Shades of Temptation by Virna Depaul Read Free Book Online Page A

familiar suffocating pressure in her
chest.
    “Mrs. Porter, you don’t want to do this. Please believe me, I
think of Kevin every day—”
    Anger and grief radiated from the woman’s furrowed face, and
she spit at Carrie with erratic aim, managing to hit her chin and collar. Carrie
stood in stunned silence, wanting nothing more than to crawl into a hole and
die.
    “Jesus Christ!” Jase stepped in front of Carrie, forcing Martha
Porter to step away. “Back off, lady. Now.”
    The woman leaned around Jase and pointed her finger at Carrie.
“You don’t have the right to say his name. My grandson. I raised him…my baby…”
With her final words, the woman’s face collapsed, and she started sobbing.
    “Martha!” An elderly man rushed toward them and put his arm
around her. He was being followed by a portly man in a navy suit whose briefcase
bounced against his legs as he hurried to reach the elderly couple.
    “Shh. It’s okay, Martha. Let’s go in now. Don’t you worry now.
It’s going to be okay.” The first man led Martha Porter away, shooting a deadly
look over his shoulder at Carrie.
    The man in the suit stopped to catch his breath. “I’m sorry.
We’re meeting someone here. She’s upset…. I’m sorry.” The man twirled around and
followed the elderly couple into a building a few doors down from McGill’s.
    The street was eerily quiet. Acutely aware of Jase’s gaze on
her, Carrie raised a trembling hand to her chin and wiped the spit away. She
couldn’t do anything about the coffee staining the front of her until she got
home. Struggling to remain standing, she closed her eyes and took in several
shaking breaths, trying to stave off the panic attack. The stack of files she’d
been carrying slipped out of her hand, dumping papers across the sidewalk.
    Jase cursed softly, but she was barely aware of him. Her
breaths were loud even to her own ears, puffing in and out of her in quick,
rhythmic bursts. With each breath, she felt her heart expanding. Growing bigger
until it felt ready to explode.
    Frantically, she looked for someplace to hide. Please God, don’t let this happen now. She couldn’t
have a panic attack. Not here. Not in front of Jase.
    But he wasn’t looking at her. He’d bent down and was shoving
papers back into their folders. “Who the hell was that?” he groused. “And why’d
you let her go off on you? You should have arrested her! Hell, I should have.”
    When she didn’t answer him, Jase looked up at her and stood.
“Carrie?”
    Carrie heard the concern in his voice. Knew she should answer
him. But her vision tunneled until she was once again aiming her gun at Kevin
Porter, then grappling with him on the ground. Trying to reach her gun before he
shot her with it or his own. Shooting him. Killing the same kid who’d drawn the
picture of himself with his grandmother, which even now was stuck on the front
of her fridge.
    “Carrie. Look at me.” Tucking her files in the wedge of his
arm, Jase grabbed her face between his palms and brought his own face close to
hers. “Look at me.” He smoothed his hands over her cheeks and jaw. Kept
murmuring words of reassurance.
    She didn’t know how long they stood there, but eventually she
focused on his worried gaze. She concentrated on the feel of his touch on her
skin. Felt her breathing slow. Anxiety leaked from her like air escaping a
balloon. It was still there, but she no longer felt as if she was about to
burst.
    “That’s it. That’s my girl. Good,” Jase murmured, and she took
comfort in the deep rumbling of his voice.
    Finally, she grasped his hands and pulled away, embarrassed by
both the incident and her panicked reaction to it. “I—I’m okay. I’m sorry. I
just… She surprised me, that’s all.” Again, Carrie raised her hand, rubbing her
chin. Then she held out her hand for her files.
    Reluctantly, Jase handed them to her. She felt his gaze on her
as she checked the ground around them to make sure he hadn’t