Muzzling the Beast: Taming the Beast, Book 4 Read Online Free Page B

leaving the reception area to heal anyone. We need her to keep an eye on the front door.”
    “Say the word,” MJ said, “and I’ll fix this so we never have another problem.”
    Heather looked concerned. “Seriously? No fooling around?”
    Good question. In the past, MJ had granted wishes so literally, the recipients had regretted what they’d asked for.
    Becca stopped chewing the side of her thumb. “Fix it in what way?”
    “By installing security cameras and soundproofing the rooms.”
    After a moment, Becca nodded. “Put one camera outside to show who’s coming up the stairs and to the door, then soundproof the rooms, nothing else. No making the neighbors or tourists go deaf so they can’t hear anything. Heather told me what you did at her place so Daemon’s heavy metal wouldn’t bother anyone.”
    MJ shot Heather a look. The fairy pretended not to notice.
    “I’ll be good,” MJ said, clearly pained to do so.
    Becca nodded. “We’ll make this place quiet as a tomb, just in case the noise brought him here.”
    “Do cops usually check out stuff like that?” Zoe asked.
    “His badge showed he’s a detective,” Heather said.
    Zoe lifted her eyebrows. “Like those dudes on Law and Order SUV ?”
    “SVU,” MJ said.
    “Whatever.” Zoe waved new smoke away. “Detectives fight serious crimes. So why would he be coming here over a simple noise complaint?”
    Becca spoke to Constance. “You’re absolutely certain you removed all of his memories of the business and his investigation, if there is one?”
    Constance’s stomach rolled as she recalled doing so. “Yeah.”
    Becca smile briefly before she looked worried again. “I know how lonely you are. I’ve felt exactly the same in the past. But you have to understand, a lot of supernaturals depend on us. If we weren’t here, where would they go to suppress their beasts?” Before Constance could answer, Becca plowed ahead. “We’re your family, just like you’ll always be ours. We need to protect each other. So please tell me when you removed his memories of the business, you also took out the ones involving you.”
    Constance wanted to lie but couldn’t.
    Several things happened at once. Heather pressed her fingers to her mouth, MJ shook her head, more smoke poured from Zoe’s hair, and Becca’s shoulders slumped.
    Before things got too bad, Constance tried to reassure them. “Don’t worry. When Gabe asked me out for tonight, I said I had to work till dawn. When he asked about other nights, I told him I never have any free time, making it totally clear we won’t be seeing each other again.”
    Everyone seemed relieved.
    Listless with melancholy, Constance pushed to her feet and then stopped before leaving the room. When she turned, they looked at her expectantly.
    “I’m all right,” she said. What choice did she have other than to accept the inevitable? “So are you guys. He won’t be back. He surely won’t be thinking of me again.”
    * * * * *
    Gabe’s table at After Dark gave him an excellent view of the building where Constance worked. Nursing his seltzer, he understood his need to see her again, hoping she’d come out for a breath of air, no matter how sticky and hot it was. What he couldn’t figure out was why he’d wanted to know about this nightspot.
    It was no more than a half-ass touristy bar, which meant the music was fair, the drinks watered down, the food bland as hell, and the crowd too thick for his taste. Twentysomethings kept bumping into his table as they hurried through the throng, calling out or waving enthusiastically at their friends. The older crowd snapped so many pictures with regular cameras—not cell phones—he saw countless black spots from the flashes.
    Frowning, he scanned as much as he could of the outside area. There were numerous shops, bars, restaurants, and people everywhere, as there always were in the French Quarter at night. So why had he gone to the second floor of Constance’s building