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)
“Keep your head in the game, asshole,” Galen muttered.
Cute, but Meg wasn’t about to let them sidetrack her. “Why don’t you want this person to know I’m here?”
They exchanged a look. Galen turned away, obviously lobbing that grenade to Theo, who gave her the charming smile that had her throwing her panties at him three months ago. “Meg—”
“No.” She held up a hand, hating that she had to fight not to clench her thighs together. God, he was good. The man turned on his switch and she had to fight every instinct to keep from panting at his feet. “Answer the question.” She paused, decided being a dick wasn’t going to get her far, and tried a smile of her own. “Please.”
“Alaric is a cousin. While I trust him enough not to betray family, I can’t guarantee that umbrella of protection will encompass your presence.”
Galen gave a harsh laugh. “What Theo’s dancing around saying is that Alaric might not fuck with family, but he’d sell his best friend for the right price. He’d use the knowledge that you’re here with us as a bargaining chip without a second thought.”
She opened her mouth to argue, reconsidered, and closed it. As much as she hated being shuttled to the side, she wasn’t stupid enough to think she understood the rules in this game they played. They were in deep water and sinking fast, and Meg only had these two men to act as her guides.
It didn’t mean she had to trust them implicitly, but fighting them every step of the way just for the sake of her pride was a stupid waste of time and energy. “Okay.”
Theo leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “You gave in too easily.”
“Fuck, Theo, know when to quit while you’re ahead.” Galen jerked his thumb at the doorway leading deeper into the house. “Go take a bath or take a nap or count the speckles on the ceiling for all I care. Just get out of here.”
“You have such a way with words, Galen.” She left the room with a measured pace, heading in the direction of the nearest of the two staircases in the house. Meg casually glanced over her shoulder, but neither of the men had followed to ensure she obeyed. Amateur mistake.
Growing up, her mother had initially tried to hide exactly how bad their situation was. The debt, the repeated loss of jobs, the drinking. When Meg was small, the only way she could figure out what was going on was to eavesdrop. Maybe she should have felt guilty for doing it, but it gave her back a sliver of control in a situation in danger of drowning her. Just like it had when she was a child.
She circled around to the formal dining room with a table large enough to feed twelve on the other side of the kitchen and pressed herself against the wall near the doorway. Theo and Galen spoke in voices so low, she couldn’t quite pick up their words. She inched closer to the opening.
Someone knocked on the back door.
Galen set himself up just inside the door as Alaric strode into the kitchen. Theo had a truly obscene number of cousins spread across Europe—the Mortimore family seemed to have taken it upon themselves to spread their seed far and wide—but Alaric pissed him off just by breathing. Today that feeling was a thousand times worse.
Meg was in the house.
Alaric paused inside the doorway and took in the room with his sharp blue eyes. “Love what you’ve done with the place.”
Theo gave his politician’s grin. “You know I couldn’t stay here without it being up to my exacting standards.”
“Of course not, Prince Theo.” Alaric smirked. “I got your stuff in the car.”
Galen had watched him pull up and back as close to the kitchen door as possible, so it was unlikely that he had any nasty surprises waiting. Still, it never hurt to assume the worst. He nodded at Theo. “I’ll help him.”
“Galen Mikos.” If anything, Alaric’s grin widened. “What are they feeding you Greek boys? You’re positively huge.”
He knew better than to let this little shit get under his skin. Alaric was a spoiled bastard who’d had everything handed to him from birth, the pampered youngest son of one of Theo’s aunts. And he still turned out to be an asshole who fucked over everyone who crossed his path. Theo thought because family didn’t number among his victims that it meant he could be an asset.
Galen knew better.
If the price was high enough, Alaric would turn over his own goddamn mother.
He shouldered past the blond man and walked to the car to pop the trunk. It was filled to the brim with groceries. Galen grabbed as many as he could and hauled them back into the kitchen. Three trips and the counter disappeared beneath reusable grocery bags. Theo handed Alaric a wad of cash that would have made Meg shit bricks. “Thanks, cousin.”