Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
“If no one is gonna ask”—a sadistic chuckle came from the back corner behind me—“I gotta know. What is it that you two thought you could do, showing up here?”
Blaise’s eyes cut to where I knew Gage was sitting. He didn’t smile or even change his expression in the least.
“What? I’m curious?” Gage said.
Blaise ignored him, and his eyes moved back to mine just as another knock on the door echoed through the room.
“I swear to God, that’d better not be another one of you,” Linc snarled.
It wasn’t. I shook my head once at him to assure him that I’d not lied.
Blaise’s expression took on a lethal quality that made my blood run cold. “See who it is,” he said to Gage.
I heard him stand, but didn’t turn to watch what was about to happen next. There was a good chance that was Madeline Hughes. If she had decided to grant Noa’s request, then we might all die. I couldn’t imagine the man glowering this way to be forgiving about bringing his wife into the situation. Branwen had believed differently though. We could only hope she was right.
“I don’t need an introduction, Gage,” a female voice said with no trace of fear, followed by the click of high heels on the hardwood floor as she entered the room.
“Madeline,” Blaise said sharply, his gaze locked on the woman behind me. “Are the boys okay?” he asked, standing up.
“The boys are fine,” she said as she passed by my right side and went to stand slightly in front of Forge and me.
The blonde was my age, but had been with Blaise since she had been nineteen years old. She didn’t cower or appear at all concerned with the severe expression on his face. Instead, she stood with her back straight and a defiant tilt of her chin and stared him down.
“We need to talk,” she told him.
“Can it wait until after this is finished?” he asked.
“No. It’s about this,” she said with a wave of her hand as she glanced around the room. She paused when she saw Linc and waved with a wiggle of her fingers and a bright smile, then turned back to her husband.
Blaise hadn’t sat back down. Narrowing his eyes at her, he crossed his arms over his chest, as if waiting for her to continue.
“It’s probably best we spoke alone,” she told him.
He studied her for a moment before speaking again. “Madeline, this isn’t a concern of yours. It’s family business. You don’t even know what we are meeting about.”
She glared at him. Holy shit. I held my breath.
“Yes, honey, I do know what it is about. I’ve had the CliffsNotes version at least. And I have some issues with it that need to be discussed … now.”
Damn. She had balls.
The entire room was so silent that I was guessing everyone was holding their breath. No one spoke to Blaise like that. If they did, they hadn’t lived to tell the tale.
His hands dropped as he started around the desk, the displeasure in his eyes darkening as he closed the distance between them. A larger, dangerous man would have cowered at this point. But the blonde smokeshow did not. She actually raised an eyebrow in challenge.
“Madeline.” He said her name as if scolding a child.
“We can do this here. Or we can do it in private,” she told him, not even shifting one fucking inch back.
His nostrils flared as he towered over her. She tilted her head back and met his glare with one of her own. The tension in the room was so thick that not even Luther was making one of his smart-ass quips.
“Tell me why you’re in here,” he said in a low, deep voice.
“To stop you from killing a man who you commanded to stay away from the woman he loves,” she shot back at him without pause. “Now, would you like to speak in private?”
His eyes flared hotly, and I began to fear for Branwen’s life, along with my brother’s. Hell, we all might be wiped out. Every member of the Mississippi branch that was here.
“Who told you that?” he asked.
“Does it matter?” she shot back at him.
“I need to know who dies next.”
Fuck.
She laughed. A soft musical sound that did not fit with this moment. “You won’t kill Trev.”
Blaise’s jaw ticced, and I wasn’t so sure his brother was safe this time.
“This isn’t your business. You need to leave and go tell my brother he’d better go hide behind our father’s coattails.” Blaise started to walk back around his desk as if the conversation was over.
“I won’t allow you to kill Ransom Carver,” Madeline said with a hint of defiance in her tone.
Blaise stilled then and turned back around slowly to look at his wife.
“I won’t, and don’t look at me like that. I told you we could do this in private,” she snapped.