Wolf's Touch by Ambrielle Kirk Read Free Book Online Page B

some ketchup, and stuffed his mouth.
    “When was the last time you fed your wolf?”
    He paused, took a few sips of water, and then ran his hand through his hair. “Two weeks ago.”
    Although the human branch of the Caedmon’s could not shift, she knew the consequences for depriving the wolf of food and other essentials were detrimental as a whole. His kind was relentless and adamant in their conquests.
    “I need a cab back to my father’s,” she said.
    “No,” he answered quickly.
    Arianna frowned. “What do you mean, no?”
    “If you go to him alone, you will be in danger. Which is a sad fact considering that he is your own flesh and blood. Zeldano’s men were chasing you like their lives depended on it. This leads me to believe there is more at stake here than the contract. What aren’t you telling me?”
    Arianna looked down at her cold fries and half-eaten cheeseburger. He was right. Zeldano didn’t just want her agreement in ink. He wanted a different type of union altogether.
    “What’s done is done,” she said. “You can get out of this mess, but I can’t.”
    Jayson sat back in his chair. “He will always be your father. I know.”
    “Either way, I haven’t spoken with him since I found out. I might be able to convince him to withdraw his proposal in the new venture.”
    “How?”
    “Zeldano isn’t exactly the ideal partner,” she said.
    Jayson lifted an eyebrow. “Know something I don’t?”
    “I’d only been employee a few months at Drake and Murphy until I was bribed to resign. This firm and its owners had vast connections with the wealthy and elite of the world. They knew enough about Zeldano’s dealings to decline his many proposals. His agendas are ruthless.”
    Jayson drew his eyes into small slits. “Interesting.”
    “Time is running out. I need to do this now.”
    “If you can wait a few hours, I’ll go to my office and sign my part of the agreement to end our partnership. We dissolve the business and cash out on the shares.”
    “Don’t act in haste. Think carefully about what you plan to do. My father would have moved on with his plans one way or the other even without you holding up his shares,” she said.
    “I’ve been thinking carefully about it for over a decade. It’s time.”
    “He wanted me to sign the initial contract to get the deal on paper before the investors bailed. Now that you plan to free up his shares, I have to convince him that depositing the proceeds into Zeldano’s business is a bad idea.”
    Jayson frowned. “You might be able to convince him that his intentions will lead him into more trouble, because I certainly can’t.”
    “Why have you been stalling anyway? The actual offer to dissolve has been on the table for months.”
    Jayson’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat, and he glared directly at her. “I think you know.”
    Her shoulders slumped. “You would endure an unhealthy business relationship and possibly lose loyal clients to keep me in your life?”
    “I would do anything to keep you in my life,” he said through clenched teeth.
    “This isn’t about me anymore.” She pulled her chair back from the table and stood. “I love my father, but no one else should suffer because of his imprudence. It’s time you cut the ties, Jayson.”
    He threw enough money on the table to cover the check and tip, and they headed for the door.
    As Arianna jumped on the bike behind Jayson, she knew that this one solution wouldn’t solve what had turned out to be an army of problems.
     
    ***
     
    As they drove up to the gates of her father’s mansion, Jayson came to a slow stop.
    Custom built in an elite neighborhood more than a decade ago, this was the home that Arianna had spent the majority of her childhood. It was the home where he’d frequented many times with his father and by himself to conduct business with Mr. Klein. It was also the home where he snuck into to visit Arianna many times in the past during their secret