Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“If not, I could always take it off.” He started to let the garment drop from his shoulders.
“No.”
“No?” He stuck out his lip as he pulled it back up.
“Not now.”
“That’s better. I’ll save that for later.”
“Sit down.” I gestured toward the chair on the other side of the small table. “Have some breakfast.” As he did so, I picked up a coffee cup, filled it, then added cream and sugar.
When I held it out to him, he laid a hand on his chest. “You know how I like my coffee?”
“I watch people. It’s a useful habit in my line of work.”
“Thank you.”
I tensed. I hadn’t realized it was such a big deal to him. I wanted to object to his thanks. Instead, I said, “You’re welcome.”
He took a plate and chose a pastry and some bacon while I poured my own coffee.
“You take yours black, right?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Yes. Except on the rare occasion when I indulge in a cappuccino.”
He frowned. “That’s not much of an indulgence. You should have one every morning.”
“Too much fuss. I got used to traveling a lot and taking whatever coffee I could get.”
“Just because you were used to it doesn’t mean you have to deny yourself now. You can have anything you want.”
If only that was true. “No, I can’t.”
“But—”
“Let me worry about my coffee habits. That’s not what we need to talk about now. There are lots of things I didn’t tell you about Lisa.”
He startled and looked up. “You’re ready to tell me more?”
“Yes. She wasn’t just a bitch who cheated on me and betrayed me, the story is a lot worse than that, but the main thing you need to know is that she’s the one who wants you—and me—dead. That’s why X sent you here.”
His eyes widened, and he made a strangled noise. “What?”
“The woman you saw talking to the senior partners was Lisa.”
“No way. She’s the one sending inferior medicines out? She’s the one who…?”
“All of it. She’s the one leading the whole enterprise.”
He reached out and took my hand. “I’m so sorry.”
His reaction startled me. I thought he’d be angry or at least freaked out. Why was he comforting me? “That I didn’t track her down? That I didn’t find her and kill her as soon as I was able to?”
He frowned. “No, that she hurt you. And now she’s hurting you again—and a lot more people.”
“She’s spent her whole life hurting people. And I haven’t done a fucking thing to stop her.” I squeezed my eyes shut as pain cut off my ability to breathe. I wasn’t sure if it was psychological or physical, but it felt real as hell.
“Dom, are you okay?”
“No.” I made myself look at him.
“At least you were honest this time.”
His words forced a laugh from me. Damn, he was so unexpectedly fucking refreshing. This was ridiculous. I wasn’t going to turn into a sap over a man like my sons had.
“I convinced myself she had what she wanted after she left me. I thought she would take her money and go live a nice life on an island somewhere. At least I wanted to believe that.”
“Why would she come back now, and how did she get involved in something so disgusting?” Corey asked.
“I assume she ran out of money or met the right person to be a partner in a new scheme. Maybe she got herself in trouble and needed to do someone a favor, though I doubt it. I’ve never met anyone as slick as her, and if you think I’m cold, she makes me seem like summer in the tropics.”
Corey set down the piece of bacon he’d been about to bite into. “What else happened? What did you keep back last night?”
I could tell from the look on his face that he knew it was bad. I would get there, but I had to move into it slowly. I refilled my coffee cup before I spoke. “I told you our marriage was more of a business arrangement than anything else, but I never suspected Lisa was evil, despite knowing how to observe people and determine when they were lying. She played the vapid rich wife so fucking well. And now I know she loved the number she did on me. I was…legendary in some circles. Never been caught. Never made a mistake.”
“Shit. You missed who she was when she was right there every day. I know you have to hate that so much.”
His words hurt but I didn’t let him see it. He was mostly right. “I spent as much time away from her as I could. I was still taking contracts and traveling nearly nonstop. We were apart more than we were together, but I forgot my number one rule: always watch your back.”
17
COREY
Why had Dom let himself be miserable? “That doesn’t sound like a very fun way to live.”