Page 46 of Pretty Savage: Defy

“It’s beautiful.”

Carrson’s thumb moves over my knuckles. Soothing.

“Yeah,” he says softly. “It is.”

Chapter eleven

Four Days Until Bonding

Carrson

I leave Laurel asleep in my bed in Ashford Manor, the same room I’ve slept in since I was a kid. Thomson and Samantha wait for me in the kitchen downstairs. I texted asking for them to meet me. When I enter the room, Thomson’s sitting at the small table in the breakfast nook and all I can see of Samantha is the back of her head since she’s buried in our large walk-in pantry.

I call out a greeting to them.

“Can I have a muffin?” Samantha asks.

I say yes and she walks out with two, one in each hand. There’s already a bite out of one which means she started eating it before I agreed, but then that makes sense. She’s never been one to wait for permission.

“Your housekeeper makes the best muffins,” she mumbles around a mouthful. “I wish she’d teach mine.”

I chuckle. “Mrs. Beckswith once made my father eat plain toast for four days because he asked for the recipe. He wanted to patent it, make them in bulk, and sell them in grocery stores.”

Thomson snorts at that.

I pour myself a cup of coffee and sit beside Thomson. While Samantha rummages through the refrigerator for something to drink, I lower my voice.

“Rose? Anything?”

“I thought I had a lead.” Thomson’s voice lowers with mine. “A pregnant woman from the strip club was sighted in Mexico.”

“And?”

He shakes his head. “She died in a car crash.”

“Was it her?”

“I got access to the autopsy report.” His expression turns grim. “The fetal DNA wasn’t a paternal match to your father.”

My breath leaves me in a rush. Frustration comes first because another clue has led nowhere. Then comes a quieter grief for a woman I never knew.

“Keep looking,” I tell him.

Armed with a glass of orange juice, Samantha takes a seat across from us.

“What’s up?” she asks.

“We need to find a way to protect Laurel from what’s coming.” I run a hand through my hair. “Do you know what Jack meant when he said we had to do Sealed by Sight?”

They both nod, their eyes on the table and their cheeks red.

“Mother told me that night,” Sam says. “Laurel’s going to freak out when it happens. It’s not as big a deal to us, but to her? I can’t imagine.”

“It makes sense in a disturbing way,” Thomson muses. “They had to make sure the bonded couples were actually having sex.”

Sam wrinkles her nose. “That’s so weird.”

“I don’t want to put Laurel through that.” I scrub a hand down my face. “We need to get her out of here before the bonding.”