Read Moonlight Kin 2: Aidan's Mate (Mid-Length Novel) for Free Online Page B

keep the banker in thousand dollar suits for the rest of his life.
    The pompous ass straightened his food-stained tie and squinted against the setting sun. “We’ve already extended the deadline twice in deference to your family, but we cannot extend it again. We have a board of trustees to answer to and other investments to consider. You understand.”
    Ethan understood all right. If he didn’t get his hands on Jenna Dane soon, he’d lose more than his initial investment. He’d leveraged over half of his inheritance on this land deal. He wouldn’t be poor by most people’s standards, but by Manning family standards he might as well be destitute.
    This was the type of business blunder that tarnished family names. Something his father and mother would not tolerate—not even from their son.
    It was a good thing the private detective he’d hired had found Jenna Dane. Ethan didn’t want to think about if he hadn’t.
    The banker rose and extended his hand. Ethan glared at it until the man slowly brought it back to his side. He grabbed the glasses perched on his nose and carefully wiped them with a handkerchief. “I’ll expect to hear from you before the deadline.” He placed his glasses back on and walked to the door.
    Ethan watched him leave, then picked up the crystal candy dish on his desk and hurled it toward the wall. The dish exploded on impact, raining multi-colored mints and shiny glass chards onto the Persian rug. No one was going to fuck up this deal for him, especially not a low-class, second-rate mechanic.
    He needed to find out exactly where they were. Carl and Jenna should’ve arrived in town by now. Ethan glanced at his calendar. Had it been a week since they last spoke?
    That couldn’t be right.
    It didn’t take a week to drive back to Vancouver. He waited to get his temper in check, then buzzed his executive assistant. “Cynthia, get me Carl Rich on the phone.”
    “Right away, Mr. Manning.”
    A moment later the phone rang. Ethan picked it up and without preliminaries said, “Where is she?”
    There was a pause, then Carl’s gruff voice said, “I lost her, but I have a couple of leads to follow up on.”
    “What do you mean you lost her? The last time we spoke you’d found her and had Jenna in your custody. You told me that you were on your way.” Ethan clutched the receiver, his knuckles white. “What the hell happened? I expected you to be here by now.” Something akin to panic clawed at his chest until he could barely breathe.
    “She’s pretty resourceful when she needs to be. She gave me the slip at a gas station, when I stopped to fill up,” he said. “Hitchhiked back to her car and disappeared.”
    Fury over the man’s incompetence made his shake. “How did a woman give you the slip? I thought you were a professional.”
    “She’s tougher than she looks and obviously very persuasive when she needs to be,” Carl ground out.
    Ethan was beginning to understand that about Jenna. Somehow she’d eluded them for three months, but her admirable survival skills didn’t change his objective. He’d paid a lot of money and expected results.
    “I don’t pay you for excuses,” Ethan said. “Find her now or you won’t see another dime. And just so we’re clear, if you fail me again, I’ll have your license yanked. You won’t be able to get a job parking cars in this town. Got it?”
    “Understood.” The word was ripped from his throat. “Trust me, sir. She will not get away again,” he said with menacing promise.
    “Call me the second you spot her. I want to be there to make sure there are no more screw-ups. You have until Saturday.” Ethan hung up before Carl could respond.
    He was so tired of dealing with inept people. He should’ve gone after Jenna himself or at the very least gotten her to sign over the deed to the land before she ran. The garage that sat on the property was useless without it.
    Stupid bitch!
    She should know better than to try to strong arm him.