Page 52 of The Defiant Curse

Graham watched her take a cookie, and he reassured her.

“Elizabeth, we swear it’s not. We would never do anything like this and jeopardize our lives here. We were just as surprised when we took it out of the crate.”

She looked over at him with a scrunched-up brow, and Graham wasn’t quite sure what she was going to say. So, he held his breath.

“Elizabeth?” she asked. “Uh, where did the ‘mom’ go? I hope you find it again, and soon.”

It made him laugh.

“Sorry, Mom. I was gauging the room, and you looked ready to race for the door.”

Instead of saying anything, she else took a bite of the warm cookie, and it was delicious. In fact, she shoved the rest of it in her face.

Why?

She was accustomed to men stealing her food, and she wasn’t losing that cookie to anyone.

As soon as she did that, Graham laughed even more.

“Breathe. There’s about two dozen more in the oven. You’re good, Mom.”

Michael explained.

“We might steal her food a little too much,” he said, entertained by it. “We’ve trained her to inhale as quickly as possible.”

Well, that explained it.

Now, Graham felt like feeding her. The idea that she would give up her food for her ‘children’, meaning his husband…

It touched his heart. To have a mother like that was a true blessing. Now, he’d take care of her like she took care of D’Artangnan.

“If he reaches for these cookies, I’ll slap his hand,” he said, giving her the plate. “He will live without cookies.”

Michael faux-pouted.

“A guy needs a sweet treat, too.”

Elizabeth handed him one, proving she was definitely going to make sure her ‘kids’ were taken care of before herself.

That amused her.

“Thank you,” she said, taking it. “Are you sure this isn’t a prank?”

Both men shook their heads.

Before they could say anything, there was a loud bang behind them, and they all jumped.

When they turned, the picture that had been securely hung above the fireplace fell off the wall, and onto the mantle with a hellish crash.

“Jesus,” Michael said, his heart pounding.

Graham gasped.

“How the hell?” he asked.

Elizabeth shook her head.

Yeah, she wasn’t going there. For now, she wanted out of that room, and away from the painting of herself on the wall. The room had gotten chilly, and from past experiences, that told her something she didn’t like to think about.