Page 52 of The Beast's Betrayed Mate
She stared at him, as did Peter, who felt the need to wring his stupid neck. Then she threw her head back and laughed, her gaze on him warm and reassuring. She was taking it all as the compliment it was. It made him relax.
She wasn’t stuck in the past, wasn’t suspicious or thinking that everything said or done might be an attack in disguise.
She really liked him.
“So, what’s happening?” she asked. “Are we calling the papers?”
“No, we think we should wait,” Mason said, standing as well. “If you don’t mind.”
“Oh, I’m on board with whatever you want,” Olive said. “It’s your family’s company. It’s much more personal for you than it is for me.”
“Well,” Michael said. “Actually, we feel like we owe you an apology.”
“What?” she asked. “What for?”
“You were pulled into this and manipulated by someone that works for our family and, most likely, by a member of our family,” Michael said.
“Stop,” she said, holding her hands up as underlining. “Let’s not do the whole blame thing. I blame myself more than anything and then Peter tells me that’s dumb because it wasn’t like I made my choices knowing what they meant, so… That goes for you guys too. You didn’t have anything to do with this. And you’re trying to right it. Besides, you’re both victims, aren’t you? With all this kept from you?”
Michael was relieved, Peter could tell, but he’d already told the brothers this would be the reaction they would get from her. They’d simply refused to listen, feeling obligated. He supposed that he could understand that.
“One thing we can all agree on is that the people in this house should be focused on righting the wrongs that are being done,” he said. “That’s it. Focus on tomorrow, let go of yesterday.”
“That was profound,” she commented, making him give her a look before wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her close.
“Was it?” he asked, sliding his hands into her armpits and tickling her mercilessly. She laughed despite the soreness of her ribs, finally making a face of pain that made him stop. “Sorry,” he said, but she was still smiling. She honestly didn’t mind his hands being anywhere and everywhere on her.
“Dickhead,” she said, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him again, joining their lips in a soft kiss.
Michael and Mason both made ‘ohh’ noises and the two lovers broke apart again, Olive with a giggle and Peter with another glare at his friends. They were impossibly annoying.
“Can we not be immature?” he asked, Olive letting out another laugh. “What?” he asked.
“What’s the fun in that?” she retorted, wrapping her arms around him and pulling herself close for a deep kiss.
It made him weak in the knees. Only she had ever done that, and he basked in the feeling. He should tell her and someday he would, but not in front of the Maynard brothers.
“When are we going to see Blake?” he asked them, arms still around Olive as she leaned her head against his chest.
The brothers shared a look again. He loved them, but it did get on his nerves when they did that. There had never been a time through all the years that he had known them that that exchange hadn’t signaled them having discussed something between themselves and were gearing up to tell him.
“We think, now that we’re in agreement, that it’s best if just the two of us go,” Michael said.
“What?” Olive asked. “You think we should split up?”
“It’s easier to travel as wolves,” Mason said. “It’s faster and there’s less chance we’ll be detected. We’ll go see Blake and convince him to come here with Diana.”
“Diana?” Olive asked.
“His daughter,” Michael replied.
“Oh, he has a daughter,” she said with a smile.
“Yeah, it’s why we should probably leave today,” Michael said.
“Today?” Peter exclaimed.
“Can’t get there soon enough,” Mason said. “Then we can gather our forces and decide what our next move should be.”
