Entwined by E.C. Land (best ebook pdf reader android txt) 📗

“Mitch, you ready for tomorrow?” Kenyon asks, pulling me from my thoughts and back to the conversation at our table.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I shrug, lifting the glass with the dark brew inside to my lips.

“Gotta admit, your bride is a lot prettier than I remember from the last time I saw her,” he chuckles, causing both Dean and Marc to join in as well.

“I must agree with Kenyon on this. I haven’t seen my sister-in-law in person in two years, not since the wedding, but she’s definitely matured in a lot of ways. Bridget says she’s a lot older in her spirit than she is in her body. To this I will also agree with my wife. Alison is smart but very shy around people. I’ve asked around and even spoke with Tomás about her. She doesn’t have friends and prefers to sit with her books,” Dean states, meeting my gaze.

“Wonder why that is,” I mutter, glancing around the room.

“There’re rumors that stick to the lower security but it’s said that one of Tomás’ girls was taken against her will. That Tomás found out about it when the man who did it bragged to another man. It’s rumored that he dispersed of the man himself, but no one is to speak of it because the girls don’t know he knows,” Marc says darkly.

“It had to have been Alison. My wife hadn’t been touched when I’d taken her the first time. Which means, if this is true, she couldn’t have been that old when it happened. It most definitely had to be before she turned eighteen as she went to the abbey right after Bridget’s and my wedding,” Dean snarls.

“If it’s true, why wouldn’t the girl tell someone?” Kenyon asks.

“Because she’s embarrassed or the man threatened her with something. And if he’s dead, she most likely feels she can keep her secret to herself,” I growl, anger building at the possibility of this being true. I’m thinking I need to speak to Tomás about this to find out the truth of this matter. Either way, this doesn’t deter me from my mindset. Alison is to be my wife come noon tomorrow and then after that, we’ll see how things go between us on whether or not I take her to bed right away or build her up to what I want.

Silence descends on our table for a moment as we all gather our thoughts and drink down some of the brews we’d all gotten. When our waitress comes over, I have to shrug her hands off my shoulder for the third time since we’ve been here. She’s been trying to get my attention and that shit’s not going to happen. I told myself after I got on that jet that I’d be faithful to Alison. Now, after seeing the woman, I know I will be, and I’ll be patient in getting what I want from her.

Changing the subject, I glance around the table. “Do you all think the dead come to us in our sleep?”

“What the fuck?” Kenyon asks, blinking in astonishment.

I sigh and lift the brew to my lips to swallow a hefty amount before setting the glass down and telling them about the dreams of Michelle coming to me and what she’d said.

“Mitch, you’re like a brother to me and you’re about to become my brother-in-law tomorrow. We’re family and the shit you’ve been through has been fucked up. Losing Michelle fuckin’ sucked but you gotta look at it like this, at the end of the day, she’s gone and you’re still alive. It’s well past time you moved on, and you can do that with Alison. I’m not saying you knock her ass up and all that shit right away but your dream of Michelle is right. She’d want you to be happy and I’m sure she’d want you to have kids,” Dean mutters grimly. Knowing that last bit is an even more sensitive subject since I didn’t even get the chance to see my child after they pulled him from my wife’s body.

I didn’t even see his body in the tiny casket I’d buried next to his mother’s.

Coming to an understanding of what Dean is saying, I give him a slight nod, knowing he’s right. I simply hope he and everyone else is right when it comes to Alison and that she’s everything promised. I’m not talking about her looks, though those are a big part of it. I’m speaking of the fact she’s a woman unlike others and I’m hoping it’s not an illusion.

“Alison is nowhere near the type of woman of her age,” Kenyon mutters, adding to Dean’s words. “Think about it, she’s lived the past two years in an abbey . . . No social media, no drama, no pettiness to dumb her down. She’s the real deal. I’m betting while she was doing her schooling, Alison learned to be a woman without all the other shit that comes with it. Even if that shit is true about her, then it’s nothing to worry about. She’s a woman that still deserves respect as she’s done something with herself. Most women in our world, Bridget and Jordan both excluded from this, are selfish and petty.”

“Exactly, it’s why I don’t want or intend to marry unless I know the woman is anything but a greedy, gold-digging bréagán,” Marc mutters, speaking the truth of some of the women we’ve encountered.

“Don’t worry, cousin, you’ll find someone to ensnare that dark heart of yours,” Dean quips.

“Not likely. If the woman who I’m supposed to marry is anything like my mother then I’ll be putting her ass in a house far away from me and washing my hands of her,” Marc sneers.

This is something we all deal with when it comes to these marriages in the Alliance. Whereas I’m seeming to luck out, some of the men don’t and they get those who are a headache. Others it’s the