Ring of Lies by Victoria Howard Read Free Book Online Page A

month.
     
    ‘ How can you be so sure ? Yo u’ve just admitted he lied to you. ’
     
    ‘ Because— ’ She was about to say I trusted him , but she knew that was no longer true .
     
    ‘ The first thing I learned about my job is always expect the unexpected. That way when your world turns from sugar to shit you’re prepared for the worst. ’
     
    Grace stared at him, trying to see past the cold eyes. ‘ When did you become a cynic, Jack? ’
     
    ‘ Maybe I’ve always been one. ’
     
    ‘ I don’t believe that. ’
     
    ‘ There’s too much history between us , Grace . You should hire a private detective and let him investigate this for you. ’
     
    Her hands clenched. ‘ I can’t. I couldn’t trust a stranger. Besides, I need to do this for me. ’
     
    ‘ Last June when — when— ’
     
    ‘ Yes? ’
     
    ‘ Oh, n othing. It doesn’t matter. ’ He gave a fake shrug and threw some bills on the table , t hen stood and pushed his hands in his pockets. ‘ Come on. It’s t ime I took you back to your hotel. ’
     
    Grace picked up her purse and fol lowed him out of the café. It was only when they reached the steps of her hotel that he spoke again.
     
    ‘ You’ve got your room key? ’
     
    She nodded. ‘ Would you like to come in for a coffee? ’
     
    Jack’s dark eyebrows rose. ‘ What? ’
     
    ‘ I’m sorry. I just meant coffee. I didn’t mean — ’ She saw the flash of impatience on his face , and suddenly felt embarrassed.
     
    ‘ Yeah , t hat’s right. I almost forgot. You don’t always mean what you say. I’ll see you tomorrow at one-thirty . He spun round and stormed towards his car.
     
    Grace stood on the marble steps and watched h im drive away. Twin spots of scarlet stained her cheeks.
     

CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Jack climbed into the Explorer and gunned the engine. He glanced in the review mirror. Grace stood on the hotel steps watching him.
     
    Damn it! I don’t need this!
     
    He sped out of the car park onto Collins Avenue and nearly collided with a red Mustang. The driver sounded his horn and yelled obscenities . Jack ignored him . He couldn’t face going back to the condo and whatever awaited him there , i nstead he drove north.
     
    Agreeing to help Grace had been a bad idea , a real bad idea. Hear ing the pain in her soft voice made h im want to pull her into his arms and hold her until the sorrow went away. But that would be stupid. He ’d watched her struggle for composure and knew that one kind word from him would make her collapse like a marionette with cut strings.
     
    He should have walk ed away, l eft her to sort out her own problems, but he c ouldn’t.
     
    He’d been attracted to her from the moment of their first meeting . That hadn’t changed, and he wondered if it ever would. Whether it was her eager smile and easy-going manner, her radiant vitality or the gleam in her eyes that had caught his attention , he couldn’t say for sure. But his instinctive response to her had been so powerful that he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind since .
     
    His instincts told him that he had too much to lose . Hi s life was with Rosa and his beautiful baby daughter , not chasing after half forgotten dreams and desires.
     
    Rosa. He’d never intended her to be a permanent fixture in his life . He certainly didn’t love her , not in the way a man should love his partner . And cert ainly not enough to marry her.
     
    But Emilia , she was different. Nothing could have prepared him for the surge of love and joy he’d felt when the nurse placed her in his arms. She was so beautiful—so perfect —with her cap of wispy black hair and big blue eyes . He’d watched her take her first breaths and knew that he’d lay down his life to keep her safe.
     
    S he was only a few weeks old and already bore a strong resemblance to his elder sister, Charlotte, who by all accounts, had broken every teenage boy’s heart by the time she was