Free Far From Broken by J.K. Coi Page B

general had ordered the detonation of an incendiary that had taken out an entire building in a slum of Paris. While he’d believed it to be a secret office of the French Resistance, it had, in fact, been a rough-and-tumble orphanage. Everyone inside had died, including at least twenty innocent children.
    If that weren’t enough to provoke Jasper’s contempt, Black was also responsible for sending Jasper on the mission that almost cost him everything—his life, his wife, his very heart and soul. Just the sight of the bastard turned his stomach. No way in hell was he going to let Black anywhere near Callie.
    The general only looked amused by Jasper’s antagonism. “You were shot at on your outing this morning?” he repeated. “And what happened to the criminal responsible?”
    “I’m looking into the matter. It’s nothing for you to be concerned about.”
    “I beg to differ,” answered Black with a patronizing smile. “Anything that threatens my new agent is of concern to me.”
    “She’s not your anything,” Jasper snapped, moving to shield Callie. He still had her hand in his and refused to let her go. “She’s my wife.”
    “Ah, but she’s also a very expensive investment of the Ministry, as you are well aware.” Black crossed his thick arms, drawing attention to the gun belt he still wore strapped across his chest. “Did you not agree to the terms of her rehabilitation?”
    “ I agreed,” he emphasized, glancing aside at Mrs. Campbell. “The deal was made with me, not with her. I am grateful to the Ministry for making Dr. Helmholtz available to my wife, and because of that the War Office has my continued commitment to the cause.”
    “Two for the price of one.” Black laughed. “That sounds good to me.”
    “No. The deal was made with me, not with her.”
    “I’d love to stand here and argue the point with you, but I believe I’ll take some rest. It’s been a long trip. The discussion is rather pointless after all, as Lady Carlisle herself has already agreed.”
    “Agreed to what?” He looked at Callie, whose expression had turned cold and distant, just like before. All the progress he thought he’d made with her was suddenly gone. Disappeared in the blink of an eye.
    Black threw up a mock salute and turned to Mrs. Campbell. “Thank you again for the hospitality, madam. Dinner is at the usual time, I assume?”
    Just how often had Black been here? The idea that he had come behind Jasper’s back, poisoning Callie with his darkness, left Jasper cold.
    “Yes, General. If you require anything at all, please let me know.”
    “You’re too kind, but all I require at the moment is a soft warm bed to lay my head.”
    When both Mrs. Campbell and the general had gone, he let out a deep breath and released Callie’s hand. She too turned from him without a word and made her way up the stairs. He didn’t want to let her go, but he needed some time to think.
    “Where the hell is Murphy?” he asked.
    Malcolm’s usually calm façade was cracking and he looked almost as angry and frustrated as Jasper felt. “I don’t know. He was around this morning, but he said he had to go out for some supplies and I haven’t seen him back. No doubt he’s trying to keep out of Mrs. Campbell’s way. She tore a strip off him late last night for wandering the halls and knocking over a vase or something.”
    Truthfully, he didn’t much care what Murphy was up to. All he really cared about was Callie and finding a way to keep her out of Black’s clutches.
    “So it’s true,” Malcolm said. “The War Office is staking a claim, and they’ve sent the infamous General Black to collect.”
     
     
    Callie veered toward the sound of shouting coming from one of the rooms farther down the hallway, passing the door of her own room along the way. Normally, she wouldn’t have cared, and it didn’t escape her that this was the second or third time today she’d allowed real life to penetrate the shell she’d been