WolfeBlade: de Wolfe Pack Generations by Kathryn Veque (top 20 books to read .TXT) 📗

Woman. You will show me the respect I deserve, as the lord’s daughter.”

Giddy’s pink cheeks grew pinker. “I have Lord Merek’s confidence,” she said, sounding like a snarl. “If anyone should know her place, it should be you.”

Gavriella had had enough. She’d gone around a few times with Giddy before, but the woman didn’t seem to get the message. She walked up to her father’s chair, putting her face in Giddy’s.

“You are a servant and nothing more,” she hissed. “We do not even know where you came from. You showed up here one day telling us you were a gift from an ally, but which ally? I am going to start sending out missives to every ally and neighbor we have and ask them if they sent you. Should I do that, Giddy? If you cannot tell me more, then that is what I need to do.”

“You’ll do no such thing. I am no business of yours.”

“Any business of Falstone’s is my business also. I am going to find out where you really came from if you will not tell me.”

“I do not answer to you.”

“And you do not belong here.”

Outraged, Giddy lifted a hand as if to strike her, but Gavriella was faster. She slapped the woman, open-palmed, as hard as she could. Giddy’s coiffed hair went flying everywhere and she staggered, nearing falling over into the hearth.

Gavriella was on top of her.

“Did you truly think to strike me?” she demanded, pushing Giddy back to her knees when the woman tried to stand up. “Strike me and I shall have you thrown in the vault for striking the lord’s daughter. I’ll leave you there to rot. Do you understand me?”

Giddy was furious. “And the men would do your bidding only because they know you shall reward them,” she seethed. “I know what you’ve done, lady. I know that you are not as pure as you want everyone to believe.”

Gavriella’s eyes widened. She was about to wrap her hands around Giddy’s neck but her father was on his feet, grasping her by the arms and pulling her away.

“Nay, Gavy,” he said. “Go, now. Prepare for our guests.”

Gavriella yanked herself from her father’s grasp. “How can you keep her here, knowing how she treats me?” she demanded. “Why do you keep her here, Father?”

Merek waved her off, giving her a feeble push towards the chamber door. He didn’t want to talk about the situation, or deal with it, and he headed back to his chair as Giddy stood up and brushed herself off. This was the Merek they’d been dealing with since Giddy had arrived – apathetic, befuddled, weak.

Very weak.

Infuriated, Gavriella focused on Giddy.

“Your days here are numbered, wench,” she said. “Do not become too comfortable. As soon as I find out where you really came from, I’ll throw you out myself.”

All Giddy had to do was put her hands on Merek, possessively, and the message was clear. Unless Merek dismissed her, she wasn’t going anywhere. And she probably wouldn’t leave even if he did. She had a good thing going and she wasn’t going to let it go so easily.

Enraged, Gavriella quit the chamber and slammed the door.

She met Lukas when she was halfway down the stairs.

“Is he –?” Lukas began.

Gavriella cut him off. “He’s with that… that whore,” she said, close to tears because she was so angry. “I told him about the army. He’s expecting you.”

She pushed past him but he grabbed her before she could get away completely. “What happened?” he asked, genuinely concerned. “Why are you so upset?”

Gavriella was trying to stave off the tears. “Lukas, how can we get rid of that woman?” she asked. “It is bad enough here with my father the way he is, but she makes the situation so much worse. What can we do?”

Lukas sighed heavily. “I have tried, my lady,” he said. “Your father wants her here.”

Gavriella shook her head in frustration. “I have been hearing the same thing since I returned from London,” she said. “Mayhap I could give her some money to go away. Mayhap that’s what she is after, anyway. I have a very bad feeling about her, Lukas. She is after something.”

“I know,” Lukas said quietly. “I feel the same way. If I wasn’t such an honorable man, possibly she could meet with an accident and we could be done with her. But so far, she’s really done nothing but keep your father company. She’s not stolen anything that I can see, and she hasn’t done anything treacherous.”

Gavriella wasn’t satisfied. “She’s rude and insufferable,” she said. “I am going to offer her money to see if she will go away.”

“If your father finds out, he may become angry.”

Gavriella looked at him. “My father and I have been at odds for some time now, Lukas,” she said. “One more thing will not make any difference. But I do apologize for being short with you. That woman has me up in arms. My father is waiting for you and I am off to ensure the knights have a soft bed and a clean chamber.”

Lukas smiled faintly at her. “Your efforts are appreciated,” he said. “And do not let Giddy get the better of you. That is what she wants. You are far better than she is and she knows it. Do not let her use that against you.”

Gavriella took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm. Lukas was like the big brother she never had, always kind to her, always protective. There had never been anything romantic between them, not even before he married his wife. Gavriella had simply never felt that way about him. He was more like family and that was the only way she would ever look at him. In any case, she was glad to have him around.

He was the one stable thing around this place.

“Thank you, Lukas,” she said. “I do not know what I would do without your kindness. I will not let her get to me.”

“Good,” he said. “I’d better see to