Read Online Fire and Flame by Anya Breton - Free Book Online Page B

addendum.’”
    Brent’s neck heated for a far different reason. It flared hotter when Sara shot up from the chair, jabbing an angry finger at him.
    “You did this!” She growled the words deep within her lovely elongated throat. “You persuaded him to write this nonsense into his will!”
    “I didn’t,” Brent exclaimed as the blood rose in his face. “I never wanted to be the one!”
    Her mouth dropped wide even as hurt filled her blue eyes. Brent spread his lips for the explanation that he’d never wanted to be the one, but that he wanted to be The One . The words froze in his throat.
    Sara’s golden lashes fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings as he mutely worked out what to say to fix this. She inhaled the ragged breath he’d heard her make at Fintan’s funeral.
    The sound tore at his heart. Brent held out a hand to her.
    “Stay away from me,” she hissed.
    Helplessly he watched her dash out of the lawyer’s office.

Chapter Ten
    If she’d ever been this furious in her life, Sara could not recall it. She’d always known Brent was a bully but he’d gone too far this time. And that Daddy had gone along with it…
    No. She couldn’t think about it.
    She rushed out the door, barreling through the witches who had lingered. No doubt they were still here to gossip about what had gone on behind closed doors.
    “Watch it,” a sharp female voice snarled to her left.
    She pinned a glare on the source. Dimpled-cheeked and glossy-haired Vanessa Aine was ready with a glare right back. The brunette hoyden had dressed for a movie premier rather than the somber occasion it was. Her olive dress was sleeveless, short, and had a zipper that travelled in an inviting way around and down the garment. Vanessa was beautiful by all standards with her perfectly dainty little nose, swooping crimson lips, and wide bronze eyes. Sara had always disliked her and it was only partially because the girl two years her senior was bitchy.
    “Sara.”
    She tore her glare from the female and fixed it on the male that had emerged from the office. With a wavy forehead and crinkled eyebrows, Brent had never looked more beseeching. She could almost believe he was innocent of any wrongdoing.
    Sara swung away from him before she could fall prey to his seeming remorse. She searched out a kind face in those who hovered around the law office’s doors in the warmth of the spring sun. None of her friends had stayed for support. It shouldn’t have surprised her after the way they’d treated her with begrudging shows of feigned sympathy at the funeral. But it did.
    In a small group to the right, she found what she’d been looking for. The only truly sympathetic face belonged to one of her father’s old friends, a woman who may or may not have been his lover at one point. Without needing to be asked, Jess Ignacia took Sara’s hand in hers and led her to a nearby sedan.
    “Sara, wait,” Brent called after them.
    Though they were all technically subservient to Brent now, Jess didn’t stop. She made quick work of unlocking the doors and even putting the car in drive. Seconds later they pulled out of the parking lot. Brent grew tinier in the side mirror by the breath.
    Jess—a stately woman with burnished copper hair that was beginning to gray, eyes the color of a fresh lime, and flawless alabaster skin—made no mention of the scene they’d recently fled. Instead, she offered silent solace and a single squeeze of her hand. It was what Sara needed. For a while.
    Jess drove around the city until she reached a small bistro with plenty of outdoor tables. Sara decided she could eat. It was certainly preferable to going home.
    Her teeth clenched tightly when she thought of home. Words tumbled from her mouth as they sat around a small round metal table beneath a broad navy canvas umbrella. “He willed the house to me on the condition that I let Brent continue living there.”
    Jess kept her expression placid while she sipped her iced tea. She nodded