Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella)

Inside Hull's country house.

Susanna Tucker had been running a high fever, and it had left Hull absolutely

exhausted. It wasn't until around six in the evening that she finally drifted awake,

groggy and disoriented.

Hull was standing by the window, speaking on the phone, his voice low and tense.

Susanna couldn't make out what was being said on the other end.

He glanced at the watch on his wrist, then spoke coldly into the phone,

"Everything's set."

"Tell Mrs. Tucker I need to see her. No excuses."

With that, he ended the call without waiting for a reply.

He turned and caught Susanna's gaze-her eyes were glassy and dazed, like she

was still only half-awake.

"You're up?"

Susanna gave a weak nod, still feeling like she'd been run over by a truck.

Hull walked over to the bed and pressed a hand to her forehead. "Fever's mostly

gone."

A woman with a fever, he thought, could really be a handful.

Susanna looked up at him, wide-eyed and anxious. "That call just now... When

you said Mrs. Tucker, did you mean my mom?"

Just mentioning her mother made worry flicker in Susanna's eyes.

Everything she thought she knew about her life had been turned upside down in

the past few days. And there was no one who could really help her now.

Black Gate what even was that place? Some kind of shadowy organization?

Hull nodded. "Yeah."

Susanna pressed, "What did you talk about?"

Hull hesitated, his lips pressed in a thin line.

Susanna's heart started pounding, the silence making her more anxious.

Hull finally said, "Don't stress out too much. The conflict between your mom and

Black Gate isn't life or death. They're not out to kill her."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Hull sighed. "It's just... complicated."

"Complicated how?"

"Yeah." Hull nodded, looking tired. "Some of Black Gate's old secrets are tough to

dig up. But I managed."

Susanna frowned. "What kind of complicated?"

Hull looked her in the eye. "Your dad... He's the father of the current head of

Black Gate."

Susanna blinked. "Wait-what?"

Her dad... was the father of Black Gate's current boss?

"No way. Are you serious?"

She'd grown up believing her dad was dead. Now he'd just what, crawled out of

the ground?

Hull's face was serious. "I'm serious."

Susanna gaped at him. "So then, me and the boss of Black Gate are...?"

"Half-siblings," Hull said quietly.

Susanna's mouth dropped open.

"Hold up, you're telling me I suddenly have not just a dad, but a brother, too?"

She'd been an only child her whole life, and now this? Just like that, she had

family popping out of the woodwork?

Hull shrugged. "Not just a brother. You've got two sisters, too."

Susanna just stared at him.

"So... it's a whole crowd, huh?"

She tried to process it. "Then why did he take my mom? And at the airport, he

looked ready to murder me!"

No wonder Hull had said it was complicated.

Hull explained, "When your mom left years ago, she took half of Black Gate's map

"with her."

Susanna frowned. "Half a map?"

Hull nodded.

"And... what about that man?" she

asked quietly. Her father, apparently.

"You really think he's even alive? And

if your research is right... why do I

get this feeling he never cared about

my mom?"

Hull looked at her for a long

moment. He decided she deserved

the whole truth. Things inside Black

Gate were a mess, and Susanna's

situation was even more tangled

than he'd thought.

"When your mom took over Black

Gate, the organization was falling

apart, inside and out. Your dadnoveldrama

decided to step back... but there was

more to it."

"Why?" Susanna asked.

"He had someone else he wanted to protect. More than anything."

Susanna's heart squeezed painfully. "You mean the mother of those other

three?"

Hull nodded solemnly.

Susanna just stared, stunned, her world shifting under her feet, again.