A View to a Kill: (A Bird Shifter Novella) (King of Prey Book 2) by Mandy M. Roth Read Free Book Online

The man had some nerve.
    “He just stopped by and is leaving.” She gave Sachin a daring look.
    “Nonsense, I brought enough food for an army. You know how my momma is. She heard I wanted to bring lunch out to you and she insisted on coming over to my house to prepare it.” Bailey laughed and the sound grated on Sachin’s nerves. “She kept mumbling something about how bad my cooking is.” Bailey glanced at Sachin. “Care to join us for lunch?”
    He’d much rather rip the man’s head from his shoulders but Sachin kept that bit to himself and nodded. “Thank you,” he managed. “I’d be honored.”
    Paige gawked at him, her mouth open wide. “What?”
    Sachin grinned. If his woman thought he was leaving her with another man, she was wrong. “The man made me an offer I could not refuse.” He put his hand out. “Here, I can take that basket to the house.”
    “No,” Paige said quickly. She took a moment, adjusting her shirt and rubbing her palms on her thighs before locking gazes with him. “I’ll get it, Sachin. Really. Sarah’s resting and I don’t want to wake her.”
    Interrogating prisoners was one of Sachin’s specialties. He had a sixth sense for a lie. His skills were not needed to know Paige wished desperately to push him away. Did she not understand who she was to him?
    You only just figured it out , he reminded himself.
    He knew Paige had led a hard life, one that left her first being fostered by the woman who owned the ranch and then eventually adopted by her. Trust was something she didn’t offer freely, and a part of him knew she might not be willing to accept him back into her life. No amount of foresight helped to ease the pain of seeing her in another man’s arms. But he deserved it. Deserved seeing she’d managed to move on.
    Bailey gave her a little swat on the backside and Sachin was reminded of seeing Lazar with the whore. His thoughts shifted and images of Paige surrendering herself to Bailey plagued him. Hot rage tore through him and he made a move to go at Bailey.
    Oh God, Sachin’s going to kill him. Just keep him away from Bailey, then everything should be fine.
    Hearing Paige’s thoughts in his head made Sachin stop dead in his tracks. He stared at her long and hard, sure it had been a play of the mind. A trick of some sort. Tipping his head, he waited to hear more but none came.
    Paige handed the basket to Bailey. “Will you take this up? I’ll be there in just a second. I want to get Firecracker Redux back to the stables. Sachin can help me.”
    Bailey cast a worried glance in Sachin’s direction before reluctantly taking the basket from Paige’s outstretched hand. “Sure thing.” He bent and kissed her again.
    Sachin fought the urge to kill the man and remained motionless. It was one of the hardest things he’d ever done—outside of fly away from his mate a year ago. Once Bailey was far from view, Paige turned to Sachin, her expression anything but kind. “You lay one hand on him and I will skin you alive. Understand?”
    He bit back a laugh. He’d been privy to many instances of skinning alive and knew Paige lacked the knowledge or the stomach for the act, but her threat was admirable. “Yes. I understand.”
    “Good.” She walked towards the horse. “Now, help me lead him back to the stables.”
    He fell into step next to her. They made their way into the back stables and he assisted in corralling the horse. When he looked, he found Paige sliding the barn door shut and then focusing on him.
    “Why did you leave?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
    Because I had to.
    “I did not come here to cause you pain, Paige.”
    She lifted her chin. “Then why did you come? Why now after all of these months?”
    Because I missed you.
    “If you truly wish for me to leave,” he sighed, “I will.”
    He thought for a minute she would say yes. She didn’t. Putting her hand to her mouth, she stifled a tiny cry as her shoulders slumped. It broke his