Beauty Bites by Mary Hughes

Author:Mary Hughes [Hughes, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Goodreads: 18068183
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2013-08-27T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

I dug in my purse for Ric’s business card, the one with his cell phone number. Not to ask him to come rescue me, but for some long-distance moral support. Or maybe last rites.

I released a pent-up breath when I found the card, and thumbed the number into my phone.

He picked up on the first ring. “Sunshine.” His voice was warm. “I was thinking about you.”

“And I was dreaming about you.” Until Rosie splashed me with cold water. I gave him a quick sketch of what had happened.

“Damn. This is Aiden’s bad feeling.”

No, it isn’t, I heard from the phone.

“Shut up,” Ric said. “Not you, Synnove. Just an attack of the interfering stupids here. Don’t go, please? Stay safe at your cousin’s cabin for me.”

“Ric, I can’t not go. Little’s your legitimate rep. I don’t think I’ll be in danger. I had a talk with the gang here last night. They think Nosy sent that wave of goons because you said no to Camille at the party.”

“Nosy?”

“That’s what my cousin calls Nosferatu. Dunno why. Camille phoned Nosy after you said no—she told us that the next morning, remember? He probably sent the goons before he got word that she has another chance. Now that she does, Nosy will hold off. Ric, you don’t want an escalation. Let me handle it.”

He made a frustrated noise. “I don’t have a lot of choice, with the sun up and me stuck in Ma…stuck here. But I should be there, with you.”

More vampires secrets. But the yearning in his voice spoke directly to my heart. “I understand. Your nature means you’ll be unavailable at times.”

“My sunshine.” A pause. Even in the silence, Ric was so very present. “Some day I’ll tell you everything. But one hurdle at a time.”

“I’ll hold you to that ‘some day’.” I shivered, realizing I’d just made a date with Ric Holiday. “I have to go now, to prepare. I’ve got a proposal to win.”

“Wait! Please don’t go. I don’t care if it escalates. I can deal with anything, as long as you’re safe.”

“You can, but what about your employees? Your condo group? This meeting is bogus, but if we back out now, Camille will say you bargained in bad faith and Nosy starts a war.”

He chuffed a laugh. “When did you get so business savvy?”

“It’s not business, it’s the nature of bullies. I have to play their game while they hold the cards.”

He made an angry sound. “It started out as my game but they’ve changed the rules.” A snap of fingers. “I’ll simply reverse any bad decisions when I get back.”

“You can’t,” I said. “Same problem with backing out.”

He blew a sharp, disgruntled breath. “They won’t play fair.”

“I know. But I have to do this, Ric. Trust me to do it.”

“I trust you. I don’t agree…but I do trust you. Don’t underestimate Charles.”

“I’m not worried. He’s not the sharpest scalpel on the tray.”

“No. But he’s willing to fight dirty. Both he and Camille are.” Silence, but Ric hadn’t hung up.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.