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feel the swirling emotions
churning in the air. The intercom beeped. Hannah’s voice filled the room. “Put
your clothes back on and open the door.”
    The interruption was enough of a distraction for me to get
my shit together and calm down.
    “Take a deep breath. Let’s both calm down.” I reached out
and cupped the back of her neck. I squeezed, trying to rub out the knot of
tension from her muscles. She vibrated with stress, something I’d put there.
Ella had her lids closed tight enough to wrinkle the corners of her eyes. I
tucked a few errant strands of hair behind her ear and stroked her soft-as-silk
skin. “Babe, look at me.”
    She shook her head, sniffled and turned away, giving me her
back. Ella, the strongest woman I knew, was running. I’d thought we were past
this. What kind of bastard did it make me that I was tired of chasing? Shit got
rough, she took off and I dragged her back while she spat, kicked and fought me
every inch of the way.
    Ella crossed to the door and opened it. She was short enough
not to block the doorway, so I could easily see who waited. Hannah and Dante,
one of the few people I called friend, stood waiting for us. I pinched the
bridge of my nose. Hannah took one look at Ella, shoved her out of the way and
strode into the room on three-inch death stilettos. How women didn’t break
their necks on those things was a fucking mystery.
    The slinky red dress she wore adhered to her slender curves,
exposing more skin than I needed to see. She held her head high, like some
Amazon princess on the warpath. The fierce glare in her eyes should have filled
me with pride. Instead I felt annoyed as hell at the interruption. Hannah was
still riding her self-empowered high and ready to tear me a new one.
    Wonderful.
    “Micah McGregor, what did you do to my sister?” she hissed.
    I shook my head and started for the door, ready to put this
craptastic night behind me with a bottle of bourbon. “Your sister swallowed
crazy pills. That’s what fucking happened,” I growled. “I can’t believe she’d
actually think for one second…” I brushed by Ella on my way out the door, and
our gazes locked as I passed.
    The hurt on her face was almost my undoing, but I knew that
no matter what I said, Ella wasn’t going to hear it. She’d thought I’d fucked
another woman. Turned out she didn’t need to know about the circumstances
surrounding my birth to think I was a piece of shit. She’d come to that
conclusion all on her own.
    My lip curled up in a sneer. “I’m going out. Don’t wait up.
You never know what I’ll pick up at the bar.”
    She lifted her chin. Fire filled her eyes. If I’d been
closer, she probably would have kicked me in the nuts—not like they were doing
me any good. “Don’t let the door hit your ass on your way out.”
    Hannah looked frantically back and forth between us. For
some reason Ella’s sister had gotten all dolled up. She’d curled her hair or
some shit to make it…poofy.
    “What about the family dinner?” she asked.
    Fuck. Roy, Ella’s uncle and my once mentor, was due back
tonight. I glared at Ella before meeting Dante’s calm golden gaze. I gave him a
quick shake of the head, silently telling him women were fucking crazy and if
he were smart, he’d run for the hills while he could. Ella and I were forced
into this cohabitating bullshit. Dante was choosing this crap of his own
accord.
    For Hannah I managed a small, un-genuine smile. “Not in a
family kind of a mood, kid.”
    I walked away and disappeared around the bend in the hallway
with the single intention of finding my brother.
    I had plans to make and people to murder.
     

Chapter Three
     
    I stared down the hall, the tears in my eyes blurring my
vision. The tip of my nose tingled. Was I crying? What the hell was wrong with
me? Micah vanished from sight right around the time I blinked, sending trails
of hot moisture rolling down my cheeks. I swiped them away with a trembling
hand, hoping to