Santo was right, of course, Pet saw when she glanced at her watch and noted the time. They’d been sitting there for much longer than she’d realized. They really did have to go. But that didn’t stop the questions now swirling in her head. Could he really not read her? Or was he lying? And if he was lying, why?
Nine
“This isn’t going to work.”
Pet rolled her eyes at Parker’s prediction as he dragged the last of his books out of his school knapsack. It was at least the sixth time he’d said it, and it was the sixth time she responded with, “Yes, it is.”
“The cat will be fine.” Santo added the reassurance as he gathered the bags Parker had filled with things he “just couldn’t live without” during his stay at her place.
Parker released an exasperated sigh and turned his bag upside down, shaking it to remove anything still remaining inside. When nothing fell out, Pet picked up Mrs. Wiggles from where she’d been napping on the bed while they’d packed Parker’s clothes in his small suitcase. “Here. Open up and we’ll put her in.”
“She’ll suffocate in there,” Parker protested even as he opened the bag wide for her to set the cat inside.
“She won’t,” Pet assured him as she released her hold on the cat and retrieved her hands. When Parker started to zip up the bag, she said, “You don’t have to close the bag until we get to my building, and then you can leave it open just a bit so she can get air, but not enough that she can stick her head out. Okay?”
“Okay.” He relaxed a bit and reached into the bag to pet the animal.
“Why don’t you go downstairs?” she suggested. “I’ll put your schoolbooks in a bag and bring them down.”
Nodding, the boy headed for the door, his head bent to peer into his knapsack at Mrs. Wiggles rather than where he was going.
“He’s going to fall down the stairs and break his neck,” Pet muttered with a shake of the head.
“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Santo said and left the room on the boy’s heels, several bags hanging from his shoulders and hands.
Pet smiled crookedly as she watched him go, and then glanced around, noting that the room seemed a lot larger without him in it. It also seemed to be cooler and have more air. Neither of which could be true, so she supposed that meant it was just her when the man was around. She got hot and bothered.
“Almost ready?”
Pet glanced toward the door and smiled as she watched Marguerite sail in, another lovely lightweight summer dress swinging around her long legs. “I just have to pack up Parker’s school stuff and we’ll be good to go.”
“I’ll help,” Marguerite volunteered, moving to join her at the bed.
“You don’t have to,” Pet protested.
“I want to.” Marguerite picked up a pencil case and notebook and put them into the large cloth bag Pet had liberated from her sister’s pantry for the task. “I also wanted to thank you again for agreeing to let us use your sister’s house to keep an eye on Mr. Purdy’s place. It will make things much easier. The window in the den affords a view of both the front and back of the house, which means only one of the men will have to watch at a time, allowing them to take shorter, six hour shifts each, rather than the two watching twelve on and twelve off they started with.”
Pet smiled faintly but shrugged as they worked. “It was hardly an altruistic decision. It isn’t safe around here until Purdy’s visiting cousin is taken care of and you guys are seeing to that. Besides, this way I don’t have to worry about the creep who tried to get in the other night returning and getting in to steal stuff or wreck the place while we’re gone. You guys can handle him.”
“True,” Marguerite said, sounding amused.
They both fell silent for a moment and concentrated on gathering everything Parker had removed from his bag. The sheer amount of stuff made her shake her head. She had no idea how he’d fit it all in his knapsack. There were at least six thick textbooks, several notebooks, two pencil cases, a sketch pad, an iPad, his laptop, various power cords, a ruler, and even some paint, paintbrushes, and charcoal.
“Ask me what you have wanted to ask me since returning from your late lunch with Santo,” Marguerite said suddenly.
Pet stilled and raised her head, and then tilted it as she considered the other woman. “You read my mind again.”
It wasn’t a question, but Marguerite nodded. “I apologize. It is a habit that is hard to break. However, that subject is what you want to ask me about anyway. Whether Santo was telling you the truth when he said he could not read or control you.”
“Was he telling the truth?” she asked at once.
“Yes, he was. He cannot read or control you,” Marguerite said solemnly, and then grinned and added, “I fear all that passion you experienced with him came naturally, not through any control.”
Pet flushed with embarrassment but ignored the last part of what she’d said and pointed out, “But you can read and control me. Why can’t he?” Pet didn’t wait for an answer but quickly asked, “Can the other men read me? I know Bricker controlled me, so he must be able to read me too. But what about Julius and Zanipolo?”
“Yes. Everyone in this house can read and control you except for Santo. Well, and Parker, of course,” Marguerite added with a little smile, and then, her expression turning solemn, she said, “But I fear I cannot tell you why.”
“Because you don’t know? Or—”
“Because it is not my place,” Marguerite said, cutting her off. “Santo will have to explain that to you. When you are ready.”
Pet was frowning over that rather enigmatic comment when Marguerite straightened with a pleased little sigh. “That is everything, I think. We should go below now. Parker and Santo are waiting.” Turning, she headed out of the room, leaving her to follow.
Pet stared after her for a moment before picking up the cloth bag full of Parker’s school items and following.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry.”
Pet rolled her eyes at Parker’s harassment as she unlocked her apartment door and said with exasperation, “I’m hurrying, Parker. Just—there,” she said with relief as the lock clicked and she was able to push the door open.
Parker raced ahead at once and disappeared around the corner to the left.
“Take her to your room,” Pet called firmly after her nephew as she led Santo into the entry. Both of them were weighed down by bags, but Santo had the majority of them, and Parker had only carried his knapsack with Mrs. Wiggles in it. Which was why he’d been desperate to get inside as quickly as possible. The cat hadn’t moved since he’d zipped up the bag, and he was sure she was dying or scared or both. Pet thought Mrs. Wiggles was just a lazy old thing. She hadn’t moved much when he’d been carting her around the first night either, except when she’d tried to climb his head and that had been purely out of fear.
“Your home is very nice.”
Pet glanced around at that comment from Santo as they stepped out of the ten-foot-long entry and reached the main part of the apartment. From here they could see the high, light-colored walls and open concept layout. The kitchen was directly ahead of them with the dining area beyond it. Both were open to a sitting area on the right that was separated only by an island with a sink and indoor grill that ran the length of the kitchen area. Her office was beside them, running the length of the entry, but they could see part of the large, open living room beyond it from where they stood. To their left, a hall headed away, leading to the bedrooms.
Pet tried to look at it all as he must see it and mostly what jumped out at her were the large windows in every direction. The outer walls were pretty much made of them, which was what she’d loved about the place when she’d first seen it, and what she still appreciated.
“Thank you,” Pet murmured, moving into the kitchen to set down the groceries she’d carried up. They’d stopped at the store after picking up Parker. She’d put the perishables in one of her sister’s cooler bags once they’d got back to the house, so she didn’t bother to put them away just yet. They would be fine for a few more minutes, so she started back toward Santo, intending to take a couple of the bags from him.
The man had her overnight bag, Parker’s suitcase, the bag that held the boy’s school items from the knapsack, and several more bags of Parker’s. He also carried the bags from the pet store. Santo didn’t let her take them, though. Raising them out of her reach, he said, “Lead the way and I’ll carry them to where they need to go.”
When she opened her mouth to protest, he added, “It means I get the tour.”
Chuckling, Pet gave up and led him up the hall. Stopping at the first door on their right, she knocked lightly and then opened it to reveal a bedroom in pale blue. “This is Parker’s room when he’s here.”
She stood back for Santo to enter, and then followed and closed the door to prevent Mrs. Wiggles from escaping. While he set down Parker’s bags and the ones from the pet store, Pet moved to the bed where Parker was hovering over Mrs. Wiggles and petting her as he apologized for putting her in that “nasty old knapsack.”
“She’s fine, Parks,” Pet said with amusement. “Look at her. She’s purring.”
“She is now that she’s out, but how would you like to be zipped up in a nasty old bag?”
Pet rolled her eyes and walked over to set up the litter box. She followed that up by going through the bags and separating the food and food dishes from the toys and catnip. Santo helped her with that, and then picked up the bag she’d placed the food dishes and canned food in and followed her from the room.
“This is the guest bathroom,” she announced, pausing by an open door to a compact but full bathroom in pale earth tones. As Santo glanced in with curiosity, she said, “There’s also a half bath on the left of the entry.”