this, or am I just supposed to assume you got mixed up in some illegal hobbies while I was away?”
The mattress sank as he fell beside her. “Ha. It’s not illegal money.” He frowned at the ceiling fan.
Running a finger down his stubbled jaw, she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I grew up in a different world. Wealthy. Does that make you think differently of me?”
“No. It bothers me that you thought you couldn’t tell me, though.”
“I don’t know why I didn’t. I just spent a lot of time trying to separate myself from my dad, and when you came along, well, it was just easier to keep that part of my life a secret.”
“Yeah, but now this all feels too good to be true, Greyson. Where did the money come from?”
“My mom. She set up a trust without my father knowing. He would’ve never allowed it. I was supposed to help him run his companies someday, and the trust was my mom’s way of cutting me free. I’ve known about it since she died. My dad was pissed when her will was read, but it was too late for him to do anything about it. She was careful with how her lawyers handled it. Like she knew my dad would look for a loophole. He’ll know that I touched the money now, though, and he’ll come after me to learn his business. He wants nothing more than his companies to stay in our family.”
“What does he do?”
“Banking. He heads up several financial institutions with a lot of money to loan out and a lot of interest coming in. I want no part of it. I never wanted to touch the trust, but when Alexis Turned you, I couldn’t think about anything else. I wanted a way to take care of you and Lana.” He rolled on his side and rested his head on the palm of his hand. “I need a pack under me, Morgan. Do you understand the reasons why?”
“Yes. Wolf needs a job, a big one, to calm him. It’s important and scary, everything that’s happening, but I think it’s what you need to feel more unified with Wolf.” He and his inner animal hadn’t seen eye to eye since he’d been Changed, and now Wolf was a separate voice in Grey’s head. One who encouraged violence and chaos. She traced the knuckles of his hand. “Greyson Crawford, trust fund baby.”
He narrowed his eyes and muttered, “Stop it.”
Grabbing his hand so he wouldn’t roll away, she grinned. “I just never expected this. Why the hell were you living in that dumpy apartment? It smelled like fleas and giardia. You could’ve afforded to buy six thousand air fresheners for that moldy old building.”
“I happened to like that apartment, and I already told you I didn’t want to touch the money unless I had to. Did you like the land?”
Oh, her answer mattered. The look in his eyes said he was hanging on her words. “It was all right.”
“What?”
Laughter peeled from her. “I love it. If you’d Changed, I would’ve stayed a wolf all day just to run every square inch of your territory with you. It’s beautiful, Greyson. Just perfect.”
He ran the pad of his finger down her cheek and opened his mouth to say something, but his cell phone trilled from his back pocket and they both hunched against the shrill noise. He checked the screen and chuckled. “Hello Rachel,” he answered. His eyes lit up with happiness as he flipped onto his back and pulled Morgan into the crook of his arm. “Yep, she’s here. She and Lana will be the first in my new pack. Tell Dean he’s shit out of luck. No silver wolf for the Dallas pack. She’s all mine.”
Rachel’s laugh sounded from the tiny speaker and Morgan snuggled in closer, fiddling absently with the hard ridges of his flexed stomach through the threadbare shirt he’d put on during her little play-and-pee on his land earlier. Tracing each rigid muscle, she counted eight separate and defined abs. His hips tapered into loose jeans, and she ran her nail against the indentations there. Mercy, the man was something sexy.
The phone beeped as Grey hung up, and he went still as a statue. “Woman,” he growled. “You keep doing that and I’m not going to be able to give you the space you need.”
When she looked up, his eyes burned like the sun with the hungriest expression she’d ever seen. Equal parts fear and desire filled her with