“No, they didn’t,” I chuckled. “I block certain words or anything troublesome from being overheard. It basically seems like we’re always talking too softly and muddled. Unless it was Willow coming that close to us and the conversation was personal, not anything humans shouldn’t hear.”

  “That’s a really cool spell,” he whispered. “A smart one for more of us to use to be safe.”

  I winced. “It’s not a spell for me. I simply will it to be.” I sighed and rubbed my neck, ignoring the doubtful look he was probably giving me. “Gina’s read my power before. I’ll try and let her copy me and see if she can manage something. It is a good idea, or maybe…”

  “I have no idea how you would share that,” Mary admitted. “You bless us with it, but that’s not something you want to do for everyone. We’re very careful. Others would use it as a crutch, and that’s not good either.”

  “True,” Isiah agreed. “Something to think about all around. We all need to be smarter with how people are always filming or taking pictures, on their phones.”

  We left it at that, and I went out with everyone. Mary and Kary were parked right by Isiah’s truck, and I nodded I would do the same. They waved when they were ready, and I blocked it from any eyes and sent them right into their parking garage.

  Then I did the same for Isiah’s truck to Gina’s driveway, knowing they would be protected on the other side as well. The semantics of it wasn’t something I understood, and that was needed for a spell though, so I didn’t see anyone else pulling that off for a while.

  We went back inside, and I locked up. Then we went into the kitchen, and I had stuff to drop off in the office.

  “Welcome back, but if you hurt her again, we’ll gut you,” Carmen said to Isiah.

  “We all have wounds that hurt worse than some,” he reminded her. “I didn’t mean to hurt her at all, but I did. That’s my fault, but I will probably do it again. That’s life.”

  It was, but it wasn’t helpful to hear right then. I had to make my feet move back to him instead of wanting the comfort like before. I wanted a promise he wouldn’t hurt me again too.

  But I preferred him to be honest and fair. Unfortunately, the two were mutually exclusive right then. Such was life.

  We said goodnight and headed upstairs. I was actually glad Robyn had moved out… But not enough to thank Colton for managing that.

  I locked up behind us and went for my closet, more than ready to get into something snuggly and be done with the day.

  Week.

  Hell, the month and new year were starting like shit.

  I hadn’t realized Isiah had followed me into the closet until I pulled off my sweater and his arms wrapped around me from behind. He kissed my neck and turned me around, trying for my lips.

  “You are so fucking beautiful that I can’t stand it,” he whispered when I ducked his kiss. “I need you, Arabella.”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t,” I rasped, pushing away from him.

  He cleared his throat and let me go. “Of course. I didn’t mean—I shouldn’t have pushed.”

  “No, it’s not you.” I wanted to die how lame that sounded. I quickly grabbed a flannel nightgown and slipped it over my head.

  He turned away so I could finish, which I appreciated. When I was done, I actually took his hand and brought him with me to sit on the bed.

  I let out a slow breath and tried to focus on what I was feeling. “Colton is Aesop’s descendant. I let him touch me and I’m a mess, Isiah. Even if we were fine, I couldn’t right now. It’s my…” I couldn’t get out the words if I even knew what I would have said. I burst out crying.

  Hell, I broke down sobbing. Now that the shock was mostly over and I could finally wrap my brain around the truth, the one thing I needed more than anything was a good cry.

  And Isiah was there for me. He held me and promised I would be okay. I wasn’t sure if it was true, but I knew he believed it at least. For right then, that was enough.

  Hopefully.

  He got undressed and moved me to lie down, pulling the covers over us as I kept crying. He held me all night as I sobbed over another man and the mess that was my life.

  Yeah, he was forgiven. I might still be tender and flinch at the situation, but Isiah was nothing like those who had hurt me so many times before. I might not be able to open myself to all the covens yet, but I knew Isiah and I were going to be fine.

  12

  Sunday, when things started to slow down at the bakery, things blew up in other areas… As was life.

  But the last thing I expected was someone overdosing at the factory. I appeared at the factory, parking my SUV in the lot as if I’d already been coming there.

  “What happened?” I demanded of Renee, apologizing when she flinched.

  “We didn’t smell it,” she sighed. “We’ve been checking, and I damn near sniff under doors I’ve been so nervous since that last group came in. I don’t know if they got something last night—I’m not even sure how they could have.”

  “You called an ambulance?” I asked as she brought me into the room with the man.

  “Yes, we just found him.” She shot me a worried look. “You wanted us to—”

  “Yes, of course. We’ll worry about the fallout later.” I winced as the man had what looked almost like a seizure. I had no idea how to help him and not make it worse.

  “I don’t know what to do,” Renee admitted, seeming to feel exactly what I was.

  Luckily, the EMTs showed up right after and we didn’t have to. The guy was in bad shape from what I could get off of him.

  Next was the police because of course, it had to be reported. I listened as Renee told them exactly what happened. Basically, the guy didn’t report for work and someone in his room admitted he wasn’t doing okay.

  She came right up to check on him, he wouldn’t open the door, so she used her key and found him puking all over and two needles on the floor. He wasn’t responding to her when she tried to talk to him, and she called 911.

  “I didn’t know how to help him,” she rasped, the situation clearly upsetting her, and she was shaking now that the adrenaline was wearing off.

  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry you had to handle this,” I whispered, moving my arm over her shoulders and hugging her. I looked at the policeman. “What do you need from us?”

  “Answers how he got drugs in your place for a start,” he demanded.

  I flinched at his tone. “Look, we’re not a shelter. We check their belongings and—we’re not their parents. We don’t allow it here. Not even booze.”

  “That’s not what we’ve heard,” his partner snickered.

  “Yes, well, I’ve heard lots of rumors about cops, but I’m smart enough to get the answers for myself,” I threw right back. “We had a shelter just show up and try to dump people on us. It’s like people aren’t always nice to us and see what we’re trying to do here instead of their assumptions.”

  The first officer didn’t even flinch. “You’re taking people who are in desperate situations and using them for your factory, sticking them in old office suites like sardines in a can and—”

  “That’s not at all what she has done,” Kevin said as he joined us. “You are misinformed and listening to the wrong reports. They never cared there was a homeless problem in Boston until someone tried to fix it, and now they’re tearing her to shreds.”

  “Wait—what?” I asked, blinking at him. “For what?”

  He gave me a kind smile. “For not being what people want you to be.”

  “There’s no way you couldn’t have known this,” the first cop drawled.

  Which made it amusing when both Kevin and Renee snorted, Kevin responding for me. “She keeps her focus where it should be. She doesn’t worry about lies or bullshit. She worries about helping people, and that means the jobs too.” The cop opened his mouth, but Kevin narrowed his eyes and went on. “Like having a whole week of law enforcement appreciation. Who does that?”

  “People who are trying to hide what they’re really up to,” the second cop said firmly.

  “Unreal,” I whispered, blinking between them. “How am I getting judged by you two and on trial here?”

  “Because ignorance is everywhere, and that means you no longer talk to them,” Justine said as she walked towards us at a fast clip. She smiled when I couldn’t hide my shock that she was there. “I was concerned after you took in the people from Albany and made several people promise to call me immediately if there was a problem. Kevin did.”

  Well, at least some people were in the loop. I was still floored by jerks reporting and turning what we were doing around and making us the bad guys. How did that even work in their small heads?

  “Arabella?” Justine said, clearly having tried to get my attention already.

  “Sorry,” I muttered, running my fingers through my hair. “I’m still stuck on what was said. We’ve been inspected. The factory, here, and by several parties. How does any of this get spun out to make me the villain?”

  “Who inspected you?” the first cop demanded, giving me a look like he wasn’t buying that. “Your contractor to update whatever doesn’t count.”

  Justine was quick to list who inspected us, including some rather odd surprise inspections that we’d had to go through because of prejudices like theirs.

  “The health department inspected one of the food trucks? Already? We just got the licenses,” I said after she listed them. I’d known we’d been inspected and there weren’t any problems, but I tuned out most of the details. “We haven’t even gotten that at the bakery.”

  “Yes, well, having calls placed about the bakery would possibly upset Mr. Knight since it’s his development, but the food trucks and factory seem fair game,” Justine explained, her tone dripping with annoyance.

  “Why? We’re not hurting anyone. This deal with Costco gives lots of jobs. They’re trying to expand the deal so we have goods in their stores overseas. I just hired two new factory managers.” I shut my mouth, the police not needing to know any of that. “Whatever. What is needed today?”

  “Where are the drugs you let him have?” the second cop asked.

  “That’s over the line since Ms. Baker isn’t his guardian, but his employer. You don’t go after the employers when a person makes bad choices. You’re allowing your bias to frame your questions and the harshness of this situation. So if you can’t be professional, call a supervisor to the scene, and we’ll speak with them.”

  “You want to make this a bigger deal instead of trying to sweep it under the rug?” the second cop asked, his tone amused.

  “That is a person, not something that can be swept away,” I snapped. “A person who didn’t get the help he needed when he needed it. So who the fuck are you to judge that when you’ve had help?”

  Everyone blinked at me in shock, and I knew it was over the line too. I pushed to stand and walked off, upset that not only this happened, but it was being blamed on me.

  Everything always was. I couldn’t take things always being my fault when all I did was try to help. Why didn’t I deserve better than that?

  I only half-heard what was going on after that so I could keep in control.

  “We need to know if you touched anything?” Justine asked after a bit, snapping me out of my thoughts.

  “No, nothing,” I sighed. “What happens next?”

  “We got a supervisor here, and he seems like a good guy. They’ll take a few photos and take the drugs for evidence.” She hurried on when I opened my mouth. “Against the guy, not you. They might be able to trace where the drugs came from. We need to know how he got them.”

  I nodded. We did, and I would absolutely find out once the guy made it and I could visit him in the hospital.

  Isiah, Jacob, Gina, and Rebecca showed up, and I couldn’t hide my disgust when the officers were nice to Jacob who said he was hired on as a new manager. Gina must have caught on to what I was feeling—or who I was thinking of beating—because she moved closer and turned my focus away.

  “I know, I know,” she whispered. “I get it all the time at the docks. It’s their tiny penis syndrome, not a reflection on you.”

  “I like that,” I admitted, taking several slow, deep breaths to try and handle myself.

  “If people had been drug tested like a responsible employer, this wouldn’t have happened,” that first cop was telling others. “I’m glad when this will be reported and—”

  “Do you understand life at all or just live in some privileged bubble?” I demanded, storming over to him. “We just brought these people in and are helping them. Yes, we planned on giving drug tests, but they haven’t even been here two months. And people relapse all the time no matter how many drug tests they take. Clearly, you took your asshole pills this morning no matter your drug test.”

  “Do you want to get arrested today because it would be my pleasure,” he threw right back when even the people with him chuckled at that.

  “You’re hassling me, and I’ll get arrested for giving it back? Oh, okay, sure, because she’ll have a field day with that.” I pointed to Justine as if telling him to try it.

  Isiah moved closer and acted as if he had to show me something. “Yes, she will, but let’s not see just how stupid they can be.”

  I let him lead me away, shaking my head and ready to just beat on someone.

  One of the teenagers who lived there and went to school, working for us part-time, was standing off to the side and watching it all. I went over to her and turned her away, whispering she shouldn’t watch any of this.

  “Are you really going to give us drug tests?” she asked, her tone so worried that it would have been amusing she was trying for subtle if the conversation wasn’t serious.

  “We were always planning to. We warned people,” I answered, giving her a look to spill.

  “I smoked pot before break during lunch,” she blurted. “I was trying to make friends. I just wanted…”

  “To be accepted,” I whispered, hugging her. “I know, I know you do. You want to be normal and not always the focus of whispers. I know.” I did a double take when I met Isiah’s gaze over her shoulder and it was filled with sadness. I ignored him and focused on her. “What did you learn?”

  “That people are horrible,” she rasped before breaking down crying. “They didn’t want to be my friends. They wanted to take video of me and hold it against me. I have to bring them treats from here and be their slave. They showed all the guys, and everyone’s laughing at me.”

  “I’m so sorry.” I kissed her hair and rubbed her back. “I’ll handle this. You just keep focused on school, love.”

  “How can you handle that? You can’t stop people from being mean,” she argued.

  “No, but I can make sure the little shits don’t hurt any of ours again. We have like fifteen people at that high school. I think it time to make it clear you guys are the awesome ones, not those pompous little shits.”

  I got her to settle down and promised everything would be okay.

  Isiah was amused though when she ran off and away from the police. “You didn’t tell her that the pot would be out of her system already.”

  “I didn’t know that,” I admitted. “I wouldn’t have told her anyways. She should be scared and stay away from any drugs at her age or give in to peer pressure.” I glanced away from him and out the window. “It never ends well when you do. She could have had way more severe consequences than a failed drug test. I know that well.”

  I didn’t want to talk about that and walked over to Justine, answering when I had to. It took another hour before the police were done. The two men who shared the room with the guy who overdosed agreed to have a drug test for the police. Justine said she would go with and make sure everything was fine but then pulled me off to the side.

  “I want to always be honest with you because you are with me and I value that,” she hedged, waiting for me to nod. “You’re at the point where I might suggest hiring your own full-time attorney. Normally.”

  I studied her eyes and nodded. “But we have issues now and again where the big guns of your firm come in handy.”

  “I wouldn’t say that, but I won’t disagree,” she replied, telling me a lot. “So instead, I’m going to tell you I have a meeting with my bosses tomorrow where I plan to tell them I need to clear other accounts and stick with you solely.” She let out a heavy sigh. “They will want me to keep with the way things are and start having a junior associate take part of your stuff.”

  “And you don’t want that.” I kept studying her. “You’re not greedy. It’s not for the billable hours.”

  “No, it’s not. You have too much that’s tricky to risk a newbie. If you had straight purchasing and employment contracts? Sure, that gets to be a bit repetitive and I would give over. But you have extras with the housing here and potential trouble. I would never let a newbie touch that if it was me.”

  I realized why she was telling me. “I’ll make sure I demand that. Colton warned me or something.”

  The relieved look she gave me spoke layers to her trust in me. Good. I adored her and didn’t want anyone else either.

  I left, making my SUV arrive near home when I turned a corner a block away from the factory. That was smarter when observant people like the police were involved no matter how strong my power was.

  Exhaustion filled every muscle as I parked. I was just tired of the crap and drama.

  So of course, someone I had no desire to see was waiting for me.

  Of course.

  “I’ve not done a damn thing to deserve the hate I see in your eyes,” Sara whispered when I couldn’t hide my reaction to seeing her.

  As in Colton’s cousin Sara.

  “You haven’t?” I challenged.

  She searched my eyes and scrubbed the back of her neck. “I’m missing something big. I know I don’t have the full picture here, but whatever is going on is big enough for Aunt Nicole to beg me to fly here and talk to you.”

 

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