With a human driver and Mercedes, we had to be careful for now. “What can I say? I’m blessed. Only a few weeks left until I’m Mrs. Nicholas Corcoran.” We talked about our families and my tour during the trip. When we arrived at the hotel, Amy went up to our room, while I waited in the lounge with Carly, Fiona, and Lawrence. The four Council Enforcers set up to cover the exits. “Send the goons away, Lawrence. They make me nervous.”
“I can’t do that, Vicki. I don’t have the authority.”
Of course, he didn’t. I took out my phone and called the Council Headquarters. Chairman Carver’s receptionist answered. “Hi, this is Vicki Lawrence. Please inform Mr. Carver that if he doesn’t recall his security men in the next ten minutes, Counselor Fenwick will be returning without conducting his business with me.” I hung up before she could respond.
“He won’t like that,” Lawrence said.
“He doesn’t have to. Sending the muscle was a power play that I don’t appreciate; they are the steel fist inside your velvet glove. I don’t report to him, and I won’t stand for intimidation tactics. We’ll know in a few minutes how serious the Chairman is about negotiating.”
The Enforcer at the main entrance answered his phone and glared at me.
************
We watched as the big Enforcer acknowledged his directions and ended the call. Walking over towards us, he leaned down by Lawrence’s ear. “We’ll be outside if you need us, sir,” he said. He turned for the exit, followed by his three associates.
“Those men were for you,” Lawrence said when they were outside. “The Council is concerned for your safety, Vicki. Jamaica and Mexico are not safe places for rich young women.”
“I’m more worried about the Council than kidnappers, Lawrence.” Mexico was close to a failed nation-state after decades of battles with the cartels. Huge interior areas were no-go for the police, and assassinations and kidnappings were rampant. The government plowed big money into the safety of the resort areas to keep the tourist dollars coming in, but you dared not leave that area. We would be hiring a full armed security detail there. “The Council had me silvered and confined at the age of five. The Council had my Uncle tried for being an Alpha. The Council tried to tell me I couldn’t do my television show. The Council is trying to force my Pack into submission. No, the LAST thing I’ll do is accept Council Enforcers into my inner circle.”
Our drinks and appetizers arrived, and we paused a moment until the waitress was gone again. Lawrence smiled as he bit into a jumbo shrimp, washing it down with a sip of his Mojito. “I tried to tell them that, but they insisted. For some reason, they refuse to accept that you don’t like them.”
Amy and the twins joined us after dropping their stuff in our rooms. The waitress took their drink orders and their order for more appetizers. The area of the lounge we were in afforded us some privacy, and its public nature would keep the enforcers from doing anything stupid. “The Chairman must have sensed something because he sent you instead of a Council lawyer.”
“Chairman Wolfe volunteered to come, given his relationship with your former Alphas, but was overruled. Chairman Carver worried that if he sent an envoy at that level, it would mean he recognized your independence from the Council and your claim to Australia.”
Always politics. “And as a retired lawyer, you could speak freely without it being formal.”
“Exactly. I was the compromise, and it earned me a free vacation. Almost free, at least until I get my credit card bill. My mate is taking advantage of my absence to do some shopping.”
We all had a chuckle at this. “I hate to keep you two away from your fun, so perhaps we should just conclude our business and let you get back to your romantic beach vacation.”
“If you wish.” He opened up the leather folder on the table and removed a set of papers. “As you know from your last teleconference, the North American Council is claiming authority over you and your Pack. As such, they have asked me to provide for you the relevant documents and materials for you to accept your place within their Council membership. The Council bylaws and background materials are on the thumb drive; it is encrypted, and Luna Adrienne will provide you with the access code when you request it. These papers, when signed by you and your mate and the Council Chairman, will affirm your membership in the North American Council with all rights and responsibilities associated with membership.”
I took a moment to look through the papers. The contract was as Lawrence stated. Our Pack would submit to Council laws and oversight, and in exchange, we would gain nothing important. At seven thousand miles from the nearest Pack, standardized visitation agreements and resolutions of border disputes meant nothing to me. Access to their justice system? Please. I’d seen it in action, and I was not a fan.