Midnight Sons Volume 2 Read Online Free Page B

Mitch returned to his paper. Then, when he least expected it, she resumed her campaign. “Can I have a brother or sister someday?” she asked him. The question came at him from nowhere and scored a direct hit.
    “Probably not,” he told her truthfully. “Like I said, I don’t plan to remarry.”
    “Why not?” She wore that hurt-little-girl look guaranteed to weaken his resolve.
    Mitch made a show of checking his watch. He was through with answering questions and finding suitable arguments for achild. Through with having Bethany Ross offered up to him on a silver platter—by his daughter, the would-be matchmaker.
    “Time for bed,” he said decisively.
    “Already?” Chrissie whined.
    “Past time.” He slid her off his knee and led her into her bedroom. He removed the stuffed animals from the bed while Chrissie got down on her knees to say her prayers. She closed her eyes and folded her hands, her expression intent.
    Mitch could see his daughter’s lips move in some fervent request. He didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what she was asking. If God joined forces against him, Mitch figured he’d find himself engaged to the tantalizing Ms. Ross before the week was out.
     
    Christian O’Halloran, youngest of the three brothers, walked into the Hard Luck Café and collapsed in a chair. He propped his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands.
    Without asking, Ben picked up the coffeepot and poured him a cup. “You look like you could use something stronger,” he commented.
    “I can’t believe it,” Christian moaned.
    “Believe what?” Ben assumed this had to do with Christian’s secretary. He didn’t understand what it was about Mariah that Christian found so objectionable. Personally he was rather fond of the young lady. Mariah Douglas had grit. She had the gumption to live in one of those rundown cabins. No power. No electric lights. And for damn sure, nothing that went flush in the night.
    “You won’t believe what just happened. I nearly got my head chewed off by some feminist attorney.”
    Now this was news. Ben slid into the chair opposite Christian’s. “An attorney? Here in Hard Luck?”
    Christian nodded, his face a smoldering shade of red. “I wasaccused of everything from false advertising to misrepresentation and fraud. Me, ” he said incredulously.
    “Who hired her?”
    Christian’s eyes narrowed. “My guess is Mariah.”
    “No.” Ben shook his head. Mariah might’ve been the cause of some minor troubles with Christian, but there wasn’t a vindictive bone in her body. From everything he’d seen of her, Mariah was a sweet-natured, gentle soul.
    “It isn’t clear who hired the woman,” Christian admitted, “but odds are it’s Mariah.”
    “I don’t think so.”
    “I do!” Christian snapped. “I swear to you Mariah’s been looking for a way to do me in from the moment she got here. First off, she tried to cripple me.”
    “She didn’t mean to push that filing cabinet on your foot.”
    “Is that a fact? I don’t suppose you noticed how perfect her aim was, did you? She’s been a thorn in my side from day one. Now this. ”
    “Seems to me you’re getting sidetracked,” Ben said. He didn’t want to hear another litany of Mariah’s supposed sins, not when there was other, juicier information to extract. “We were discussing the attorney, remember?”
    Christian plowed all ten fingers though his hair. “The lawyer’s name is Tracy Santiago. She flew in from some highfalutin firm in Seattle. Let me tell you, I’ve seen sharks with duller teeth. This woman’s after blood, and from the sound of it, she wants mine.”
    “And you think Mariah sent for her?” Ben asked doubtfully.
    “I don’t know what to think anymore. Santiago’s here, and when she’s through discussing the details of the lawsuit with Mariah, she wants to talk to the others. To Sally McDonald and Angie Hughes.” He referred to the two most recent arrivals—Sally, who worked