Read Online Katie's Hellion (Rhyn Trilogy, Book One) by Lizzy Ford - Free Book Online Page A

child’s
gleeful laugh.
    "Can I really tell him that?"
    "Please do."
    "Awesome!"
    "Listen, I’ve got work to do. I’ll bring you
marshmallows. Text me if you need anything else."
    "Okay! G’bye, Mama!"
    "Don’t call me that. We both know better,"
she grumbled.
    He laughed again, and she hung up, pressing
the heels of her palms to her eyes. She’d fallen asleep in Kris’s
library after half a bottle of whiskey and awoken in her own bed
with a throbbing headache and dry mouth.
    She’d dared to hope again that everything was
a hallucination brought on by too much alcohol, until Toby burst in
chasing a cat she didn’t remember owning. The boy had clambered
across her bed, shrieked happily, and chased the cat under the
bed.
    "Katie! Visitor!"
    She sighed and sat up straight a second
before the door was pushed open to reveal someone she didn’t know.
He was well dressed, tall, and handsome with eyes too dark and
still for her comfort.
    "Ms. Young, I’m David Kingsly, from Kingsly
Enterprises."
    Surprised, she rose and shook his hand. His
multimillionaire father's picture was on the wall, and he owned two
dozen restaurants in the Annapolis area, including this one.
    "It’s a pleasure, sir. I apologize for the
mess. I wasn’t expecting you. Are you here for the GM?" she
asked.
    "No, no. I drop by on occasion to check on my
father’s restaurants," he said with a quick glance around. "The GM
said your team came up with the latest marketing campaign. I wanted
to thank you in person. It's increased profits about seven percent
over last quarter."
    "Thanks," she said, smiling. "We have a good
group here."
    "A good leader makes a good team the best, as
my father says."
    Despite the honor of his visit, she couldn’t
help but feel a trickle of familiar coldness at his still gaze. He
smiled but his eyes did not. He resembled his father in height and
narrow face, though there was warmth in his father’s face she
didn’t see in his. For a moment, she thought she saw tattoos blaze
across his neck and then disappear.
    "We’re inviting the GM to our fundraiser
tomorrow night. My father feels it’s important to recognize all
those who support our family’s success. We’d be happy if you
attended our gala."
    He reached into his jacket and produced an
embossed invitation in peach and brown.
    "I’d be honored," she said, accepting it.
"Thank you, Mr. Kingsly."
    "David," he said with another smile that
didn’t reach his eyes. "I look forward to seeing you there."
    He rose and left, and she stared after him,
excited. She dialed her sister immediately.
    "Sis, I need some help."
    "Oh. Another issue?"
    "No. I was invited to some Kingsly gala. I
need something to wear."
    " Some Kingsly gala or the biggest
event of the fall?" her sister asked with a laugh.
    "Hey --you mind if I come over after work?
Toby’s…going to a friend’s house for the night, and I’m sick of my
apartment."
    "Yeah, sure. You were supposed to come for
brunch tomorrow. I’d planned a spa day tomorrow before the gala. We
can add shopping to that; I know you don’t have anything nice to
wear."
    Katie rolled her eyes. A day and a half with
her sister was as much as she could tolerate; faced with the
alternative of returning to her creepy apartment with its creepy
occupants, she’d tough it out.
    She survived the day of bitching customers
and employees alike and arrived late in the evening to Hannah's, a
mansion in the outskirts of Annapolis where her sister lived with
her fiancée, Giovanni.
    Hannah took one look at her and frowned
fiercely.
    "You couldn’t change before showing up?" she
asked, looking past her out at the street.
    "It's not like you have neighbors, sis,"
Katie replied impatiently. "Afraid I'll make you look bad in front
of the 'hood?"
    "With the money Gio paid for you to go to
Georgetown, you'd think you could get a better job than this!"
Hannah started.
    Katie sighed. Hannah stood aside as she
entered the large foyer, lecturing her as they