Page 3 of Winter Unleashed

“Wow, thank yo—” I stopped talking when that last part registered. I hadn’t sent her any money. At least not more than she’d billed me, and that wouldn’t get her through the next few months. Though, I guess I should have given her extra for putting up with me. But I’d donated all the money my dad had left me and didn’t have enough for that now.

“Em? You still there?”

“Uh… What? Yes, I’m here. Thank you, Patty. I really can’t thank you enough for being so understanding.”

“No worries. If there’s anything I can do to help from across the country, just let me know.”

“I will. Thank you again,” I muttered as I ended the call.

I could feel my face flushing red with anger as I stormed down the hall to Liam’s office. Without knocking, I flung the door open and walked to his desk. Ciara was leaning over him while they read a report from one of his businesses. From the image I could see through the back of the letterhead, it was his pharmaceutical company.

He looked up at me and smiled. “Uh-oh, who pissed you off?”

“How could you do that without talking to me first?”

His eyebrows rose, but he otherwise didn’t respond. Ciara cleared her throat and took the report from Liam’s hands. “Well, Bertie, it looks like you’re in for it,” Ciara said.

Liam aimed a warning growl at her, but I wasn’t sure if it was because she was laughing at him for being in trouble, or the use of his childhood nickname: Bertie, for LiamBertramFraser. I was betting on the latter. Ciara seemed unphased by her brother’s warning and sashayed her way toward the door.

“I’ll just leave you two alone for a bit,” she mumbled while trying to stifle a laugh.

My eyes never left Liam while his sister left the room. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. Patricia? How could you?”

“I can see you’re upset, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never met the woman, nor do I have any desire to do so. The only reason I take an interest in her is because she’s part of your life. That’s as far as it goes.”

“Oh, for crying out loud, I don’t mean that you screwed her or something. I mean the money. How could you bribe her into staying my editor without telling me?”

His eyes narrowed a little. “I didn’t send her money, but I think I may know who did.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded. “Who? Who would do something like that? And why?”

“Astrid.”

“Why?”

“Because she likes you.”

My eyes widened at the thought of Liam’s literal fairy godmother secretly paying off my editor to make me happy.

“Is that so hard to believe, Red?” His smile was warm and genuine. I was more used to his devilish grins or sexy smirks that made him irresistible to me, but when he smiled like that, I felt a warmth in my chest I’d never felt before him.

“No, I guess not. I like her too, but how would she even know about Patty?”

He rose from his chair, laughing as he made his way around to me. “She knows everything. I’m not sure it was her, but it makes the most sense. We can call her.”

“No. No, it’s fine. What’s done is done. Patty was happy, so that makes it okay.”

He grunted. “You came in here ready to rip my head off, but now that you think it was Astrid, you’re okay with it? Hmmph, I see how it is.” His expression was solemn, but the twinkle in his eyes gave him away.

“Smartass. I wouldn’t have ripped your head off.” I ran my hand over his cheek to toy with his beard before rubbing my thumb over his lips. “Your head is where your mouth is, and I couldn’t live without this mouth of yours. It’s way too important to me,” I said with a wink.

He caught my drift, and his lips pulled into the smirk that could always turn my knees to jelly. “I aim to please.”

“And you always hit your mark,” I whispered as my lips met his.

In a rare moment of peace, the Academy was quiet when I walked through the front doors. Astrid had Cybil locked up in a magically enforced cage, but Cybil’s vamps could still attack at any moment. Because we had no way of knowing when or where they’d attack, the school kept the kids inside all day and their parents wouldn’t let them out of the house at night. Needless to say, the kids had grown stir-crazy and prone to fighting.

The Academy halls had seen more fights over the past couple of months than in all its centuries-long history put together. Most of the brawls involved Brad Smith, the Winter Beta’s eldest son and school bully… or so the kids call him.