Free The Price of Winning: London Calling Book Four by Kat Faitour Page B

stranger. I’ve known MP longer than you.” Martin was alert, verbally circling Sebastian as if he contemplated locking horns. “Besides, I can see her in person and ask if she’s ready to come back to work. I think it would do her good.”
    “What about peace and rest did you not understand, man?” Sebastian raked his fingers through his hair. The muted jazz from the casino’s gaming floor drifted through the sound system, failing to soothe him. “She doesn’t need to work, for crying out loud. And you’re the least tranquil person I’ve ever met. You radiate restless energy.”
    “As I said, I know her better. She needs to keep busy. She’s smart, and it’ll help her mind do something other than remember.”
    Martin had a point, but Sebastian would be damned before he said so.  
    “I’ll bring it up, as a suggestion, when I’m there. But I’ll be going.” When the other man looked ready to protest, he intervened. “Listen, I need to see Angeline anyway. Two birds, one stone and all that.”  
    Natalie poked her blonde head in the door, assessing both men with wary blue eyes. “Dom? What are you doing in here?”
    Sebastian smirked. “He’s just leaving. Why don’t you take the evening off, Natalie?” It wasn’t really a suggestion. He stood, holding out one arm to usher them out of his office. He was about to shut the door and lock it when Dominic stopped, bracing one hand to keep it open.
    “Payne?”
    “What?”
    “Don’t you dare mess her up again.”  
    Sebastian shook his head, lips pressed tight. He still felt guilty about the way he’d handled Madeleine when they met. But things were different now. He met Dominic’s level gaze with one of his own.
    “You have my word. The last thing I’ve ever wanted is to hurt Madeleine Price. It happened once, to my regret. It won’t happen again.” With that, he pushed the door shut and locked it.
    ***
    Even though she was sprawled across the white lounger by the pool in lazy splendor, Madeleine’s muscles were tensed. The letter from her attorney in Chicago was clasped tightly in one hand, unopened.  
    She sighed, knowing she’d put it off as long as feasible. She turned the envelope over and used her fingernail to deftly break the seal. It only contained one page, which was surprising since she assumed it contained communication regarding her parents’ estate.
    She unfolded the letter, smoothing it out on her bare thighs.  
    Her breath caught, and she sat up abruptly. It wasn’t about her parents.  
    Jeremy Green, the young man who’d stalked and ultimately tried to kill her, was eligible for parole.  
    Even sitting in the warmth of the island’s bright sunshine, her arms erupted in goose bumps. Shivering, she reached behind for her terry cloth cover-up and shrugged it around her shoulders. She refolded the letter and awkwardly tried to fit it back into its envelope, crumpling both as her hands shook in reaction. She shoved all of it into the pocket of her robe.
    No. It couldn’t be time yet.
    She’d had mixed feelings about Jeremy since he’d very nearly killed her father and destroyed all their lives. He’d been hardly more than a boy, younger than her at the time. And clearly he was disturbed and needed help.
    But she would never forget his eyes as he viciously pulled the gun out of his jacket. The bile churned in her stomach as she realized her parents’ murderer had much the same look.
    Fury. Hatred. Evil.
    In a perfect world Jeremy would have gotten the help he needed to be well. He’d have served his time and been rehabilitated in the process. And maybe that was what happened. But she had her doubts.
    Even when he’d been sentenced, he’d stared at her across the courtroom with rage and venom, vowing to find her someday.  
    I will come for you.
    I will destroy and butcher you until nothing remains.
    I will bring you to nothing.
    She would never forget the savagery of his promises and the way he’d spat the words,