Shrouded in Darkness (Shrouded Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

a safe topic. “Did you have a good evening?”
    She shrugged again. “It was fine. I met a friend over at the Hideaway. Have you gotten a chance to try Mark’s food?”
    “No, not yet.” Wondering suddenly of her friend, he glanced down at her left, ringless hand and over at her other hand, where she’d reached for her wine glass. He frowned. “John would hate...” He clamped down on his jaw. It was none of his business.
    Her deep brown eyes softened. “Johnny, ‘what’?”
    “John would hate to see you like this.” He nodded to the glass in her hand. “Alcohol’ll just get you more screwed up.”
    Margot lifted her chin. The vulnerability and warmth in her face vanished. “So you’re saying I’m screwed up?”
    “I didn’t mean it to come out that way.” He flexed his fingers again. The leather around his hands had warmed and softened.
    “I’m just saying that John loved you. Talked a lot about you at work. He’d hate to see you drinking like this.”
    “Don’t. Don’t ever put your nose into my business. You’re lucky I decided to let you stay here as a paying guest. It’s only because of Johnny that you’re under this roof. I can just as easily change my mind and tell you to leave.” She drained her glass and banged it down on the corner of the desk. With the back of her hand, she wiped her mouth. Bitterness hardened her face. “If I want to get stinking drunk every night, that’s my business. Got that? Not yours or anyone else’s.”
    Hating her attitude, he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. “As long as you know what you’re doing, lady. Every time I see you, you’ve got a glass in your hand. If you’re not careful you’ll be walking around in a permanent, drunken stupor. Not an attractive sight by any imagination.”
    She pushed off the desk. “Don’t patronize me. You have no right to stand there and judge. If I want to die from alcohol poisoning, if I want to—”
    “What?” He advanced toward her, then, suddenly conscious of the lamp on the desk, turned so the room’s shadows would cling and obscure his features. “Kill yourself? Is that what you’re trying to do?”
    “Of course not!”
    Frustration burned in his gut. Oh, how he wanted to shake some sense into her. Didn’t she realize that life was a gift? Not something to be trifled with? That it could all be taken away in an instant?
    “Well, lady. You’re going about it the right way. But why don’t you make it faster? Get yourself a gun. That way you can hurry up and join your brother.”
    She hauled back a hand, but he caught it before it connected with his face. Tears glittered in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “L—leave Johnny out of it.”

    He forced her hand back to her side but retained his grip. She was panting, clearly agitated and so damn vulnerable. All because of him and his mouth. “Shh...” He pulled her rigid body into his arms and whispered against her cheek. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things. But when you made it plain you didn’t care about yourself or your life, something went off in me.
    Life’s damn precious, Margot. And fragile. You must know that by losing Johnny.”
    She slumped against him. He heard her muffled crying against his shoulder and felt helpless. He cupped her head with a gentle hand and held her steady. He couldn’t help her. Not when he couldn’t even help himself.
    “I don’t care anymore,” she murmured against his chest, her words barely audible. “It’s like something in me died with Johnny.”
    “You’ll feel better in time.” Such stupid words. He lowered his hand to cradle the nape of her neck, tangling his fingers in the lustrous, ebony strands of her hair. As he brushed his lips across her brow and smelled the flowery scent of her shampoo, something in him cracked. He didn’t want to care, didn’t want to get involved.
    “I don’t think so. I was bad even before. But after Malcolm...”
    Something in the tone of