Rulers of Deception by Katie Jennings Read Free Book Online Page B

that.”
    “The offer’s open, if you change your mind,” he said easily, leaning back in his chair and sipping his wine.
    “I know, and I appreciate it, I do.” She reached down to scratch Miles behind the ears, smiling. “Besides, now I have Ma breathing down the back of my neck about when I’m gonna get pregnant, so God knows that’s a lot to handle.”
    Grant choked, blinking back the shock. “Pregnant?”
    Quinn looked at him, brows furrowed. “Well, yeah. Eventually, anyway. I know we haven’t really talked about it, which is what I told her. But you know how Sicilian women are…nosy, nosy, nosy.”
    He winced and looked away from her, clearly uneasy. Realizing how uncomfortable it made him hurt her more than she thought it would. Did he not want kids at all?
    “You know, maybe I should look into those classes. If anything, I could learn a bit more about the process and about the pairings that I don’t already know.” She attempted a smile, not wanting him to be upset with her. When he simply nodded and continued to stare at the city lights in silence, she knew she’d hit his infamous brick wall.
    With a sigh, she sat back in her seat and drank some more wine, wondering if he was ever, ever going to fully let her in. If not her, than who? Anger simmered within her as they sat in awkward silence, his lack of words only causing her to fill in the blanks. Why was he always so difficult? Why couldn’t he just say how he felt?
    “So I guess you’re just fine sitting here in silence, huh?” she asked, her eyes suddenly wet with tears. “Heaven forbid you just say something to me. Anything.”
    Grant looked at her, speechless at her anger. It only upset her more.
    “I can’t keep having these one-sided conversations with myself, Grant. I can’t do it. I didn’t marry you so I could sit here and talk to myself about our problems.” She wiped at the tears that fell, as startled by them as he was. “Damnit.”
    Without another word she shot to her feet and fled inside, a sob escaping her throat that she didn’t want him to hear. He stared at the wine glasses and cheese plate and wondered what the hell just happened. Quinn never acted this way.
    Guilt crept in and spoiled his mood. He realized he was probably being unfair to her, and yet he didn’t know how to be any different. This was just who he was. She knew that going into this and if she didn’t want to accept it then…
    A dull ache bloomed in his heart at the thought. He polished off the rest of his wine glass and poured another. He settled back into his chair and despised himself for still not knowing what to do for his wife.

 
     
     

     
     
    D espite knowing it was a glorious waste of time, Linc couldn’t help but stew over Daniel McAllister’s words. Everything about the guy irritated him—the bored, entitled look on his face, the pitchy, whiny tone of his voice. The pathetic delusion he held that the Vasser name was hurting his company.
    Hell, not even his company, though he liked to think so. It was Reed McAllister’s company, and as long as Reed held the reins Linc had to hope Daniel held no influence. It was just the sort of thing they didn’t need right now—some meddling jackass with a bone to pick for no goddamn reason other than to stir up trouble. If Grant hadn’t talked him out of it, he would have called up Reed and demanded he tell his son to shut the hell up next time he decided to show his face in a meeting.
    Feeling moody and irritable, he squeezed the bright blue stress ball tightly in his hand and leaned back in his office chair. His eyes wandered over the walls, plastered with charts and graphs and a hoard of ideas and dreams he had for the company. Ideas that were at last being carried out.
    He let out a long, drawn-out breath, needing to release the stress that bunched in his shoulders. It tightened the muscles there like a vice, tense and mean. What he wouldn’t give for a massage. Maybe a good run or a