Page 24 of Strike It Witch

He’d do it. Not only because of what I’d promised him, but because he truly did seem to care about Gladys. There was no other reason for him to have hired her to work a morning shift that was this slow. He had other employees.

He was probably paying her out of his own pocket, too.

Sigh.

Damn the man for making mealmostappreciate a Pallás wolf.

I sat at a table in the corner, away from everyone. Ronan toasted me with his coffee mug, and I cursed my big mouth for making that stupid bet. Not that I believed for a second he’d be able to convince the alpha to allow one of his wolves to move into my trailer park. Floyd Pallás hated my guts.

He was right to feel that way, too. I wished the worst things on Alpha Floyd, and I had zero qualms about it. The bastard had lied, cheated, and murdered his way to the top of the La Paloma wolf pack, and he deserved every bad thing karma deigned to send his way.

His son, though…

Ronan wasn’t like his father. Where Alpha Floyd wore his cruelty like a badge of honor, Ronan appeared to go out of his way to help the lower-ranking members of the pack.

And I knew a secret, too. Something I’d learned a year ago while briefly working with him to find the teenager of a mutual friend of ours.

Ronan’s wolf was far more powerful than his father’s.

My cell rang, and I glared at the screen. Private number.

I groaned. Not this BS again.

“Betty here,” I said.

“Once again, I’ve been detained and am unable to meet you at the arranged time.”

“I am not at your beck and call, Mr. Anonymous,” I said, through gritted teeth.

“Two o’clock. Same location.”

“Fine. But I won’t move the appointment again, and I won’t return the money you’ve already paid. That was a deposit. I’d never have taken the chance I did without it.” I kept my voice low, but it hardly mattered. I might as well have yelled it to the shifters in the room.

“That was the deal, if I recall correctly.”

“You recall correctly,” I said.

“Indeed.” His tone hardened. “And, witch?”

“Yes.”

“If you ever take a threatening tone with me again, I will rip out your tongue and feed it to your cat and gnome.”

The call ended.

A shiver walked up my spine and settled between my shoulders. Whoever the client was, he not only knew about me, he knew about Fennel and Cecil. While I didn’t hide the fact that I worked with a cat, very few people knew about Cecil. A few wolves, Ida, the fae twins at the coffee shop.

Which meant whoever this man was, he was watching me. Closely.

When I picked up my water to take a drink, my hand was shaking.

Chapter

Seven

“Everything all right, Betty?”

Ronan’s gaze burned into me. I glanced up and caught a flash of his wolf in his eyes. Had he overheard my conversation? Was that even a question? Of course, he’d heard it. He was a wolf.

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