Billionaire Wolf's MateDate - Serena Meadows Page 0,24
death wasn’t caused by another clan, it was our own people, a warning of sorts.”
“Who told you that?” Jacob demanded. “Did they actually claim responsibility?”
Reggie shook his head. “It wasn’t exactly a confession, more like a warning,” he said. “People are tired of the way we live, tired of the drugs and guns, tired of the blood and death. Those were the words they used, not mine.”
Jacob closed his eyes and bowed his head. “I’ve been feeling the tremors, but I didn’t know things had gotten that bad,” he said, then looked up at Reggie. “Why are they telling you this?”
He was silent for a second, remembering Trevor and Bernice’s words, then sighed, wishing he didn’t have to face the truth. “There seems to be a feeling in the clan that I can somehow be the one to finally change things; bring the clan out of the darkness and into the light was the way Bernice put it.”
“And are you?” Jacob asked, studying him with an intensity in his eyes that surprised Reggie.
“I thought I was,” he said. “I was planning on promising my father that I’d support him on the council if he’d just forget about making me marry Janice, but that’s not going to work.”
“So, what are you going to do?” Jacob asked, narrowing his eyes at him.
“I’m going to marry your sister, then I’m going to get her as far away from here as I can,” Reggie said. “Once I know she’s safe, I’ll come back.”
Jacob studied him for a second. “That’s not much of a plan,” he said. “What if she doesn’t want to leave? What if she insists on staying? Then what are you going to do?”
Reggie didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know; this is all happening so fast,” he finally said. “But I do know this: marrying me is better than marrying one of those old men on the council.”
Jacob shook his head. “From what you told me, she might not agree with that,” he said. “What are you going to do if she refuses? Let my father drug her and marry her anyway? Because that’s what’s going to happen. He used to brag about doing the same thing to my mother.”
“I hope she doesn’t hate me that much, but I guess it’s time to go find out,” he said. “If I don’t make an appearance soon, my father is going to have a fit.”
“Still think it was a good idea not to tell her sooner?” Jacob asked, a smile on his face. “This should be fun to watch.”
“Very funny,” he said. “I’ll be lucky if she doesn’t slap me.”
Reggie started to walk away, but Jacob caught his arm and spun him around. “Before you go in there and mess with my sister’s head, just let me warn you that if you hurt her, it will be the last thing you ever do.”
***Janice***
Janice hoped that the stream of men asking her to dance was finally coming to an end, her feet hurt and she was tired of having strange hands all over her body. Betty was beaming happily at her from the raised table, and for the first time, her father wasn’t scowling at her. In fact, he almost looked happy. She had the strangest feeling that there was more going on than introducing her to the clan, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what she was missing.
As the last notes of the song died away, she looked around, relieved to see that the crowd of men that had followed her all night was gone. “Thank you for the dance,” she said, wishing she could remember the young man’s name. “I think I’ll go back to my table now.”
“I’d be happy to walk you there,” the man said, grinning stupidly at her and putting his hand on the small of her back.
“That won’t be necessary,” a voice from behind them said. “I believe the next dance belongs to me.”
Janice froze, her heart leaping in her chest, the voice so familiar that she had to look around and make sure she wasn’t back in Stoney Bridge. Her stomach doing flip flops, she turned around, gasping when she saw Reggie standing in the middle of the dance floor grinning at her. Like the other men, he was dressed in a tuxedo, but unlike the other men, her body responded in ways she wished it wouldn’t.
“What are you doing here?” she finally managed to ask, wishing her body wasn’t responding to the look in