His Word...Destiny ~ Book Three in the Trusted Saga ~ (excerpt)

Title : His Word...Destiny

Book Three in the Trusted Saga

Release date : Available now (purchase link under "Books" heading)

EXCERPT ...

Throwing another few punches against the heavy weight of the bag in front of me didn’t help lower the level of anger coursing through me, and my jaw ticked violently. With a wide arc, I swung my leg around, and placed a well-aimed kick to the side of the bag, sending it swaying fiercely on the chain that secured it to the ceiling. With a loud frustrated growl, I aimed another round-house kick at the swinging bag, increasing the pendulum action of the sway, before I stalked to the door, using my teeth to rip the end of the boxing glove from around my wrist.

Once the gloves were removed, I hurled them at the wall, and ripped the tape off on my way to the pool. Maybe a few laps will cool me down.

Chalmers emerged through the doorway of his office, but retreated quickly to evade me when he saw the black scowl across my face. Wise choice, Chalmers.

With every stroke through the water, the fury I felt discovering Webber already made his move to secure Angelica with that fucking ring, only grew. After swimming more than a hundred laps down the length of the pool, and back monotonously, my mood hadn’t improved.

Seated in the dining room, I ignored the lure of the papers sitting idly at the side of the table, while I tried to enjoy my breakfast. In the end, my macabre thirst for knowledge had me reaching for the newspaper on the top of the pile.

Opening it out only increased my ire. My eyes fixated heatedly on the photograph on the front page. That huge fucking engagement ring was the first thing that caught my eye. The angle of the photograph captured the light bouncing off the stones, and it didn’t help my aggravation that the picture was enlarged.

I tried to temper down my sudden urge to fucking hit someone, or smash something, and pushed my plate away, before I leapt from my chair, and stormed out of the room to my office. Channeling my anger, and losing myself in work might help.

*****

Vanessa arrived, and entered my office with the pile of newspapers clutched in her hands.

“Good morning, Sir,” she greeted me cheerfully with a smile. “I noticed you left the newspapers in the dining room---I brought them in for you.”

“What’s fucking good about it?” I scowled at her in reply. My dark response alerted her to my foul mood, and she hastened to place the newspapers down on the edge of my desk, before she scuttled off to the other room, escaping to a safe distance, and man her desk.

Taking another look down at the photographs, I grimaced, then glanced over at the framed print of Angelica that, until recently, was placed safely away in my locked desk drawer, before I’d removed it, and returned it to its rightful position where it belonged---taking pride of place on my desk.

Choosing the frame containing a raunchy photo of Therese, I picked it up, and hurled it at the wall on the opposite side of my office. The satisfaction of watching the glass splinter into a thousand tiny pieces, and fall silently to the carpeted floor, was fleeting.

What I wanted to do was storm into Webber’s office, and punch the son of a bitch in the fucking mouth. She’s mine. She belongs to me. He’s going to pay for putting that fucking ring on her finger. When my cell phone rang, I almost ignored it.

“What?” I barked down the phone in answer to Jaxon’s call.

“You’re not going to fucking believe what I’ve just discovered.” My mood improved slightly hearing the excited tone in Sanderson’s voice, and when he announced the reason for his call, I was glad I answered. “He’s not just another client visiting the place---he fucking owns it.” The pleasing smug tone of Sanderson’s voice on the other end of the line, brought a smile to my face---one that lingered long after I ended the call.

There’s no way Angelica’s aware of Webber’s ownership of Seduction, even if she does know of the clubs existence. I was sure of it. That piece of information was buried so deep, Sanderson almost missed it when digging around in Webber’s background. Another ace up my sleeve.

Confronting Webber with my newfound information may be beneficial when the opportunity arose.

“Mr. Buchanan,” Vanessa’s disembodied, but hesitant, voice floated through the air around my phone. “Miss Jackson is on the line.” My jaw clenched tensely. What in the fuck does she want now?

“Take a message, Vanessa---I’m unavailable.”

Within minutes, Vanessa stormed through my office door.

“She will not take no for an answer, Mr. Buchanan, and is insistent that you take her call. She seems to think you’ll want to hear what she has to tell you.” More information? Today was becoming a veritable fountain of information. With a wave of defeat, I dismissed Vanessa, and picked up the receiver.

“If you don’t stop ringing, I may be forced to hire another assistant, because this one will quit!” Fifi’s snort on the other end definitely portrayed she didn’t give a shit.

“I’d be doing you a favor if you had to hire another assistant. The one you’ve got at the moment is disgraceful---she’s very rude!” That brought another genuine smile to my face. I knew just how rude Vanessa can be when she didn’t like someone, and she sure as hell had taken a major dislike to Fifi.

“Is there a point to your call, Fifi?”

“You know the Stockwell’s annual event is next weekend, don’t you?” The Stockwell brood hosted the affluent dressage event every year, and every year they tried to outdo their previous years’ effort. I had attended on two separate occasions over the years, but as a spectator, not as a competitor.

Dressage wasn’t my scene. Competing at all, wasn’t my scene. On the two occasions I did attend, it was solely for the purpose of viewing the bloodline of a mare I was interested in purchasing. I’d been unsuccessful on that particular occasion, losing her to an anonymous bidder, and to this day I had no idea who’d pipped me at the post.

“I didn’t realize the event was upon us so soon.”

“Will you be attending this year?” she asked curiously. I hadn’t attended for the last five years, and I wasn’t intending to this year, either. But before I could answer her, Fifi continued speaking. “Of course you know she’ll be there, don’t you? Levi’s committed to being a competitor, and now that he’s announced to the world he’s engaged again, she’ll be expected to show her support.”

That threw a completely different light on things. I wasn’t aware Webber had agreed to be a competitor this year. Fifi was right. Angelica will be expected to attend to show her support for her fiancé.

And with Webber under the spotlight in the arena, that will leave Angelica alone---and vulnerable. That may be my best chance.

“I’ll be there. I wouldn’t miss it.” Now where the bloody hell is that invitation?

© Copyright Carol Delmornay 2016

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