? “Uh, okay. Come on in.”

  Oscar walked in—Jules caught a glimpse of the guards in the hall holding the door—and behind him came—what the fuck?

  Yolanda wore a floor-length red cape with a hood.

  Jules frowned. “Pardon me, but did you get confused? You’re not Red Riding Hood. You’re the wolf.”

  “It’s part of my preparation for the wedding.”

  “Uh, right.”

  Oscar smiled and nodded at the guards outside. “Thank you. I’ll let you know when we’re ready to leave.” He carefully closed the door.

  The second the latch clicked, Yolanda threw off the cape. Underneath she wore black sweats and a scarf around her dark hair. “Switch clothes with me.”

  “What?”

  “Oscar’s going to get you out of here.”

  He lowered his voice. “Wearing your clothes? It’ll never work. I might get out of the room, but they’ll never let Yolanda out the front door, so we’re stuck.”

  Oscar leaned in and smiled. “We’re not going out the doors, so don’t worry.”

  “What?”

  “Come on. Get changed.” Yolanda started stripping off her sweats, and Oscar turned his back—whether to protect her modesty or his wasn’t quite clear. Clad only in bikini panties and a bra, she tossed the sweats to Jules and took his jeans and gray sweatshirt.

  He slid on the sweats, then grabbed her arm as she tried to make his jeans, with much longer legs and narrower hips than hers, fit her curvy body. “Please tell me what’s going on? Where’s Rome? Is he safe? They haven’t hurt him, have they?” His pulse thrummed.

  “He knows his father caught you. That’s how they’re controlling him.”

  “Damn. Did he tell them about—you know, us? I mean, him and me?”

  “That you’re married?” She shook her head.

  His heart slapped against his feet, it fell so fast. Maybe he’d still held on to the tiniest hope that Rome’s father would honor the union.

  Oscar spoke softly. “They’ve been speaking freely in front of me, sir, and I’ve been listening.”

  Yolanda made a rude noise. “I guess it took him about five seconds to discount the marriage entirely. Dark Harbor doesn’t recognize gay marriage, he says. According to him, there’s no evidence that the ancients recognized same-sex liaisons of any kind. He and his father-in-law, the priest, are really at odds. Lawrence refuses to marry me and Rome.” She shrugged. “But of course Siracusa can get a boatload of other priests to perform the ceremony.”

  “Shit.” He folded his hands behind his neck and just breathed for a second. “I’m so fucking sick of those attitudes. I’d like to rip them all a new one.” He blew out his breath in a long stream, then looked at Yolanda. “What happened to Anderson?”

  “Siracusa had him locked up, but apparently someone helped him escape. I imagine he’s back in New York by now. Let’s get moving.”

  “What happens when they find me gone and you in my clothes? They’ll know you helped.”

  “No. I want you to tie me up on the bed and stuff something in my mouth. It’ll look like you overpowered me.”

  “What about Oscar?”

  “I plan to disappear, sir. I have no desire to serve anyone except your father and you.”

  “Where will you go?”

  “Thank you for asking, sir. I have some family in the Midwest. It won’t be easy to find me, and I’m sure no one will care that much once I’m gone.”

  “I will, Oscar. I’ll miss you. I can’t remember a time when you weren’t a part of my life.”

  “I’ve enjoyed that immensely, sir. But let’s get going. There are only two guards on duty now and neither is the brightest bulb, so our chances are better than if we wait.”

  Yolanda stood on tiptoe and wrapped the scarf around his incriminating fair hair, then stepped back and surveyed her handiwork. She tossed him the cape. “Put this on. You’re prettier than me anyway.”

  “You seriously think this will work?” He wrapped the cape around him and pulled the hood forward.

  Oscar said, “Fortunately, it only has to work for a little while.”

  “Where are we—”

  Oscar held a finger to his lips. He hurried over to Yolanda as she lay on the bed on her side with her back to the door. He bound her hands and ankles with twist ties and then very loosely slid the end of a scarf into her mouth. She nodded and indicated she could reach the scarf enough to pull it out so she could yell if they didn’t find her pretty soon.

  Oscar crossed back to Jules. “Stay close beside me. Let’s go.”