Firebird (The Firebird Trilogy #1) by Jennifer Loring Read Free Book Online Page A

it if she confessed. A meaningless kiss. A drunken indiscretion. “I’m going to bed. Good night.”
    Joe furrowed his brow. “What’s wrong, Steph?”
    “Nothing.”
    He shrugged and returned to his computer, granting her the mercy of not pushing the issue any further.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
    “Volynsky likes the good stuff! He splits the defensemen with a toe drag and goes top-shelf on the Blackhawks’ netminder. If you had any remaining doubts Aleksandr Volynsky is the best in the league, doubt no more.”
    Christ. Of all the things Joe could watch. He didn’t care about hockey, so he must have turned it on for her benefit. The irony.
    Stephanie slumped on the couch with a cup of coffee. The hangover had stopped curb-stomping her skull and dwindled in aggression to a minor thumping.
    “What’s going on, Steph? And don’t tell me ‘nothing.’ I’ve known you too long.”
    “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
    “Well we’re going to, because you’ve been acting weird since you got home last night.” Joe took the mug from her and set it on the coffee table so he could hold her hands. “You know you can tell me anything. Whatever it is, I’ll understand.”
    Stephanie combed her fingers through her hair. “No, you won’t.”
    “You don’t have a choice, so try me.”
    She scanned the room, searching for an escape route. An excuse. Anything. She trembled with the adrenaline surging through her veins. “Sometimes people find themselves in situations they never expected to be in. And they don’t see what’s coming.”
    “Did someone hurt you?” He cracked his knuckles. A dark thought flitted through her mind: Paint herself as Aleksandr’s victim. Let Joe have his macho fantasy.
    It sickened her more than telling him the truth.
    “No. I’m fine. Physically. You’re the one I’m worried about.”
    “You’re not making any sense.”
    “Last night at the bar, Aleksandr showed up.”
    “Volynsky?”
    She pursed her lips and gave him her most withering glare.
    “Sorry.”
    “I was drunk. He was too. Things got heated. And then…he kissed me.”
    “Wait.” He shook his head as if to clear his confusion. “What? You were arguing, and then he kissed you? Like, forced himself on you?” Red splotches crept up his neck into his cheeks. He was determined to believe Aleksandr had attacked her, assaulted her. There could be no other explanation, and she didn’t blame Joe for shutting out any other possibility. She’d be heartbroken if he confessed he’d kissed another woman.
    At least, she thought so.
    “No, Joe. I didn’t initiate it. I didn’t want anything to do with him.” Keep piling on the lies. Maybe she’d even start to believe them. “But I didn’t resist, either. Like I said, I’d been drinking.”
    “So, what, I have to go with you whenever there’s a happy hour? Keep an eye on you?”
    She studied his face for signs of sarcasm, but his expression revealed nothing.
    He took a slow sip of coffee. “Okay. The guy kissed you. You were drunk and didn’t put up a fight. Maybe that was for the best. I mean, if he was drunk too, he could’ve gotten violent.”
    That was her Joe. The rationalizer. The fixer. Aleksandr would be the sole perpetrator of this egregious sin.
    “Listen, I still have to get this interview with him, or Dave is going to fire me. But if it makes you uncomfortable…”
    “He could be intimidating you into letting the interview go. You said he seemed angry with you before, right? He could be trying to sabotage you.”
    It would be so much easier if Aleksandr were doing any of those things. Joe didn’t understand. Didn’t even know the worst of it. But let him believe what he needed to; she had no reason to make the situation worse. Not if he were willing to work through it, move past it, and hold her blameless. Besides, once Aleksandr did know the truth…well, that ought to solve everything. He’d never speak to