My Sister's Shoes (Little Black Box, Book 1) by Cherrie Mack Read Free Book Online Page B

Allie was determined to teach Adrienne a lesson and start by accomplishing the task Angelo set before her. She pushed her chair away from the table and got up to stretch. Bringing the fruit bowl to the counter, she washed her tea cup. When her thoughts sought to wreak havoc on her mood, she bit down on her top lip. Damn it! She would stop her thoughts even if she made her lip bleed.
    “You okay?”
    She jumped at the sound of Angelo’s voice. “Shit! Do you always have to sneak up on me? Can’t you call first?” She turned around and her anger fizzled. She smiled at the sight of him. He wore a black bandanna around his head with a white fitted sweatshirt that fell loose around his waist and black sweats. Angelo reached over her shoulder and grabbed some grapes from the fruit bowl. He threw them in the air and caught them with his mouth.
    As he chewed, he garbled, “This isn’t a date, and I’m not calling on you.”
    She leaned against the granite countertop and folded her arms. “I didn’t say it was a date. Besides, you and I?” She pointed back and forth between them. “We wouldn’t date.”
    “Why not? Don’t think I’m good enough for ya?”
    She pushed off the counter. “I didn’t say that. Let’s go. I want to get this over with.” She grabbed her cell phone and turned it to the off position, when he grabbed her elbow.
    “Wait just a minute. You started this, and I want to know why you think we wouldn’t date.”
    Allie’s brows went up. She was unprepared for the question. If he would have asked her when they initially met, she would have been able to give him a laundry list of reasons, but now she was—blank.
    “Well,” she stammered, “you must have wings somewhere, no?”
    He narrowed his eyes until they were slits and pursed his lips. When he moved his mouth from side to side, Allie wanted to throw her arms around him and laugh. He was such a little boy inside that incredible body. “Come on. Let’s go,” she said. They walked out of the apartment, and Allie stopped to stretch her limbs.
    “Allie. I think you are avoiding my question because you want to spare my feelings. Is it the nose ring? Too many tattoos for ya?” He curled both arms up and made his biceps jump. She started walking down the hall when he pointed to his head. “Is it my long hair?”
    “Why do you think it’s anything physical to begin with? Maybe it’s your sparkling personality or your pompous attitude. Maybe it stems from putting me in a fucking maid’s uniform. What? I’m not worthy of the Cinderella treatment?”
    She hit the button for the elevator. She watched him stare at her. “ Let’s go.”
    “That’s it, isn’t it? You feel unworthy.”
    “ You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “Of course. Why didn’t I see it before? You were left out of Gregory’s will, yet another reason you feel unworthy.”
    “No! I don’t. I will not talk about this. It’s none of your business.”
    He followed her inside the elevator. “Oh, I beg to differ.” As the doors closed and the car descended, Angelo lifted his arm into the air and waved his hand, bringing the car to a jolting stop.
    “Hey! You get this elevator moving.”
    “No. Not until you hear what I have to say.”
    “Just keep in mind that I’m claustrophobic.”
    Angelo crowded her into the corner and placed his hands on the rails. “Gregory Chadwick knocked up Trudy Peters one drunken night at a resort for singles in Cabo San Lucas. It was before his web business grew into a multi-million dollar enterprise. Trudy wanted nothing to do with Gregory. At the time, he was a lowly executive with a dream. She moved on to the richest man at the resort, Guy Monroe. Fortunately for Trudy, he fell hard. He was then made to believe he was Adrienne’s father. And for the record, Adrienne thought Guy Monroe was her daddy too. Until the truth came out. Can you imagine how she must have felt when all those years together amounted to his