Quickly grabbing what she needed, she had the lovely man charge it to Nik’s account. It seemed everyone in town knew the hillbillies. And every woman definitely seemed to know Nikolai Vorislav. Not surprising, though. Even she had to admit he was damn fine. Especially when she found ways to annoy the living shit out of him.
She took her bag of purchases and walked out the door, heading to the store she’d left Nik in. Halfway there, a sweet black leather skirt caught her eye in one of the shops.
Angie walked in and immediately a salesgirl was at her beck and call. She really liked this town. They knew how to treat people. Of course, almost everyone she’d met so far was a little less than human. But after finding out about most of the people in her own town, she really wasn’t too concerned.
Taking the skirt from the clerk, Angie put her bag down in one of the chairs. She held it up against her body as she stared at herself in the mirror. Cute. And an Armani original.
“Does Nik Vorislav have an account here?”
“His family does, yes.”
“Great. Charge this to that—and anything else I find to amuse me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She giggled and wondered the best way to make sure Vorislav saw the price tag. She loved the look he got on his face when she did that.
“Enjoying Vorislav’s money, are we?”
Angie glanced over her shoulder, quickly realizing they had her surrounded. Six of them. All gold and gorgeous.
She turned slowly, her eyes straying to the bag she’d brought into the store with her. Nope. She’d never make it before they ripped her apart. And, yet…she got the feeling they didn’t want to hurt her.
“As a matter of fact, yes I am.”
One of the females laughed. “Good.”
Another one, holding a phone, looked Angie up and down. “Are you Angelina Santiago?”
No point in lying now. But Angie couldn’t help but return the once over before answering, “Yeah.”
She handed Angie the phone. “Here.”
Completely confused, Angie took it. “Hello?”
“Is this Angelina Santiago?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, hi there! This is Victoria Löwe.”
“Who?”
“Long story short—I’m a lioness looking for a truce.”
“With who?”
“With the Magnus Pack.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Well, I’ve tried to communicate with Sara Morrighan, but she refuses to talk to me or any of us.”
The other females stepped away to look at the clothes while Angie used the phone. “You think that could be because you killed her mother?” One of them picked up a hideous dress and Angie frowned. The woman caught her expression. She held it up and Angie shook her head. “No way,” she mouthed at her.
She didn’t know these people and they were the mortal enemies of her best friend, but dammit, bad fashion was bad fashion. And she couldn’t let someone go through life thinking that dress was okay.
“I didn’t do anything, Ms. Santiago. In fact, I wasn’t even born yet. But all that aside, the Withell Pride is dead and gone. I’d like us to move past this. The entire Cat Nation would like that as well.”
Cat Nation? There’s a Cat Nation?
Angie took the horrid dress from the woman’s hands and put it back on the rack. She grabbed a sexy little gold number and held it up against the woman’s body. “So what do you want from me?”
“Talk to her. Get her to speak to me.”
The dress would look great on the woman, so Angie gave her a strong nod of approval. “I don’t get into Sara’s business and she doesn’t get into mine. It’s helped us have a very long, healthy relationship.”
A tug on her arm turned Angie around to face a cute outfit on the wrong female. She grimaced. “No. No.” She took the outfit and tossed it on top of the racks.
“No, no, what?”
“Not you.” Angie dragged the female over to another rack across the floor. She found an elegant suit with the woman’s name—whatever name that may be—written on it. The female blinked in surprise, then smiled.
“Look. I can talk to Sara, but talk don’t mean shit to her. If you want a truce with Sara Morrighan, you better be prepared to show her how far you’ll go.”
“And how far is that?”
“I have no idea.” Hell, with Sara, it could be Mars.
“Look. All I want is to talk. And wouldn’t you like that too?”
“Personally, I could care less.” Another tug, she turned and gave an immediate nod of approval. At least one of them had some taste.
“What about your friend? The one about to breed? You’d like her to be safe, wouldn’t you?”
Angie froze. “Are you threatening me?” If she had to, she’d kill every cat in the Continental United States if it kept Miki and her future niece or nephew safe.
“No. But we want our kids safe, too. See what I’m saying? This could be a benefit for all of us.”
Angie pried a dress several sizes too small out of another female’s hands. “Don’t be ashamed. There’s nothing wrong with the ‘X’ in front of that ‘L’.” She gave the woman something more her size.
“I’ll try and talk to her. But I’m not promising anything.”
“Fair enough.”
Angie waved away a bad pair of sandals as she closed the phone, handing the device back to one of the females.
“Should I be concerned that you people found me here?”
The one holding the phone shook her head. “No. We weren’t looking for you. We just happened to see you walking around town. Everyone knows Victoria is trying to get a truce going. We thought we might be able to help.”
“And how did you know who I was?”
“Are you kidding?” She laughed. “Everybody in town knows the Vorislav boys took you. Those tigers. They’re crazy.”
“Besides,” another added, “you don’t smell like you’re from around here.”
Angie let that freaky and disturbing statement pass as Nik stormed into the store. “Where the hell did you go?”
The lionesses all smiled. “Hey, Nik,” they all said as one.
Nik’s face dissolved into a delicious grin. “Well, hey, ladies. How y’all doin’?”
Angie rolled her eyes in disgust. Christ, is there any woman in this town the man hasn’t stuck his cock into?
Angie grabbed her bag from the sports store and the clerk handed her a bag holding her new skirt. She walked up to Nik, but he seemed much more interested in the lion females.
But she knew exactly how to get a man’s attention. Any man’s attention.
“Look at what I got, hillbilly.” She took off the watch she’d purchased when he’d gone to the bathroom nearly an hour before. She held it up in front of his face. “A Tag Heuer. The lovely gentlemen at the jewelry store said he’d be happy to put it on your account.” Angie backed up, dangling the shiny new watch. “Isn’t it pretty and shiny, little kitty? And expensive?”
Laughing at the expression on his face, she walked out of the store and knew, without looking, Nik would be right behind her.
He thought for sure she’d make him take her to one of the many expensive restaurants in town, to really solidify the afternoon of overindulgence, but instead she grabbed a cheeseburger, fries, and a cola from the local diner. She took her food and headed into the park. He followed, with a separate bag just for her ketchup. Seemed she couldn’t tolerate her fries without loads of ketchup.
Now, as they sat across from each other at a picnic table, Nik couldn’t help but wonder if she were always like this or if she’d simply gone off her meds.
She silently ate her burger and fries, staring out at the park. For a human, she really was mighty feline. She liked watching other people, her shrewd eyes taking in everything. And she loved to flirt. Not with him, but with everyone else. On their way to the diner, they’d passed a small group of Pride breeding males. In typical lion fashion, the males checked her out like prime rib at a steak house. She didn’t return their appraisal with any shy glances or beguiling smiles. Instead, she watched them walk past her, turning and walking backward on those four-inch heels like she was born with them on her feet. And then, she nailed them with a killer grin that stopped them all in their big lion tracks. He knew that smile. He’d used it himself. It was the smile that said, “I’ll fuck you and no one will ever be good enough for you again.”