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.“What do you mean?”“Young.Impulsive, reckless, idealistic.Pampered.Spoiled.Dark eyes that get them whatever they want.Until it gets them hurt or killed.” Mick slammed his bottle on the counter as he glared at the dark-eyed girl dancing around the kitchen, laughing with his sister.Mal watched his dad ruffle Paige’s dark hair.Watched her throw her arms around him and give him a hug.His father blushed, his mother laughed.He pondered his brother’s words a moment.dark eyes? “You’ve lost someone, haven’t you, Mick?”His brother’s eyes flashed, eyes the same color as Malachi’s.“None of your damned business, Mal.It’s not open for discussion.”“Anytime it is.” Mal watched as his brother stormed into the kitchen.Grabbed the obviously heavy trash from Paige’s hands and shouldered open the outside door.The kitchen’s occupants paused a moment, watching him, as well.Mick’s behavior confirmed Mal’s suspicion.Paige reminded his brother of someone—someone he’d cared a great deal for.Someone he’d lost.And Mick was taking his grief out on Paige.Unfairly.Mal would have to make sure the situation didn’t get out of hand—for either Paige or Mick.In the meantime—that bag of trash Julia held did look somewhat heavy.He walked into the kitchen with purpose.***Julia was exhausted, but she wasn’t leaving until the last of the kitchen was spotless.She’d enjoyed spending the time with Alex’s parents and had probably stayed a little too late.She was exhausted and her whole body ached.Still, it had been nice to see how a family interacted.Marilyn and Kenneth Brockman were the kind of parents every child from a dysfunctional family dreamed about.Alex and her brothers were very lucky.Julia’s mother and step-father had drunk themselves into oblivion every night until they’d died in a drunken accident around Julia’s twentieth birthday.Not exactly Norman Rockwell.Not like the Brockmans.Julia, Paige, and them—Mick and Malachi—shooed the elder couple out the door.They’d worked hard enough pulling the party together, they didn’t need to worry about the cleanup, too.After they left—Alex driving them home, Jules, Paige, and the two brothers worked diligently returning Malachi and Alex’s home back into the spacious open floor living area it was intended to be.Jules took down the decoration with silent help from the giant Mikhail.Paige and Mal collected all the trash scattered throughout the house.Even though the house was huge by most standards—huge and open, airy—it’s first level wasn’t designed to hold over two hundred people comfortably.But it had.And it was left to four people to clean up the results.If Malachi Brockman and his brother weren’t there, Julia wouldn’t have minded at all.But they did come in handy for heavy lifting.Soon it was all finished, the only thing left to do was carrying out the remaining trash bags.Paige and Julia agreed the brothers could handle that little chore, and Jules gathered her things.Paige would be staying the night.She lived clear across town, in a small basement apartment that was currently being repaired.It had been damaged by fire two months ago, and Paige had been staying with Alex and Malachi until the repairs were finished.Normally she stayed in the guest room, but had given that up for Mikhail.Paige disappeared, but Jules knew she’d most likely found her bed.Paige ran on an odd metabolic clock.She could stay up for days at a time and be fine, but once she hit bottom, she slept hard.Jules worried about her friend.Paige’s nightmares would catch up to her one day.Her sigh was long as she threw her backpack over her shoulder.Thankfully, Jules didn’t live too far away.Fifteen minutes and she’d be home in her own bed.***Malachi knew when she was ready to leave, and he met her by the back door.“Ready to go, Julia? You’re more than welcome to stay here.We still have a bed free.”“What about Paige?” Her words were low, exhausted, and suspicious.Mal fought a soft smile.He resisted the urge to torment her somehow—she was obviously too tired for a good sparring match.In fact, she looked more than tired, she looked almost wan.“Crashed on the porch.Hammock.”“It’s thirty degrees outside! And snowing!”“It’s enclosed and there’s a small heater out there.She’ll be fine.She’s done it before.She likes sleeping outside.” Probably a remnant of sleeping in alleys and on park benches.It made Mal frown.Maybe it wasn’t a good thing.He’d have to give it more thought.Later.“No.I’m going home.” Jules shook her head.“Don’t leave her out there.It’s too cold for her to lie out there.”“Honestly—I think she did it deliberately.Put some space between her and Mikhail.He makes her nervous.”“That’s because he’s a jackass.I think it’s a trait his brother shares.” Her dig was said around a yawn so it lacked impact.Mal grabbed her arm and shook it chidingly.“That’s not nice, Dr.Bellows.I’m a perfect gentleman.My brother’s the same.That’s the way our mother raised us.”Julia snorted then sniffled.“Your mother may be a remarkable woman—and I do mean that—but she failed in one area.Two, if you count your brother.”“You are a heartless woman.”“I never said otherwise.” Jules walked carefully down the drive, her heels crunching in the snow.Malachi stayed at her side in the uneven drive.Jules said nothing as they approached her car.She slipped her key in the lock and turned to her companion.“Well, as you can see I’ve arrived at my car.Your duty is done—”He grinned.“Juli—”The thud sent him reeling into her.Jules screamed, arms reaching up to catch him as he fell.Dark shadows seemed to come from everywhere, surrounding them quickly.Malachi jerked, his hand falling against her car.He spun, fist shooting out at the first shadow…Other TitlesByCalle J.BrookesParanormalThe Blood King (Dardanos)Awakening the Demon’s Queen (Dardanos)The Healer’s Heart (Dardanos)Once Wolf Bitten (Dardanos)Live or Die (Dardanos)The Seer’s Strength (Dardanos)The Warrior’s Woman (Dardanos)Romantic SuspenseWatching (PAVAD)Wanting (PAVAD)Calle Jaye Brookesis first and foremost a fiction writer.She enjoys crafting paranormal romance and romantic suspense.She reads almost every genre except horror.In her day job she is a fiction content editor for an epublisher that opened in 2011.She spends most of her time juggling family life and writing, while reminding herself that she can’t spend all of her time in the worlds found within books.Calle Jaye loves to be contacted by her readers via email and at www.CalleJBrookes.Wordpress.com [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]