Page 60 of Diners, Damsels & Wolves

“You know what I mean.”

“Do I?” Tom lifted his head to scowl at his brother’s image on the tablet.

“Don’t pull that angry face on me. Your Alpha bullshit doesn’t intimidate me. I’ve seen you with Mom’s lipstick smeared across your face, playing tea with Maria.”

“I’m not in the mood, James, just tell me straight. Are we in trouble with the board or not?”

“We are not in trouble with the board, Mr. Grumpy,” James clipped. “The numbers are good, but they always want them to be better. What’s up with you, Tom?”

He grumbled in response, sifting through his messy desk. Through the commotion of the pack milling about the mansion, he heard a familiar set of steps making their way to his office. Great. He was about to get yelled at and had no means of escape.

A knock sounded at his door, then it flew open. Maria waddled in belly first, a hand bracing her lower back.

“What are you doing here?” Tom got up to help her settle into a chair across from the desk.

“I came down here to kick your ass. What’s it look like I’m doing?” Falling into the chair, she let out a huff.

“Should you be driving?” Tom deflected. “You know I would have come to get you if you’d called me.”

“Oh, you would have, would you?” she shot back. “Did I or did I not ask you to call me when you got back?”

“What’s going on?” James yelled from the tablet.

Grabbing the tablet, Tom turned the camera to face Maria.

“Hi, James.” She waved.

“Holy shit!” he yelled. “Are you sure you aren’t having triplets?”

“Ugh.” Groaning, her head fell backward.

“Seriously, your stomach is gigantic. Can it even get any bigger before you explode?” James said.

“Wow, you sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself.” She flipped him off. “You know, I didn’t come here to argue with you, I came here to argue with you.” She pointed at Tom.

“Me? What did I do?” he asked, knowing full well what she meant.

“Why have you been ignoring me?”

“I’m not,” he lied.

“You disappeared last night, and now you’re not returning my calls. Is this because of her?”

“What?!” James exclaimed. “Tom has a girlfriend! No one tells me anything. Wait, then why are you bitchy? Getting laid is supposed to make you happy.”

“Oh no, the house is going through a tunnel. I can’t hear you, you’re breaking up.” Tom made static noises and shook the tablet.

“Don’t you dare—”

Ending the video call, he turned off the tablet. Getting up, he moved to sit behind the desk across from Maria. Leaning back, he stared at the ceiling.

“Where were you last night?” Her voice was softer.

“You know where I was,” he said.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be out all night? At the very least you could have called me or texted to let me know everything was okay.” He didn’t answer. “You know we have bears running around our territory. Everyone was worried, I was worried. You might be the Alpha, but you’re still my brother and it’s my prerogative to check up on you. Especially since you’re the Alpha, the whole pack was—”

“I know.” He swallowed the lump in his throat.