Read Online Crave (The MacKenzie Family #11) by Liliana Hart - Free Book Online Page A

anyone face down her father. He was the boss. Larger than life. And he was no one to mess with.
    “I’ve treated you like a son for most of your life and this is how you repay me?”
    “You once told me that family never had to repay anything. You just do things because it’s family.”
    “I’m getting damned tired of the two of you remembering my words of wisdom for once. And that doesn’t negate the fact that you’re talking about my daughter. She’s not someone to dally with.”
    “She’s standing right here and she can speak for herself,” Evangeline said, irritated with both of them now. “I feel like you’re about to start bartering cheese wheels and cattle for my hand in marriage. And if that’s the case, then I’m going to have to shoot both of you. Cal and I don’t even like each other, so I don’t think this is going to be an issue.”
    “I like you just fine, sugar. You’re the one that knows how to hold a grudge.” Cal grinned and turned back to her father. “But in all seriousness, you’re not treating this situation the way you should. The man who’s after you is dangerous, and I’m not going to risk your life because you don’t want your privacy invaded.
    “You’ve been a father to me, Robert,” Cal said, turning to the older man. “But you set this in motion. It’s time to step back and let it play out. You know I won’t hurt her. But I’m also not going to stand here and let her manipulate me into letting her call the shots. And if you’d stop and think like the intelligence officer you once were and not the father you are then you’d see that as plain as I do. My first priority is to protect her. My second priority is to get her to stop being so hard-headed and realize that we can work better together than apart. Maybe that’s within a personal relationship or maybe not. But it’s something we’ll have to figure out for ourselves.”
    Her eyebrows raised in surprise. She wasn’t expecting something so—mature to come out of Cal’s mouth. Not that she was going to give him the time of day. She certainly did know how to hold a grudge. He’d been right about that. And despite Cal’s talk about personal relationships to her father, there was the little issue of trust to deal with.
    What was more surprising than anything was her father nodding his head in agreement. He turned to her and said, “Cal stays. You can’t fire him. Only I can do that. Do what he says when it comes to your safety. If he gets out of line with the other let me know.”
    Then he turned back to Cal and gave him a warning. “If you break her heart you’re a dead man. I don’t have time to hide any bodies with my schedule the way it is, and honestly I just don’t want to deal with Declan. But I’ll do it if you force my hand. Dec wasn’t someone I liked messing with when he was one of my agents, and I want to mess with him even less now. He’s a mean son of a bitch when he wants to be. I think he learned that from me.”
    With nothing more than a quick wave goodbye, he exited the room and left them alone. The front door closed behind him, and the silence was palpable.
    Evangeline felt the temper she tried so hard to control bubbling to the surface, and her hands fisted at her sides until her nails bit into her palms. The last time she’d felt this much anger and lack of control was the day Cal had taken everything important away from her.
    As if reading her mind he said, “So what do you say, Evie? Do you still hate me?”

CHAPTER SIX
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    C al knew he was walking a fine line, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. There was something about Evangeline that made him want to keep pushing, to argue with her just for the sake of controversy. Because the rush he got from pitting his wits against hers was the best fucking foreplay he’d ever had. He’d been hard from the moment he’d stepped into the room and seen her pouting on the couch.
    He’d kept close tabs on her over the years,