Free Bridenapped The Alpha's Choice by Georgette St. Clair Page A

shrugged. “He’s calling an emergency meeting of the council right now. I’m going to drop you off at the house and then go deal with it.”
    “When you come back,” Mary said firmly, “We need to talk.”

Chapter Thirteen
     
    Regina looked far too pleased with herself as she and Mary walked into the house’s enormous foyer. And suddenly the light dawned on Mary.
    “Wait a minute,” Mary said. “You actually did that to help me, didn’t you? You deliberately created a distraction.”
    “Maybe,” Regina said. “Since you were nice to me about my parents being mad at me. And you let me have half the presents..” Then the mischievous look returned to her face. “I’ve never done anything like that before. I practically broke the law!”
    “What’s this?” Angela hurried up to them. She had a nose for trouble. She was like a trouble bloodhound, Mary thought. “She did what? Tell me all about it!”
    After Mary recounted the incident, Angela was dancing with glee. “Oh, I wish I’d been there. You actually have potential, rich chick!”
    Regina, however, was starting to look worried. “My daddy’s going to yell at me if he hears about it.”
    “We won’t tell him,” Mary said quickly.
    Angela made a snorting noise. “Screw that,” she said impatiently. “Won’t your daddy just yell at you anyway?”
    “Yes,” Regina said, her expression glum.
    “So you’ve got parents who’ll disapprove of you no matter what you do. Been there, done that, ran away from home. If they’re going to treat you like crap anyway, then you might as well at least have fun. I’m a member of the Disappointing My Parents Club. It’s a fun club. You should join.”
    “I’ve never been a member of a club before,” Regina said cautiously. “Nobody ever invited me.”
    “I’m nervous about the direction this club is headed,” Mary interjected.
    “You’re nervous about me crossing the street unless I look both ways.” Angela gave her cousin an impatient look.
    “You cross the street without looking both ways?” Mary cried out, appalled. “Do you realize how incredibly dangerous that is?”
    “Every now and then I like to live on the edge. Let’s leave granny-pants here to write her lists, and we’ll go out back and plan our next moves,” Angela said to Regina, who followed Angela a little too eagerly for Mary’s liking.
    * * * * *
    Two hours later…
     
    The sun was on the horizon, and a gentle breeze ruffled Mary’s hair. Jarrod stood with a wicker picnic basket in his hand and a mischievous grin on his face. Craig, shirtless and sweaty, stood on the front lawn with a group of Enforcers who had just worked out for the second time that day.
    “Not so fast,” Mary said to Jarrod, who was about to lead her out into the woods to enjoy their just-before-moonlight dinner. “You said you’d get Angela to like Craig.”
    “Speak of the devil. I just sent for her,” Jarrod said.
    The front door banged open and Angela strode towards them, frowning.
“What was it you wanted to talk to me about?” she asked. “Me and Regina were just binge-watching Orange is the New Black on Netflix. We were just getting to a good part.” She cast a mischevious glance at Mary. “She posted on Facebook that she was watching it, and apparently her parents just about had a stroke. They sent her eleventy-leven text messages, but she’s ignoring them.”
    “That guy you like, Craig.” Jarrod’s tone was serious.
    “I didn’t say I liked him,” Angela said cautiously. “I just said he was hot. I haven’t really talked to him that much.”
    “I’m not sure that I approve of you hanging out with him,” Jarrod continued as if she hadn’t spoken. He glanced at Craig, who was scrubbing his face with a towel. “Mary wants you to date a nice guy, and Craig’s kind of a heartbreaker.”
    “Oh?” Angela glanced over at him with renewed interest. “I thought Constance said he was a good guy.”
    “Yeah, well, she