Love Burns by Georgette St. Clair Read Free Book Online Page B

like that. You’re as stubborn and stupid as your mother was.”
    “You mean when she objected to you using her as a punching bag?” Olivia said bitterly.
    Calder flashed Teague a look of disgust, and Teague’s face went red.
    “Olivia, how dare you discuss private family matters in front of a fire dragon?”
    “Insult my mother, and I will defend her,” said Olivia icily. “Every time.”
    “Very well. Then I will defend myself. It’s no secret that I was drinking then. After your mother took you from me, I stopped drinking. And I haven’t touched a drop since.”
    As far as Olivia knew, that was true. However, she’d never forget what he’d put them through back then. The threats, the insults, the dishes hurled at her mother’s head, and his furious fists, pounding into her mother, always in places that were hidden by clothing. He’d planned that, hadn’t he? So how drunk could he have been?
    “My mother protected me from growing up in a household of violence and abuse,” she said, grabbing her purse and stalking to the door.
    Ermengarde and Calder followed her out, leaving Teague standing in the living room by himself.
    “You haven’t filled out your report yet!” Teague yelled after her as she walked towards her car.
    “Someone broke into my house. I shot him. I’ll fill out a report in the morning,” she shouted back. Then she climbed into her car and drove away.

Chapter Seven
     
    Olivia sat in her office, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She had slept at her aunt’s and gone home that morning to get a linen pantsuit to wear to work, accompanied by a centurion to ensure that she was safe, and then she’d gone to the police station to fill out a report, and then she’d finally made it in to work.
    She was reaching for her third chocolate chip espresso muffin of the morning when the door flew open with a bang, and a man marched in, carrying a briefcase.
    Ermengarde rushed in behind him, swearing. “Sir, you leave right now!” she yelled.
    The man ignored her and stalked over to Olivia’s desk. Ice dragon. Snooty, tall and thin, wearing a tailored suit. It was Ichabod’s personal secretary, Lemuel.
    Ermengarde grabbed his arm. “I did not get any sleep last night, and you are stepping on my last nerve. You do not want to do that. You’ll need to leave at once, sir ,” she said.
    He shook her arm off. “I most certainly will not. We have wedding planning to do. Ichabod wants you to be measured for a dress,” he said to Olivia. He gave her figure a disapproving once-over. “And a corset.” He grabbed the muffin from her desk and tossed it into the garbage.
    Ermengarde gasped in outrage. “Hey, I cooked that myself!”
    Lemuel ignored her. “Also, the wedding is going to be thirty days from now, so you’ll need to start dieting,” he said. “Hmm. I wonder if we’d have time to schedule you for some liposuction.”
    “You did not …” Ermengarde hissed.
    Olivia stared back at him. Well, she could get angry, scream and have him bodily escorted from the office. Or…
    She climbed on top of her desk and started singing at the top of her lungs. “Twinkle, twinkle, little star….”she bellowed.
    The man stared up at her in horror. “What are you doing?” he demanded.
    Olivia gave Ermengarde a quick wink, then resumed singing. “Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me! I look like a monkey, and I climbed up a tree!”
    “Oh dear, she’s having one of her spells,” Ermengarde said, catching on quickly. “Hallucinations. Mental illness. Runs in the family. She pooped in the hallway yesterday.”
    Olivia shot her a dirty look, then resumed singing. “And many moooooore!” she trilled.
    “What?” Lemuel gasped in horror. “Ichabod was not informed of that. This changes everything.” He turned and hurried from the room.
    “I pooped in the hallway?” Olivia said to Ermengarde as she climbed down from the desk. “You couldn’t have come up with something a little less