Free BURN by Suzanne Wright

was a golden shade while Harper’s was ivory perfection. There were only three physical traits they seemed to share: height, hair color, and the slightly pointed chin.
    When Harper looked at someone, it was with a bold, daring ‘fucking try me’ expression that amused both Knox and his demon. Carla, however, was all smiles and grace and pleasantness. They both had a certain sensuality to their movements. But whereas it was innate and unconscious with Harper, it was superficial and practiced with Carla.
    Standing in the office of one of his casinos, Carla nodded. “Mr. Thorne.”
    “Sit,” he invited, forcing himself to be civil. He’d suspected the woman would come at some point, wanting to know if the rumors circulating about the identity of his anchor were true. It had been three days since he’d last seen Harper. Three days of his demon hounding him to seek her out, to take her as they both wanted. There was no denying that it was utterly fixated on her.
    Knox could admit to being just as impatient to have her. One of the things he liked most about her, despite how contrary it made her, was her independent streak. He also liked that she was upfront, tenacious, and unpredictable. It was a package that fascinated him.
    Nervously, Carla cleared her throat. “I hope I find you well and…” She trailed off when Knox held up his hand.
    “We both know you didn’t come here to enquire about my welfare, so I’d prefer it if you didn’t make unnecessarily small talk.”
    “Very well.” She paused briefly. “I heard that you found your anchor.”
    “You heard correctly.”
    “I heard her name is Harper Wallis.”
    Something about the way she stumbled over the name made Knox realize…“You didn’t name her, did you?”
    She averted her gaze. “I had some difficulty deciding on one.”
    “You also had difficulty being a mother to her, as I understand it.” So much difficulty she hadn’t even bothered to give Harper a name before dumping her.
    “So she told you.” Carla exhaled heavily. “I ask you not to take everything you heard as gospel. The Wallis family have a very one-sided account of what occurred back then.”
    “You didn’t leave your child with Jolene Wallis?”
    “It’s not as simple as that. I have no idea if Jolene and Lucian told Harper lies about me or if she, like them, enjoys exaggerating the tale. But there is much more to the story than whatever she told you.”
    Knox sank into his seat, regarding her thoughtfully. “Why come to me with this?”
    “You’re my Prime, and your opinion of me is important to me. I just ask you not to judge me on the information you’ve been given by Harper. It’s clear that – as I feared – you’re angry with me because of what you’ve heard, but please be fair. You have known me for some time. Harper’s your anchor, but the reality is that you don’t know her.”
    “I’d say it’s you who doesn’t know her.” Carla seemed abashed, but he wasn’t buying it. “Are you implying that she lied to me? That’s a very serious allegation to make.” And it offended both him and his demon that anyone would accuse Harper of such a thing.
    “I know,” agreed Carla, sounding distressed to even consider it. “But it’s that or she’s simply repeating lies the Wallis family have told her.”
    “As I see it, if you truly had any regard for her, you wouldn’t have abandoned her.”
    “It wasn’t as simple as that. I thought that if I left her with Lucian for a little while, he would bond with her and then we could be a family. It was a foolish plan, and I saw that soon enough. I went back for her, I did. But Jolene refused to let me take her. I tried again and again, but then Lucian took her away. I never had a chance of finding her after that, he was always moving.”
    If Carla was lying, she was very, very good at it. According to Harper, Jolene had sent her to live with Lucian when she was four. Was it possible that Jolene had done that to