Shattered (36 page)

He is everything I want.

He is everything I need.

There is nothing I wouldn’t give. Nothing
I wouldn’t do.

My heart is his.

He is my soul mate, my all.

Through life, through death, I will
always choose him.

-forever his.

I couldn’t get the
five-year-old journal entry out of my head tonight. I was so in love with him
then. With a picture. With an idea of a person as brilliant as he. He was the
perfect blend of suave, genius, and evil. I used to dream about him every
night. In the dreams, he would steal me from my bed like. I left my window
unlocked for years, but it never happened.

Turned out, Deerfield,
Michigan was the safest place in the world for a panther family. There wasn’t a
hunter for miles, and big-time agents never had their sights on the unassuming
place. And the people didn’t see or believe anything, even things thrown right
in their faces. I’d shifted several times at school, only for animal control to
tighten its security and the good ‘ole townspeople to come together and set
traps.

But I got out of Deerfield. I
climbed my way to the top. To him. And for what?!

“For her to take him from
me!” I screamed. The maids watching me pace in Kamon’s study jumped. Only three
of them had stayed in his home since the news of his death. The rest had gotten
their crap and jumped on the first thing smoking out of this place.

“Remi,” Carter said. His
voice made me shiver. With my eyes closed, he sounded just like his father.
“Calm down.”

“If you would’ve let me go in
there-”

“You would’ve died. You’re
welcome.” He poured his father’s brandy into a tumbler and met me in front of
the fireplace. “Drink.” I tossed it all back in one gulp, and he smiled.
“That’s it. Relax. We can come back from this. I need you to trust me. Everyone
knows that I called the shots with my father. I told him who to kill, what
moves to make. The old man hadn’t had a clear vision in years.”

“If you were his eyes, why
didn’t you see tonight?”

He smiled and stared into the
fire. “My inheritance was split three ways … from a man who never planned to
die. Are you sure I didn’t see it?”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Let me not insult Kamon’s
grieving widow. My apologies, Remi. I was only kidding.” His sneaky little
smile made me unsure of which of his statements was a joke–insinuating
that he’d let his father die or the apology. But he’d called me Kamon’s widow.
That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me.

He refilled my glass without
moving or taking his eyes from mine. If I had to choose one of the triplets to
be standing here with, it would be Carter. He was the strongest, my teacher, and
the most like his father. The other two hated me actually.

“Whatever you’re planning,” I
said. “It better include Christine’s head.”

“But of course, Ms. Vaughn.”
He snickered at my title, the one he’d told me I would get when I was down and
out and living in a cell after stabbing Christine. He’d let me out. Said I had
potential. Said I could make his father love me still.

It took everything in me not
to fall to my knees and scream for my love. I stayed on my feet and smirked at
Carter.

“We can take her head,” he
said. “That is the way her family prefers to die. We can decorate this place
with all of their heads if you’d like, Ms. Vaughn.”

“Very much so,” I said, then
tossed another glass back in one swallow.

That girl was mine.

####

From the Author

Thank you so much for reading Shattered, Book Three of the Hidden
Series. I hope you enjoyed it.
Read, rate, discuss
. There will be one
more book in this series. Stay tuned. Thanks again!

About the Author

M.
Lathan
lives in San Antonio with her
husband and mini-schnauzer. She enjoys writing and has a B.S. in Psych and a
Masters in Counseling. Her passion is a blend of her two interests –
creating new worlds and stocking them with crazy people. She enjoys reading anything
with interesting characters and writing in front of a window while asking
rhetorical questions … like her idol Carrie Bradshaw. Visit
mlathan.com
for
more information and extras!

Other titles by M.
Lathan
:

Hidden (Hidden
Series Book One)

Lost
(Hidden Series Book Two)