Page 24 of The Betas: Rene
Chapter Nine
René’s Townhouse
Early Tuesday Morning
Frankie woke up in the exact position he was in when he went to sleep, his head resting on René’s broad chest. His mother was right. He couldn’t remember the last time this kind of happiness filled his heart. Frankie stirred, and René opened his eyes.
“Ma Vie.” René swooped down, and his lips touched Frankie’s. “As much as I love you, we need to get out of this bed. Holding you while we slept without taking you was hard enough. Having you in my arms, barely clothed while we’re awake is untenable.”
Frankie sat up. “How many rooms do we have?” He peered around the room, taking in the art deco furniture, the inlaid parquet floor and art that his eyes had been too tired to see last night.
“I didn’t show you our house last night. I should have, I’m sorry.”
“No worries, I’d rather see it when I’m awake.”
“We have fourteen rooms, not counting seven bathrooms, two of the rooms are suites with sitting areas, the housekeeper’s room and ours. We have four stories plus a walk-out basement. The kitchen is down in the basement as you saw last night, along with the breakfast room, a suite for a housekeeper, a bathroom off the kitchen and one attached to the housekeeper’s room. Now that there are two of us, we need to hire a full-time housekeeper.”
“We probably do. I don’t think the job with The Alpha allows much time for spring cleaning.” Frankie chuckled.
His wolf smiled. “There’s more. The first floor is the living room, dining room, with a half bath under the stairs. We’re on the second floor in the master suite with an attached bath and my study. We have an extra room of the same size that can become yours. We also have a guest room up here. There are four bedrooms on the third floor, enough for us to house our future children, a nanny, then eventually, a governess and a tutor should we need both. The children have a bath. And there are another two attached to the bedrooms. The fourth floor is a half-story that has the playroom and an outside terrace. I grow vegetables up there during the spring and summer, and what I don’t use I give to Martin and Edward and to Meg for The Alpha and The Alpha Mate. The master suite has a soaking tub and a twelve-headed shower, his and his sinks and heated towel bars. We have a small elevator hidden behind the staircase, but I generally climb the stairs.”
“Where do we go to exercise? I saw a gym around the corner.” Frankie stroked René’s shoulder.
“Since neither Martin nor I built a home gym, we use The Alpha’s. It’s as well equipped as an outside athletic club.”
“I’ll come with you if it’s okay with The Alpha. When do we go?”
“We generally go at five every morning, come home to shower and change, and are back at The Alpha’s by seven for breakfast. The Alpha works out at seven and eats with The Alpha Mate in the suite at eight. Once we have a housekeeper, we’ll eat here and be at The Alpha’s to start work at eight.”
“Do you go three times a week?”
“No, daily. It’s very important for Martin and me to be fit. We protect The Alpha and The Alpha Mate.”
“What’s your schedule like on a weekly basis?”
“Alpha Mate attends class all day on Tuesday and Thursday, so I’m at NYU. On Wednesday or Friday, he has lunch with the other Alpha Mates at one of their homes. Unless he goes out for something special. Mondays and, outside of lunch, on Wednesday or Friday, he spends the days in his studio. Your time will be taken up in the office inside the house managing The Alpha’s personal affairs.”
“We’ll see each other almost every day for lunch. I like that.” Frankie’s eyes sparkled. He got up out of bed. “May I use the bathroom first?”
“Sure, I’ll nap a bit more.” René slid back down under the covers.
Frankie went into the bath. Twenty minutes later, he came out to the bedroom just as René rose.
“Quite a change from my little box. I told Mom we’d be at her house by three. I warn you, I think Dante is going to be there along with Junior. Junior is particularly unpleasant. He’s perfect for Dante’s business if only Dante could see it.”
“Do you think he knows what Dante does?”
“Junior is lazy, not stupid. He loves Mom and like the rest of us doesn’t say anything to prick her bubble. He’ll probably be a lot less unpleasant when he realizes I’m not going to be involved in the business and plan to work somewhere else. That way, I will no longer be competition for hisinheritance. No one was more gleeful that Sal got his than Junior. It was after Sal died that Dante began to pressure me to take over. Junior wants it, I don’t.”
“Can’t you convince your brother that the business isn’t moral?”
“I can’t take the moral high ground if I worked for Dante for ten years. Junior didn’t believe me when I said I wanted no part of it.”
René let out a breath. “I suppose I can see that.”
Frankie turned away. “I’ll go downstairs. If you tell me where the coffee things are, I’ll make coffee while you shower.”
“The beans and the grinder are in the cupboard over the toaster oven along with the mugs and sugar. The cream is in the fridge.”
