Sweet Cinderella (A Christmas Novella) (The Klaus Brothers Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

And Matteo had a bad dream, and I wasn’t there. I was here. What kind of mother am I?” Hannah’s voice cracked.
    Gregor shook his head. “I’ll take you home . . .”
    She wrenched her arm from his grip. “No, this was . . . silly. You and I . . . there’s no way. I don’t even know what I was thinking. I have to go home. Back to the
real
world.”
    Her face was so expressive, it was killing him. Filled with longing and guilt. All the while her mouth was still swollen from his kisses.
    “Aren’t you pretty?” Brenton actually licked his lips while watching Hannah.
    Gregor balled his hand into a fist. He was going to hit him. He couldn’t help himself. He grabbed Brenton’s holiday tie and dragged him forward.
    He was vaguely aware of the sound of Hannah’s shoes flying along the library floor.
    Brenton held up his hands in a defensive gesture. “Sorry, man. No need for violence. I didn’t realize you were involved . . .”
    Gregor turned just in time to see Hannah disappear around the corner.
Dammit!
Gregor chased after her. Down the corridor. Into the foyer. Past the band and the crowds of people. Out the front doors.
    A flash of green on the library steps caught his eye. He raced down the stairs, desperate to catch her. “Hannah!” He bellowed her name.
    She ignored him and disappeared into a long black limousine. She struggled with the door, and her shoe fell off and clattered onto the sidewalk. Then the door slammed shut, and the limo roared down the street.
    “Hannah!” Gregor watched the car disappear in a sea of traffic on Fifth Avenue. He reached down and picked up the sexy satin pump. Hannah’s shoe. All he had left of her.
    Son of a bitch.
    He didn’t even know her last name.

 
    C hapter 4
    “Shirley Fredericka Brinkerhoff!”
    Shirley tried to hide behind the nearest Christmas tree. “Y—Yes?”
    “
WHY WEREN’T YOU AT ELF PRACTICE?
”
    Augustus Fromm frothed at the mouth. That was never a good sign.
    “Um. Uh. So sorry. Actually . . .”
    “
Nein
! I don’t want to hear your excuses anymore!”
    “But I have a really good excuse this time. I spent all night thinking it up.”
    Master Fromm’s left eyelid twitched.
    Also a bad sign.
    “I have no interest in listening to your ridiculous stories. About poker games and Yeti contests and building an ice sculpture of the USS Enterprise—”
    “FYI, it was actually the Millennium Falcon, not the Enterprise—”
    Augustus raised his voice. “Nor do I care about your friends or family or cousins or—”
    “It’s not my fault I have a big social life—”
    “Silence!” Master Fromm took in huge gulps of air.
    She never could understand why he got so bent out of shape about her slight behavioral infractions.
    Slight! Really!
    “You have failed Basic Elf Behaviors. Again. For the seventy-third time.” Augustus closed his eyes and sighed. “But today we are not going to discuss your poor academic performance. Today we are going to discuss . . . Gregor Klaus.”
    She frowned. “Gregor? Why? Maybe he needs some fashion pointers?” She giggled at her own joke. Shirley had a reputation for dressing in one-of-a-kind hipster outfits. Today’s ensemble included a red plaid bustier, black mini skirt, thigh high stockings with combat boots, a hand-knit beanie, ear cuffs in gold and silver, and her most prized possession—waist-length curls dyed teal, blue, and magenta. She looked like a million bucks.
    Gregor Klaus dressed like a Grade A dud. From Dudsville. Navy blue suits and power ties.
Yawn.
    “Why are we going to discuss Gregor Klaus?” She froze in a panic. “You’re not making me take . . . finance again? Are you? Oh no!” She cried out in frustration.
    Augustus shuddered. “Absolutely not. Master Dittner is still recovering from last semester. No, for some inexplicable reason, Gregor Klaus has asked to see you. In the Sudenwelt. In Manhattan. A Magik sleigh will take you there