Blood Blade Sisters Series Read Online Free PDF

Brynne’s husband until then. But that didn’t necessarily mean Leo needed to stick around. They needed his signature on the register and his ring on Brynne’s finger, not his presence on their ranch. Not for too long anyway, Cilla hoped.
    “And my brother?”
    “We’ll do our best to help you find him. Like I said, we want him more than you do.”
    “And what if I am already married?”
    “You aren’t.”
    They’d checked through his belongings. No ring, no letters from a loving wife, nothing to indicate he was anything other than a lone man. Traveling with an obscene amount of money.
    Cilla tilted her head. “On your way back from the mines, are you? Or just back from exchanging some gold for cash? Rob someone? You were carrying an awful lot of money for a simple carriage driver.”
    All amusement drained from his face and his eyes bored into hers. “You took my money?”
    “I thought you were offering it up as payment.”
    “Not all of it.”
    The quiet statement sent shivers up her spine and almost made her regret goading him. She gripped the handle of the gun. “You’ll get it back, just as soon as our arrangement is concluded.”
    His lips tightened into a nearly invisible line. She tried not to let him intimidate her as he took a step closer. Yet a streak of fear flooded through her anyway. She swallowed, forcing her breathing to remain slow and steady. She figured he would be angry, but being faced with the towering hulk of a man was much worse than she had imagined.
    “Your money is safe. It will be returned to you, all of it. Like I said, we don’t want your money.”
    “No. Just my hand in marriage.” He snorted. “And if I refuse?”
    Cilla raised her weapon again. “We can’t have you running around knowing our secret, Mr. Forrester. Your choices are simple. A brief, sham marriage, and help in finding your brother. Or a cold, lonely grave in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, we really don’t have the time to wait for you to think about it. We need an answer.” She cocked the gun. “Now.”
    Leo said nothing for a moment. “Why don’t you marry someone in town? I’m sure women are in as short of supply here as everywhere else in California. Surely there is someone who would be willing.”
    Cilla nodded. “Yes, there are men in town who would be willing, but—”
    “I have a husband,” Brynne interrupted. “I don’t need another one.”
    “You married Jake?” Leo asked, his gaze softening as he looked at Brynne.
    Brynne answered “Yes,” just as Cilla said, “In a manner of speaking.”
    Leo looked back and forth between them. “I’m confused. Are you my brother’s wife or not?”
    Cilla sighed but Brynne ignored her. “Jake asked me to marry him, but the town’s parson was on an extended trip. We didn’t want to wait, so we were married by a friend of Jake’s.”
    Leo’s gaze flicked to Cilla. “Then I don’t understand the problem.”
    “They were married by a friend of Jake’s from the Mojave tribe,” Cilla answered.
    Leo’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “I thought the Mojave tribe was further south.”
    Cilla shot him an impatient look. “It is. This friend is…complicated.”
    Leo waited for an explanation and Cilla decided to get it all out quickly so they could move on. They were wasting time. “He’s actually an Irishman who lived with the tribe long enough to become one of their leaders. But he had to leave. The ceremony he performed for Brynne and Jake was a handfasting ceremony mixed with the Mojave ceremony. They consider it binding,” she said, nodding at Brynne, “but…”
    “But it’s not technically legal,” Leo finished for her.
    Brynne squared her shoulders. “Jake is my husband. I won’t marry some other man who will expect a true wife. And we won’t give our inheritance away just to keep Frank from it. We’ve worked too hard to keep this land, to keep this ranch running. It’s ours, no matter what the stupid law says