Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Aleksei lifted his head and looked at me.
Gods.
Would I ever get used to how beautiful he was?
I sifted my fingers through his hair.
“You caught that?” he asked.
I nodded. “You did too?”
Aleksei nodded. “But Cat didn’t. She acts like he slithered up from the last level of hells.”
“She has some ugly history with the demons of the Edge.”
“Hmm,” he hummed.
Wow. That felt good.
“If she cottons on and is interested, she should go with that. Tan loves nothing more than a challenge.” Aleksei advised. “The more she avoided him or glared at him like he was a fly who landed on her dessert, the more I sensed his interest grew.”
I noticed that too.
I also smiled and filed this away for future use.
“So noted,” I said.
His arm around my hip tightened on my smile.
Then all three cats’ heads turned our way as he surged up so we were chest to chest and face to face.
I liked the other position a whole lot.
But this one worked too.
I slid my fingers through his hair again, ending the journey this time by playing with a curl at the end.
“I have more to tell you about Errol,” he announced.
Oh farg.
I frowned.
How could there be more?
“I’m sorry, love,” he murmured, gaze to my frown.
I was sorry too.
For him.
I curved my arms around him. “Right. Let’s get it over with. Give it to me.”
He rested his forearm on my shoulder so he could stroke my jaw with his thumb.
And then he said, “He didn’t just fuck with you and me. He’s the one who paid that female to get pregnant by Tim. He even arranged for them to meet. He set the whole thing up.”
My mouth dropped open.
“Indeed,” he muttered. Then shared, “He knew Tim doesn’t take the birth control serum. He paid her and then told her she’d get more on the other end either from Tim, to pay her to get rid of it, or Dad, when she refused. Although he didn’t know that Tim would douse her drink, Tim had confided in him he was going to do it, so Rol was the one who told her it was done. Even so, she meant all along to rid herself of the child.”
Lord in hellfire.
“Does Timothee know this?” I queried.
“We were going to tell him. But he lost it simply hearing what Rol did to me and you. Dad and I discussed it after he was sedated and decided against it. At least until we figure out what to do with Rol after this is all done.”
I sensed this was a good decision.
But I was doubly angry, because the negotiations with this female were complete. Weeks ago, she’d signed what she needed to sign to be kept quiet, and she’d been given Timothee’s entire yearly allowance, which was three and a half million marks of credit.
“Are you going to do anything with her?” I asked.
He shrugged. “There’s nothing we can do. If we confront her with it, or renege on the agreement, she can share Rol’s involvement widely.”
Now I was angrier.
“So you’re forced in the position of having to protect Errol.”
Aleksei said nothing, but his eyes did. A flash of purple shot through the night sky of them.
“As infuriating as this is,” I began, “the more I hear of the width and breadth of his treachery, the more I think Errol needs some serious help. I mean, what he did with us…nothing more needs to be said. But what’s the purpose of doing that?”
“We asked the same thing. He didn’t consider I’d do what I did and assume my place at the head of the family. One thing Errol is adept at is observation. He knew that wasn’t something I wanted. Instead, he thought Mom, and even Dad, would consider this as Tim going too far, and they would do what I did. Either way, he got what he wanted.”
“Are you going to lift Timothee’s punishment?”
“I’m considering it. Though he’ll have to avail himself of Palace resources until his allowance is reinstated a year from when the payment was made to her. He may have been set up, but he played his part in it, and it was far from good.”
“True,” I mumbled.
“Darling, I want to go over one more thing before we sleep.”
I focused on him, not a huge fan of his new tone.
“Your father—” he began.
I sifted my fingers into the hair on both sides of his head to stop him from speaking and said, “Let’s discuss this later. It’s been a lot today, but we’re back, the cats are good, I love what your dad did for Antheme, and we have a big day tomorrow.”
“This has to be said, Laura. Now.”
Ugh.
“What?” I asked.
“It isn’t lost on me that a child, no matter the age, would want to understand the behaviors of their parents. Especially if they had a detrimental effect on your childhood.”