Bound by Vengeance Read Online Free PDF Page A

well you hear me!” her uncle snapped, reaching for her.
    She flinched away. Raw fury stamped Sebastian’s face as he spun.
    “Ex cuse me?” he asked coldly. Recognition flashed in his eyes before they narrowed into reproachful slits. The muscles along his jaw corded and whitened as he regarded the man in front of him. “Get away from her.”
    “What do you mean get away from her? That’s m y niece. Who the hell are you ?”
    Sebastian shook his head. “Who I am is not important, Roy. I’m not going to ask you again.”
    Her uncle’s eyes darted to hers. Confusion and anger warred for control on his weather-beaten features. His jaw jutted in a show of stubborn pride. “Taylor?”
    Giving a sad shake of her head, she looked away. Her heart wrenched with guilt and fear. Fear for herself, fear for her uncle, and guilt about the way she was treating him, despite what he had done. Biting her tongue, she fought t he rising sting of tears.
    “Taylor, please. Let me explain things…”
    She glanced up as Sebastian shifted, taking another step toward her bewildered uncle. The old man was drunk again. She could smell the sour whiskey rolling off his breath from where she stood. Somehow, the thought filled her with an even greater sorrow. He wasn’t a bad man, just sick. Sick and desperate.
    “Roy,” Sebastian scolded with a soft tsk. “You aren’t listening. Do yourself a favor. Think about what’s best for your situation and walk away.”
    Her uncle sniffed with disdain. His face balled up into a grimace as he sucked in a sharp hock of phlegm and spat at Sebastian’s feet. Horrified, Taylor watched while her lover tensed and regarded her uncle with a questioning tilt of his head. She w as glad she couldn’t see his expression. It was bad enough feeling the raw fury that rolled off him. Pressing against him, she tentatively stroked the back of his arm.
    “Sebastian, please,” she whispered. His lean form trembled with rage beneath her touch. “Let’s just go.”
    “You must be the Fed my niece shacked herself up with,” her uncle scoffed. “Let me tell you something, G-man. You don’t get to tell me what’s best for me and my situation. Your fancy clothes and alphabet titles don’t impress me, and this is none of your business. This is a family concern.”
    Sebastian’s shoulders shook in a dry acknowledgement. “I don’t care what impresses you, Roy,” he stated softly. “Taylor is my family now, and I assure you that makes her my business as well as my concern. You lost any claim you had on her.”
    “Claim? She ain’t a piece of property!”
    “No,” Sebastian agreed, prowling forward. “But she is a scapegoat for you and your son to lie to and use as you see fit?” He shook his head. “No, Roy. Not anymore. Those days are done.”
    “Taylor? Is that what you think? You know that’s not true! Money was tight. You know that, little girl. I only made that moonshine to help put clothes on your back and food in your mouth. I did what I had to do to take care o f you! The least you can do is help your cousin and me out of this mess. I took you in when no one else would. I gave you a home when no one else wanted you.”
    Tears froze on her cheeks. Shaking, she clamped her eyes shut and smothered a miserable sob. It w as so hard not to talk to him. She ached to make things right, to tell him it was okay and she forgave him, but Sebastian’s warning of what would happen if she did still rang loud and clear in her mind. He’d been so furious when her cousin had been busted driving her truck and the BATF had hauled her in. She had no desire to relive that anger again—and family or not, Sebastian was the one she had to go home with. Her head snapped up at the sound of his livid growl.
    “Don’t you dare blame this on her,” he ras ped, seizing her uncle and wrenching him up by the front of his coat .
    Taylor shook. Bereft of even the comfort of Sebastian’s back to press to she was afraid her