Blake, Abby - Wild Fascination [A Bride for Eight Brothers 3] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) Read Online Free PDF Page B

him not to engage in any more conversation, but Peter seemed unable to walk away from such obvious lies. “Mikayla is not a home wrecker, she’s my wife. I met her nearly two years after you and I broke up.” The look of interest in the woman’s eyes was quite chilling. Obviously she’d heard something she liked. “And as to your financial future, I suggest you go find some rich fool to hand over his money and leave me and my family alone.”
    The woman did it perfectly. Her bottom lip quivered, her shoulders shook, a strangled gasp escaped her perfectly made up lips, and then she managed to rush from the room while looking both heartbroken and distressed without getting a hair out of place. Displaying concern Mikayla doubted they actually felt, her lawyer and several others followed.
    Peter’s lawyer shook his head. “I really wish you hadn’t said that.”
    Peter shrugged, clearly not concerned by his lawyer’s wish. The man turned his attention to Mikayla. “Are you married only to Peter?” She shook her head as Peter became very still. “How many brothers are you married to?”
    “All of them,” she answered in a small voice. What the hell was going on? Polygamy was legal. Granted, eight husbands was unusual, but it was certainly no crime.
    “Damn, Peter, I really wish you hadn’t said that.”
    “Why?” Ryan asked as he stepped forward to take Mikayla’s other hand in his own.
    “Because now Ms. Evans has reasonable proof that your engagement was a promise to marry all of you. I can practically guarantee that her lawyer is tracking down your marriage certificates as we speak. This could get really ugly.”
    Peter nodded his head, his hand squeezing Mikayla’s tighter, as the gravity of what he’d done seemed to sink in. Mikayla wanted to reassure him that Jessie probably would’ve found out about their marriage anyway, but it was probably best for her to remain silent now and listen to what their lawyer was saying.
    “Contact your brothers. We need to consider offering some sort of settlement. If this gets to court, she could very well win half of all of yours and your brother’s assets and maybe even a yearly alimony payment.”
    “But she’s never even met us,” Ryan said through his tightly clenched teeth. The lawyer just shook his head.
    “It will come down to your word against hers. Even if you can prove that you’ve never met her, she’ll just claim that Peter was speaking for all of you.” The lawyer grabbed his notepad and started packing his briefcase. “I’ll speak to her counsel on the way out, but I’m sure they won’t be back at the negotiating table today. They’ll want to gather every bit of information they can, so they can claim a huge payout. You should expect a particularly unpleasant day tomorrow.”

    * * * *

    Ryan couldn’t quite believe he was being sued by a woman he’d never even met, let alone that she was suing him for breaking an engagement he hadn’t been a part of. Hell, from what their lawyer had said, the woman’s claim was not only solid but likely to cost them plenty if it ever got before a judge.
    “We need to contact the others,” Peter said tiredly, “and let them know the mess I dragged them into.”
    “Peter,” Mikayla said softly, her heart obviously breaking for him. “This isn’t your fault. You have every right to search for love. Just because she wasn’t the right woman for you doesn’t mean you did anything wrong.” He didn’t look convinced. “We are a family. We’ll get through this as a family. Okay?” He nodded. “No more secrets. We need to know exactly what’s happening. Where did she get the idea to claim she was engaged to all of you?”
    Peter looked uncomfortable but managed to force the words past his throat. “Because I asked her to consider meeting my brothers and maybe sharing their beds.”
    Ryan didn’t think he could be any more surprised than he was at the meeting. Turned out he was wrong. Peter had