Vaudeville Runaway, page 15
“West Coast Renewable?”
“That’s the renewable energy company owned by the Alpha of the West Coast Pride,” Calvin explained. “Where my parents are now. He was who we invested in last and we got triple what we put in.”
Kitty sat down. Everything she’d learned in university whirred through her head as she calculated how long the circus had been running, the kinds of people they had connections with, and all that money…
“We’re billionaires,” Calvin said quietly. “It gives us the ability to help people, to do what we need to do, to take care of our own, and to train them in whatever they want to be trained in. All of Laura’s schooling was paid for in cash. She still gets a salary just like everyone else, but she’s contracted to stay until another doctor is hired. Then she’s free to stay or go. There are a lot of positions like that. I’m telling you all this so you can see that we have the money to pay everyone a reasonable income. Then you can make an informed decision.”
Kitty stared at the picture of Mamie in her prime and let the numbers run, the new information, and the connections the Cirque de Nuit had.
Suddenly Calvin got all flustered and it made Kitty tilt her head and study him. Why in the world was Calvin embarrassed?
“I’ve never had to explain this to an outsider before.” Calvin ran his hand through his hair and cleared his throat. “I know humans are wary of anything that comes across like communism, but I suppose it’s more like socialism. We take care of everything, and still pay a living wage. Not everyone wants to stay here forever and we want them to be able to make a life wherever they want when they’re ready to go.”
Kitty arched an eyebrow at that. “What do you consider a living wage?”
Calvin’s eyes weren’t glowing gold anymore, but the jade-green was just as entrancing. “After taxes and healthcare – which our accountants handle for everyone – they all take home one hundred thousand dollars a year each – regardless of whether they’re a performer or a rigger. Everyone, including me. Any training is paid for by the Cirque but comes along with a contract to ensure we aren’t abandoned without a replacement. We are different in that we pay every three months, after we’ve done taxes for that fiscal quarter.” He shrugged again. “Most save it. Some donate it. I don’t really know. It’s not my place to ask what they do with their money.”
A hundred thousand dollars after taxes and expenses was more than a living wage, but Kitty knew some families who made that and were still struggling because of healthcare, child care, or any number of things that could create a financial disaster – like a car crash.
“Sounds like utopia,” she half-joked. “Do you know what I would make doing the same thing in Vegas? If I worked for a circus there – or literally anywhere else? And they would take out room and board.”
Calvin nodded. “We can’t just take in anyone and almost never have to hold auditions or job interviews. So it’s sustainable for us.”
It wouldn’t be nearly as much as she would make as a high paid stripper in Vegas but there would be nothing cut from her pay like tips to waitresses and bartenders. She wouldn’t have to pay for an apartment or food or a car. Kitty wouldn’t have to worry about health insurance. And if she was living here what would she need all that money for anyway?
Not even she could spend that much on makeup and shoes in a year.
Calvin tapped the desk as he considered her. “I know you want to take care of your brother. What I don’t know is how much you need for your life plans. And it’s not really my business what my employees do with their money, as I’ve said before. This is what you would get if you decided to stay, just like all the others here.”
“If I did stay, would I have to perform, or could I do something else?” Kitty asked, looking out the window to see the city off in the distance.
The Alpha of the Cirque de Nuit Pride stood from his desk and slowly walked around it toward her. Kitty didn’t know what to say or do. The way he was looking at her – it was like he was peeling off layer after layer until he could see her bones underneath—what made her who she was.
What Kitty didn’t expect was for him to get down on his knees before her and gently take her hands in his.
“Tell me, why are you so afraid of performing?” Those jade-green eyes searched hers and Kitty felt herself crumbling under his scrutiny. “Not that you have to, but you clearly love it. Why avoid it at all costs?”
All those walls she’d put up since the day she’d left her parents’ house had been slowly eroding here – in this place. It was easy to pretend her strength was never ending out in the real world—that it never wavered even in the face of rapists and pimps and muggers and druggies overdosing…
Tears filled her eyes and Kitty couldn’t figure out how to respond. “I don’t know,” she finally said, letting Calvin wipe the traitorous tear that spilled down her cheek. “I’m supposed to be a warrior, blazing my own path. Taking what you offer feels weak and like…I didn’t earn it. You’re literally just handing this to me. I didn’t have to work for it. I don’t know…I don’t feel like I deserve the kindness everyone here has offered without asking for anything in return.”
Calvin pulled her into his arms and didn’t say anything. He just let her cry.
Kitty had been holding all this back for so long now. She’d shoved it down deep and told herself what didn’t kill her only made her stronger. Every shitty thing over the last two years had only made her stronger.
And it had. She knew who she was and what she wanted and she knew she could get it.
But when presented with an easier way…one where she could have real happiness and acceptance…Kitty didn’t feel like she’d earned it. The only reason she was here at all was chance.
“It’s been a long time since we took in a human,” Calvin murmured into her hair. “We are so disconnected with the modern world in a way. We still have access to the internet and all that, but it’s not the same. I have no concept of what it’s like to struggle like you have.”
Kitty let him touch her face, and then her hair. She leaned into it, letting Calvin’s strength take over.
“You deserve anything I could give you and more,” Calvin told her. “You have more than earned your right to enjoy life without having to fight for it tooth and claw. Any job you can do, I will give you. But if you want to perform and want to feel like you earned your place, we can let you audition. Maybe hold a contest?”
That suggestion made her smile. These lions were so desperate to make her happy, to give her time and space.
“I may deserve it,” she told him. “But so does anyone else who’s worked as hard as I have. That’s the problem with the world. Hard work means fuck all anymore.”
“Then maybe you should help us with our charity department.” Calvin smiled. “I think you’d be really good at that. Doesn’t mean you couldn’t perform if that’s what you wanted.”
For the first time, Kitty thought this was a real, permanent possibility.
“Tell you what.” She wrapped her arms around Calvin’s neck. “If I don’t go to jail, I’ll stay.”
His lips twitched in a small smile. Kitty sighed when he kissed her, breathing him in, enjoying the smell and taste of him.
“You’re not going to jail, ma chérie.”
For the first time in two years, Kitty felt hope. She felt like…maybe her luck really was turning around.
Chapter Nineteen
Damien
Damien felt like he hadn’t really spent time with Kitty in days and it was wearing on him. She was always around, and occasionally he trained her, but it wasn’t the same. So he’d decided that it was time they officially took her out on a date, and had then planned accordingly.
“Damien, where are you taking me?” she laughed, stumbling slightly with the blindfold on.
He made sure she wasn’t going to fall before leading her through the tents. Damien pulled her past the tent city and toward the train. “Just a few more steps—up, there you go.”
Then they were in Calvin’s private dining car. Damien slid the blindfold from Kitty’s eyes and she gasped when she saw what they’d put together.
The dining car was just as luxurious as everything else in the train. Deep jewel tones, gold accents, mahogany, glittering lights and chandeliers – it looked like a ritzy dining room and there was a table in the center with four place settings.
“Would you like to have dinner with us?” he asked Kitty, fingers trailing along her neck and then down her arm.
She always smelled like a warm summer day in a strawberry field. Damien had never scented anything like it before and it made him feel…carefree and happy.
Kitty smoothed her dress nervously, but nodded. Damien wasn’t sure what to make of that so he pulled out her chair and studied her. Was she still nervous of the obvious desire she had to stay, or was she worried about something else?
“Everything all right?” he asked.
She smiled up at him and it took his breath away for a moment. He’d never seen blue eyes quite as dark as hers before. “I just have a lot on my mind. Melissa came to see me. Two more days until the hearing.”
Nerves flickered in his stomach. Damien had a bad feeling about the hearing that he couldn’t quite explain. More than anything he didn’t want Kitty having to see her abuser again. He didn’t want her to have to sit there and try to explain why she’d defended herself and how.
The humans were so barbaric. And they called them monsters.
“Whatever happens, we won’t let them take you away,” Damien murmured, kissing her cheek before sitting down at his place.
He’d killed for her before. He would do it again. Without hesitation. That Matteo was still alive was a testament of Damien’s loyalty to Calvin. A few days ago he’d suggested he just take care of the problem.
But Calvin had rightfully declined the offer. They couldn’t afford an investigation into the Cirque. Damien glanced at Kitty and took her hand, squeezing it just a little. But he still dreamed of removing that monster from the world for her – so she could look at him without that tightness around her eyes.
Even her smile was dampened. The closer they got to the hearing the quieter Kitty had become. Damien almost couldn’t stand it. It made his lion restless.
“I made steak,” Adam said as he carried silver platters into the dining car from the kitchen car. “And Calvin made the sides.”
Kitty’s entire face lit up at the sight of food which made Damien chuckle. He took the bottle of wine and uncorked it as his Alpha and Second set up the food on the white linen. They both kissed Kitty’s cheek and then Adam sat down while Calvin started the record player.
One of his great aunts had been a world-renowned singer and her sweet voice poured out of the gramophone. It always made Damien feel transported in time to be on this train, listening to this music. He looked at Kitty and easily imagined them in the 19th century, and part of him imagined their families doing this very same thing for their mates over the decades…
Yeah, he wasn’t as mean as he pretended to be and only Kitty knew his secretly romantic side.
Even Adam and Calvin didn’t know about the romance books he read, or the romantic comedies he watched sometimes. It was his guilty pleasure. But Damien had always wanted to be exactly what would make his mate happy, whoever she was.
And Kitty was exactly what he needed – what they all needed.
“This looks delicious,” Kitty murmured as Calvin passed her a dish. “But don’t you guys have to perform tonight?”
Adam shrugged. “All of us know at least three other acts so we can have nights off. We picked tonight so we could spend today with you, Kitty.”
Damien nodded. “We know how hard it can be when you’re not working with the shows. It’s two separate lives – and we wanted to accommodate you today rather than you watching us from the backstage tent.”
The way she blushed made him smile. Kitty had thought she was being sneaky.
“It’s hard to hide from lions,” Adam chuckled. “Especially ones who are your mates. We’re attuned to your scent and breath and heartbeat more than anyone else’s on this planet.”
“Well, I like watching the shows,” she said. “The three of you in the last one is like watching my very own personal porn.”
Damien choked on his sip of wine. “There is absolutely no sex in our show.”
Kitty grinned at him and sipped at her own wine. “No, of course not. But the way you move…” She trailed off.
The heat in her eyes was enough to set his blood boiling.
So Damien took the next dish and blindly put whatever it was on his plate before passing it to Adam. This date was not going the way he’d planned. It really had been just so they could chat and talk and get closer to each other as a triad.
Their schedules had made it difficult for all of them to spend time together. They’d each had their time alone with her, but they’d talked about it, and Calvin wanted to remind Kitty they were all in this together.
He watched as she cut into her steak and then that sinful mouth opened. “Damien told me he slept with you and Laura,” she said.
It was Calvin’s turn to choke. Damien snickered. At least he wasn’t the only one constantly surprised by what came out of her mouth.
“Did you really?” Adam asked with a chuckle. “Props man, I didn’t know you had it in you.”
Damien had been waiting a long time for this moment – years.
“Well, I was more interested in Calvin than Laura,” Damien confessed.
Kitty stopped mid-bite to stare at him and Adam simply gaped. The only one who wasn’t surprised was Calvin. The Alpha had a little smirk on his face, but didn’t say anything.
“Have you guys…since?” Kitty asked. “Is that normal in triads?”
Damien looked at Adam and shrugged a shoulder. “Only a handful of times. A few years ago we decided to wait for our mate.”
“Do you love each other?” Kitty asked, setting her fork down.
“Of course we love each other,” Calvin told her. “Adam, Damien, and I have always been closer than friends. But we don’t love each other like we love you.”
Silverware clattered and Calvin’s face went carefully blank as he realized what he’d just said out loud.
Adam studied the Alpha carefully and Kitty just blinked.
“You love me?” she finally asked.
Damien’s heart fluttered in nervous anticipation and he glared at Calvin. They’d agreed not to say that shit to her so soon – she was a human after all and there were a thousand other new things she had to get used to.
The last thing they needed was to scare her off and make this mate thing a thousand times harder.
“Yes, I love you,” Calvin said, taking her hand. “I’m sorry if that scares you.”
Damien drained his wine glass and wished he could get drunk like a human.
But Kitty didn’t let go of Calvin like he thought she might.
“I don’t expect you to say it back so soon,” Calvin explained. “This all just…is different for the males. My fathers warned me that we fall first and hard. It’s just the way it is.”
Kitty then looked at Damien and he wanted to look literally anywhere else, but he couldn’t be a coward. So he cleared his throat and met her gaze while he poured more wine.
“Do you love me, Damien?”
Called him out just like he knew she would. “Yes,” he said simply.
“And you, Adam?”
Adam’s cocky grin was answer enough but he still said, “Ever since you ran your fingers through my mane.”
Kitty blushed at that and no doubt the memory of Adam’s dick in her face. “I had no idea this would move so fast, but…I can’t say I don’t have strong feelings for you guys. Is it weird that I care about each of you like that?”
“It’s the norm for us,” Adam said, taking one of her hands and pulling her closer so he could brush his lips across her knuckles. “I’ve always known I would share your attention with these two.”
Kitty smiled at that and Damien could feel some of the tension in the car ease.
Somehow that slip up hadn’t scared her off. Still, his stomach was in knots so he drank more wine instead of eating.
“Have you ever slept with Adam?” Kitty asked him, taking another bite. Her eyes were full of mischievous curiosity and Damien felt desire start to burn under her scrutiny.
“I haven’t.”
“Why not?”
“Yeah, why not?” Adam teased. “If I’d known you were into that kind of thing I would have made a pass at you a long time ago.”
He cleared his throat again and looked to Calvin for help, but his Alpha was smiling which meant he was on his own here.
“It felt weird without our mate,” Damien murmured, setting the wine glass down. He ran his hand through his hair nervously. “I just needed experience. And if I was shacking up with either of you it would make me look less mean – not something that’s necessarily a good thing for the pride’s enforcer.”
It was one of those things Calvin’s father had taught him. Being the enforcer for the pride was like…being a cleaner. Whatever dirty work needed to be done, Damien handled it. Calvin’s father had been the enforcer at the time and took it upon himself to train him when he saw the triad beginning to form.
“The first thing your dad taught me when it came to being the enforcer was that we couldn’t be pushovers, or appear to be the person someone in the pride could come to asking for leniency.”
Adam and Calvin shared a look. Damien had never told them about this. “He didn’t know if I would be Second or Third, but we both knew you would ask me to be the one to take care of things and Adam would manage whatever needed to be managed just based on personality alone.”
“Observant for a mean bastard,” Adam murmured.
“That’s the point,” Damien explained, pushing the food around on his plate. Then he looked at Kitty, the first one to see through his persona. “Calvin’s dad is not a mean bastard.”
