Tempt Me by R. G. Alexander Read Free Book Online Page B

you about the time I was called to help a certain senator with a penchant for, shall we say, letting someone else have the reins ?”
    Bethany sighed and sat down beside the tree, where Angelique had been on her back only moments before. “I’m exhausted. Come on, have a seat.”
    She sat down, studying the woman who was studying her. Noticing the evidence that Angelique could feel all over her face. The heat and redness on her cheeks and neck from Gabriel’s stubble. The swollen lips. She braced herself for the imminent interrogation.
    “What do you want to know?”
    Angelique frowned. “Huh?”
    Bethany lifted one shoulder. “We have a couple of choices here. Number one, I could let Michelle talk to you. But if past experience is anything to go by—and trust me, it is—she’ll warn you to stay away from Gabriel. She’s protective; it’s just her way. And she’s already worried about her brother.”
    Angelique figured as much. She wrapped her arms around her knees and sighed. “What are our other choices?”
    “We could let your brother see the way you look right now and step aside while he pummels Gabriel into a handsome pile of goo, but I don’t think any of us wants that.” Bethany twirled a broken twig between her fingers. “Or . . . I could just satisfy your curiosity about him, and let you make your own decisions.”
    Angelique reached out and squeezed Bethany’s hand. “That’s the nicest choice anyone has ever given me.”
    “Trust me, I know how you feel.” Bethany grinned. “You asked what happened last year? Well, other than Allegra loving your brother so much that she offered a Loa a gift he couldn’t refuse to free him, and me discovering said Loa was my reincarnated lover who was waiting for a second chance with me . . .” She stopped at Angelique’s confused expression and laughed. “ You wanted to know. Allegra’s writing another story about them. I mean us. Marcel and Isabel. It’s confusing. I’ll tell you about it sometime, but I think you wanted to know about what happened to Gabriel.”
    Angelique nodded, her eyes wide. “Yes. But later, I definitely want to know about Marcel and Isabel.”
    Bethany’s smile disappeared. “You know about Michelle’s ability to see ghosts. What you don’t know is that there was a time when she tried not to. Back when we first met. Michelle came back to New Orleans because she was faced with something she couldn’t avoid. A violent spirit who liked being noticed almost as much as he enjoyed inflicting pain.”
    “Oh my.”
    But Bethany wasn’t done. “It followed her back home. It waited. And when Gabriel showed up out of the blue, having just discovered most of his life was one mean, hurtful lie . . . the spirit possessed him to try and hurt his sister. And it very nearly succeeded.”
    Angelique placed her fingers at her temple and rubbed. She felt like she’d jumped into this conversation in the middle. Or into a strange piece of fiction. If zombies suddenly sprang out from behind the gazebo, she wouldn’t be surprised.
    “So he was possessed? But how? I mean, doesn’t he have abilities that protect him? Like Michelle’s?”
    Bethany shook her head. “I don’t think so. Michelle had her gift for as long as she could remember, but Gabriel never showed any signs.” She leaned her head back against the tree, lost in thought. “Michelle told me they were eight when his father took him away to Italy. That she found out after the attack about the priests and all the beatings he suffered to make sure he wasn’t like her. Really horrible stuff. I imagine that kind of abuse would knock the magic out of anybody.”
    Or the hope. Angelique ached for him. The story explained the stark loneliness in his eyes. The vulnerability that he covered up with his gruff demeanor.
    “What about this last year? Why did he leave?”
    Bethany lifted one dark brow. “Would you want to stay? He tried. Mambo Toussaint told me he stayed up several