Thomas (22 page)

They were there first, of course, and
the men, all the brothers and Nic, along with her dad, were waiting
for them. Each of the Lanning men were milling about as humans, but
were ready to become a cat should the need arise. As soon as they
entered the room and sat down, the wait staff began bringing in
platters of small sandwiches as well as cold drinks. Linyah was
almost too excited to eat. It wasn’t until Thomas sat next to her
and took her hand that she felt calmer.

“
He’s here. I saw him come
in. Hannah looks a great deal like her grandmother.” Linyah nodded
and told him she thought so as well. “I’ve heard from Leonard too.
He said not only has he filed the divorce papers for Carole, but
he’s also filed a restraining order. The board members of her
company are going to be informed of the change in the
morning.”

“
Several of them are
planning to leave soon. I’m thinking that once Howard is gone,
things will work out for everyone.” Thomas kissed the back of her
hand. “I love you.”

“
And I love you as well.”
He kissed her again, this time on the mouth. “When we are finished
here, I’d very much like to find a dark quiet place and take you
hard and fast. Then take you to our bed and fuck you again and
again. Are you up for that?”

Her body responded, and she wanted to
tell him now would be good. But he only laughed and told her later.
She was going to have to make him pay for that.

The manager of the hotel came into the
room and said that the Littles were on their way down. It was show
time.

Chapter 12

Hannah wanted to run. She was
terrified beyond belief that this man was going to hurt her. And
not just her but her unborn child as well. Putting her hand over
her still flat belly, she talked softly to him and told him how
much she loved him.

“
The man we meet today is
going to be your great-grandfather. Not that I think you’ll have
much to do with him after this meeting, but you never know.”
Rubbing him again, she smiled. “I cannot wait to meet
you.”

Comforted now, she looked up when
everyone stood up. She reached for Misha’s hand and as soon as he
touched her, she felt his love flow over her. Standing too, she
looked at her grandparents as they both walked into the room. To
say she was disappointed would have been an understatement. She
wasn’t even sure why she was, only that…well, he was nothing like
she’d thought he’d be.

He was tall and skinny, not the big
robust man she’d envisioned. His hair was dark, much too dark for a
man his age at sixty-six, and she figured that vanity had played a
big part in his appearance. He had a mustache that curled at the
tips and his mouth, a hard, fine line right now, looked like he had
nothing in the way of a smile. And when he did finally smile, she
had a feeling it was as fake as he was. And not just a little
sinister.

“
I believe we’ve been
taken to the wrong room. Sorry to have bothered you.” The manager,
who had brought them in, assured her grandfather that this was the
right room. Mr. Little looked right at her and glared. “What’s the
meaning of all this? I ordered you to come alone and that we were
to have a nice talk. I made arrangements for this room to have a
meeting. I’m afraid you’ll all need to leave except my
granddaughter. I have important business to discuss with her, and
you are not welcome any longer.”

He even moved to the side as if he was
expecting everyone to do as he’d said. But Misha sat down, followed
by the rest of them. Mr. Little didn’t look at all pleased.
Clearing his throat, he tried again, this time looking at Uncle
Daniel.

“
I’m not sure what this is
about, young man, but I suggest you do as I tell you and clear
these people out. I’ve had just about enough of your insolence, and
you will do as I say or so help me I will make you regret defying
me.” Again he moved, but no one moved, not even Uncle Daniel. At a
nod from Linyah, Hannah stood up.

“
Hello. You must be Howard
and Carole Little. I’m Hannah Lanning. This is my family. My
husband, Misha Lanning. This is his mother, Maribel
Lanning—”

“
I do not care who they
are. I demand that you to get rid of them this minute. You will
learn to not disobey me, Hannah. I’ve gone to great lengths to set
this up, and I will not have my commands thwarted at this point.”
His voice was sharp, and she flinched from it. When he smiled at
her, all Hannah could think of was Bella and her ability to hurt
her when she found a weapon. “You’ll do as you’re told right now. I
demand respect.”

“
You can demand all you
want, but it’s not going to happen the way you want it to. So no,
I’m not going to toss them out. Now, as I was saying.” Hannah took
a deep breath before she continued. “This is my mother-in-law,
Maribel Lanning. And her other sons, Rider, Carter, Thomas, and his
soon-to-be-wife, Linyah. Next is—”

“
Perhaps you didn’t
understand me. I said that I do not care who these people think
they are to you. Get out.” He crossed his arms over his chest and
glared at her. But Hannah knew as surely as she stood there that if
she backed up, even a tiny bit, he’d run right over her all the
time.

“
Listen here. I’m trying
to be polite and you’re getting on my last nerve. You are not to
interrupt me again. I want you to meet my family. You, Mr. Little,
are being rude. Now shut up and listen to me.” She thought she
heard someone laugh and couldn’t be sure but she thought it was her
grandmother. “Now, where was I? Oh yes. This is Andrew and Phillip.
You know Uncle Daniel and his wife. But this is Linyah’s parents,
Nildale and Sina. Everyone, this is Howard and Carole Little.
Parents to my deceased mother, Kelli Little.”

“
Are you quite finished?”
She nodded and smiled at him. “Very well then. I’m very happy to
meet you all. But this is a private matter and I’ve come a long way
to talk to my granddaughter. I would be very glad if you all were
to just leave.”

“
I’m afraid that’s not
going to happen.” Misha stood up as he spoke. “This is my wife, and
after asking her what she wanted, she said she wanted us to stay.
Whatever you have to say to her, you can say to all of us. So I’d
like to get this started as well. Mrs. Little, would you like
something to drink?”

“
No, she does not want
anything to drink. I will tell her when she is thirsty. Young man,
I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, but you are messing
with the wrong man here. I have bought and sold men like you every
day before breakfast. Now, I’ve been polite up until now and
I—”

“
No, you haven’t. You’ve
been a bully and a bastard.” Hannah watched her grandmother as she
walked away from her husband and continued talking. “Yes, Misha,
I’d love a drink. Some juice if you have some. And I’d very much
like to have a seat next to Hannah.”

“
Get your ass back here.”
Mr. Little looked like he was going to explode, and Hannah thought
it was funny. Her grandmother sat down next to her and kissed her
cheek, then turned back to her blustering husband.

“
I’m leaving you, Howard.
Not good timing, I suppose, but with the help of this lovely young
woman, I’ve filed for divorce, taken my home back, and have fired
your entire staff. The spies you have watching me had no idea what
kind of things I had going on right under your nose. Also, the
board members have been given the option of staying or leaving. I
hope that they’ll leave, but then it’s up to—”

“
Divorce? On what grounds?
And you cannot leave me. Don’t be absurd. Get your ass over here
right now and I’ll not go too hard on you when you return to my
home.” Grandmother just laughed. “Carole, I’m sick of this. I’ve no
patience for you acting out like this. It’s bad enough that I have
to deal with these people, but you are not going to get away with
this. Come here and I’ll forget the entire thing.”

“
Did you know that the
house was still in my name? I had an attorney look into that for
me. He said you did that so that if anything happened with my
father’s business they couldn’t take that. And until that moment,
I’d forgotten that the business was my father’s, not yours. You
have no rights to any of it after the divorce. It’s in the pre-nup
my smart father had you sign. The company too, I found out, is
still in my name. Your name doesn’t appear to be
anywhere.”

Mr. Little moved forward, and Thomas
stepped in front of him. The anger boiling off the man was hot
enough to cook things on. And Linyah thought it was funny. “Get out
of my way.”

“
You touch her in any way
other than a slight pat on the back for being so brave and I will
rip your arm from the socket and shove it so far up your ass you’ll
need to open your mouth to wave.” The threat—and there was no doubt
that was what it was—was given low and with enough menace in
Thomas’s voice that her cat stirred along her skin. Mr. Little must
have felt the power of his words as well because he took a step
back.

“
I came here to take my
granddaughter back with me.” Thomas nodded. “She will come with me
now or I’ll sue you all for kidnapping her. I’ve no problem calling
my attorney right now and having him draw up the
papers.”

“
And what do you plan to
do with the babe she carries? What will people say when they find
out you plan to drug her and have the baby aborted from her body?
What do you suppose the board members will think when you have her
locked in a room, a room much like the one that your wife has been
staying in for all these years to keep her from embarrassing you
again? As you believe her mother might have.” Mr. Little glared at
her and Hannah lifted her chin. “Before you can do any of the
things that are working through your mind right now, you’re going
to have to get by each of us. And I’ll warn you now, it will not be
an easy trip.”

Hannah didn’t have to look to see that
Misha and the rest of them had shifted. She did glance at her
grandmother, who had tightened her grip on her hand but didn’t
move. She knew then that Linyah had warned her. Looking at her
sister Linyah, a short nod confirmed it. When Thomas stepped back
from Mr. Little, Hannah stood up.

“
My family and I will
remain here. You may visit if you wish, but it will be monitored
visits, with my family surrounding me. My baby will be loved, taken
care of, and will be safe. Safe from monsters such as yourself.
He’ll have a much better life than the one that I had.”

“
Yet you learned nothing
from Bella’s treatment of you. You think now that you are away from
her treatment of you that you’ll be fine? Never. I’ll see to that.”
The room was silent. Even the big cats that had taken a seat stood
up. He’d known where she was all along. And he’d never done a thing
to help her.

“
Howard?” He looked at his
wife, who looked like he’d hit her. “You knew we had a
granddaughter? You knew that she was…you said you never could find
out anything about her. You said that as far as you knew, Kelli was
dead and that her child had died with her…you told me that you
found the records. You knew? All this time, you knew?”

“
Well, of course I did. So
what? She’d still be missing to you too if this idiot hadn’t gone
to great lengths to find us. Bella was getting paid very well for
keeping her out of the papers. It’s not like I knew right away.
Christ, I would have taken care of the child long before the likes
of Bella Oliver found her. Kelli’s child was almost five when I
found out where she was. But I did watch over them. I made sure
that there was no record of her that would attach her birth to us.”
Mr. Little looked at her. “You had a roof over your head, food in
your belly, and things to wear. I made sure of that. So what if she
knocked you around a bit? You’re still alive, aren’t
you?”

“
You monster.” Sina stood
up and punched her finger into his chest as she continued. “Do you
have any idea what this child endured? What kind of horrors she had
to go through, what she was treated like? My goodness, man, did you
not have any compassion at all for your own
granddaughter?”

“
Granddaughter?” He
laughed. “Granddaughter? She’d not even be here if not for the fact
that no doctor would abort her by the time I found out. Christ,
woman, do you have no idea what a bastard child can do to a man
like me? A man with money and prestige will be treated like shit
when it’s found out that he has a bastard in the family. It’s not
pretty, let me tell you.”

Uncle Daniel stood up and walked to
his father. Mr. Little was smiling, but when his son spit in his
face, he lifted his hand to no doubt slap him. But Linyah reached
him first and pulled his hand behind his back and forced him to the
floor.

“
Little here has been a
very busy man in the past several weeks since he’s been
blackmailing Wanda. And so you know, I’ve done my own little
investigation, but mine was on a more personal level.” Linyah
looked at Hannah. “You have two more relatives. An uncle and an
aunt. Not that he’ll claim them, but they are his bastard children.
Both of them have been sent away; their mothers, sadly, are dead.
I’m not sure he had anything to do with that, but with him? I don’t
doubt it. I have information on them should you want to find them.”
Hannah nodded and smiled.

“
You lie.” Linyah pulled
his arm tighter behind him when Mr. Little spoke. “You fucking
cunt. You’re going to regret this.”