Page 4 of Crimson Heart
“Oh, I’m sure it’ll end badly, but not for me. For him and his family. When I break his sister’s heart, then he’ll finally realize what he’s done to me. The humiliation I suffered at his hands…”
“Are you talking about the fight? When he defeated you in wolf form? Is that what this is about?”
The sound of a car driving up the gravel path toward the house filled the silence. Byron glanced over his shoulder and saw Owen arrive in his SUV.
Byron turned back to Flora, growling. “It’s about all of it. About Eve, about Dad, about Cameron.”
Flora shook her head. “It’s not.” She scoffed. “You’re sore because he beat you in a fair fight. That’s what this is about. You challenged him to a fight, thinking you were stronger than him. And you lost.”
“How would you know what that feels like? Your life hasn’t changed. Mine has.”
“What’s going on?” Owen asked, walking up the stairs to the entrance door, his gaze swinging from Flora to him. “Mom? Byron?”
“Nothing is going on,” Byron replied. “As usual, your mother isn’t getting the point of what I’m trying to explain.”
Owen narrowed his eyes, then addressed his mother, still pinning him with his gaze. “Mom, does he owe you an apology?”
“It’s fine, Owen. Don’t worry about it,” Flora said. “I was simply trying to give Byron some well-meant advice. But you know him. He’s never been one to follow good advice.”
She turned on her heel and pushed the entrance door open, then walked inside.
For a moment, Owen remained standing where he was. “Anything you wanna tell me?”
“I’m going out for a drink.”
“Bad timing. There’s a big accident on the 101 North just before San Rafael. I’d avoid that area.”
Byron nodded and headed for his car. Maybe it was best to avoid bars in the vicinity altogether for fear of running into somebody he knew. He needed to be alone right now to think about how to get back at Jude.
At the main road, he followed the signs for the 101 freeway, but he didn’t take the northbound on-ramp and instead went south. San Francisco was only thirty minutes away, and it offered more anonymity. Besides, he needed a night away from home, and since he had the keys to Cameron’s flat in San Francisco, he could stay there for a night or even two. The flat was still furnished, and nobody had made a decision yet about what to do with it now that Cameron was dead. Sell it, or keep it? Real estate was always a good investment in San Francisco. It would be a shame to let go of a property that would only appreciate over time. And for once, this was a decision he and his siblings would get to make—not the new alpha.
