She instinctively tried to pull her hand away from the man''s grip.


    But Xander just tightened his hold.


    Yvonne shot him a look. "What are you doing?"


    "Checking your ring size," Xander replied, totally matter-of-fact.


    Yvonne stared at him, speechless. Was this guy for real?


    "You nning to buy me a ring or something?"<fneeb0> Th? link to the orig?n of this information r?sts ?n find?novel</fneeb0>


    "You should have one," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.


    Yvonne scoffed. "Now''s really not the time to talk about this, in case you haven''t noticed I''m stressed out of my mind."


    All because of Susanna.


    "I mean, seriously, what the hell are they thinking, keeping Susanna hidden when things are this bad? Are they trying to get themselves killed?"


    Because of their side''s attitude, some local groups in Litamark who never dared go up against the ck Gate before were starting to make moves. If they didn''t hand over Susanna soon, the whole ck Gate could fall apart.


    And yet, they were still refusing to give her up. What the hell were they made of, steel?


    "Maybe they do have a death wish," Xander replied, sounding casual but with something hidden underneath.


    Yvonne nced at him, trying to figure him out, but came up empty. "So what am I supposed to say to Hull, then?"


    This was beyond infuriating.


    Xander just smiled a little. "Why don''t you ask your brother Ronald how to exin it?"


    "Why him?"


    "Let him deal with it!" Xander said bluntly.


    Right now, Xander was convinced Susanna was with Ronald, and he almost felt


    bad for Yvonne, getting all worked up here. God knows what Ronald was really up to.


    Yvonne looked totally lost. "Let Ronald deal with Hull? You think he wouldn''t just take it out on me?"


    Ugh, this was such a mess. Why did things have to turn out like this? She felt like she was about to explode.


    She finally jerked her hand free from Xander''s. "Enough, alright? Stop looking at my hand, I''m already stressed enough."


    No sooner had she said it than she felt a wave of nausea hit her. She figured it must be the stress-her stomach had been knots for days now. If she got any more anxious, she''d probably develop an ulcer.


    She pressed a hand to her mouth, fighting the urge to throw up.


    Meanwhile, Ste was half-asleep in Ronald''s arms. She''d been seriously tiredtely, ever since she got pregnant-honestly, she could fall asleep right after a bite of grilled Cheese. Gontent


    Suddenly, her phone buzzed on the nightstand, jolting her awake.


    "Ron, your phone."


    Even when half-conscious, she still called him "Ron," which told Ronald she was definitely out of it.


    He pressed his lips together, nced at the caller ID, and answered in a clipped tone: "Yeah, what is it?"


    It was Xander. Ronald never had much patience for him, so his voice was pretty


    icy.


    "You and Hull working some kind of angle?" Xander asked, no beating around the bush.


    "What angle?" Ronald shot back.


    Xander paused. "You know what I mean."


    "Not really. You''re not making any sense."


    Xander was getting frustrated. What did he mean, not making sense?


    From the bathroom, the sound of retching drifted over. Xander''s face darkened. "Listen, your sister is in Litamark right now, stressed out to the point she''s throwing up!"


    Ronald was silent.


    Xander continued, his patience wearing thin. "If Susanna''s with you, don''t you think you should at least tell Yvonne?"


    He was seriously annoyed now, especially after seeing Yvonne so sick-she''d obviously lost weight


    since she arrived in Litamark. H


    hadn''t noticed before, but the way she''d been throwing up today made it clear: Yvonne was under way more pressure than anyone realized.