Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 139934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 700(@200wpm)___ 560(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 700(@200wpm)___ 560(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
“Tell me about your father.”
“That’s what this is about. What’s he done?”
“You tell me.”
“How the hell would I know? He and Uncle Gilbert are just as fucked-up as my grandfather was. I got out of the family home as soon as Ambroise was clear. I mean the day that boy was accepted into a school, I took him to get an apartment and I got a job away from the swamp. I didn’t go back except to see friends, and when Drake took over the lair, I asked him to send me anywhere and he did.”
“Tell me about the drawings of the house. How did it come about that Ambroise drew those for you?”
Christophe held up his finger. “Don’t you even try to implicate Ambroise in anything. If those drawings were used, it wasn’t his doing. He’s an artist. He has his head in the clouds half the time. I couldn’t come to the house and he wanted me to see how beautiful Evangeline’s home is. In fact, he even had sketched a few pictures for her to put up on the walls. He did it for me, to reassure me that she was all right.”
“You deliberately brought up the fact that there was a discrepancy in the measurements and your brother had noticed them.”
Christophe heaved a sigh. “Yeah. I know. He’d mentioned it in front of Pere and Uncle Gilbert. I wanted you to know. I should have kept my mouth shut, but something just didn’t sit right about them being there. Pere had no interest in Evangeline. He never had. I grew up with him, and he rarely mentioned her. Half the time I thought he’d have forgotten her existence if Ambroise and I hadn’t reminded him she needed food. Why would he suddenly take such an interest in her?”
“You tell me what you think.”
There was a long silence. Christophe shook his head. “Whatever he wants from her, he’s up to no good. Pere has always been the leader between the two of them. Uncle Gilbert’s bullshit move to challenge you for your mate got him in trouble.”
“Why do you think he did that?”
Christophe shrugged. “I gave up a long time ago trying to understand either of them. We were in survival mode. Ambroise and me. I was always afraid I’d have to kill them. I’ve answered your questions and I’ve admitted that my family is fucked-up, but you haven’t told me anything.” Belligerence crept into his voice.
“I don’t have to tell you anything, Christophe. You’re up here in this nice room and I’m treating you with kid gloves. You could be in another room with cement floors and drains. You think about that before you decide you want to work for your sister’s husband. You think your family is fucked-up, you haven’t even begun to see what that can look like.”
They studied each other for a long time in silence. Timur let it stretch between them. He was certain Christophe was as innocent as Ambroise. In the end, it was Evangeline’s brother who relented.
“If you know what Uncle Gilbert and Pere were doing here the other night, I would very much like to know as well. She’s my sister. We might not have grown up together, but she’s still mine. My family.”
Timur weighed the risks. In the end, he shrugged. Christophe was family—his family through Evangeline. If he was guilty, he’d kill him, but if he wasn’t, he’d do whatever he could for the man.
“I suspect he’s set your sister and my brother up to be murdered. He’s running opium again as well. There’s more, but I think you get the picture.”
Christophe swore and turned toward the door. Timur glided between the man and the exit. “That’s not how we’re going to handle it.”
“Maybe not you, but I’ve had enough. He all but destroyed Ambroise. I’ve uncovered evidence that he murdered my mother. Or at least someone did. He’s never going to cop to it. He and Uncle Gilbert are up to no good out there. I went out to the swamp when I knew they were both in town. I smelled females. More than one. I scented blood. A lot of it. I couldn’t find bodies or live women. When I was there, no woman was ever brought to either of their homes, but I’ve been gone awhile.”
“He’ll be brought to justice. That’s Drake Donovan’s job as leader of his lair. If he comes after Fyodor or Evangeline, that will be my job. You need to stay clean.”
“You don’t understand what it’s like to live knowing your entire family is fucked-up. I’m afraid of what I’m going to be. I’ve got those genes. Ambroise has them. Hell, Evangeline has them. None of us should have children, that’s for damned sure.”
“I do know what that’s like. My father and grandfather were very similar to yours. I worry about Evangeline and Ashe all the time and any children we might bring into this world. What I do know is this, Christophe: there seems to be a difference between a true mated shifter and one who chooses not to mate with the woman he’s supposed to be with. Leopards can drive their human counterparts to vicious, cruel acts, and I believe we can do the same to our leopards. They need their mate, and evidently, so do we.”