Treacherous (The Wolf Pack Series) (2 page)

“Yes, ma’am,” all seven boys chorused.

They retrieved the luggage from the trunk of the car and followed Celeste toward the house, laughing and chattering animatedly with one another.

“It sure is good to have the Wolf Pack together again,” Sterling said, slinging an arm around his brother’s shoulder. “It’s gonna be a great week.”

“Definitely.” Stanton was tall and broad-shouldered with smooth mahogany skin, a neatly trimmed goatee, piercing dark eyes, and strong, masculine features. He and Sterling looked so much alike that they were often mistaken for twins. But the similarities didn’t end there. They’d both married right out of high school, became fathers shortly afterward, and pursued careers in public safety—Sterling as a police officer, Stanton as a firefighter.

Two years ago, Stanton’s family had relocated to Denver after his wife, Priscilla, landed a job as a school superintendent. The move had been especially difficult on their children, who’d hated having to say goodbye to their cousins and leave Atlanta, the only home they’d ever known. They looked forward to these weeklong summer visits as much as Michael and Marcus did.

As Sterling and his brother started up the walk, he took in his surroundings.

The pale blue house was shaded by large oaks draped with Spanish moss. The wraparound porch overlooked lush rose beds that perfumed the warm night air.

Sterling breathed deeply, already feeling the stress and tension ebb from his body.

Once he stepped through the front door, he was enveloped by a familiar sense of homecoming, as if the old house had lovingly wrapped its arms around him. Everything was just as he remembered. The gleaming hardwood floors he and his brother used to slide across in their socks. The heavy antique furniture they’d had to polish as punishment for running indoors. The framed family portraits, which included sepia-toned images of Bishop Wolf, the ancestor who’d valorously led a regiment of black soldiers to victory during the Civil War.

Everything was right where it belonged, Sterling thought contentedly.

As the mouthwatering aroma of his grandmother’s cooking filled his nostrils, a broad, satisfied grin stretched across his face.

There’s no place like home.

Celeste was hiding a secret.

A secret that had kept her awake many nights, wracked with guilt and despair.

A shameful secret that threatened to tear her family apart and change the course of their lives.

She’d done the unthinkable.

She’d fallen in love with another man.

But not just any man. Grant Rutherford, a handsome, brilliant neurosurgeon at the hospital where she worked. Just thinking about him brought a hot flush to her face and made her belly quiver.

Alone in the cozy guest room she and Sterling would share that week, Celeste sat down on the bed and let her troubled thoughts roam.

For the past several months, she’d felt as if she were leading a double life.

On the surface she appeared to be a devoted wife and mother, one who packed her husband’s lunches and rearranged her busy schedule to chaperone her son’s field trips. But behind the facade of domestic tranquility, she was a woman consumed with forbidden feelings for another man. She constantly daydreamed about Grant, reliving the rare occasions when they were alone late at night, when the hospital was quiet and few others were around. Grant would follow her into the nurses’ lounge, and after she’d poured each of them a cup of coffee, they’d stand close together, smiling and murmuring softly to each other. Her skin tingled whenever he touched her, brushing an errant strand of hair off her face or cupping her cheek in his palm. She’d stare into his mesmerizing green eyes and feel like she was drowning.

At home, she’d often be in the middle of folding laundry or cooking dinner when she found herself fantasizing about running her fingers through Grant’s curly hair and feeling his warm lips against hers. She imagined his hands roaming over her, caressing her breasts, stroking between her thighs. The fantasies were so vivid that she’d lose track of what she was doing, refolding the same shirt or towel, sometimes burning the food she was cooking.

Celeste closed her eyes as a hot wave of shame swept over her. Although she and Grant hadn’t slept together, that didn’t make her behavior any less deplorable. Because she
wanted
to sleep with him, wanted it more than anything. But she knew that once she crossed that line, there’d be no turning back. Once she and Grant became lovers, that would spell the beginning of the end of her life with Sterling. And she wasn’t ready for that.

She loved Sterling. He was a good husband—strong, caring, dependable, hardworking. And she couldn’t have asked for a better father for Michael and Marcus, who worshipped the ground their dad walked on. Any woman would be lucky to have a man like Sterling Wolf.

Yet there she was, pining for another.

A sudden knock on the door made her jump. Pulse pounding, she turned and called out shakily, “Come in.”

The door opened to reveal a spry-looking elderly woman with cocoa brown skin and a short natural that had turned completely white over the years.

Celeste rose to her feet, smiling warmly as her hostess bustled into the room.

“Hello, Mama Wolf. How are you?”

“I’m just fine.” Evangeline Wolf embraced Celeste, teasing her nostrils with the scent of cinnamon and roses before she pulled away and clasped both of Celeste’s hands between hers. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here to welcome y’all when you arrived.”

“That’s okay,” Celeste assured her. “Stanton told us you’d gone to visit Mrs.

Abney. How’s she doing?”

“Oh, she has her good days and bad. She can’t get around much anymore, so that bothers her sometimes. But as long as she’s got folks stopping by to see her, she’ll be fine.” Evangeline patted Celeste’s hand. “Now what about you, dear?

Sterl says you’re not feeling well. What’s wrong?” Celeste felt a stab of guilt. “Nothing. I just needed to lay down for a while, that’s all.”

A hopeful gleam lit Evangeline’s dark eyes. “You’re not expecting, are you?”

“God, no,” Celeste said with such vehemence that the old woman frowned at her.

“Children are a blessing from the Lord,” Evangeline said chidingly. “Would it be so terrible if you
were
pregnant?”

Absolutely!
“Of course not, Mama Wolf. It’s just that, well, Sterling and I are done having kids. We’re not exactly getting any younger.”

“Nonsense,” Evangeline scoffed. “You’re only thirty-five. Women your age have babies all the time!”

“Not this woman.” Celeste hesitated, then confided, “I had my tubes tied after Marcus was born.”

Evangeline looked dismayed. “Please tell me you didn’t!”

“I’m afraid I did.”

Frowning deeply, Evangeline sank down on the edge of the bed. “That’s really too bad.”

Celeste gave her a knowing smile. “Your reaction wouldn’t have anything to do with you wanting a great-granddaughter, would it?”

“Of course not.” At Celeste’s skeptical look, the old woman grinned sheepishly. “Well, maybe a little. Don’t get me wrong. I love every last one of my rowdy, handsome boys. But it would have been nice to have a great-granddaughter to bond with.” She sighed. “Sterling and Stanton are my only grands, and I just can’t believe that they’ve got seven children between them, and not a girl in the bunch.”

“I know what you mean,” Celeste said consolingly, sitting beside Evangeline and putting an arm around her. “I would have enjoyed having a daughter. But the Lord gave me sons, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.” Evangeline smiled gently at her. “I know you wouldn’t. You’re a good mother, Celeste. The boys not only respect you, they adore you. They know you’d never do anything to hurt them.”

Celeste held the other woman’s gaze for a long moment, then glanced away guiltily. “No,” she agreed in a low voice. “I wouldn’t.” She could feel Evangeline studying her closely. “The devil’s always trying to lead us into temptation. But we have to be strong and steadfast. That’s the only way we can resist Satan’s wiles.”

Celeste’s heart was pounding. She searched Evangeline’s face, wondering if she’d somehow uncovered her shameful secret. How many times over the years had Sterling told her that his grandmother possessed an uncanny sixth sense about people? Had the old woman taken one look at Celeste tonight and discerned that she was hiding something?

Swallowing nervously, Celeste ventured, “Mama Wolf, is there something you’re trying to tell me?”

Evangeline gave her a long, assessing look. “I know things haven’t been easy for you and Sterling. You’re both working so hard, doing the best you can to provide for your family. But I know it’s been a struggle, living paycheck to paycheck. No, Sterling didn’t tell me anything,” she added when Celeste opened her mouth to protest. “He’s too proud and stubborn to ask for help, even though he knows I’d do anything for him. Anyway, I know how much it bothers him not to be able to give you the kind of life you want—” Celeste flushed. “I never said—”

“—and I also know that money problems can take a serious toll on even the strongest marriage.” Evangeline paused. “I know you look around this big house filled with nice furniture and family heirlooms, and you assume that my late husband and I had it made. And maybe we did. We were more fortunate than most black folks we knew, and we understood that. But we
did
face many challenges in our marriage, things you probably wouldn’t believe if I told you.” Her expression softened. “But we got through our problems because we loved each other, and we were committed to keeping the vows we’d made before God and our families.”

Celeste dropped her gaze, rapidly blinking back tears.

Evangeline reached over and gently took her hand. “I want you to know that if you ever need anything,
anything
at all, I’m here for you. Do you believe me?” Celeste nodded, not trusting her voice.

“Good.” Evangeline leaned over and hugged her, then drew back and patted her knee. “I’m going to give you and Sterling some money before you leave.” Celeste shook her head. “That’s okay, Mama Wolf—”

“Call it a loan, if that makes you feel better about accepting it. But you
will
accept it,” Evangeline said implacably. “See, baby, the Lord laid it on my heart to bless you and your family. So the money is actually a gift from God. Surely you wouldn’t refuse
Him
?”

“No,” Celeste said meekly, “I guess not.”

Evangeline smiled. “Good girl.”

“But what about Sterling? You know he won’t take any money from you, Mama Wolf.”

“That’s why we should keep this our little secret. Not that I condone lying to your husband, mind you. But sometimes a woman’s gotta do what a woman’s gotta do.”

Evangeline and Celeste shared a quiet smile of understanding just as a knock sounded on the door.

They turned to see Priscilla Wolf poke her head into the room. She surveyed them for a moment, dark eyes twinkling in a pretty, mocha-toned face. “I don’t mean to interrupt,” she said wryly, “but part of the reason I always look forward to this trip is that I get to spend some time around other women. You know, since I’m always surrounded by—”

From downstairs came a loud exclamation of, “Ugh! Maddox farted!” which was followed by a raucous burst of male laughter.

Prissy sighed and shook her head. “See what I mean?” Laughing, Celeste and Evangeline rose from the bed.

“Come on, girls,” said the family matriarch, leading the way from the room.

“Estrogen to the rescue.”

***

Later that night, Celeste was awakened by the sound of Sterling creeping into their bedroom. He and Stanton, along with the boys, had stayed up late playing poker and watching old blaxploitation films.

Celeste lay still, listening to the soft rustle of fabric as Sterling removed his Tshirt and jeans, then dropped them on the floor. The mattress dipped under his weight as he crawled into bed beside her, so close that she could feel the warmth of his breath on her nape.

She smiled in the moonlit darkness. “Who won?”

She felt him jerk in surprise. “I thought you were asleep.”

“I was,” she said wryly.

“Sorry, babe,” came his sheepish reply. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“That’s okay. I wasn’t in a deep sleep anyway.” Her mind had been racing all night, replaying her conversation with Mama Wolf.
The devil’s always trying to
lead us into temptation…They know you’d never do anything to hurt
them...We got through our problems because we loved each other....

Celeste had spent the entire evening covertly watching her husband, thinking of how handsome and virile he was, and calling herself all kinds of a damn fool for being tempted by another man.

“How’re you feeling?” Sterling asked, interrupting her thoughts. “Headache gone?”

“Yes.” She sighed. “I think I was just feeling a little stressed. But being here at your grandmother’s house…Atlanta just seems so far away. And I think that’s a good thing.”

“I think so, too.” Sterling folded her into his arms, pressing his body against her back. She cuddled closer, savoring his strength and warmth.

“So who won the poker match?” she asked.

Sterling chuckled. “I won, of course. But Michael came pretty damn close.”

“Are you surprised? You taught him and Marcus everything you know about poker. It won’t be long before they’re beating you at your own game.”

“In that case, I guess I’d better enjoy my dominance while it lasts.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Celeste smilingly agreed.

“So,” Sterling murmured, kissing her bare shoulder, “what’s my reward for winning tonight?”

Celeste shivered at the touch of his soft, warm lips. “Reward?”