Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 63626 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63626 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Kit’s head snapped up. “You did?” She stared at each one of us with shock, but then she smiled. “It’s not a den, it’s a shop. And don’t you think it’s lovely? There are plants and crystals that sparkle.” She paused. “Did you see the…” Kit looked around the room as if expecting to see others in our house, leaned forward on the table, and whispered, “The witch?”
“Yes.” I somehow managed not to roll my eyes.
“She’s really pretty, huh? I thought all witches were ugly.”
The word pretty was an understatement to describe that woman. I might not have been able to truly describe the shop, but I could remember every single detail about Goldie. The ridiculous costume she’d been wearing did nothing to dispel her beauty. Just the memory of her luscious curves had my mouth watering. Her curly hair made her appear sensual and seductive. Her perfect pouty lips just screamed to be kissed. My cock throbbed as I remembered the way her green eyes had darkened with anger. Her temper was undeniably sexy, but her attitude and her false claims—my sister’s fascination with her—those were completely unacceptable.
I leaned back in my chair, trying to get the vision of the most beautiful, annoying as hell woman I’d ever seen out of my mind. I didn’t give a shit how gorgeous she was. I didn’t want her within a thousand miles of my sister.
“Listen, Kit. I don’t want you going back to that store again. Are we clear?” Jay cut in.
Kit lifted her chin and squinted at him. “Why? I like the witch.”
“She’s not a witch,” Jay, always the practical one, said as he sat down beside her.
Kit crossed her arms against her chest and pouted her lips. “Yes, she is. You don’t know everything.”
I took a deep breath. The need to protect my sister, mixed with the growing frustration of Kit’s naiveté was almost too much for me. But I was determined not to lose my temper.
“Kit, we don’t want to argue with you. I may not know everything, but I do know that, witch or not, we want you to stay away from that woman,” Rye said calmly.
When her pout didn’t disappear, I leaned forward again, my hand pulling her arms down from their position of defense. “I love you, Kit. We all do. I’m just asking that you trust we know what is best for you—for us as a family. We Barretts need to stick together more now than ever. We can’t let anyone in and risk getting hurt. Understand?”
“You guys don’t trust anyone. You are always hovering as if I’m going to get kidnapped or something.”
Our father had always shielded Kit from the family business while she was growing up. He expected his sons involved in all aspects, but my father came from an old-school background where you cherish your women and protect them from danger. My mother knew what earned the food on the table, and I’m pretty sure Kit did as well. But after the accident, it was as if Kit was blind to what Rye, Jay, and I still did for money… and for revenge.
I couldn’t exactly argue with that statement. We did protect her, and we took every precaution we could. My brothers and I knew Cook Blackstone was ruthless and would do anything it took to get at us.
Letting out a loud sigh, I picked up a marker and began to color on Kit’s poster. As I filled in a leaf on a tree, I pictured the new life my brothers and I had been working on coming closer to fruition, and it gave me my next words.
“I promise you things are going to be great for all of us. When we move, you’ll be safer and we won’t have to hover as much. But until we leave, you really need to stay inside.”
She began to color again, but I still heard her sigh. “But what am I supposed to do until then? You expect me just to sit here all day and color?”
“No, of course not. You do an amazing job keeping our home.” Realizing that sounded as if we only considered her as some sort of maid, I shook my head. “Jay bought you a lot of books, right? Ones to help with our life change? Aren’t you busy studying some of the skills we’ll need in our new home?”
“Yes, and I’ve read about canning and stuff, but that isn’t enough. I also knit and sew, but those things I do by myself. It’s more fun to learn new things with someone else, and Goldie knows so much. But now you all are trying to keep me away from making a friend.”
We weren’t doing that… well, okay, maybe we were, but we had our reasons. A woman like Goldie was not a good influence on our innocent sister.