Chapter 93

Lainey POV

As I pulled my car onto the main driveway of the Cavendish property, I was thinking mostly of my personal return on investment for this position. When the pack alpha asked me to take on the job of Sarah Astor’s publicist, there were about a dozen reasons I couldn’t say no, but not as many for actually saying yes.

I mean, I said yes, of course. Instantly. But later when I was packing up my stuff from my desk at the agency, I wondered if it were really going to be the dream job it seemed.

For one thing, Alpha Zane was intimidating as fuck-all, and I didn’t know what to make of Sarah herself. A human who had been blessed by the Luna Temple? Was I stoned or something? Were they?

Only one thing was certain at this point, Sarah Astor wasn’t going to be my typical client.

I had been on the property only once before, and on the drive up I’d been so preoccupied by what I was going to say that my eyes had just registered “rich person’s house.” This time, I made a point of enjoying the lush swaths of lawn, the flowers, the trees, and the perfectly trimmed hedges. I parked near the garage and took a little stroll around the large potage in front of the house itself.

No wait. What had Alpha Zane called it? A villa.

OK, my client lives in a villa.

I was admiring a koi pond with extremely large koi when I heard laughter. I followed the sound to a hedge maze. From somewhere inside it I heard the girls’ laughing and what I thought was probably Sarah’s voice saying something I couldn’t make out.

I got out my phone and texted, Are you in the maze?

A moment later the laughing came to an abrupt end and my phone screen read, Yes. Chloe and Grace say you should come find us.

I smiled and set my briefcase down at the entrance to the maze. I felt certain it would be safe enough, and the damn thing was heavy with my notes and laptop. Without sounds to go on, I breathed in deeply through my nose and picked up the scent of two pups and a human female.

I walked into the maze, where the tall hedges instantly disoriented me. I stood for a moment to get used to it and then walked forward, unwillingly thinking about that scene in The Shining where Jack hunts through the maze for Danny. Man, when I was a kid that movie scared the shit out of me.

OK, I had three options now: left, right, or forward. The scent was slightly stronger to my left, and soon I came upon a small wooden bench that obviously had been the human’s seat not too long ago. Emboldened, I plunged toward what felt like the center of the maze, turned, a corner, and there they were standing there waiting for me.

“Well done!” Sarah said and clapped her hands. The girls laughed, and I took a bow. Obviously, Sarah was making sure I could appreciate a little playtime. I smiled at them all.

Then Chloe dove into the hedge to my left. I looked to Sarah, who grinned mischievously. Along minute passed, and I started to feel my defenses go on alert, as though I were being hunted. I spun around, but I could only see the maze. I sniffed the air, but there was nothing.

Chloe launched at me from the right, and I screamed just a little. Everyone laughed, especially me. That had been highly impressive for a pup Chloe’s age.

Chloe ran past me to hug her sister and mother, well, her goddess-mother. It was a moment of pure family love, and I instinctively took a pic with my phone. Sarah saw and shot me a sharp look.

“You are never to put the girls’ photos on social media,” she told me.

I shook my head and walked up to hand over my phone. “This is just for you.”

Sarah’s expression melted as she looked at the image on my phone. “Oh, that is lovely. You have a great eye.”

“Thanks. It’s helpful in the business.” An idea struck me, and I looked around.

“What?” Sarah asked.

“The hedge mage would make a great background image for your website,” I said. That was our task for the day, making that website.

Sarah considered, looking around, then shook her head. “I don’t want to put identifiable photos of the grounds online.” She nodded down at the girls, and we all walked back toward what I assumed was the entrance. The girls skipped down the path ahead of us.

“I get that, totally,” I said. “But we could just have Lisy make a generic hedge maze graphic.”

“Lisy?”

“Our graphic designer. The agency told me I can use their staff on a freelance basis as needed.”

“That’s nice of them,” she said. “But why the hedge maze?”

I shrugged, not really sure why I knew it was the perfect background image. “It’s fun, it’s complicated, it’s protective, and I can’t think of another celebrity site that uses it.”

“Celebrity,” she said with a little sigh.

Yeah, it’s an adjustment, but suck it up, goddess-mother.

I said aloud, “We’ll try to keep it as painless as possible.”

She surprised me with a genuine-sounding burst of laughter. “Ignore me,” she muttered. “My life couldn’t be better if I tried.”

“Well, except for the sex trafficking thing and the lawsuit,” I said, and then wanted to kick myself.

But she just shrugged. “A few months ago, I was worried about being able to afford the right food for Chloe’s proper growth. Now a maid gets mad at me if I try to make my bed.”

“Oooh,” I said, committing her words to memory. “Can we use that on the website?”

“I suppose,” she said faintly. Then she cleared her throat gently and continued, “I want to make it clear I’m proud of the family I serve.”

“Serve? Aren’t you a part of this family?”

“I can be a member and still serve.”

“True, but I think we’ll get some comments objecting to that word. Let’s see if we can’t come up with something better.”

“I’d like to use some of what you said about fame, privacy, and secrets too, if you don’t mind.”

“Sounds excellent,” I said, pleased she had been paying attention.

We reached the maze entrance then, but I couldn’t find my briefcase. When I told Sarah what I was looking for, she assured me the girls must have taken it inside.

“I’m sure they’re excited for us to join them,” she said. “You’ve started up a little tradition for us, it would seem.”

She didn’t explain further, but I saw what she meant when we made it to the sitting room, or whatever they called it. It wasn’t the grand display of last time, but tea had been set out with sandwiches and cookies.

“My kind of tradition,” I said, sitting next to where the girls had indeed set my briefcase. Then we busied ourselves with the tea and things for a bit until a handsome alpha with dark brown hair and wearing a tweed jacket walked into the room.

“Chloe and Grace,” he said in a soothing tenor, recess is over. Please finish your tea and come with me.”

“Yes, Dr. Hayes,” the girls chorused.

“This is the girls’ tutor,” Sarah told me. “He’s prepping them for the PPE.”

“Ooh,” I said, looking at the girls. “When are you scheduled?”

“Three days,” Sarah answered for them. “I’m more nervous about it than they are.”

“Luna Amelie said our futures are twined,” Chloe said with a shrug.

“Intertwined,” Sarah said.

“Intertwined. So we’ll be fine.” Chloe and Grace put down their empty cups and stood up. Grace looked at me and smiled just about the sweetest smile I had ever seen.

“I like the idea of putting the maze on her website,” Grace said quietly.

“You heard that?” I couldn’t help asking. They’d been inside the house.

Grace shrugged and then turned with her sister to follow Dr. Hayes out of the room. Sarah watched them go with love and pride competing for ad space on her face.

No, not my typical client at all.