Page 43 of Red

“What is it, Melinda?” Erik asked, his tone the lightest she’d ever heard it.

She gripped her phone and pressed it to her chest.

“Margaret Edgewater wants my book,” she whispered, afraid if the words were given too much weight, they’d fall off the Earth and die in space.

“Who?” Ian leaned toward her. It was the closest he’d gotten to her since he escorted her from Grams’ house the first night.

“Margaret Edgewater. She’s an editor at the biggest publishing house in town. I hadn’t even sent her my manuscript. My professor passed it along to her.” She read the email again. “They were friends, or maybe are. I’m not sure.” She shook her head and took a deep breath. Her skin lit on fire, tingling with electricity.

“That’s great,” Nico said with a wide grin.

She nodded and stared down at her phone. Erik still hadn’t said anything.

“Yeah, great news,” Ian added.

Erik reached over and slid the phone from her hands. Caught up in the bubble of excitement she floated in, she let him read the message. Their fingers touched in a dozen places when he returned the device with an approving smile.

“Definitely cause for celebration.” He raised his hand slightly, and a waiter popped out of the bushes or had been walking by. She was too wrapped up in her own thoughts and enjoyment to pay much attention to anything going on around them. But even in her haze, she recognized the power Erik held.

Word had already moved around town about their nuptials. The hostess had congratulated them, as well as their waiter when he first arrived at the table. It seemed, with the requirements of his uncle all met, he was stepping up in the world. She still didn’t understand the nature or rules of the world his uncle belonged to, but she could see that, with his claiming his full inheritance, it changed things for him. He had more power behind him now.

Erik ordered champagne and another round of drinks for his brothers.

“So, what’s the book about?” Nico asked, shoveling his third brochette into his mouth.

Melinda took a sip of wine. Talking to strangers about her work made her stomach twist into knots.

“It’s a murder mystery.” She went on to give the short summary she’d memorized from her submission packets.

“So, who did it? Who killed the banker’s wife?” Nico asked when she’d finished her spiel.

Melinda laughed. “I’m not telling you.”

“Will you tell me?” Erik asked, his dark-silk voice dragged her attention from Nico. His hand covered hers on the table, thumb rubbing circles into her palm. His gaze lit a blue fire inside her chest. He was being playful, sweet. The arrogant man who’d beaten his chest in order to gain her attention instead wore a cocky sideways grin that sent a flood of warmth through her body, straight to her core.

If he’d been this man from the start, a guy having dinner with his brothers and his girl, would things have progressed the way they had? Would she be feeling so overwhelmed and needy in his presence? Or would she have not spared him a second glance. Hot as he was, would he have drawn her to him without all of this arrogance and wolf-pack leadership?

His phone ruined the moment with its blaring ring. Erik muttered a curse and let go of her hand to grab it from his pocket. He cursed again and stood up.

“I have to take this. I’ll be right back.” Erik dodged the waiter bringing their entrees and stalked off toward the rear of the restaurant.

“He’ll have his nose in that project for the next year,” Ian mumbled, sipping his drink.

“Project?” Now that she was married to him, she supposed she should know what he did—other than abduct innocent girls.

“He’s going to be putting up a casino hotel downtown, on the south side,” Nico explained.

“Once he gets an idea in his head, it’s like the blinders go on and all he sees is hitting that goal,” Ian explained further, cutting into his steak.

“I noticed.” She pushed on a smile and picked up her fork. “Have you been able to find out anything about my grandmother?”

“Not much, but we are looking. I promise,” Ian said in the flat tone Erik used when he wanted to impress upon her the importance of his words.

“Thank you.” She saw the irony of thanking the two men who had literally taken her from Grams in the first place.

“So, what happens now with your book? This woman, she buys it from you or what?” Nico redirected the subject to something more comfortable. She appreciated the change and ran with it, explaining the next steps and all the inevitable waiting that.

“So, it could take another year or more before the book is out?” Nico leaned back in his chair. “Seems like a long time.”

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