“Can you not get them yourself?”Mikhail said.“Let your sister relax and enjoy her tea instead of waiting on you.”
Pavel spat a curse under his breath.Mikhail didn’t hear what the man said, but his father, seated closer, had no problem.He barked an order in Russian, ordering him to pull in his head.
Mikhail ignored them and grabbed a plate.After considering the treats, he placed a jam tart and a sandwich on a plate.He handed it to Bridget.She appeared startled but accepted the food.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“No problem.”Mikhail helped himself to a plate of food.His stomach gurgled loudly.“My apologies,” he said when everyone stared at him.“I’m hungry.”
“Eat,” the elderly man said.“It’s gratifying seeing a healthy appetite.”
Mikhail ate a sandwich in two bites and reached for another before picking up his tea to take a sip.He paused because he didn’t take his tea or coffee with milk.He didn’t react but stuffed the information away to mull over later.Shouldn’t a wife know how he took his tea?And shouldn’t she be more comfortable with his presence, his touch?
Something wasn’t right, and he needed to learn why this place and these people were foreign to him.Despite the rings, Bridget didn’t seem a comfortable wife.
He wasn’t sure what game these people played, but they’d learn he was a worthy opponent.
17
Backatthemansion,Edwina, Ivan, and Gregory settled in the lounge on black leather seats with a crystal decanter of Scottish whisky sitting on a mahogany coffee table between them.Late afternoon sunlight spilled through the open terrace doors, and nearby, a bird sang, its lilting notes filled with happiness.
Edwina sipped her drink, fidgeting and having a hard time sitting still.She should appreciate Mikhail’s fine, expensive whisky with its notes of oak, peat, and smoke, but her mate was in the clutches of a madman.She set her drink down with a clink and jumped to her feet, giving in to the urge to pace.“They’re not aware of Mikhail’s shifting ability.His grandfather doesn’t have a clue.That gives us an advantage.Where is he?”
“I vote for Smirnoff’s country estate,” Gregory spoke without hesitation, his brow etched with a crease of lines.“It’s close to the city but secluded enough to imprison someone.”
Ivan scowled.“Yeah.That affords them privacy to keep Mikhail out of sight yet use him to their benefit.”
Edwina stalked across the room and plopped down to drink more whisky.“Smirnoff won’t hurt Mikhail, will he?Or his family?”
“The guy is as nutty as my aunt’s fruitcake,” Ivan replied.“He’ll use any lever necessary.”
“We need to confirm Mikhail’s location,” Edwina said.“Once we learn his location, we can plan a rescue.Is there someone we can count on to help with an extraction?I’d ordinarily suggest limiting the rescue to us, but if they’ve injured Mikhail, we’ll need outside help.”
“We work with a security company if we require muscle.Mikhail has helped them in the past.They owe him, although normally, he wouldn’t require them to return the favor,” Gregory said.
If she’d been at home, she’d call on Saber Mitchell, on the two local cops, on Gerard and Henry, who worked in security.They would’ve done everything possible to retrieve Mikhail.“Don’t you have a Feline Council to help?”
Both men gawked at her as if she had two heads.
“I’ll take that as a no, then.Why not?”she asked, at a loss.Even the wolves who’d moved to Middlemarch contributed to the council.
“Tigers are solitary animals.We don’t play nice together,” Gregory informed her.“This made it impossible to unify, not that we tried hard.”
“Then how are you friends with Mikhail?”
“We met as boys.Our relationship hasn’t always gone smoothly,” Ivan said.“Even now, we don’t agree with everything Mikhail does—abducting you, for one—but he has spearheaded worthy schemes for his employees and those who live in this town.He has earned our loyalty.”
“What about me?”Edwina asked in a faint voice.
Gregory’s face lit, and his blue eyes twinkled.“We like you.You’re gutsy and brave and nothing like the woman we’d imagined.Mikhail had better behave, or one of us will steal you away.”
“Huh.”Edwina’s breath hitched, taken aback by the praise when everyone in her family typically shouted at her.The only people who’d ever given her a chance after her screw-ups were Saber Mitchell and London Drummond.
“Mikhail is your mate,” Ivan said, expanding on Gregory’s words.“None of us expected this might happen.You shocked him when you marked him.He envisioned a short, temporary marriage before you separated again.”
A growl burst free, unbidden, and Edwina glowered at both men, but she didn’t cower them, their grins merely widening.
Gregory lifted his hands in a surrender signal.“It’s as amusing as hell because Mikhail thought he’d get a wimpy bride afraid of her shadow.He didn’t count on you.”
