Page 9 of Beyond the Hate

I continue to sing his name until the otter peaks out from underneath the display case. I coo at him. “Hey, sweetie. How have you been?”

I’ll never admit it out loud, but I was Viking’s secret keeper for a year. Since he mostly preferred to be left alone and I’m a bit of a workaholic, the relationship worked.

Except for when I brought home cookies from the bakery. The little sneak would steal every single one of them if I didn’t lock them away.

It isn’t long before Viking sprints across the floor to steal the cookie from me. He sits in front of me and devours it while watching me. I swear he’s smirking at me.

“You need to return to your cage before Parker gets into trouble.”

He chirps to indicate his disapproval.

“Sorry, sweetie. Rules are rules.”

Parker tiptoes toward me with his cage. She sets it down behind him as quietly as she can but of course, Viking hears. He hisses at her.

“Stop it, Viking,” I order and hand him another cookie.

While he’s eating, I pick him up and place him in the cage. If he could roll his eyes at me, he would.

“Thank you,” Parker whispers as she tiptoes away with him.

I stand and nearly rear back when I come face to face with Eli. I didn’t realize he’d left the safety of his table.

“Wow. You’re good with him.”

I frown at him. “You don’t have to sound surprised.”

He holds up his hands. “It was merely a comment.”

“Whatever.” I wipe the dirt from my jeans. “I need to return to the brewery.”

I walk away without a backward glance. I refuse to obsess about Eli since he’s returned to the island. He’s not worth any mental energy I expend on him.

I will never experience those piercing blue eyes spark with passion. It’s better this way.

Chapter 4

“Sometimes I wish I was an only child.” ~ Eli

Eli

I smile as I enterBuccaneer’s Whiskey & Distillery.This is my dream. Maybe not the distillery itself but owning a business with my five brothers? It’s everything I wished for after Dad left us.

I bite back the temptation to growl. Dad is such an asshole for abandoning Mom to bring up six kids on her own. I will never forgive him for what he did. And I definitely won’t forgive him for showing up at my door in California begging for money. Acting as if he deserved it.

“Uh oh,” my assistant, Dakota, mutters as I enter the offices of the distillery. “Someone’s grumpy today.”

“I’m not grumpy.”

“And you’re not a big fat liar either.”

“I wouldn’t say fat.”

She giggles. “Nope. Not an ounce of fat on you, is there?”

If Miranda said those words, I’d worry she was coming onto me. But with Dakota, I have no such worries. I’m not the brother she’s interested in.

“Are any of my brothers in yet?”

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