A Wolf In Wolf's Clothing by Deborah MacGillivray Read Free Book Online

not specific enough,” Paganne sniffed.
    Raven’s eyes went to Melissa, observing her for a moment. The little voice in her head was speaking again, and it said Cian’s secretary had sent the invitation, despite her contrived look of innocence. Trying not to growl, she glared until the irritating female finally blushed and looked away, guilty.
    But, why? Raven could see Melissa doing something to cause her a problem, but why attack Britt? She doubted Britt and Melissa had exchanged more than passing words. Why set up such a confrontation tonight, knowing how important it was for Cian to have everything run smoothly?
    “So how did he get an invitation?” Paganne asked, her eyes tracking Brishen and Cian in their attempt to head off Delacroix. In a deft maneuver, each man took an elbow, wheeled Lucien about and gently escorted him toward the doors.
    “Great minds work alike. I’m wondering the same thing,” Raven commented drolly, picking up a champagne glass and itching to toss the contents in Melissa’s smug face. One of these days—it’s coming, she promised.
    Out of the corner of her eye, Raven spotted the black-haired man walking across the opposite side of the room to examine the fortune-teller’s booth. Her stomach muscles tightened as his hand reached out to deftly insert a coin, his beautiful face reflected in the glass while he studied the mannequin’s lifelike gestures. Then, placing his hands on either side of the booth, he leaned close, nearly pressing his nose against the glass and staring. Finally, when the mannequin stopped moving, the stranger leaned back.
    Beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing?
    “Surely not,” Raven said to herself. He couldn’t have drawn the same fortune.
    The stranger turned, his eyes coming straight to her as if he’d been aware she was watching the whole time. Then Raven realized that, while she saw the reflection ofhis face in the glass, he could see her bright red dress behind him as well. Slowly he lifted the card and turned it until the tarot face showed. Even across the room there was no mistaking The Lovers.
    A slight lift of his black brows spoke volumes. But was it a question? A threat? A promise…? Raven shivered, scared also of what the cards signified.
    Someone jostled her arm, spilling her drink. “Oh, I am sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going,” a blonde woman apologized as she snatched up an Irish linen napkin off the end of a table and offered it for Raven to dab at her dress. “Oh, I really am sorry. I’m so clumsy of late. Guess it comes with the territory. I haven’t seen my feet in a couple months. Hope this doesn’t ruin your lovely dress. I’ll pay for the cleaners.”
    The voice finally broke through Raven’s haze. She knew that voice. Her whole body flinched, suddenly awash in painful memories of a time in her life that held nothing but black sorrow.
    “Ellen,” she said—not harshly, not warmly, just with a flat neutrality as far from her emotional state as Raven could possibly get.
    The wife of her ex-husband blinked owlishly at her. “My word! Raven, I didn’t recognize you. I say! Why, you’re…you’re stunning! I guess I’ve never seen you done up to the nines.”
    Raven bit her tongue to keep from blurting that the last time they saw each other Ellen had been on a desk, on her back, getting screwed by Alec, and that it was hard to have a clear view from such an upside-down position. But sheathing her claws, she didn’t give the woman the satisfaction.
    To be honest, Raven couldn’t blame Ellen for wrecking her marriage, because by that point there hadn’t been much left. She’d already endured too much of Alec Beechcroft’s subtle mental abuse and finally realized he’d married her because she was Sean Montgomerie’sgranddaughter. When the bastard saw that wouldn’t help him professionally, he’d set out to punish her for not giving him what he coveted: power within Montgomerie Enterprises. It had taken