Read Night Huntress 02.5 - Happily Never After for Free Online

alive, he'd bring him back that way to his sister. If he was already dead… then Chance would see to it that everyone who'd had a part in his demise met the same fate as well.
     
    Isa gave him a level look. "I'm going to hold you to that."

Chapter 4
     
    Isa sat across from her grandmother and watched as she made tea. It was their Saturday afternoon ritual that Isa would have gladly done herself, but her grandmother was still fiercely independent and wouldn't hear of it. Her only capitulation to Isa's concerns about her health was to wear the LifeCall alert Isa had gotten her. Isa noted her thinness and the translucence of her flesh that was common with advanced age, and had to blink back tears.
     
    She'll be gone soon, Isa thought with a stab of grief. It was doubly hard, since her grandmother had been both mother and father to her since Isa was thirteen, and Frazier even younger at nine. Then a mere five years after her parents had died, Isa's grandfather passed as well.
     
    Some people would be broken from grief, but Greta Spaga dried her tears after her husband's funeral and said that death was simply part of life. That prolonged mourning only stole the good memories of the person who was gone. Isa doubted she'd have the same strength.
     
    Now, over ten years later, Frazier was missing and Isa would have agreed to almost anything to keep her grandmother from facing another crushing family loss. The old woman might be strong as steel emotionally, but there was still only so much one person could take.
     
    There was only so much Isa could take as well. Robert never said the words directly, but Isa knew that her brother wasn't the only collateral he was holding against her. She'd seen Paul and Ritchie drive by her grandmother's a few times when they knew Isa was there to spot them. Their actions screamed that more than Frazier would pay if Isa refused to do what Robert wanted.
     
    "Here you are," her grandmother said, setting down Isa's cup of tea.
     
    "So tell me about Chance," she said, trying to distract herself and genuinely wanting to know more about the sexy oddball.
     
    Her grandmother smiled as she set her own cup down with more of a clatter.
     
    "Downright tasty looking, isn't he?" Greta asked slyly.
     
    Isa almost choked on a swallow. There was no mistaking the wicked note to her grandmother's voice.
     
    "I meant, where'd you meet him? What does he do for a living? And how long have you known about Frazier, while we're at it?"
     
    "Hmm, where'd I meet Chance? A long time ago in
Louisiana
. What does he do for a living?" Greta paused to cackle. "He doesn't do anything for a living, dear. How long have I known about Frazier? Since he didn't call me on Tuesday three weeks ago to check in. Frazier always calls me on Tuesdays. He hasn't missed one in the past five years."
     
    Isa's mouth dropped. Her brother Frazier, who couldn't remember anyone's birthday and who hadn't held a steady job since Melrose Place was a hit, called their grandmother faithfully every Tuesday?
     
    Greta tsked . "Don't look so shocked. Frazier's a bit high-strung, but so was I at his age. He's settled down a lot, Isa . You shouldn't judge him so harshly."
     
    Now Isa did choke on her tea, lightly spraying herself with it. Once she'd regained her breath, she was glad it happened. Or she might have shouted, "High-strung? Associating with crime lords is a bit more than high-strung! "
     
    But her grandmother didn't need the added worry of learning about how Frazier had cozened up to Robert these past few months. Hell, Isa had Frazier to thank for the fact that Robert had even stepped foot in her restaurant in the first place. Sure, Frazier tried to dissuade Robert once he saw the interest Robert immediately took in her, but by then, it had been too late.
     
    "Tell me more about Chance," Isa managed. Anything except how Frazier was a misunderstood softie.
     
    Her grandmother stared at her without speaking for so long, Isa repeated