Not That Kind of Private Investigator: Chosen Book 21 Read online

  Copyright © 2019 J.D. Light

  Edited by Ann Attwood Editing and Proofreading Services

  Chapter One

  I smiled at Warren Williams when he opened the door, trying to put forth warmth and peacefulness, knowing the young man still struggled with shifters on bad days. I was sure the only reason he seemed to be somewhat more at ease with Lincoln Reed and I was because of all the tiger shifters in Crossville, we were among the smaller ones.

  Neither of us would be what anyone would consider tiny, but Lincoln was long and thin, and I was a little under six foot, so fairly short when compared to the others of our streak.

  He pulled the door open just enough to see that it was me before taking the chain lock off and opening the door. I knew he had to know that a chain lock wouldn't stop even the smallest shifters from getting in if they wanted to very badly, but any amount of security he could muster at this point was probably for the best.

  "Your husband is here to see you," I said, smiling sweetly, hoping by bringing Kendrick there, I wasn't going to make anything worse in his healing. I honestly didn't see Kendrick as the type of person who would ever hurt Warren or anyone else for that matter, but I'd been wrong about people before. If need be, I'd protect the scared human from the man standing next to me, just out of Warren's line of sight. Even if he was my mate.

  "My what, now?" Warren asked, his head snapping back in surprise.

  Glancing sideways at Kendrick, I stepped forward, leaning down slightly to stare into Warren's eyes, not really sure what I thought I was looking for since I didn't know the first thing about head injuries beyond the fact that they bled a lot.

  How long is too long to be suffering from a concussion?

  "Do you not remember your husband?" I asked softly, reaching out to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Should I call Decker? What else don't you remember?" Groaning, I rolled my eyes. "I'm an idiot. If you didn't remember, then you wouldn't remember if you forgot something, would you?"

  "No, Turner," Warren said, chuckling. "I'm fine I just don't have­­––" I felt the big guy step up behind me at the same time I watched Warren's eyes go wide with surprise. "Kendrick?" he asked, breathlessly. "What the hell are you doing here?"

  Shit. That doesn't sound like a happy reunion. I've fucked up.

  "Can we talk?" the big guy asked, his face sad as he looked at Warren.

  Damn, that hurts. It hurt because regardless of the situation, I didn't want to see my mate hurt, but it also hurt for me, because whatever was going on with them, Kendrick cared deeply for Warren.

  The big guy glanced sideways at me, licking his lips. "In private?"

  Okay, ow! I was planning on giving them privacy anyway once Warren okayed it, but having my mate basically kick me out of the room hurt in ways I really hadn't been expecting.

  For Warren's part, he seemed torn, and I could tell he wasn't exactly thrilled to see the guy, and I was starting to really worry that the whole thing was somehow going to blow up.

  "Fine," Warren grumbled, full on glaring at Kendrick.

  I cleared my throat, letting Kendrick step by me––and trying desperately not to notice how delicious his scent was or how his chest brushed my back slightly as he slid by. I turned my head unconsciously as he walked into the room, watching his ass before letting my eyes wander up to his broad back, completely enjoying the way that T-shirt fit on him… and then completely making eye contact with the man's husband.

  Warren still looked pissed, but I didn't miss the tic at the corner of his mouth when he caught me, and I groaned. At least he wasn't ready to kill me for completely ogling his man. I'd probably be ready to kill me.

  "I'll be just outside if I need me… You need me." I cleared my throat, shaking my head.

  "I'm sure I'll be fine."

  "Thanks, Turner," Warren said, his mouth twitching as he fought not to full on laugh at me. "I really do appreciate the protection, but Kendrick isn't going to hurt me."

  I nodded. "Okay," I said, pulling the door closed.

  "What would he do about it anyway?" Kendrick grumbled once the door was securely shut. "He's tiny."

  I scoffed, curling my lip at the door. I was not tiny. I was what most people would even consider a bit larger than average.

  "He is not!" Warren said, coming to my defense. "He's perfectly average."

  Okay. Thanks for the defense, Warren. I'll handle it from here.

  "You're just a fucking giant," my little warrior said, and I could absolutely imagine him with his arms crossed on the other side of that door, probably glaring at Kendrick. "And you'd be surprised how strong Turner is."

  "How would you know?" Kendrick growled, making me shudder slightly. Damn, that was fucking hot. "Are you guys… a thing?"

  Shit. I hadn't meant to make the guy jealous. The last thing I wanted was for him to feel like I was trying to move in on Warren.

  "No," Warren said, chuckling. "He's all yours. Unless you fucked it up by telling him you were married." There was a slight pause. Slight enough, my brain still wasn't quite caught up before he said, "To me." The emphasis was strong and there was a bit of disgust in Warren's tone, making me feel a little bit protective of the big guy.

  I might be a bit biased since he was my mate, but I didn't understand how anything about Kendrick could ever elicit that type of disgust.

  "What the fuck is that all about?" Warren asked. "And why are you even here? I told you guys I needed time."

  You guys? Does that mean there is a third? Or does this have to do with Mom? I knew there were a lot of couples who called each other's parents Mom and Dad, but was that what it was?

  "And you have to see how strange that is," Kendrick said reasonably. "You disappear for weeks, Mom's freaked, calling the police every single day asking if they've found any unidentified bodies or if they've heard of any other police departments that have, when the FBI call and say they found you and that you were kidnapped, but you're alright and will call us later, but then you tell us on the phone that you are going to stay where you are… and don't even tell us where that is––I had to use all my favors from Asher, by the way, you owe me big time––and you didn't even bother to leave a phone number. Doesn't that all seem fucking crazy to you?"

  Kendrick sounded like he was getting angrier and angrier with every word and I wondered if I should open the door, just to remind him that I was there and that I wasn't going to put up with him hurting Warren. I was already starting to regret taking him to the guy considering it didn't sound like they were doing all that well at getting along.

  "You have no idea what fucking crazy sounds like, Kendrick," Warren whispered, and I wondered if he was about to spill everything to the guy, but after a few moments where I had to assume he was taking deep breaths and trying to settle down, he sighed. "Just go back and tell Mom I'm okay… and that I just need time. Because that is exactly what this is, Ken. I need time."

  "I'm not leaving town until you tell me what the hell is going on, Warren!" Kendrick snapped, and my hand flexed on the knob, ready to rip the thing off the hinges the second things got too real. "Why won't you come home? If you've been through this big thing, don't you think your family would be better equipped to handle it than a bunch of people you don't know?"

  "No," Warren whispered. "I don't think that my brother, who is basically perfect and has never had anything bad happen to him, and a mom who is just a bit too in my business most days are more equipped than the psychologist I see every week, or the guy I live with who gives me the space I need while still making me get out and do things from time to time, so I don't sit in this fucking h
ouse and rot." With each word, Warren got louder and louder until he roared the last loud enough to hurt my ear through the wood of the door.

  I couldn't take it anymore. I'd definitely screwed up. Warren hadn't ever gotten this worked up in the month that I'd known him. He'd always seemed to have such a tight leash on his emotions. I knew he was suffering. The mere fact that he'd said more than once that he wasn't ready to go home had proved that, but I'd never seen him get that emotional.

  I managed to miss Kendrick with the door, but just barely. He was a big, guy and he hadn't moved that far inside the room, probably smart enough to read the reluctance in his brother and not wanting to cause more of a problem than was necessary.

  "Hey, okay," I said, running immediately to Warren's side where he stood, shaking. I grabbed his shoulders and walked him over to the couch, forcing him to sit down. "This isn't a good place to be." Turning to the shocked man still standing by the door and looking at his brother like he didn't recognize him, I gave him a sad smile. "Kendrick, why don't you go to my house, the back door is unlocked. Go in, make yourself at home." The man frowned, glancing at me and blinking like he was trying to understand my words, but eventually, he nodded, turning and heading out the door, closing it softly behind him.

  "Okay," I said on a sigh, looking at the man who seemed to be more warmed up to me, a shifter, than the man he'd grown up with. My heart broke for both of them. Because of selfishness and some men's inability to see chosen as humans who deserved to be treated with the same respect as anyone else and instead thought they should be treated like cattle, this man's world had been torn apart. Along with the lives of his family.

  "It's okay, Warren. I'm so sorry." I put my arm around him, drawing him into my side, hoping I didn't make things worse by holding him like that. But I took it as a good sign when he leaned his head sideways, letting it rest on my shoulder. "I didn't realize he was your brother, not your husband. Why would he tell people he was your husband?"

  Warren gave a small snort laugh. "Because he's an idiot," he mumbled. "He's chosen, you know. I think that might be why I'm so mad at him. I know I shouldn't think it and if it ever happened, it would completely slay me, but I just don't understand why they chose me instead of him." He pulled his head up from my shoulder, turning it to look at me. "Doesn't that sound like the most selfish thing in the world?"

  Shaking my head, I gave his shoulders a quick jostle. "It sounds like you've been through a lot and you're trying to work it all out in your head. Wondering why you and not someone else isn't selfish after something like this. It's just trying to understand." I smirked, raising my eyebrows. "As far as why, it might be because your brother looks like a fucking semi-truck with clothes on."

  It started as a small chuckle working up out of Warren's chest, but soon it turned into laughter. Once he started, he laughed until tears leaked out of the side of his eyes. Sighing, he leaned his head onto my shoulder again. "He's great though, Turner. I could have never asked for a better brother in the world." He swallowed hard and I could almost feel the sadness swoop in. "I just don't feel like me right now, and I can't go around my perfect family as this angry, hateful person who actually just rubbed in my brother's face that he's never been through anything in his life. Like, is that even a thing he should be ashamed of?"

  "No, probably not." I let my head fall to the top of his and wondered if there had ever been a time when I'd been this affectionate with anyone.

  I didn't have brothers or sisters, so I'd never really learned to interact with people in that way. I'd had friends when I was younger, and even as an adult I had a few, but I'd always had a pretty secure bubble around me.

  Oddly, there was something natural about holding Warren like that. There was definitely nothing sexual to it, but it felt right, like he was the brother I was always meant to have. And he needed me in that moment. He needed to know that everything he was feeling was okay, because if he stressed about what he was feeling in reaction to his PTSD, he wasn't going to be able to get past any of it.

  "But you don't have to be ashamed that it hurts you that you have either. It's okay to be pissed about the cards you've been dealt. Just make sure you don't get so pissed and stay so pissed that you completely lose the person you were. Don't let those people who kidnapped you take that away from you."

  "You're right," he said quietly. "I'll call Decker."

  I chuckled, thinking about the adorkable psychologist. "Well, last I saw him, he was fallowing Enid around like a lost little tiger. He definitely doesn't have anything better to do."

  He chuckled, lifting his head and turning to look at me. "Will you let my brother know that I'm sorry for yelling at him and getting so mad?" He frowned, pursing his lips. "I would tell him myself, but I don't think I can talk to him without getting mad right now… and I hate that. Kendrick has always been the person I've looked up to most in my life." He licked his lips before shaking his head and taking a deep breath. "If he had been the one to go through that, he wouldn't be as messed up as me about it."

  "You don't know that, Warren." My stomach clenched at the idea of something like that happening to Kendrick. I hated that it happened to Warren, but the idea of my mate going through something like that made me want to kill someone.

  "You see this as a weakness," I said, jostling him again. "You're not strong enough to be emotionally stable after being kidnapped by people who wanted to sell you and force you to have babies." I shook my head, hoping he saw how much I disagreed with that statement. "But sometimes, the strongest people have the hardest time accepting things when the world is out of their control. Everyone is different and we were all gifted with different strengths and different weaknesses. Maybe letting go isn't one of your strengths, but having a strong conviction of right and wrong might be. And what happened to you was wrong."

  "Right," he said, straightening his shoulders. "You're right. I think that's why it's so hard to let go. It's just not right." He sat there for several moments, and I could see the resolve reforming inside him.

  It might not be permanent, and he might be right back in that dark place the next day, but at least for right now, he was feeling better. He was feeling stronger. I'd just have to make sure I was around to remind him how strong he was from time to time.

  "Now," he said, side-eying me and smirking. "Go talk to my brother. I know you're dying to."

  Licking my teeth, I looked away, pretending the room wasn't something I'd seen a million times. "I don't know what you mean."

  "Oh really?" he asked, chuckling when I wrinkled my nose. "Don't think I didn't see the way you checked out his ass, and then immediately felt guilty about it, because you thought he was my husband. If I hadn't been so shocked at seeing my brother, I probably would have laughed, especially when you got all rambly and your face turned bright red."

  "Okay," I said, shoving him a little and standing. "Shut up." I moved toward the door, but stopped before I reached it, turning to look over my shoulder at him. "He's my mate."

  Warren's eyes widened comically. "Wow, really?" he asked, looking excited… but then his face dimmed, and a frown popped up between his brows.

  I turned to face him fully, tilting my head. "Does that bother you?" I asked quietly. "I don't have to tell him." For now.

  It would gut me, since I was already starting to feel the pull driving me to spend every waking moment with the giant man, but I was starting to adore Warren. I could hold off for a little while to tell Kendrick about us being mates, so he could be available to help his brother through his rough patch. If absolutely necessary.

  Warren sighed before rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "I can't deny that it feels like I should be the one that at least gets a mate out of all this shit, but I'm actually really happy for you at the same time. And I know all the things you've given up for other people, Turner. You deserve a mate. And so does my brother."

  I smiled at him, completely in awe. He might not see how strong he was, but that man was a
survivor, and he was going to make it through all of that shit.

  I cringed. "Yeah, but that means I've got to introduce him to shifter life."

  "Oh shit," Warren said, on a laugh, covering his mouth. When he pulled his hand away, he was clearly struggling not to smile. "That might actually be funny to watch."

  "Why?"

  "Kendrick barely believes in anything scientific, because he says unless they have actual proof, it's just a bunch of overeducated men making guesses and trying to sell them as fact." He shrugged scrunching up his face. "He's a private investigator. He believes in proof."

  Blinking, I shot a thumb over my shoulder in the general direction of Kendrick Williams. "That man is a private investigator?"

  Snickering, Warren bit his bottom lip, nodding. "Well, he's the research guy, but yeah. If a wife thinks she's being cheated on, he basically sticks his nose in his computer to see what he can find." He sobered after a moment, licking his lips and looking away. "Asher does most of the legwork."

  "And Asher is?" I narrowed my eyes. It was the second mention of this Asher guy, and I didn't like the way it seemed like he was a pretty steady presence in Kendrick's life.

  Warren smirked up at me before waving a hand in the air. "Just an old friend that talked him into helping, because Kendrick is good with computers and Asher really isn't."

  "So," I said, curling my lip. "I'm going to have to have proof for the PI?"

  Nodding slowly, Warren gave me his most serious, wide-eyed look. "You might have to show him your hairy legs."

  Batting my eyes, I spun, sashaying over to the door before looking at him over my shoulder. "I'll show him at least one hairy leg."

  "Gross," he said, making a face and reaching over to grab one of the throw pillows off the couch and throwing it at me. "That's my brother."

  Chapter Two

  I was sitting at the super fancy, huge wood table when the back door opened, and Turner walked in. I tried really hard not to think his name with an exaggerated sigh, but the guy was fucking gorgeous.