Slow Burn by Ednah Walters Read Free Book Online Page B

their gate.”
Johnson brought the binoculars to his face and peered through the
lenses. “She’s still there.”
    Ron wanted to grab the binoculars and see for
himself, but restrained himself.
    “Doyle’s son is entering his limo right now.
He’s paused…looks back. She’s—”
    “Let me see.” He accepted the binoculars from
the guard and trained them on the road. It wasn’t hard to find
Ashley’s red sports car. Anger, disappointment and jealousy zapped
through him in quick succession when he saw her smile and wave at
the limo. A hand waved back through an open back window before the
limo disappeared around a bend in the road.
    Smoldering anger replaced all other emotions.
Why would Ashley stop to talk with Vaughn Doyle? Had she lied to
him about not knowing the Doyles were after Carlyle House? He could
have sworn the woman was a straight shooter, but it could be the
attraction between them blinding him to reality. He didn’t know
what her game was, but he intended to find out.
    Ron set the binoculars down, and without
saying a word to the guard, stepped out of the security booth and
hurried back to the house.
     
    ***
    “She still refuses to sell the house to me,”
Ryan Doyle said.
    Frankie didn’t respond, but his alert
expression said he knew who Doyle meant—the only woman Doyle had
ever wanted but couldn’t have, Nina Noble.
    A man in Doyle’s position, a man of his
wealth and connection should not have to ask for anything. Over the
years, he’d bought properties and women whenever it suited him. But
his billions, offices and homes across the country couldn’t
guarantee him the one thing he’d always wanted, a willing and
devoted Nina by his side.
    Born in Culver City, Doyle had been drawn to
the stately homes on the north with their pristine swimming pools
and neatly trimmed lawns. The most impressive of them was Carlyle
House, owned by the Neumann family. At first, he would climb the
trees and peek into their compound. Later, he became their yard and
pool boy. Often, he would watch Nina and her friends by the pool
while he trimmed hedges, or look at her with longing as she danced
and laughed at her birthday parties. She would flaunt herself on
the pool deck in her bikini, glancing his way whenever she thought
he wasn’t looking. And when he could afford it, he bought her
presents and left them on top of the deck table. She never failed
to look at him and smile as she opened them. She’d loved him as
much he’d loved her.
    Everything changed the day she slipped on the
wet deck, hit her head and fell into the water. Doyle had gone by
instinct, rescuing her and administering CPR. A heated kiss had
followed. All her parents saw was the pool boy on top of their
precious daughter. He saved Nina’s life that day, yet he ended up
in jail on sexual assault charges. Nina never told the truth about
the incident, but he forgave her. She was young at the time, only
seventeen, and scared. By the time he was released from jail, Doyle
had learned an important lesson—the rich got away with everything.
He made a vow to amass as much wealth as possible.
    Doyle studied the thin, bumpy skin that ran
from his right middle finger and disappeared under his pale blue
custom-fitted shirt with detachment. It was a scar from the day he
rescued Nina. He even wore a ring on the finger to draw attention
to it. He could easily have taken care of the blemish and the
occasional twitch with surgery, but it was a reminder of what he
was owed. Nina Noble belonged to him.
    A sneer touched Doyle’s mouth. He’d watched
over her as she grew from the pampered girl to the beautiful
actress adored by all her fans, but it had given him a great deal
of satisfaction to punish the bastard who’d been her first lover
and the next ones, too. They had hurt her. He was the only man who
could make her truly happy. Robert Noble did for a while, which
hadn’t sat well with Doyle. But in the end he made the bastard pay.
Dead or alive, no