Read Caleb Morgan [Seven Brothers for McBride 7] for Free Online Page B

as he frowned at his brother. “How do you know that?”
    Dead silence prompted McBride to clear the air. “The butler overheard part of the conversation.” There. He’d given him an answer without admitting that he’d been riveted in the old bathroom watching and listening right alongside Renner.
    “Did he?” Caleb glanced at the butler then at McBride. Rather than say anything else about that, Caleb continued to tell the entire group about the slammer’s offer. “Gage seemed to think that was quite funny when I am most certainly not interested in keeping McBride as a pet.”
    McBride opened his mouth to ask what he did have in mind, but he took a sip of his whisky instead. It tasted good but did nothing to relax him. Now was not the time or place to hash everything out with Caleb. If his supposition was correct that Caleb had been embarrassed to have McBride confess in a public forum, doing it a second time wouldn’t endear him to Caleb at all. Soon enough the lights would go down. Caleb would either come upstairs with him or go off to his own little house. One way or another, McBride was going to have his answer within the next few hours.

Chapter 4
     
    “So, are you going to go be the leader of the slammers?” Jared’s tone was light and almost joking, but Caleb was seriously considering the pros and cons of taking on the role.
    “I’m not sure. I mean, becoming the ruler of all the slammers has a certain appeal.” Caleb’s tone was just as jocular as Jared’s, but everyone went dead silent so fast it was as if he’d suddenly sucked all the air out of the room. “I’m kidding.”
    “Are you?” Gannon set his empty glass aside and wrapped his arms a little tighter around his mate. “It’s hard to tell.”
    Caleb spared his brother a glance, but when his gaze connected with his thrall, Alden, who was deaf and so focused on Caleb’s mouth he felt utterly exposed, he softly said, “I’m not going to do anything that will hurt anyone.”
    Alden nodded, but it wasn’t a nod that indicated he believed Caleb, just a little nod that said he’d understood what Caleb had just spoken. Somehow, Alden’s concern forced Caleb to look around at his brothers and their mates and realize how much they didn’t seem to intuitively know that he would never do anything to hurt them. Not on purpose. That they didn’t instinctively trust him cut so deep he felt nothing could stanch the wound.
    That thought caused his gaze to turn to McBride.
    He was sitting on the same couch as Caleb, but he was on the other end, his fanny settled into the curve made by the back of the unit as it swept down to form the arm of the couch. McBride had his left leg bent and hooked up onto the cushion so that he was facing Caleb, but his head was turned slightly away because he was still holding a rag up to his right ear.
    Caleb frowned. McBride’s wound shouldn’t still be bleeding. Worse, McBride shouldn’t be wearing an expression of concerned restraint. If anything, he should be the one man who looked confident in Caleb. That he didn’t seem to be steadfast in believing in him was devastating.
    “Just what the hell have I ever done that makes all of you doubt me now?” Caleb rose from the couch, polished off his drink, and then moved to the bar to get another. He had been feeling damn proud of himself, but he wasn’t now. Everyone, including McBride, was wary and unsure. Caleb wanted to rail at them, but realized he’d never done much of anything to inspire confidence in anyone. His brothers knew of only a time or two when he’d gone out of his way to protect them. He hadn’t wanted them to think he was soft, but now he realized they didn’t seem to know how much he cared. Being seen as a strong man most certainly had its drawbacks.
    “We don’t doubt you.” McBride finished his drink and set the glass aside. “We’re just not real clear on what you’re planning to do.”
    It was on the tip of his tongue to say