craftingmom

Chapter 36 Oh, Gods. My breath came in ragged pants as I tried to straighten, edging away from the huge man blocking the doorway. Why? Why would he be here? Shouldn't he be running as far away from here as possible? "Barrett. Wh-what are you doing here?" I stammered. "Oh, amistrato, my pet, has it been so long that you've forgotten your training?" the marquis purred, almost seeming friendly. I knew better. "I'm not your anything anymore," I said, trying to tame my shaking voice, wh

Happy Birthday!!

I like that idea!

It's sort of become standard practice now, that whenever policemen, firemen, paramedics, etc come into what ever restaurant we are in, that my husband will get up and pay for them. It's happened quite a few times, sometimes with as many as ten people. It's funny now when me or the girls see them coming, we start grinning and wondering how long before Mike gets up to go pay. Mike knows the people in our Chikfila so well that if he sees a police car ahead of him in the drive through, he can tell the server not to charge them and he'll take care of it when he gets up to the window. Sometimes the manager splits the cost with him now. One time at the Chinese buffet place, the poor firemen had just sat down to eat when they got a call. One was able to stay as he was on a different truck not called out. We paid for their meals as well as the sheriff and detective who where in the restaurant as well. Another time, we were in a booth next to this older man who was eating by himself. So we paid his check as well. We left before he even asked for his check and found out it was paid.

I'm a little late, but.... Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Thanks Parker! I think you were right to offer to send out the FEDs to put me in the Author Protection Program.

I think that's the best descriptive reaction I've ever gotten! Thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying the story.

Oh yes, I'm sure every time someone left--Tareth to shop, Ash to the dock, then Kye sending off Liam to Ash--it was becoming more and more obvious Kye was about to be relatively alone...

Yes, I know. Even though Kye was a little suspicious of his father, enough to only go to the doorway, the lure of a memento from his mother was just enough for him to push that aside.

Hehe, Parker said the same thing during his read through for edits! Yes, Kye is still naive, even as much as he's been through. He just doesn't consider himself worth much--why would Barrett go after him when he could go after Ash. It doesn't even occur to him that Barrett might use HIM to hurt Ash yet.

Nope, probably not a surprise Maybe more of a 'finally! there's Barrett! Knew he was around somewhere!" And Kye was definitely a little naive to go to his father on his own; though he certainly didn't expect anything to happen since he was only going to the doorway--figuring he be in plain view the whole time. And his father knew exactly how to bait him with the lure of something of his mother's.

Exactly, he's never thought of himself as very important--worthless, even, and certainly feels that Barrett would probably want revenge on Ash and Rowland for destroying his plans. The issue Kye will have is that he's now very protective of his brother and Ash, as well as his 'extended family' of the rest of the Sterling estate. He's kind-hearted and won't want anything to happen to anyone...

I tried to show Kye wasn't totally trusting of his father in that he only went as far as the doorway. Obviously, he wasn't expecting Barrett, though. If someone had gone with him, it is likely they would have been hurt/killed by Barrett in the process of getting to Kye (or Barrett could have continued to wait until someday Kye was alone somewhere else too).

Yes, offering up a reminder of his mother certainly got Kye to fall into their trap. Everyone knew Barrett was coming, I think--it was just a matter of when and where

Oooh, a pool to guess who gets to take down kye's father--how cool!

My editor/beta said the same things as they were reading about wanting to shout at him. His father is still a sore spot for him, and I think even though he confronted him yesterday, Kye still held out a little teeny-tiny hope there might be something there redeeming in his father, especially since he was offering something of his mother to remember her by. Of course he's wrong...

Well, you don't have to go to all that trouble on my behalf

Oh, I'm sure it was expected, everyone seemed to be just waiting for Barrett to show up. I hope I don't disappoint in the future chapters *frets*

Thank you

Yes, Kye does seem to think Ash is more in danger since he's the one who actually put the things in motion to bring Barrett and Huxton down. But Barrett knows Kye started his downfall at least in stopping Rowland's poisoning and certainly sees that as a major betrayal from someone he thought he had well under his control.

hehe

Chapter 35 Oh, God. Where was he? I raced through the carnage in panic. So many. Bleeding. Dead. Where was he! Then I saw the cloaked figure who'd been the cause of it all. Laughing. Pointing his gun and aiming at another fleeing figure. I flinched at the loud shot. "No!" How could he? How could he kill so many innocent people? I swallowed as I noticed a familiar figure at the man's feet. Two familiar figures. Bleeding, eyes wide in death. Liam. Ash. Oh... Gods! "NO!"

Wow, what a great job delving into the mental breakdown of Ethan. The repetitions really help solidify that aspect.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAVE!