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Desire the Night(89)

By:Amanda Ashley


She took the place across from Victor so she wouldn’t have to sit beside him.

The conversation was subdued as Brett and Greta expressed their concerns about finding a new Alpha.

Victor glanced pointedly at Kay several times, but she pretended not to notice.

He glared at Kay when she remained in the kitchen to help Greta tidy up, but there was little he could do about it without making a scene.

Kay breathed a sigh of relief when he followed Brett into the living room. Fighting the urge to cry, she began loading dishes into the dishwasher.

Greta looked up from rinsing the frying pan. “Kiya, how are you, really?”

Kay sank down on one of the chairs. Elbows resting on the table, her chin propped on her folded hands, she shook her head. “Not good. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be married to Victor.”

“It’s that vampire, isn’t it?” Turing off the faucet, Greta took the chair across from Kay. “You really are in love with him, aren’t you?”

Kay nodded.

“Your mother mentioned him to me once.” Greta smiled. “I can’t say as I blame you. He’s far and away one of the best-looking men I’ve ever seen.”

“Greta, my mother killed herself to give me a chance to run away with Gideon. Did you know that?”

Greta’s eyes widened in surprise. “No. No, I didn’t.We all thought …” She bit down on her lower lip, then said, “I know your mother wasn’t happy here, but I never thought she’d commit suicide. But if she did it for you …” Greta shook her head. “You can’t blame yourself. She loved you very much. And so do I. If you want to leave Victor, I’ll help you in any way that I can.”

“No! I can’t ask you to do that! I can’t lose you, too. You’re the only family I’ve got left.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to me.”

“I know.” Reaching across the table, Kay took her aunt’s hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. “And I intend to make sure that it doesn’t.”





Kay sought refuge in the laundry room, hoping Victor wouldn’t think to look for her there. While putting another load into the washer, she debated the wisdom of trying to leave the compound, but Victor’s threat against her aunt kept her in place as surely as Verah’s iron bars. There was always a chance he had been bluffing, but it wasn’t a risk she was willing to take.

She schooled her features into a mask of indifference when he tracked her down an hour later.

“How very domestic of you,” he remarked, noting the piles of folded laundry she had stacked on the counter. “I don’t see any of my clothes there,” he said, crowding her into a corner. “Surely, as a devoted wife, you should be doing my laundry and not your uncle’s.”

When he lowered his head to kiss her, she turned away. She should have known better. He shoved her against the wall, trapping her between his arms, his body holding hers in place.

She glared at him. When he lowered his head again, she started to lift her knee, intending to drive it into his groin, only to stop when she recalled Gideon warning her earlier not to make Victor angry.

She closed her eyes as his mouth covered hers. It was all she could do to keep from gagging. And then she heard her aunt’s voice, calling her name. It was the sweetest sound she had ever heard.

“Oh, Kiya, there you are,” Greta said from the doorway.

With a low growl, Victor stepped away from Kay. “I’ll talk to you later.” Nodding in Greta’s direction, he left the room.

“Greta, bless you! Your timing couldn’t have been better.”

To Kay’s surprise, her aunt hugged her. “I knew you didn’t want to be alone with him, so I’ve been sort of keeping an eye on the two of you all day.”

“Thank you!”

“I had another reason for coming down here. The pack is starting to gather.”

“All right.” Kay tossed a load of towels into the dryer. “Let’s go.”





Kay’s nerves were on edge as she dressed for dinner that night. She wore all black—black jeans, sweater, boots.

Earlier in the day, Victor had told her exactly what he expected from her and had gone into great detail outlining the consequences should she fail.

She tensed as he entered the bedroom.

Victor lifted a brow as his gaze ran over her. “Did someone die?”

“Only my mother,” she retorted. “And my father.”

He glared at her as he went to the closet and pulled out a pair of navy slacks and a pale blue shirt. He ran a comb through his hair, then sat on the end of the bed and pulled on a pair of dark gray loafers. He looked so smug, so sure of her, that she wanted to scream. And yet, what could she do to thwart him? She had no doubt he would do exactly as he’d said, and as opposed as she was to having Victor as the Shadow Alpha, she didn’t dare object, not when her aunt’s life hung in the balance. She had lost her mother and her father. She couldn’t lose Greta, too.