Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella) novel Chapter 834

Barnaby didn’t have high hopes. He glanced at Hull, voice low and doubtful, “You really think you’ll get something that important back?”

He half-expected Hull to call him an idiot. And sure enough, Hull gave him a look that could freeze a lake, like Barnaby had just asked if the sky was green. Feeling a little embarrassed, Barnaby turned to Silas for backup.

Silas just looked exhausted from dealing with this kind of nonsense. “I’ll take care of it right away,” Silas said, already heading for the door. “And tell Derek—if anything happens to my mother-in-law, he’s going to regret it.”

Derek hadn’t even bothered to show up in person today. He’d sent Adelle to brush Silas off instead. Hull hadn’t met Adelle, but he was just thinking it was time Derek got a wake-up call. Right on cue, Xander handed him a solution.

Three key locations—like the lifeblood connecting the East Side to Black Gate. If this didn’t shake something loose, Hull didn’t know what would. There was no way Black Gate would refuse to hand Lacey over now.

Silas left, and Susanna came in carrying a tray. “I brought you some cranberry juice and pancakes,” she said to Hull. “The pancakes here are really good, you should try them. And the cranberry juice is fresh.”

She barely touched her own food, stress showing in her eyes. Hull had warned her back on the plane: if she didn’t eat properly, he’d send her straight to stay with Stella and forbid her from interfering in her mother’s affairs. He wasn’t a man you said no to, and Susanna knew it. The last thing she wanted was to cross him and end up stuck with Star—she missed her, sure, but her mom mattered more right now.

Barnaby noticed the glass in Hull’s hand and blurted out, “Susie, the boss never drinks tart stuff like that.”

He instantly regretted it, catching Hull’s icy glare. That was his cue to shut up. Why did he always say the wrong thing? He slunk out, deciding he’d rather be anywhere else.

Once it was just Susanna and Hull, she looked up at him with big, worried eyes. “There’s only juice around here. I tried all of them, and honestly, the cranberry is the only one that tastes okay.”

The rest were terrible. Hull took a sip—tangy, sweet, and chilled with ice.

“Not bad,” he said, cracking a rare smile. “You’re actually looking after people now, huh?”

The pressure mounted from all sides, and Black Gate was in chaos. Lottie, especially, wasn’t playing around—she sent her people straight to take over Slatepeak Mines.

Derek got the news and, for once, his usual favoritism didn’t matter. He called Dan and Finch to Blacktower in the middle of the night, dragged Adelle in too.

“Which one of you took Susanna?” Derek growled, teeth clenched.

He’d had a terrible afternoon, one disaster after another, and now he was seriously losing his temper. “And Lacey—who the hell took Lacey? If you want her dead, just tell me. I want the truth, right now!”

He slammed his palm on the desk with every word, the sound echoing through the tense, silent study.