Cooper (20 page)

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I used to think writing was a solitary activity. Over the last few years I’ve come to realise it’s more teamwork than anything else. My editor, chief hand-holder, Jan Millward, is always there every step of the way. She picks me up when I get knocked down by the occasional bad review and she gives me a kick up the back side when I get too caught in negative thoughts. And she remains my greatest fan!

Then there’s my PR lady DesertGirl who does great promotions for my books on Fiverr and her site FreeandDiscountedBooks.com. My books would never have reached their audience without her sage advice and help over the last few years.

Next comes my writing buddy and ex-student, Orson Gawne, who let me steal the G’Day Mate mangled joke from his recent brilliant manuscript to include in Cooper. (I want to see Seth in print soon!) His writing is funny, brilliant and exciting. He says his target audience is youngish men but I love his work, and I most definitely am not a youngish man. LOL!

The newest member of my team is Sofia Clemente who, like Jan, became a fan and then a friend, and finally an invaluable member of the team. She has been the betareader for all the Scorpio Sons and her ability to keep the details consistent between one book and the next is nothing short of miraculous. And for Cooper her advice on ways to improve the story has definitely made this book one of my best, I believe.

And of course, last and by no means least, you the reader are part of my team. If you weren’t reading and enjoying my books, I would likely still be piling them up in my bottom draw letting them gather dust. And every one of you who takes the time to tell me what you think of a book is like a gem I treasure. So please, keep reviewing on Amazon and Goodreads or emailing me from my website
www.nhysglover.com
and telling me what you think.

Chase’s story is the next in the series and will be out early in 2015. I’ve included an excerpt to whet your appetite on the next page.

Thanks and enjoy

xx Nhys

Excerpt from Scorpio Sons 4: Chase

Silicon Valley, SAN FRANCISCO Present Day

"It's probably nothing," Caleb was saying calmly to an anxious Alyssa, as Chase strode into the IT suite to see what was causing all the fuss.

Alyssa was prowling the length of the darkened room, lit only by computer monitors, as if she was about to turn cat. As Colton was on a mission right now, this was an unusual occurrence. Alyssa was usually a sweetly calm woman who only lost control of her cat when her mate was around. Colt, on the other hand was one of the more moody and volatile members of his team, who'd become even more so since finding his mate.

But then, all three of the Sons who’d found their mates in the last few months were all more volatile than they had been in the past, even the mild-mannered, stray-cat adopting Cooper. Sometimes he wondered if introducing mates into the mix had been a wise idea. Not that he could have stopped it, even if he'd wanted to.

It seemed that every time Chase turned around lately yet another spot fire needed to be put out. Yes, they were potentially closer than they'd ever been before to bringing down the Guild, but the recent change of tactics was adding stress he didn't need.

Although he'd like to see himself as being politically minded, as his role required, he knew he was more interested in taking physical action. They all were. Or at least that appeared to be the case with most of the forty-two Scorpio Sons who’d been found so far.

Maybe there were others yet unfound who actually liked playing politics. Like Cameron Haversham Smythe seemed to. But then, he'd been even better trained for the job than Chase. Cameron probably chaffed at playing power-games just as much as the rest of them, but hid it better.

"Caleb, sometimes you are so counter-intuitive. That's the term isn't it? The opposite of intuitive? Can't you read between the lines?" Alyssa exclaimed.

"What's there to read? Every celebrity has crazy fans, some of them with paranoid delusions. You've already had a few; I just never mentioned them before. Wish I hadn't mentioned this one. Colt is going to string me up by my headphone for upsetting you."

"Grrh! It doesn't matter that you upset me. Don't you understand? This is one of ours.
She's
one of ours. How else do you think she could identify Akabar and Rothmen for what they are? I should have known. But back then I didn't recognise the connection."

"What's going on?" Chase asked mildly, attempting to defuse the rapidly escalating situation.

"Alyssa just has a stalker with paranoid delusions, sure that every rich guy she associates with is a monster," Caleb answered with a frustrated sigh, his deep, southern accent never more evident. "I'm trying to tell her that warnings like this are everyday fare for celebs."

"Read the letter, Chase," ordered the little singer, crossing her arms over her chest and lifting her chin in challenge. She was like a pissed off kitten. But even kittens had claws, so he needed to mind his manners.

Chase strode over to the monitor Caleb had in front of him and began reading the scanned letter on the screen. The handwriting was neat and feminine, not what he expected from a crazed fan. Then he focused on the words.

"Dear Alyssa,

I hope you don't mind me calling you Alyssa, as we have never formally met. But I feel as if we do know each other. We smiled at one another often enough in the corridors of the Grand Regent, where I work. You probably don't remember me, and it doesn't matter if you do. What matters is that you believe me.

You need to be more careful of the company you keep. Both Alzhir Akabar and Karl Rothmen are/were monsters. I know because I have met their kind before. I have killed their kind before.

I have no evidence; no way to prove what I say. When I saw you with Akabar I wanted to warn you then, but I had no evidence. After this recent near-miss, I knew I couldn't hold back any longer. Evidence or no evidence, I had to warn you. They are clearly targeting you, and next time you might not escape their clutches so easily.

Trust your instincts. Having not been through what I have, you may not know
how
to trust your instincts. But you must learn, or have people around you who can trust theirs, because you must be able to determine who to befriend and who to stay far, far away from. Your life depends on it.

Please take this seriously. I don't want anything to happen to you.

Your most caring fan,

Anna Jarvis"

"It is very vague, Alyssa," Chase started cautiously, not sure what to make of the letter. On one level, it sounded like an overly-attached fan projecting her own issues onto her idol. On another, the fact that she singled out those two men as monsters was too close to home to be ignored. And what was that about having killed their kind before?

"If she's the one I think she is, then we need to make contact. There was a very young girl working in housekeeping at the hotel I stayed at in LA during the competition. She was shy, but she smiled at me every time we passed in the corridors. I felt a tug back then, a sense of familiarity that I only now recognise, having met Alice and Amy. Back then, I'd never met one of my own kind before. This girl, this Anna, is one of the Mates. I'm sure of it."

"The name does lend credence to your belief." Chase looked at the name at the bottom of the page again. Anna. Yet another mate with a name starting with A, just as all the Sons so far had names starting with C. It was an interesting aspect of their breeding, a seemingly unplanned choice of similar names for both the males and females of their new breed of humanity. Of course, three mates with names starting with A didn't prove anything, but it certainly gave him food for thought.

"I have to go to LA for a meeting," Chase said, thinking quickly. "I can take it at the Grand Regent and have a look at her while I’m there. We Sons all seem to be able to tell Mates from ordinary women, so I can check this girl out and bring her back here, if she
is
one of ours. Then we'll have to see if whatever it is that happens between you couples, happens between her and one or more of the men. It will be an interest test. So far, every female tested has already been claimed. An unclaimed female might –"

"Activation/claiming
does
alter the attraction. Connor said I got way more attractive once I was activated by Colt. Up until then I was just slightly more interesting than your average female. You might not be able to tell what she is," Alyssa said with an indignant huff.

"Well, it’s the best I can offer you. It's not like you can go running off back there. Your mate is on a mission. He'd kill me if I let you go anywhere without him."

Reluctantly, Alyssa nodded. "Yeah, okay, you have a point. But you have to do more than just
sniff
her, Chase. You have to talk to her about what she feels about the Guild members she'd identified. You have to find out more about her warnings."

Chase placed a calming hand on Alyssa's arm and felt the little fission of electricity that always came when he touched any of the Mates. It was why he avoided physical contact with them. His attraction to these women was natural, and yet unwanted. Thankfully, it was never very strong.

But if touching another man's mate gave him this charge, what would it feel like if he found his own?

That thought was too disruptive to consider. No, he was not going to find a mate. Chase, as the leader of the Scorpio Sons and upper management of Scanlan Industries, had no time for a mate. And neither would he be responsible for anymore collateral damage caused by what he was.

But he could determine if this little cleaner from LA was one of theirs. That at least was feasible. Having more healers for his men was worth all the hassles these women always brought with them.

The next day he arrived in LA by chopper and set down on the helipad on top of the Grand Regent. Though he hated the ostentatiousness of such forms of transport, he loved the time it save him. And when he had a million and one matters to concern himself with, shortening transit time was always a bonus.

Of course, he did a lot of his business by video conferencing these days, which saved time, but anything to do with the Sons he made a point of doing face-to-face. So he could have taken this business meeting remotely, but checking out a possible Mate meant he'd resort to old fashioned means of business communication in this instance.

While he took the elevator to the lobby twenty-five storeys below, Chase considered his options. It might be as simple as asking to see the girl, if she was currently on duty. His reason for doing so? Did it matter, as far as the staff here was concerned? He didn't have to justify his requests. And one thing he knew about the Grand Regent was that it bent over backwards to meet the needs of men like Chase, no questions asked.

"Chase Scanlan. I have an executive suite booked," he told the receptionist, a pretty redhead with a big, Hollywood smile.

"Of course Mr Scanlan. Your room is ready for you. Have you luggage?" she asked politely.

"No, I am not staying overnight. I’ll be taking a meeting in my suite and then flying out again."

"Certainly, sir. Is there anything I can do for you? Complimentary champagne, finger-food, business equipment of any kind?"

"No, thank you. But I do need to see one of your staff while I'm here. A young woman from housekeeping called Anna Jarvis. Can you see if she's currently in the hotel?"

The surprised expression was quickly replaced by a professionally neutral one. The redhead smiled, nodded and consulted her computer.

"Yes, that staff member is working on the third floor at the moment. Will I have her sent up to your suite? How long will I tell her supervisor she’ll be away from her post?" The redhead's eyes took on a speculative gleam. So she thought he was having an assignation, did she? Well, she could think what she liked.

"Yes, have her sent up immediately. I'm not sure how long I’ll need her."

The redhead almost sniffed, but refrained with difficulty. "Certainly. I will let her supervisor know immediately, and the girl will be sent up to your room. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Chase felt like chuckling. He had definitely ruffled this young woman's feathers. Was it because he was having an assignation with a member of the hotel staff or because he was having an assignation with a member of the staff who wasn't
her
?

"No, that will be all. Thank you." He took the keycard she offered him, enclosed as it was in a gilded pocket-sized folder. Nothing was too good for the elite like him, he reflected with amusement.

As he prowled back to the elevator and selected his floor, he considered his timing. He had half an hour to check out this possible Mate before his meeting was scheduled. Lance Courtney had been only too happy to meet him here at the Grand Regent. Promising the man lunch had only sweetened the proposition.

He had barely closed the door on his suite and gone to the window to look out at the panoramic view beyond the floor to ceiling plate-glass windows, when a soft knock drew his attention.

Surprised at how swiftly his request had been met, he crossed the room at cat speed and opened the door. The girl standing in front of him, dressed in the hotel's light blue uniform, knocked the air right out of his chest.

It wasn't because she was beautiful. Her hair was a pretty shade of ash-blonde, pulled back into a neat ponytail at the back of her head. Naturally blonde, if he didn't miss his guess. Her eyes, such a pale shade of blue they were almost silver, were highlighted by the blue of her uniform only. She wore no make-up. What he could see of her figure beneath the demure uniform was slim and 'average'; no outrageous curves, nor fashionable thinness distinguished her figure from thousands of other girls across the country. Her skin wasn’t tanned the default skin tone of LA, either. Her skin was almost too pale.

So why wasn't she beautiful? Her mouth was too wide, her nose a little too small for her face; her chin had an odd dimple in it that wasn't quite symmetrically placed. Her big silver-blue eyes were too big for her face, and maybe too deeply set beneath too pale eyebrows. She was
too
different to be beautiful, and that made her striking.

How tall was she? Maybe five foot four. Neither tall nor short for a woman. But short enough that he seemed to have to look a long way down to see her. And young, too young for any of his brothers.

Unable to find words, he ushered her in with his hand, feeling like a sleazy businessman preparing to pounce of an innocent, under-age girl. As she passed him, Chase breathed her in, hoping against hopes that he was wrong.

She lowered her head as she moved past him. He could feel her uncertainty in every line of her body. When she stood in the centre of the living area, she brushed down the skirt of her uniform nervously and waited for him to speak.

No, this wasn't happening. It was simply an unclaimed Mate he was drawn to. It was simple biology. It was just a slightly more exaggerated version of what he felt for the claimed Mates.

But one thing was certain: Alyssa had been right. This Anna Jarvis was one of theirs. And likely had no idea what she was.