Read Online Breaking the Storm by Sedona Venez - Free Book Online Page A

before the storm. No mom, Aunt Lia, or Light barging into my private apartment in hysterics about some business conundrum. No phone calls from escorts whining about fucked-up assignments or pay raises.
    All was right in my world… at least for a few more precious minutes. Then all hell would break loose again and my life would resume its breakneck reality. The reality of dealing with the drama and chaos of business and family.
    “Storm! Where the hell are you?”
    Shit! Light was on the move and she was not a happy witch.
    “Your time is up,” Light barked as she swayed in looking like she just stepped off a runway with not one shiny jet-black hair strand out of place. It never ceased to amaze me how she could look like the picture of calm and coolness while inside she was a churning slew of unstable emotions.
    Sighing heavily, I sank lower into a lounging position. “Fifteen minutes, that’s all I asked for—and you couldn’t even do that.”
    Light's skin glowed as she clutched the two champagne minis to her chest like bars of gold. “Uh, no, I couldn't. I'm not equipped to deal with the shit storm brewing downstairs in the office.” She handed me a bottle as she plopped down beside me. “Three more escorts didn’t show up for their assignments. The phone is ringing off the hook with pissed-off clients. And I just ran out of alcohol. This shit is going down the toilet and the night’s still young.”
    “What did I tell you about raiding my refrigerator? These were gifts from Noah.” I tried to snatch the other bottle from her hand, but she expertly dodged my attempt. This was the downside of living with family—no privacy, the constant invasion of my space, and the pilfering of all my expensive stuff. It didn’t matter that apart from work, I shouldn’t have to put up with this annoyance in our expansive, five-story elevator townhouse.
    “Didn’t you hear the part about me running out of alcohol?” Light mumbled.
    “ Go to your mother’s wing. Her place has all the good stuff.”
    Mid-sip, Light shot me an evil glare. “She changed the code to her floor. Damn witch.”
    I smirked at her. “Now why the hell didn’t I think of that?”
    She looked at me cheekily. “Uh, because you love me and adore my charming company.”
    Easing off the chair, I walked into the living room. “Nope, that’s not it. It’s because if I did, you would whine like a little puppy, annoying the hell out of me,” I responded before picking up my cell and striding into the elevator.
    Light followed me. “That’s a real bitchy thing to say… but true.”
    Ignoring her completely, my mind went into business mode, lining up all the calls I had to make to settle the tornado of chaos. One of them I didn't relish making at all. The elevator door slid open right into the open-concept office designed in a cross between ultra-modern with a bit of traditional thrown in.
    Reading my mind as usual, Light blurted, “And we’re calling that she-wolf first.”
    I refused to let her drag me under in her sea of rage. I ignored her completely, letting her rage over the dangerous Lacie predicament roll off me like rivulets of rain. I didn't need her hassling me over the fact that if this predicament were not handled correctly, it would bleed into every facet of our lives. It was an outcome that, knowing Lacie Gilden's devious mind, was exactly the goal she was hoping for—total anarchy.
    Through clenched teeth, I responded, “Will you just let me handle this, Light? I don't need you riling me up. I just need to clarify the legal ramifications of her actions. That's it.”
    It was a conversation I dreaded and it didn't help that Lacie and I had history—very bad history. A history that exploded into a cataclysmic, bloody brawl in high school. Everyone in the coven knew the Gildens were as ruthless as they came, and it didn’t help matters that they were our direct business competitors. A business that went to great lengths to steal