Page 62 of All Tied Up
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 wasover.
“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.
“You don’t know the situation, and you don’t tell me what I am and am not going to do.”
She placed her manicured hands on her hips and cocked her head slightly. “I do know the situation. I know that Ransom is family. And he didn’t do anything directly to you. He didn’t try to maliciously defy you. His actions had nothing to do with you or the family,” she said, raising her voice and closing the space he’d put between them. “In fact, he stood in front of you at the Derby after-party when the first shot was fired. He was ready to take a bullet for you.”
“He did.” Luther’s voice surprised me. I glanced over at him as he took a sip of his whiskey. “Take a bullet that night, that is.”
“Thank you, Luther,” Madeline said before Blaise could respond. “See, he is loyal. But you were demanding he stay away from the woman he is in love with. And he tried. She thought he’d ghosted her. He broke her heart, and all because he was trying to obey you.”
Blaise’s gaze didn’t soften. In fact, it might have gotten more chilling.
“Trev tell you all that too?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes.
“I asked you a question, Madeline. How do you know how Noa Raines was affected?”
When she didn’t respond, I wondered if this was the point where she cowered. I glanced over at my father, who was watching the two of them. His eyes shot to meet mine, and Icould see the question in them and the trace of hope.
“Because I’ve spoken to her.”
Here we go.
I looked at Forge hesitantly as we waited for what was to come next. He was as fucking tense as I was.
“When did you speak to Noa Raines?” Blaise demanded.
“An hour ago.”
“Where?”
“Inside my G-Wagon, in the parking lot of the spa.”
“On the phone?” he asked.
“No.”
His eyes flared. “She was in your vehicle with you?”
“Yes, she was. Along with Branwen,” Madeline said matter-of-factly.
“Oh shit,” Luther muttered. “Someone, pass the popcorn.”
Blaise’s gaze shot to Linc, and I couldn’t even look over at him. I stared at the ground instead.
“Don’t you glare at Linc! He did nothing wrong. Branwen is my friend. She wanted to meet with me and introduce me to my favorite romance author. Just so happens you were trying to kill the man she loves because he would rather die than be away from her,” Madeline said.
