Page 37 of The Union
“Is that Harriet Aberdeen?” Webb asked.
Layla was frozen, fear leaking from her pores. “You know my grandmother?”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Is your whole family scheming to…?” I didn’t know what the fuck the Aberdeens were up to. In one instant, Noah and Rianne had me strung by my ankles over a firepit, intent on seeing my ashes blow in the wind. In another, they were selling me off to yahoos who wanted my DNA, which had me scratching my head since the Aberdeens staked, burned, and murdered my kind. “I don’t understand the Aberdeen motive anymore.”
“Join the club,” Webb said.
Layla shuddered. “My grandmother is one of Intech’s investors funding Adam’s project.” She gnawed her bottom lip as her nerves clogged the air. “Her plan is to have a team of supernaturals she can control.”
My dad laughed. “When will people learn they can’t genetically restructure a human into one of us? My brother tried it and failed, except for Ben and one other.”
I believed Alia Costner’s son had come through Patrick’s experiment as a full-fledged vamp because he was born with the vampire gene, thanks in part to his mother. He hadn't been able to turn because his father was human. Ben, on the other hand, was an exception or an anomaly. He had no supernatural DNA running in his family. Doc was constantly trying to figure out why Ben became half human and half vampire.
“It’s not just us, Pops. They had Dane Gray.”
Webb’s knuckles blanched around the steering wheel. “Dane, alpha to the Gray Pack?”
“Yep,” I replied. “Hopefully, he got out in time before the lab burned to the ground.”
“Motherfucker,” Dad muttered as he got out of the car and met Harriet and Emery at the bay door not far in front of the SUV.
Layla rolled down the window about an inch to hear the convo.
With his backside to us, my father asked, “Harriet, what brings you back to the States? I thought you were living on some island in the South Pacific.” Dad’s voice echoed.
“Family issues,” she said with a fake smile.
Layla was behind Webb’s seat, but in order to see Harriet, she had to lean in toward me. “She wants to lock me up and force me to see that what she’s doing benefits humanity.”
My gut twisted into a knot the size of the planet. “And she’ll kill our kid.”
Layla choked. “I’m not sure she would.” She kept her voice low. But as loud as my dad and Harriet were talking, they wouldn’t be able to hear what we were saying.
Layla bit her thumbnail as she watched her grandmother exchange words with my dad. “If or when she finds out I’m pregnant with a Mason, she might want to control our child. Her other goal is to run the Aberdeen family. She’s home to take the reins.”
I shoved my hand through my hair. “She isn’t coming near our kid.” A conversation between Doc and me blared like a sign on Hollywood Boulevard. He’d warned me about Layla’s grandmother. He hadn’t gone into detail, except he was confident that the Aberdeens would never let our child enter the world. “She doesn’t know you’re pregnant?” Not much scared me, but that boulder in the pit of my stomach was ready to explode.
Layla flashed her big blue eyes as terror sprung off her and strangled me. “No, but Jack does. He overheard Jo and me talking.” She swallowed. “And don’t forget you kind of dropped the news in front of Junior.”
“Motherfucker,” I mumbled.
She flinched. “It doesn’t matter, Sam. They’ll know soon enough when my belly starts growing.”
“Not if they don’t see you.” I ground my back teeth together.
Her nostrils flared. “You are not hiding me away. If you even try to, I’ll cut off your balls.”
I snorted. “I would like to see you try.”
Webb sighed through a grunt. “Children, this isn’t the time.”
Layla pursed her plump lips together, looking sexy as anger soaked her to her core.
To cool my temper, I had to change the subject. Otherwise, my elemental powers would destroy the vehicle and everyone in and around it. “By the way, where is my sister?”
“Jo and Tripp are on a quick assignment,” Webb responded.
“Does that assignment have anything to do with capturing Noah?” Layla asked.
