Wolfsgate Read Online Free PDF Page A

Richard said.
    Brandon leaned over, planting his elbows on shaky legs. A low moan escaped his chest. Justine moved towards him, her hand touching his knee. He shoved it away.
    “How?” he managed to say hoarsely, his eyes covered. “How did my father die?”
    “The doctor told us his heart had been weak for some time,” she said quietly. “He grew old before us. He wasn’t in any pain really. He simply went in his sleep one morning.” She stood up and went to the sideboard, her fingers gripping the edge of the wood.
    “Why did you not tell me? Why did you hide it from me?”
    She glanced at him, and her insides crumpled. Brandon’s red, glassy eyes were positively savage. “You needed to recover first. I didn’t want to upset you. I thought—”
    Brandon’s wet, dull gaze slid to William. “So you wanted to have your way with Wolfsgate? Is there anything left?”
    “Oh, some,” William said.
    “Do you hate me that much?” Brandon’s head sank in his hands.
    “I don’t consider you, cousin. I’ve gotten on with my life. In fact, I’m a married man now. And a father.”
    Justine winced at the smug grin growing on William’s face.
    Here it comes.
    “I married Amanda Blakelock. We have a son,” William said.
    A moment passed in stunned silence. Suddenly Brandon launched himself at William, and the two of them crashed to the floor. Brandon threw a punch in William’s face, then another to his stomach. William grunted and stumbled to regain his footing, raising his hands. Fists thudded against flesh. William flung a chair at Brandon, and Brandon heaved himself out of its path by knocking over Richard.
    “Goddamn you! Get out of my house!” Brandon yelled. There was the desperate scramble of feet. Doors pulled open and slammed closed. Brandon’s labored breathing filled the otherwise silent room.
    “Justine.” Brandon stood before her, his eyes fierce, his body bent to the side. “Explain this.”
    She wiped at the wetness on her cheeks and jerked away from the sideboard. “Which part?”
    “Ah now, that is certainly rich.” He let out a bitter laugh.
    She bent over and picked his cane up from the floor then placed it on the sofa. “It’s true. We are married. Richard has the certificate to prove it.” She straightened a chair and picked up cushions from the floor.
    “For God’s sake, leave it!”
    “There are no servants here anymore, Brandon. Only Molly, and she can only do so much.” She shoved the cushions back on the settee one after the other.
    “Why? Where are they?”
    “William fired them all. No ‘unnecessary expenditures’ he said.”
    “Of course, my uncle and cousin had you to do their bidding?”
    “I do what I can.” She shoved the winged armchair in its proper place.
    “I’m sure you do.” Brandon planted his hands on the sideboard and took in a deep breath.
    “They forced me into this marriage, Brandon. I had nothing to do with their deception. I’ve brought you back to fight them. You must believe me.”
    “I cannot believe all that father had is gone!” He pounded his fist on the wood. His eyes darted over the faded brocade drapes, the scratched table in between the four worn armchairs and the tired settee, and the empty shadowed wall space where three small paintings used to hang. The peeling plaster trimming the original decorative ceiling was an eyesore. Only the larger sofa, and the Persian carpet on the floor still looked respectable.
    “Abandoned and forgotten,” he said. “Their lust knows no bounds. And you let them do it, didn’t you? You helped them.” She didn’t answer. “How did you agree to this marriage farce, Justine? Why?” Brandon tilted his chin at her.
    His voice was laced with disappointment and that stung. She took in a deep breath. “Over the past several years, your uncle has become somewhat eccentric and unstable. William has never been agreeable or obliging, and your father had been in a fragile state for some time,” she