Blue Knight by Tracy Cooper-Posey Read Free Book Online Page B

more armed guards would take up positions against the ropes. There, they would spend their mornings in almost silent, subdued misery.
    But not this morning. This morning, they walked in twos and threes, chatting in small groups. There was even the occasional laugh. No one seemed to notice the guards walking along beside them. Olivia listened to the low conversations filtering back to her in her position about two-thirds of the way along the line. She could hear no English at all.
    As she stepped under the archway that led into the foyer, a deep voice whispered close by her ear, in French. “You are playing a dangerous game, Olivia.”
    She knew who it was without having to look. His French was flawless.
    “I play no games,” she breathed back.
    “Ibarra is Vistarian. They have a thing about honor. If you make him feel foolish, he will come after you personally.”
    “I told you—”
    His hand curled around her elbow. “Do not lie to a liar. It would only take one of these weaker ones to speak your name and Ibarra will have you in his sights.”
    He stepped past her and kept walking. The business shirt and trousers, like her own suit, hid the better qualities of his physique, but they could do nothing to hide the breadth of his shoulders or his height. The short sleeves displayed the strong forearms and thick wrists. She swallowed as her gaze travelled to his fingers—the fingers that had touched her lips and set off such unexpected fireworks in her last night.
    Her elbow tingled where he had touched it. Olivia licked her lips and realized that just thinking about him and watching him was bringing her to a heated level of arousal she had not experienced in years. Her pussy was throbbing with aching unfulfillment and she was simply looking at his back.
    Looking for too long . She quickly dropped her gaze. Had any of the soldiers noticed? Her heart thundered. Had she given them a hint? An opening? She couldn’t afford to look at them to check.
    She shuffled forward in the line, too afraid to look up. Instead she listened to the polyglot gabble of voices. The shine in the day had evaporated.
    Defiance came at a price: Fear.
    * * * * *
    Calli came into the kitchen after the breakfast rush, looking for coffee. She knew Momma Rosetta would be there, but was surprised to find Minnie there, too. Minnie was parked at one of the long benches, working on notebooks spread around the table in front of her, with a calculator, pencil, eraser and dozens of the local newspapers folded up next to her hip.
    Momma Rosetta poured Calli western coffee and silently handed it to her. Calli thanked her with a smile and sat on the bench opposite Minnie. “Whatever are you doing?” she asked.
    Minnie looked up, blinking. “Oh, hi. I’m helping Momma Rosetta a bit.” She was frowning. Her gaze dropped back to the notebook in front of her.
    “No, really. What are you doing?”
    Minnie looked self-conscious. “Well, you said to make myself useful and Momma Rosetta couldn’t keep raiding the garden for supplies for all of us. Besides, Nick’s money doesn’t stretch that far but if you know how to shop properly, it can stretch quite a ways, so I was explaining it to Momma Rosetta but she doesn’t have time, so I just did it myself, instead.”
    Calli sipped the coffee. Startled, she looked down at the cup. It was good coffee. Great, in fact. She sipped again, almost moaning at the excellent taste of fine Columbian brew. She tilted her head to look properly at Minnie’s notebooks. “You’re shopping?” she asked.
    “It’s a system,” Minnie said defensively. “There’s a dozen ways to skin a cat.”
    Calli gave a small chuckle. “Well, if anyone knows about shopping, you do.” She tapped the notebooks. “Explain it to me.”
    “Really?” Minnie asked.
    “Economics professor, remember?” Calli reminded her.
    “Almost professor,” Minnie shot back.
    “Okay. Then think of me as the Chief of Staff and your boss.