Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) Read Free Page B

doorstep late last Friday night had jarred him a
bit. After examining the animal and gleaning a bit more from being in her
presence, he could now see what should have been more than apparent to him when
he first opened the door. She’d been extremely upset, and not just because of
what happened to the animal. Something else caused the anger, hurt, and
betrayal to seep from her pores, shimmering above her in luminescent waves.
               
The new, young protégé of the deceased Linda Browning was a twenty five year
old newcomer into the world of horrendously wealthy, diabolically smug
socialites. In Texas, wealth was only frowned on when you were newly minted by
its clutches. But along those same lines, it was forgivable if you were thrown
headlong into the fray. In Nadia’s position, Drake knew that it was pure
jealousy and back biting arrogance that was giving her nothing but hell ever
since she had taken over the reigns of Linda’s business.
               
Apparently Linda had seen something-some bright, focused light inside the young
woman that cemented the decision in her mind to move her up in the world. At
twenty-four, Nadia became president, numero uno , over the brain center of The Browning Corporation. She
worked her way up since the age of eighteen, and now, in turn, ran a huge
corporation that managed three magazines; two boutiques, one in Beaumont, the
other in Houston; and numerous charity organizations. Not to mention, it kept
her in a state of luxury that continued to amaze the young woman that came from
a lower class working family.
               
The will hadn’t been that shocking, at least not in Drake’s estimation, and he
knew that the job was more than a handful. But the ever resourceful and
determined Nadia could make anything run smoothly.
                When they first moved to Texas, back when Nadia was twelve,
her father, Matt Morales, worked for him until the day of his and his wife’s
death when Nadia was a green sixteen year old. Matt had been one of the
best accountants that Drake ever employed, and upon his death, Drake had kept
an eye on the young and impressionable girl that was left all alone then
shipped off to a foster home, but he never forced himself in her life.
               
At the age of eighteen, right out of high school, Drake pulled a few strings with
Linda, promising her that he would find someone perfect to be the assistant to
Linda’s personal secretary. He’d gotten Nadia the interview, without her
knowledge, and from then on anything that caught Linda’s eye had been all
Nadia.
               
Now sitting here, suffering through this fanfare event, Drake listened to the
gossipy hens on the far side of the ballroom, and was sick to his stomach at
what had surely caused that hurt, painful stamp around Nadia’s aura the other
night. She was a lovely young woman, brimming with drive and fire, and he only
hoped she could come back from that pain and move beyond it.
               
Now he would just have to contain the urge to rip Donavan Hamilton’s limbs from
his body the next time he saw the bastard.

Chapter
2
     
     
               
The hot Texas sun beat down on Nadia’s uncovered head as she sat beside a
clearly upset Franco Magana in the outside corner of a trendy downtown
restaurant. The establishment’s high walls halfway protected the wealthy
clientele from the press, but just twenty minutes ago their waiter had to call
the police to pull a photographer from the tree beside Nadia’s table.
               
The madness was already beginning.
               
The man was raving about trying to get a picture of the elusive “ice princess,”
as Nadia was being called now.
               
She sunk her fingers into the muscles around her neck, trying to ease the
tension away. The model she used for high profile shoots like these hadn’t
shown up this morning, which