Family Pride (Blood of the Pride) Read Online Free PDF Page B

bumps.
    The slim silver lighter shot out a pencil-thin beam of flame. “I’d like to hire you.”
    I had no smart-ass answer to that.

Chapter Two
    He took a deep draw on the cigarette, encouraging the orange-and-black char to continue up the death stick. “I know what you’re thinking. I’ve got plenty of financial resources at my disposal—why would I want to hire some second-rate hack who’s dating my son?”
    I had an answer but bit it back for Bran’s sake.
    Michael puffed out a smoke ring. “I need someone outside of my professional circle. It’s a delicate matter that requires discretion. I’ve studied your file. You know how to keep secrets.” He looked at me, his eyes the same dark brown as Bran’s. “Consider it a favor.”
    “I don’t do illegal.” I kept my voice intentionally low. “I won’t break the law.”
    His eyebrows rose. “I wasn’t asking you to.” He flicked an inch of ash onto the sidewalk before taking another deep long drag. Smoke trickled out of his nose. “I have an associate, David Brayton. He has a somewhat...delicate situation on his hands.”
    “Girlfriend or boyfriend?”
    “You’re fast.”
    “When I have to be.” I glanced at the evening crowd walking past us. “I don’t like to work for family or friends. Too complicated.”
    It was the truth.
    The tip of the cigarette burned bright, almost lost in the middle of the neon circus around us.
    “There’s a few gaps in your life. Holes in your file my man couldn’t find anything on. Darkness when it came to your family life, your relatives.” He took another deep drag. “Secrets.”
    I put on my best poker face despite the ice slashing through my veins. “Don’t we all have secrets?”
    Michael shook his head. “Not like this. The investigator did a fast and dirty first pass on you but I can tell him to start digging and start digging deep.” His eyes bored into mine. “Digging up whatever it is you’re hiding.”
    I almost giggled.
    I opened my mouth to tell him he couldn’t blackmail me, that it’d be useless to even try, and the reality slapped me across the face.
    If I refused to do this favor for Michael Hanover I’d be signing his death sentence.
    The Pride and Jess wouldn’t care who he was or who he fathered; they’d take out the investigator and everyone connected without hesitation if he got close to revealing our existence to the public. First rule of the Felis—keep our secret at all costs.
    I knew how far they’d go to cover our tracks.
    It’d be bad enough if I didn’t know the man, but I loved his son. I couldn’t be responsible for his death and possibly his wife’s as well. It’d destroy Bran and I couldn’t bear that cross and hope to keep building a life with him.
    All I had to do was one little favor.
    “I don’t keep secrets from Bran. Whatever I do, he knows. He knows everything about me so you can’t shock him with your dirty little guesses about me or my past.”
    “Whatever. I’ve been around a bit longer than you and I can tell you husbands keep secrets from their wives all the time and vice versa. It’s the natural state of things.” Michael studied the smoldering tobacco. “I’m not worried about my son. He can take care of himself.” He dropped the half-smoked cigarette on the ground. “But my wife, well... She can be quite vocal if the situation arises. And she protects her family like a lioness. I wouldn’t advise you take her on. The pen might be mightier than the sword but my wife’s voice carries a lot of weight on the society pages. She can make or break reputations with a single word.”
    I stayed silent.
    “Bran might not mind if your secrets came to life but your future employers might. If there were any of them left. A few words placed in the wrong ear and I can guarantee your current drought when it comes to customers will turn into a parched desert, putting the Sinai to shame.” Michael grinned, a self-satisfied smirk. “But it’s your