Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Maeme patted my back. “It befuddled us all. But she’s his own bright light in all that darkness he carries. Now, come on then. Let’s go eat our weight in sugary goodness and drink until our nerves are eased. Shall we?”
The older woman headed toward the doorway where Capri had appeared.
“It’ll be okay,” she said.
I looked at the other woman, still reeling from the fact that someone who seemed so doll like and sweet could be in a relationship with Thatcher Shephard.
“Thatcher won’t let anything happen to Sebastian,” she told me. “If anything, it’s me who needs to be worried. He can be … unpredictable?” She said the last word as if it was a question, not a statement.
“So, you’re dating Thatcher?” I asked.
She pressed her lips together, and then a small giggle escaped. “Yes. But I guess it’s more than that. We live together.”
Wow. She lived with that man.
“He is intense,” I said, lacking a better word.
“That’s one way to put it,” she agreed, grinning at me. “Come on. Maeme will be rounding to come wrangle us again if we don’t get in there.”
I nodded, then followed her down a wide hallway with pictures of a boy, growing into a young man, covering the walls. He looked very much like King. How odd. Why did she only have photos of King? Was he related to Sebastian too?
“Are these pictures of King?” I asked.
Capri glanced back at me over her shoulder. “Yes. King is her grandson.”
Confused, I frowned, trying to work that out in my head.
“You thought she was Sebastian’s grandmother,” Capri said. “Yeah, that is confusing at first. But Maeme is a Salazar. King’s father is her only son. But she’s the matriarch around here. You’ll learn that there might not be a blood relation between the Shephards, Jones, Salazars, and Kingstons, but the connection they have is much stronger. It’s a deep bond that goes back decades. The family is just that—family. Much thicker than any blood I’ve ever seen.”
• Thirty-Three •
“That’s because you don’t have a brother.”
Sebastian
When Blaise Hughes’s eyes lifted from something he had been looking at on his desk, there was a chilling threat in his demeanor that I’d never had directed at me. The green of his eyes seemed to have darkened to match that of his mood.
My father hadn’t come. He hadn’t even called to speak to me. This was something he didn’t want to face. Now that I was here in this room, I understood why.
Gage Presley stood to his right while Huck Kingston was on his left. Huck was Storm’s first cousin, but Storm hadn’t been sent here with us. In the back-right corner behind me stood Kye Levine, and in the opposite corner was Trev Hughes, Blaise’s younger brother.
Wilder had been right. Although my cousin Levi was one of Blaise Hughes’s closest friends, he wasn’t here. The slight chance that blood relations might play any role on loyalty had been removed. It also didn’t escape me that although Gage Presley was in attendance, Blaise had felt the need to have three more of his men surrounding us. All because of my brother.
“Out of Stellan’s two sons,” Blaise began, leaning back in his chair, “I have to say, you aren’t the one I thought would ever disobey an order.”
Before Royal, I’d have thought the same.
Gage’s hand moved so quickly that I didn’t even see it until his Glock was pointed at my brother. My heart slammed against my chest as I turned to see what the hell he had done. We’d just gotten here.
Thatcher held up a cigarette in his hand. “Jesus, Presley. I need a fucking smoke,” he drawled with an amused twitch of his lips.
“Then say you’re getting a motherfucking cigarette from your pocket before you go reaching back there again,” Gage warned him.
“Put the gun away,” Blaise said, his jaw firmly set, as if he were dealing with wayward children who bordered on annoying him.
Gage kept his eyes on my brother as he lowered his gun and tucked it back into its holster.
“Are we all aware that I’m gonna need to get my lighter now, or should I make an announcement?” Thatcher asked.
Huck took a step forward, his narrowed eyes directed at my brother, not finding his humor at all funny. Blaise’s hand shot up to stop his lead enforcer, but his focus remained on me.
“You’re a Shephard,” Blaise said. “And that is the only reason you’re standing in my office right now instead of being strung up underground. I’ve beaten and tortured men who did far less than what you’ve done.”
I’d already known this, and the entire trip here, I’d mentally prepared myself for what he might do to me. I hadn’t been able to think about it when Royal was with me. She’d pick up on my mood. But once I’d walked away from her, I’d let the reality of what I’d done sink in.