Unleashed by Shadows (By Moonlight Book 10) by Nancy Gideon Read Free Book Online

makes for himself,” Silas amended.
    “Then see he doesn’t make any.”
    A half-smile. “I’ll do my best.”
    “I still don’t trust him,” Rico grumbled once the door closed behind MacCreedy and his king.
    “Cale can take care of himself.” Kip challenged them to deny it. When no one did, he decided for all of them, “Let’s find someplace to set up and lay low.”
    “That’s not quite what I had in mind, little brother,” Rico laughed. “If I wanted that, I’d have stayed home. Why don’t we see if that tall, dark and delicious creature at the bar has any ideas?”
    Kendra chuckled. “Her idea for you would be a body bag.”
    The others laughed at Rico’s expense, but Kendra agreed with his logic. Nica would know a place where the three Terriot princes could be tucked away and amused without endangering her husband’s plans.
    Then all she had to do was worry about her mate’s safe return.
     

CHAPTER FOUR
    “I’m sorry. I have no use for someone like you.”
    Casper Lee made the remark casually, refilling his glass with the wine he’d been sipping when they arrived at the Hermes Grill.  He’d picked one of the tall tables near the bar where shadows lay heavy, away from the doors standing open to the late afternoon bustle on the sidewalk outside. The atmosphere of dark, heavy elegance matched his somber mood.
    Cale and Silas exchanged quick glances.
    “What does that mean exactly?” Silas asked, but Cale was very afraid this was about his little drama in the ring the night before.
    Lee smiled without amusement. “Oh, I think you know, exactly.”
    “You’re the one who told me to dazzle the crowd.”
    That icy stare fixed on Cale. “To engage them, yes. To break the rules of the game, no. To endanger the illusion that it’s all an illusion, no. I had hoped things would work out, but I’m afraid I’d just be wasting my time and money to continue with this relationship. You’re a wild card, Mr. Terry. There’s no place for you in my plans. Good day.”
    Cale blinked, looking to Silas to rescue the situation. He was quick to intercede with a careful not to sound too anxious argument.
    “Last night was an unfortunate miscalculation,” he agreed, glaring at his fighter. “It won’t happen again.”
    “No. It won’t. Not with me.”
    Cale intuited what MacCreedy didn’t express aloud.
    Shit. Shit shit shit!
    “He’s impulsive,” Silas continued doggedly. “He’s hard to control. Sometimes, he’s a showboating idiot.” A sudden, hard slap to the side of his head had Cale rearing back. “But he’s a damn fine fighter. With you to smooth his rough edges, he could be one of the best. The crowd loves him. He’ll toe the line from here on. I guarantee it.”
    Lee sighed. “What he may or may not be is no longer of any interest to me. I was very clear on what I expected from the both of you. I won’t change my mind. I don’t have time for bad investments. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to order.”  He put up a manicured hand to wave over his waiter.
    Silas gripped Cale’s arm, jerking him off the tall stool, shoving him outside into the harsh sunlight. Cale pulled up to look back inside, where Lee smiled up at the young man taking his meal order. Desperate thoughts scrambled.
    “That went well,” Silas began, but Cale cut him off.
    “Stay here.”
    MacCreedy scowled at him. “Let it go, Cale. We gambled. We lost.”
    “Not yet.”
    Lee ignored his presence while completing his instructions for the care and treatment of his Kobe beef. Finally, when the young man left the table, taking the menu and Lee’s appreciative stare with him until he disappeared into the kitchen, the pale eyes turned to Cale in thinly veiled irritation.
    “Don’t sit down. This conversation is over, Mr. Terry.”
    “Not yet.”
    “Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear enough. I’m not interested in anything you have to say, or in you.”
    “Yes, you are.”
    An assessing stare stroked