Sleeping With the Enemy by Tracy Solheim Read Free Book Online Page B

sunshine that allowed him to survive his teenage years living under Lloyd Davis’s roof.
    And then Lloyd died and everything had changed.
    Jay’s knuckles were white, he was gripping his fork so tightly. “Who’sthe father?”
    Defiance, pure and strong, was shining in Charlie’s eyes. That look didn’t faze Jay, though. He’d been dealing with it since his sister had been in her Terrible Twos.
    “None of your business.”
    “I take it that means you actually know who the father is?”
    She recoiled as if he’d slapped her and, for an instant, Jay felt like the horrible creature that the business magazineshad labeled him as.
    “Wow,” she said. “You really have become an insufferable ass, haven’t you? How dare you ask me that!”
    If Charlie had been expecting an explosion from Jay, she was about to be satisfied. He jumped from his stool feeling like his chest was going to rupture. “How dare I? How about how dare you, traipsing around the world with a silver spoon stuck up your ass all theseyears? You and your jet-settingfriends—the so-called beautiful people—partying it up on their daddie’s dime like a bunch of lazy, spoiled hooligans,” he yelled. “You live in some alternative world from the rest of us, played out on the cover of tabloid magazines and episodes of TMZ
,
thumbing your nose at your mother, your future, and the freakin’ law!”
    Charlie had plastered herself againstthe large refrigerator when Jay began advancing on her. The look of defiance on her face had been replaced by one of horror. “I don’t remember much about my father,” she whispered. “But I’m pretty sure you’ve become him.”
    Jay swore violently. His sister couldn’t have picked a better weapon to wound him with. Too bad she was right. He took a moment to reflect on what he’d just shouted at herand realized too late he’d been channeling his dead stepfather. He swore again.
    “It’s always going to be about the money, isn’t it?” she asked.
    He raked a hand through his hair and reached for the remains of his Scotch. When Lloyd had passed away suddenly from a brain aneurysm, his will had distinctly favored Charlotte, his only biological child. Their mother was given the majority ofLloyd’s shares in the body armor company—after all, she’d been the textile engineer who’d originally designed the suits. But the vast majority of her husband’s income was derived from other sources and all of it went to his daughter. Jay was left empty-handed after twelve years of towing the line in his stepfather’s orbit.
    Jay sucked in a deep breath. “Look around you, Charlotte. Do you thinkLloyd’s refusal to acknowledge me as his stepson hurt me that much?”
    Her hair made a brushing sound against the stainless steel as she shook her head from side to side. “Not in a material way, no. But it did hurt you in ways that can’t be quantified: in your heart.”
    A harsh laugh escaped his lips. “You obviously haven’t been reading past your cover photo on the tabloids, little sister.I don’t have a heart.”
    “Yes, you do.” A single tear trailed down her cheek. “It’s just been roughed up a bit.”
    He swallowed painfully as he reached over to wipe the moisture off his sister’s cheek. “We’re one hell of a dysfunctional family.”
    Charlie’s lips twitched. “You need to travel in my circle more often if you think that’s true.”
    “No, thanks. Just look how well it’s workedfor you.” His words brought the defiant scowl back to her face and Jay raised his hands up to his chest in mock surrender. “What’s done is done. Let’s just move on from here. Do you have a plan?”
Please say you have one that doesn’t involve me.
    Her hand moved to rest over her still-flat belly in an innately protective move. An image of Bridgett making the very same gesture years ago filteredthrough his mind, bringing his heart to a standstill in his chest.
Damn.
Apparently, he was going to need the rest of