Page 73 of Emergence and Ascendance

"She wanted to make sure I wasn't being held hostage."

He smiled sexily. "And your verdict?"

"The accommodations are acceptable." I gestured to the spread laid out on the table. "And this definitely helps."

"Glad to know I’m meeting your standards."

"Some standards haven’t been met yet?"

Whoa, where the hell did that come from?

You know exactly where. Giselle has seen him naked and you want to see him naked…

"Soon enough."

My pussy pulsed in approval.

"What about you? What have you been up to today?"

"Meeting. My brother-in-law."

"He’s Elias’ brother, right? Are you all close?”

“We’re a lot better than we used to be.”

“So no?”

“We’re close. Things were complicated with all of us. Cress wasn’t originally supposed to marry Elias. The arrangement was for him to marry our younger sister Jona…”

“Jona?” I frowned. “But she’s…”

“Much younger but things worked out like they were supposed to, and considering our history, I consider where we are now a good thing.”

“What’s your history?”

He stared at me for a minute, and I thought he wouldn’t tell me. After he did, I kind of wished he hadn’t…

“My brother killed theirs and I’m pretty sure Elias retaliated and killed Cole.”

I choked on my food and it took a minute to get things under control by clearing my throat.

“Your brothers killed each other?”

His eyes locked on mine and he added, “Cole had a drug problem. He made a lot of questionable choices. I’m not justifying what happened because it was hard on all of us. We lost family members we love but actions have consequences. We’ve found a mutual place of understanding. It wasn’t easy but we’re all in a good place. Cress loves Elias. I love my sister and their children. Life is complicated that way sometimes. Good things are born from horrible situations.”

I understood that but not in the way he might think. Me being here was born from my husband lying to me for ten years.

“I’m glad you all are in a good place.”

He nodded. “Are you close to your family?”

My smile surfaced quickly. “Yes, but people don’t assume we are.”

“Why not?”

“Emotions aren’t tolerated in the Whitney household. It was the one place my parents disagreed. Well that and my mother believed women should be allowed the same respect and privilege the Whitney men are granted.” I rolled my eyes and he chuckled. “My mother hugged us all the time, told us she loved us. Made sure my siblings and I did that also but my father hated it and criticized her, saying she was making us weak. Families with strong legacies were business minded and not emotional. Pretty much heartless robots. Kill or be killed.”

“You and your siblings didn’t adapt to that mindset?”

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