Deadly Deception (Deadly Series) by Andrea Johnson Beck Read Free Book Online Page A

pieces at her bare feet. This wasn’t real; it was one of her crazy dreams. She would reach out to him and he would fade away in to the night air. Then she would wake up to a tear-stained pillow and haunting memories.
    Extending her hand slowly, she could feel her muscles become rigid. Her trembling hand reached the curve of his jaw. Her fingertips felt the heat from his skin. He was here, standing before her in flesh and blood. Tears sprung from her eyes and she launched herself into his outstretched arms.
    “Carter, is this real?”
    His arms enfolded around her as she wept in his embrace.
    “Yes, my Anneliese, this is real. I’m here,” Carter whispered into her tangled strands.
    He placed a kiss on the top of her head, inhaling her lilac scent. She clutched onto the back of his sweatshirt, practically clawing at him. She couldn’t consume his presence fast enough. Her mind rapidly spun; his warmth enraptured her. But then her reality snapped back into place. Pulling away, she peered up at him wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
    “Oh my god, I can’t believe this! What the hell?” Anne stammered.
    Carter bent down to kiss her lips but Anne quickly backed away. When doing so, her right foot stabbed through a shard of broken glass. Screaming from the excruciating pain, she began to lose her balance. Carter quickly grabbed her arm, pulling her up in to him.
    “Let’s get you inside.”
    He cradled her quivering body into his arms as he opened the screen door that lead into the dimly lit cabin.
    “I’m losing my mind or I need to dump that wine!” 
    Carter placed her on the gleaming brown granite, placing the open wound into the sink. The gash was oozing blood into the steel basin, causing a small stream to flow down the drain. Carter grabbed a yellow dish towel and turned on the faucet. Anne let out a shriek, for her heart was pounding in her heel.
    “I’m sorry. I’m trying to stop the bleeding.” Carter was holding the dish towel to clot the gash. “Why the hell were you out there with just a shirt on and no shoes? It’s thirty-five degrees out there!”
    Anne was in disbelief. He had been missing, presumed dead for the past three years. He shows up on her fiancé’s deck alive and now he was going to stand there and lecture her about proper dress code.
    “W-what the hell is going on? You’re supposed to be dead.”
    She yanked the dish towel from his hands, holding it on the clotting puncture wound. Carter moved closer to her.
    “Sorry to disappoint you, Anneliese. I know this is confusing for you.”
    “Confusing? That’s an understatement, Carter!”
    Tying the towel around her foot, she jumped down onto the hardwood floor. She winced at the pain that shot through her swollen foot and up her leg.
    “Where have you been?” Anne asked through gritted teeth.
    Carter paused for a second, searching to find the right words, the best explanation to ease his love’s tortured soul.
    “I just couldn’t stay away from you any longer. There’s so much I want to say, so much I want to tell you. Once I heard you were engaged to Adam I couldn’t…”
    “Wait, how did you know about that?”
    Anne took a step toward Carter, holding his dark gaze.
    “He’s not who you think he is, Anneliese.”
    “That’s ironic for you because I thought I knew you too but I guess not! How could you do this to me, to your mother! Oh my god! Have you seen her, Carter? She is a mess! I was a mess when you disappeared.” Broken cries fell from her lips. “My heart died, my world came crashing down around me!” Her irises were black with fury. “Do you even care? Do you?!?!”
    “Yes! Why do you think I’m here?”
    Carter launched back, his face turning a deep shade of crimson.
    “I loved you! And you left me. Why? I want to know why!”
    Anne pounded her tightly clenched fists at his chest. Carter grabbed her hands, securing them forcefully behind the small of her back.
    “Stop it! Listen to