Merediths Awakening by Violet Summers Page A

clothes and run distracted fingers through her hair.
    “I need to call Matt,” she concluded, and he reluctantly surrendered her phone. She refused to meet his eyes as she hit yet another number on speed dial, and added “and I need to get to my car.”
    His refusal was instinctive and instant. He’d claimed her, and now she was pulling away. The animal in him, the part that hadn’t progressed much beyond the primordial ooze, was roaring at him to keep her, bind her, never let her go. The reasoning man had a bloody battle on his hands, trying to consider what his woman needed from him.
    In the end, he knew he had to let her go. Forcing her to stay would undo every bit of trust he’d built over the last twenty-four hours, and if something really was wrong with her brother, she’d never forgive him.
    Resigned, he pulled on his jeans and a t-shirt while he listened to her on the phone with the other brother.
    “I don’t know what’s wrong, Matt. I just know he yelled at me, and he’s not answering either of his phones.” By the time Meredith was telling Matt she’d wait for his call, Tony was leading her downstairs and boosting her into his truck.
    She didn’t look at him, or even speak until they pulled into the construction site and he parked next to her Saab. She started to climb out of the truck without a word, and he caught her arm, compelling her eyes with his.
    “We aren’t anywhere near through, Princess.” He hated the grit in his voice, but he was desperate to keep her.
    “We have to be through, Tony.” She laid one slim, soft hand on his bristly cheek. “I can’t afford you.”
    Slipping free of his grasp she slid out of the truck. She was already on the phone again as she pulled out of the parking lot, taking a good portion of his heart with her.
    He didn’t know how long he sat there, staring blankly into the construction site when he saw the shadow flicker in his peripheral vision, but he seized on the distraction like the lifeline it was.
    * * * *
     
    Meredith sat at Marcus’ desk, hands pressed to the polished mahogany, and stared blankly around the room. Worthington had always been her solace, her tower of comfort when life got too overwhelming or scary.
    Today, the Worthington magic was absent.

    She thought about Marcus, his need for control, his relentless dedication to the company. Pulling this sort of disappearing act was so incredibly out of character for him that she didn’t know what to think. Dropping her head back onto the rich leather chair, she closed her eyes. Matthew hadn’t been able to find him, only an unlocked door and a mess of food flung around the kitchen. Meredith didn’t know what to think, what to do.
    All she could do was hope Marcus was okay. That he was safe, and Matthew would find some clue to where he’d gone.
    Trying to distract herself from her worry, she let her thoughts wander to Tony.
    Unfortunately, that subject was every bit as troubling. She tried to focus on the foolishness of getting involved, if that’s what they were even doing, with him. There were so many stumbling blocks. He was an employee of her family’s company. He engaged in sexual practices she’d spent the last five years condemning. He brought out emotions and impulses in her that left her both exhilarated and terrified.
    But, God, for every negative, her traitorous body and fragile heart came up with a positive. He was ambitious and driven. He made her body sing in ways no other man ever had. He made her smile, and fight, and feel alive for the first time in five long, barren years.
    Huffing out a sigh, Meredith ran shaky fingers through her spiky hair. She felt totally helpless. There was nothing she could do about Marcus, and there was nothing she could bring herself to do about Tony. She hadn’t been kidding when she’d told him she couldn’t afford him. He shattered her control, and without it Meredith didn’t think she would be strong enough to survive.
    Shaking her head