Lucky In Love by Deborah Coonts Read Free Book Online

wolves around a herd of pigs.”
    Okay, not a metaphor I would have reached for, but it seemed to fit.
    Trey pointed an accusatory finger at the brunette. “Handy, who is this?”
    “My wife.”
    The bombshell exploded, rendering Trey Gold speechless. A rarity, if I could hazard a guess. Wild-eyed, he turned to me. “Is this true,” he sputtered, when he found his voice.
    I shrugged. “He should know.”
    Trey whirled on Handy’s supposed other half. “Vera?”
    She couldn’t look him in the eye. “All right, I paid him.”
    Trey blinked rapidly, as if that would help get his pea-brain around the problem. “I should throw you off the show. That’s a clear violation of the rules.”
    “What about my money?” Guy Handy whined.
    Vera shot him a lethal look. “Read your contract. You haven’t fulfilled your duties.”
    “You have a contract?” I couldn’t keep the incredulity out of my voice. “You put this in writing? You have a section spelling out ‘duties of the parties’?”
    Vera gave me a terrified look as reality hit her right between the eyes. “Very specifically.”
    “They say the devil is in the details.” I’d never write anything I didn’t want to see on the front page of the paper. “Serious damage control is in order.” I reached for my phone to alert my team.
    “I wouldn’t get involved, if I were you,” Trey said, through clenched teeth. “This is my show. And I’m sure you wouldn’t want the Babylon to be presented in an unsavory light, now, would you?”
    My hand dropped to my side, my fingers itching to circle his neck. “Is that a threat?”
    “Of course.”
    At least he was honest... a snake, comfortable in his skin.
    Dismissing me, the little reptile turned to Vera. “How’d you get around my investigators? They should’ve discovered your ruse.” I could almost hear the rusty cogs grinding in his tiny, self-serving, narcissistic mind.
    Vera gave him a look normally reserved for mongrel dogs. “Please, I run a Fortune 1000 corporation. Shuck and jive is part of the skill set.”
    If recent Wall Street shenanigans were any testament, I’d say she was stating the obvious, but I’m not sure I’d admit it.
    Since no one else seemed to be willing to pose the obvious question, I did. “Mrs. Handy, if you agreed to all of this, why are you here? Why now, so close to the end?”
    Blinking her huge doe-eyes, she seemed to shrink within herself as she ducked behind her husband again, hiding most of her body. “I’m pregnant.”
    For a moment Guy stood there, dumbstruck.
    I fought my smile at the tortured pun. And I fought the urge to make sure he understood the meaning of the word “pregnant.”
    Grabbing his wife at the waist, he picked her up and spun her around. She giggled, her hands on his shoulders. When he stopped twirling, he slid her down his body and wrapped her in a hug. Teddie used to do that to me, but I couldn’t remember the last time. There was a red flag in there somewhere, but I chose to ignore it.
    “People.” Trey clapped his hands like a kindergarten teacher trying to get a room of five-year-olds to focus. “Attention!”
    All heads swiveled his direction.
    “This is perfect,” he announced with glee. “Think about it.” Driven by an inner need to move, he began to pace. We all watched him going back and forth, like fans at a tennis tournament. “Folks, this is reality television at its finest.”
    “A train wreck,” I gasped, as reality hit. “You wouldn’t?”
    His face split by a huge grin, he nodded at me. “Oh, I would.”
    “I’ll sue,” Vera threatened, in a voice that left little doubt that sue was just a nice way of saying disembowel . She’d obviously found the page in the book we were all reading from.
    Trey waved her off. “Honey, read your contract.” Turning to the Handys, he said, “You two come with me. We need to strategize. You guys are going to be bigger than Snooki and the Situation.”
    Dollar signs in their