Page 32 of Purrfectly Bound

“W-what about, Rory?” Sandra said.

Her sister looked doubtful for the first time in Annalia’s memory. She wondered why, but it was too little too late.

“My nephew can come see me anytime he likes,” she answered.

The little boy spent most of his time now with nannies and tutors. Thank goodness. He was smart and sensitive. Nothing like his parents.

“Look, Annalia, let’s discuss this privately,” Glenn tried.

“No,” she said, grateful again for Lance’s presence.

The big man’s warmth seeped through her clothes, chasing away the sudden chill Sandra and Glenn brought with them. There was something about the way he stood just there, behind her. Strong and silent, ready to jump in should she need him, but content to let her take care of things.

She had expected a more overbearing display of machismo. Something she didn’t think she could handle. This was her mess, and she needed to clean it up. Luckily for her, her mate gave her just what she needed.

“There is nothing else to say. Except goodbye,” she turned and looked up into Lance’s beautiful, clear eyes, ““I am going to live my life how I want, and that’s with you.”

She never thought blue could be so hot, and yet there was fire in his unwavering gaze. Like nothing she’d ever seen. So much heat and desire, and if she wasn’t mistaken, affection too.

Burning blue lava rocks, the kind people placed in outdoor fire pits. That was what his eyes reminded her of, and they pulled her in like a crystalline magnet.

She smiled widely. Noting at first the shock, then the gratitude as he dipped down to brush his lips against hers.

“Should we go talk now?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Lance said, “I’d like that.”

“Wait!” Sandra interrupted them, pulling a snarl from the big man holding her.

Annalia grinned and patted his chest. Turning round, she faced her sister.

“What is it?”

“Well, you see, Annalia, the truth is I lied,” she gasped, “all those years ago when mother and father died, they didn’t leave us nothing. Daddy didn’t lose it all.”

“What?” Anna gasped. She’d never fully understood how her father, who’d been a successful real estate mogul could have lost his entire estate just before he and his wife died in a horrible car accident.

“The money, the house, everything they had was to be split evenly between the two of us. You were just a baby though. Four years old, and I was just out of high school. I had to take care of you. It wasn’t fair,” she sniffed.

“Wait, what? You always told me I had nothing. That you and Glenn gave me everything I had,” she said, disbelief ringing in her voice, “You made me write down everything I ever spent. You kept a running tally my whole life and made me pay it back!”

“You stole from your sister,” Lance growled.

He was right. That was exactly what she did. Pain squeezed Anna’s chest.

“All those years you were so mean to me,” she wondered aloud, “Told me I was too fat to find a man. Told me my job was unimportant and trivial. Said my art was nothing!”

Anger infused Annalia’s voice as she faced off with the one person who should have always loved and protected her. Sandra was her family. This kind of betrayal was beyond her scope of understanding.

Only Lance’s steady presence made it bearable. She sucked in a breath despite the tightening of her lungs. An unfortunate side effect whenever she became too angry.

She felt something being pushed in her palm and looked to see Lance had handed her the pump. Annalia nodded and took two puffs before answering her sister.

Sweat had started to bead on her forehead, and her stomach clutched in anger. She was positively nauseous. But Anna was far too angry to let this go.

“You lied to me. Stole from me. And made me feel like shit for the last time,” she told Sandra, “I don’t want to see either of you again. At least not for a good, long while. Send my lawyer all the documents you have regarding my half of the inheritance from our parents,” she instructed them.

In all honesty, Anna did not care about the money. But this was her legacy from her parents. Sandra and Glenn had tried to rob her of that. They needed to make amends.

“But, well, we have nothing left. We’ve been living off yours for years-”

“Then I suggest you both get real jobs and figure out how you are going to move forward with paying me back. And Sandra, have my things returned. You can keep that check to get you back home and add it to the principal of what you owe me,” Anna said.

“But wait,” her sister said, “that’s it? You’re going to just leave with that animal?”

“I am going to go home with my mate. It might sound ridiculous to you. I mean, I only met him a day ago, but I feel better about myself when I am with him than I ever had in my lifetime of being near you. I suggest you and your husband leave now before his Tiger comes out to play.”

Lance growled on cue, and Annalia stifled the nervous laugh that bubbled up inside. She allowed Lance to pull her along the corridor, grabbing her coat along the way. She was about two seconds from hyperventilating.

The pressure of his hand on her back kept her moving though, and she walked through the quickly increasing snowfall to his SUV. For some reason, she didn’t even feel the chill. In fact, she felt warm. Like really, really warm.

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