Page 232 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

"What did the doctor say?" Cory asked when we sat down in the dining room.

Chris was nibbling on some snacks, waiting for Violet to be done with her appointment before eating with her, but he was watching my food intake like a hawk.

“Everything seems fine. She’s going to do blood tests and let me know if anything is wrong,” I answered Cory.

“She wasn’t concerned about how much you’re sleeping?”

“She thinks because Coyo is super tired all the time, that I might have anemia. She gave me vitamins, and said she would check for more common human pregnancy issues."

“And, that she can’t keep missing meals,” Chris ratted me out, making me glare at him, but he looked unrepentant.

I was starting to miss the quiet man who never talked back. Who was I kidding? No, I wasn’t. I felt like I had gained another big brother in my corner with him, even though I was technically older. It was nice.

“We’ll have to make sure she get lots of food, then.” Cory said to Chris, who nodded back in response, and I could see some sort of understanding passing between them, that I knew was going to make me very annoyed with both of them.

“Whatever that look was, forget it,” I warned, pointing my garlic toast at both of them.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cory denied, grinning.

“Cory, you’re still a shit liar. I saw the look. If you guys try to smother me with love and attention, I’ll hiss like a cat and run away,” I warned them.

“That’s quite the picture you paint, Bells. But, you won’t do it. You’re going to let us be overbearing brothers, bitching and moaning about it for the next twenty years, and you’ll secretly love us for it,” Cory countered, making me flip him off, but then my phone rang before I could come up with a smart ass response.

It was from an unknown number.

“Hello?” I answered, picking up the call.

“Yes, Miss Salonen?”

“That’s right. Who am I speaking to?”

“This is Marty, the insurance adjuster.”

“Oh, hello, Mr. Cormack. How can I help you?”

“I was just wanting to let you know we’ve reviewed the footage explosion in the wine cellar and determined the explosion was accidental.” Accidental, my ass. It was all Martha. “We’ll be paying out the insurance, and you should see it deposited in the next few days.”

“Thank you, Mr. Cormack. That’s a relief.”

“I hope you have a great rest of your day.”

“You, too.”

“What was that?” Cory asked once the call was done.

“Insurance. They’re paying out the explosion claim.”

“That’s great. What are you going to do with the money?” he asked.

“Three-quarters of it is going to go to Cade’s pack, since he took most of my pack members. The rest is going to Crescent Moon.”

“We don’t n—”

“It’s not my money, Cory. It was pack money. It should stay with the pack members,” I interrupted his protest, making sure he knew I wasn’t going to budge on this.

I was going to recoup some of the money I had taken out of my personal funds, but I wanted nothing to do with the rest of it.

“Okay,” he gave in, putting his hands up to show he wasn’t going to keep arguing about it. I finished eating my food and stretched.

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