Enemy Mine (The Base Branch Series Book 1) by Mitcham Megan

Author:Mitcham, Megan [Mitcham, Megan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Megan Mitcham
Published: 2014-09-30T17:00:00+00:00

19

“What in the holy fuck happened to you?” Devereaux bellowed.

Every head in the dining room snapped to attention, eyes a little wide as they searched out the cause of their master’s displeasure. Sloan watched too as Baine walked to the table where she’d been seated for nearly ten minutes. The ease with which his hips rolled and his shoulders swaggered gave no hint of the beating he’d endured earlier. His face, however, told another story. It appeared camouflaged in lop-sided tactical paint. Black bruises underlined his left eye and peeked out from under his hair on the right side of his forehead. The cut, having scabbed over, blended with his eyebrow pretty well. The marks had darkened significantly since he left her at the door to her room nearly three hours earlier.

“I tripped and fell. Isn’t that what Mom used to say?” Baine answered.

The razor’s edge of his voice and the words they conveyed whittled at Sloan’s heart some more. Whether consciously or not, Baine had been carving himself a home in her chest all afternoon. All her life, really. But today the whittling ramped up. He’d protected her, even when she didn’t need protecting. Though he had the ability to tip her on her ear, like he’d done last night, he also had the ability to ground her. He gave her a sense of long sought peace and quieted her demons.

Now, if they could just vanquish their snarling creator. “Don’t get smart with me, boy. Your mother earned every punishment she received.”

Sloan’s left hand clenched so tightly in her lap her close-cropped fingernails cut into her palm. She waited for Baine’s to do the same, but none of his rage showed as he eased into the high back chair next to her. He dragged the napkin off the gold-rimmed plate and smoothed it onto his lap. Calm and collected. Yet, his gaze remained fixed on his father.

“As did I?” Baine asked the callous man.

“Someone had to rid you of your fanciful notions. Aren’t you glad I did? Look at the fine man you’ve become.” Devereaux leaned forward, squinted then added, “Minus the wreck of your face.”

“Damn,” Baine said with an aw-shucks snap of his fingers. “There goes my modeling career.”

Devereaux scoffed. “Whoever beat you should have done a better job.”

“You can give him some pointers. Learn from the best, they say,” Baine shrugged.

“Enough,” Devereaux said. The plates and silverware bounced in front of him as his fist gave his order exclamation. His gaze shot straight to Sloan. She did her best to breathe and smile. “Though I have an idea about what went on in my own home. Tell me now, what happened.”

As they’d planned, Baine didn’t acknowledge her, even with Devereaux’s wicked gaze cursing her for living. He signaled Lawrence with a nod. “The usual.” As the more-than-a-butler butler bowed and turned, giving her his signature wink, Baine smiled. “I stepped on your dog’s tail. So, I let him take a swing.”

“Or three,” Devereaux said. His head shook as he spoke.

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