Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
He wanted Meg.
They both did.
And, damn it, she wanted them.
If they could all get out of their own way long enough to let it happen. She was a perfect fit for him and Galen, and time would only prove that.
He just needed to give them both time to come to terms with it. Galen was too stubborn by half and he’d spent so long denying himself the things he wanted, it was pure habit at this point. He wanted Meg, and so he refused to go after her. If Theo didn’t love the bastard so much, he’d kick his ass until the truth penetrated that thick skull. Galen deserved everything, and if he wouldn’t take it for himself, then Theo would just have to take it for both of them.
Meg…
Meg was a surprise. Every time he thought he knew how she would react, she did a one-eighty on him. Her reaction to the money was expected. She had more pride than anyone he’d ever seen, and Theo hadn’t thought she’d take his strong-arming money on her gracefully.
He just hadn’t expected her to kiss him in the midst of their argument. To take her pleasure even while denying him the possibility of a future.
Their Meg had a mean streak that he couldn’t help but admire. She was no wilting flower in need of protection, at least not when the obstacles she faced were of the more mundane variety. No one could stand against Phillip and Dorian, though. Not without a whole lot of help and some big guns to back them up.
Theo climbed out and unlocked the gate, waited for Galen to pull the car through, and then relocked it behind them. He barely got the door of the car closed behind him when Meg turned fully around in her seat to face him. “This isn’t some contact’s house. This is yours.”
“Not mine.” He had to fight to keep the sorrow from his voice, even after all these years. “It belonged to my mother a long time ago, passed down in an unbroken line from when her people first settled in the area.” One of the few remnants he had of her, though she hadn’t come back to this house after she reached adulthood, so it held no memories for him to cling to even if he were so inclined. “She grew up here.”
Meg turned back to stare at the house emerging from the trees. The area had long since overgrown, giving the whole property the feel of a place forgotten by time itself. What was once a pristine white building was now a peeling, faded mess. Meg cleared her throat. “It looks like it’s going to come down on the head of the first person to walk through the door.”
“Nonsense. I commissioned someone to restore the inside six months ago.”
“The inside.”
Galen chose to answer that almost-question. “We brought someone in from out of country who had no ties to Thalania or the Mortimore family. It’s in everyone’s best interest if this house continues to appear abandoned.”
Phillip might suspect they were up to something, but if he thought for a second Theo had a chance of unraveling the lies he’d spun to secure his place as regent, no promises made to Edward would hold him back from trying to destroy both Theo and Galen. “This house technically passed to a cousin of mine, but they’ve agreed to give me use of the house for a tidy sum and the renovations.”
“I see.”
Galen shot him a look of warning and pulled the car around to the old garage. It had been built much more recently than the house, constructed of wood instead of stone, though time hadn’t been any kinder. They climbed out of the car and Galen opened the trunk, revealing their bags and a pair of handguns. He passed one to Theo and checked the clip on his before turning to the house. “Stay in the car, Meg.”
“Like hell I will.”
Theo let Galen take point on this. He was the security expert, the one who had the training for this particular circumstance. They were equal in every way that mattered, but Theo’s strengths lay in politics and people and manipulation. Galen could kill a man half a dozen ways with his bare hands and specialized in a variety of methods to protect someone. Before their lives had gone to hell, he’d been Theo’s head of security, and he’d developed the skill set to support that role.
He would be Theo’s head of security again.
This wasn’t over. Far from it.
Galen made a sound suspiciously close to a growl. “We have to clear the house. We can’t do that with you plodding along behind us, because we’ll be worried about you. Sit you ass in the car and wait for us to give the all-clear.”