Living on the Edge by Susan Mallery Read Free Book Online Page A

chew fast enough.
    Tanner returned with a bottle of water and set it next to her plate. She nodded her thanks but didn’t stop eating. It was only after she’d finished the serving of pasta and reached for the salad that she glanced at him.
    â€œSorry to be such a pig.”
    â€œDon’t sweat it.” He took the seat opposite hers and served himself some pasta. “Why didn’t you eat while you were kidnapped? Did you think a hunger strike would get their attention?”
    She shrugged, choosing not to read any criticism into his words. “I never planned on avoiding food. For the first couple of days I was too scared to eat. Every time I tried, it wouldn’t stay down. Eventually I was able to handle very small portions. A half a slice of toast in the morning. A cup of soup in the afternoon. Some people eat more when they’re stressed—I eat less. Those people didn’t believe me when I told them. They threatened to feed me themselves, using force, but it never came to that.”
    He studied her as she spoke. She would love to know what he was thinking, but then again, maybe not. Tanner had made it clear she wasn’t his favorite person on the planet. Why hear more of the same?
    They ate in silence. She had two servings of salad and three of pasta. When she’d finished, she leaned back in her chair and sighed.
    â€œBetter?” he asked.
    She nodded. “Much. Thanks for cooking. You did a great job.”
    He smiled again. “Yeah, I can boil up pasta better than almost anyone.”
    The humor intrigued her. So far, her host had been all business. The smile softened his expression and added light to his eyes. It almost made him approachable. He was still dangerous, but it was nice to know there was a regular person under all that killer edge.
    â€œI have some questions,” he said. “I want to get as much information on your ex-husband as possible. The more you tell me, the more it will help with the investigation.”
    â€œAbsolutely. I’ll tell you everything.”
    The smile faded as if it had never existed and the warrior returned. He grabbed a notepad from the counter.
    â€œStart at the beginning,” he said. “Where did you and Hilliard meet?”

Chapter 5
    â€œM y father brought Christopher home for dinner one evening,” Madison said. “They’d met at a conference. Christopher was very impressive. His parents had been killed while he was still in graduate school, but he’d managed to get his Ph.D. and run the family firm at the same time. My father admired his talent, his work ethic.”
    Tanner scribbled some notes. “What did you admire?”
    â€œExcuse me?”
    â€œYou married the guy. You must have liked something you saw.”
    Right. Of course. Madison considered the question and wondered how to answer it. For her, those days were a lifetime ago. Maybe someone else’s lifetime.
    â€œI was a different person back then,” she said slowly. Tension filled her body. Rather than sit and feel awkward, she stood and began to clear the table. “Different things impressed me. Christopher was smart and charming and sophisticated. He swept me off my feet. We were engaged two months after we met, and married three months after that. I didn’t get to know the real man until sometime later.”
    â€œWho is the real man?”
    Nothing in Tanner’s voice gave away what he was thinking. Madison rinsed the dishes and loaded the dishwasher as she tried to form an answer.
    How could she explain what was only a feeling?
    â€œHe has a dark side. He likes to gamble. He could drop a million dollars at a table and not even blink. He also has a temper. He can fly into a rage without warning.” She was careful to speak without actually dwelling on the past. She didn’t want to disappear into those memories.
    â€œPeople tended to cross him only one time. He made sure they didn’t