Free Wild Fever by Donna Grant Page A

never heard before.”
    “Olivia. This is what we do. Can’t you understand now why there can’t be anything between us? You wouldn’t want me to do my job, and I would be too worried about protecting you to do what I need to.”
    Her shoulders drooped as if all hope had left her. “Patricia Hebert.”
    Vincent thought he had been prepared for whatever name Olivia would give him, but he was stunned. Pat had always gone out of her way to speak to the Chiassons when others wouldn’t. She’d had a rough life after Sean’s father died when he was just two.  
    Pat had never remarried, preferring to remain in the parish alone and dedicated to Sean.  
    “We’d know if she was practicing Voodoo or witchcraft,” Beau said into the deafening silence of the kitchen. “That kind of magic calls to the most evil of paranormal creatures.”
    Lincoln cracked his knuckles. “I say we go have a little chat with her and clear up a few things. Namely that she call off the golem.”
    Vincent looked down at his and Olivia’s hands as his brothers filed out of the house. He stood, and was surprised when Olivia threw herself against him. His arms wrapped around her of their own accord. For several seconds he simply held her, feeling the tremors running through her body.
    It was Olivia who pulled back and looked up at him with a solemn black gaze. “I respect what you and your family do. It’s true I don’t want you to go because Patricia and the golem will try to kill you. I can’t live without you in this world, Vincent Chiasson. So, I don’t care what you have to do, but you come back to me.”
    His heart pounded in his chest. Never had he dared to hope that she might care for him. He might have planned to live his life alone, but he couldn’t now. “Only if you promise not to leave this house.”
    When she eagerly nodded in acceptance, Vincent bent his head for a quick, hard kiss. It was all that he would allow himself.
    He started for the door when Olivia called, “Hurry back. We’ve got some talking to do.”
    Vincent stepped out of the house and joined his brothers. They knew what they were hunting, and they knew who controlled it.
    Christian rested his crossbow on his shoulder. “Let’s get this over with. I’m starving, and Beau promised to cook crawfish etouffee.”
    “Yum,” Lincoln said with a lick of his lips. “Incentive enough for me.”
    Beau finished loading his gun and snapped it closed. “Consider it done.”
    Vincent looked at all three of them. “This is the thing that killed our parents. This is the woman whose jealousy made her take our parents from us too soon. We all want a piece of her for that. We weren’t the only family affected by Patricia’s delusions. Let’s remember that when it comes time to kill her.”
     
    ~ ~ ~
     
    Olivia found a deck of cards and began to play solitaire. She went through several games before she put the cards away and explored the house.
    It was huge, but the brothers had made it theirs. What was once a back parlor was now a media room complete with theatre seating and a 72” flat screen.
    On the other side of the house, Olivia found a workout room with all sorts of training equipment. One of the walls was covered by glass that protected a selection of weapons any military would be impressed by.
    Besides the kitchen and study, she also found a formal dining room, and a room off the front of the house that was so feminine and formal that it must have been their mother’s.
    Olivia made her way back upstairs and discovered eight bedrooms in all. Four were used by the guys, and there was another set the farthest away from their rooms that was covered with posters from movies, TV shows, and bands.
    “Riley’s,” Olivia said with a smile.
    The other three bedrooms were empty, as if they were waiting to find their occupants.
    Olivia was on her way back downstairs when she heard the telephone ringing. She ran to the kitchen, skidding on the rug as she dove for