Chapter 822
[ 703 words ]
Barnaby didn’t have high hopes. He glanced at Hull, voice low and doubtful, “You really think you’ll get something that important back?”
He half-expected Hull to call him an idiot. And sure enough, Hull gave him a look that could freeze a lake, like Barnaby had just asked if the sky was green. Feeling a little embarrassed, Barnaby turned to Silas for backup.
Silas just looked exhausted from dealing with this kind of nonsense. “I’ll take care of it right away,” Silas said, already heading for the door. “And tell Derek-if anything happens to my mother-in-law, he’s going to regret it.”
Derek hadn’t even bothered to show up in person today. He’d sent Adelle to brush Silas off instead. Hull hadn’t met Adelle, but he was just thinking it was time Derek got a wake-up call. Right on cue, Xander handed him a solution.
Three key locations-like the lifeblood connecting the East Side to Black Gate. If this didn’t shake something loose, Hull didn’t know what would. There was no way Black Gate would refuse to hand Lacey over now.
Silas left, and Susanna came in carrying a tray. “I brought you some cranberry juice and pancakes,” she said to Hull. “The pancakes here are really good, you should try them. And the cranberry juice is fresh.”
She barely touched her own food, stress showing in her eyes. Hull had warned her back on the plane: if she didn’t eat properly, he’d send her straight to stay with Stella and forbid her from interfering in her mother’s affairs. He wasn’t a man you said no to, and Susanna knew it. The last thing she wanted was to cross him and end up stuck with Star-she missed her, sure, but her mom mattered more right
now.
Barnaby noticed the glass in Hull’s hand and blurted out, “Susie, the boss never drinks tart stuff like that.”
He instantly regretted it, catching Hull’s icy glare. That was his cue to shut up. Why did he always say the wrong thing? He slunk out, deciding he’d rather be anywhere else.
Once it was just Susanna and Hull, she looked up at him with big, worried eyes. “There’s only juice around here. I tried all of them, and honestly, the cranberry is the only one that tastes okay.”
The rest were terrible. Hull took a sip tangy, sweet, and chilled with ice.
“Not bad,” he said, cracking a rare smile. “You’re actually looking after people now, huh?”
He remembered the last time she’d tried to help out in his kitchen: smoke alarm blaring, flour everywhere, nearly set the whole place on fire. Just bringing him juice was an improvement.
Susanna’s lips twitched, but she didn’t argue. She was too anxious about her mom to say much. Hull pulled her gently onto his lap. “Relax. Your mom’s fine.”
“How can you be so sure?” she asked, voice barely above a whisper.
“Lincoln’s with her,” Hull replied, confident. And he had a hunch Lacey’s disappearance wasn’t as simple as it looked. Not with Lincoln involved nobody could I’mess with that guy and get away with it. In fact, Hoff suspected the two of them were off on their own mission, and
Lincoln was keeping it under wraps until it was done. FindNovels
Susanna didn’t quite get it, staring at Hull for answers. He offered her the glass again. “Don’t believe me?”
“I just realized I barely know my mom at all, she admitted quietly. “She ran Black Gate for years But to me she’s always just been gentle and kind-even when she was doing business, she never seemed dangerous. She never felt… scary.” Cóntent belongs to FindNovels
The pressure mounted from all sides, and Black Gate was in chaos. Lottie, especially, wasn’t playing around-she sent her people straight to take over Slatepeak Mines.
Derek got the news and, for once, his usual favoritism didn’t matter. He called Dan and Finch to Blacktower in the middle of the night, dragged Adelle in too.
“Which one of you took Susanna?” Derek growled, teeth clenched.
He’d had a terrible afternoon, one disaster after another, and now he was seriously losing his temper
“And Lacey-who the hell took
Lacey? If you want her deadgust tell me I want the truth, right now!” FindNovels
He slammed his palm on the desk with every word, the sound echoing through
the tense, silent study.
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