Tempered (A Daughters of the People Novel) (Daughters of the People Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

along Aaron’s forearm with more familiarity than was healthy or wise.
    “Lali, darling,”
Hawthorne said. “I must attend to business now.”
    After
disconnecting the call, she found a trash can and threw the remainder of her
apple away, her gaze fixed on the tableau containing Aaron. He had left her bed
less than six hours before and already allowed another woman to claim him with
inappropriate intimacy. Hawthorne licked the apple’s juices from her fingers as
she strode through the half empty room and contemplated her options. Fairness
dictated that he have one opportunity to explain his actions, and then? She
shrugged, testing the harness holding her sword across her back. He would not
be the first man she had beheaded for infidelity, nor was he likely to be the
last.
    She hated killing
a man who built trust the way Aaron did. A man with such skills should be
nurtured, cultivated. Infidelity, however, could not be tolerated.
    The moment Aaron
spotted her, his eyes went heavy with need. Gratifying, but not enough to stay
his impending punishment.
    She stalked
toward his table and halted beside it. “Good morrow.”
    “Hawthorne.”
Aaron rose politely. “We were about to eat. Join us?”
    “No, thank you.”
She met his bemused stare levelly. “I have only a moment to spare.”
    “Ah.” Aaron
stuffed his fingers into the pockets of his jeans. “You remember Jason, and
this is Jeanne Cho.”
    The woman
speared Hawthorne with a condescending gaze, her dark, slanted eyes
contemptuous in her round face. “His wife.”
    Hawthorne’s eyes
narrowed subtly.
    “Ex-wife. Very,
very ex,” Aaron said. “We’ve been divorced for years.”
    Jeanne slid a
coy glance to Aaron. “Only because you’re stubborn.”
    “More because
you walked out.” Aaron shifted his gaze to Hawthorne. “Jeanne writes fantasy,
too. The two of you have a lot in common.”
    “I do not
share,” Hawthorne said. “It is therefore unlikely that she and I have anything
in common.”
    Aaron dropped
into his chair as an awkward silence fell over the group. Levi approached the
table wearing an apron and carrying a tray laden with steaming plates of food. He
distributed them with an easy grace, then slid the tray under his arm. “Can I
get y’all anything else?”
    “We’re fine,
thanks,” Jason said.
    “Great. Let me
know if you need me.” Levi came around the table and bussed Hawthorne’s cheek.
“Morning, Nana.”
    “Nana?” Jeanne
said. “You know this woman?”
    “Hawthorne is my
relative,” Levi said.
    “My
great-grandson, to be precise.” Hawthorne stared down her nose at the offensive
woman. “He is not to be trifled with.”
    “Nana.” Levi
breathed out the warning. At the same time, Aaron said, “Your what? ”
    Jeanne raked a
narrow-eyed gaze down Hawthorne’s form. “You don’t look mature enough to
have children, and I know you’re not old enough to have greats.”
    “The women of my
people age gracefully,” Hawthorne said evenly. “Unlike the women of your
people.”
    “Cougar,” Jeanne
muttered.
    “Sloth.”
    Jeanne leaned
forward and hissed, “Ice queen.”
    Hawthorne
shifted her attention to the woman.
    “Oh, shite.”
Levi clunked the tray onto a table and put himself between Hawthorne and Jeanne,
his arms spread wide. “Don’t do anything rash, Nana. Remember what happened the
last time.”
    “Last time?”
Jason sat up straight, his gaze avid. “Eh, what last time?”
    Aaron pinched
the bridge of his nose. “I’d like to know that, too.”
    “The woman shall
not come to harm by my hand,” Hawthorne said, more to placate her kin than
anything. If Jeanne laid another finger on Aaron, Hawthorne would use the point
of her sword to inflict damage. Technically, that was not her hand. “However,
one would think a writer could do better than to recycle a hackneyed insult. Do
you not agree, Levi?”
    He dropped his
hands and smirked. “Good one, Nana.”
    “Exactly how old
are you,