Too Wicked to Keep by Julie Leto Read Free Book Online Page A

air sliced through her skin. She rubbed the gooseflesh from her arms while they hurried across the marble lobby to the elevators.
    â€œI don’t know,” she said. “I don’t have siblings.”
    â€œWhat about that friend of yours?”
    She stopped up short. “You remember Erica? You never met her.”
    â€œNo, but you talked about her all the time. As I recall, she’s like a sister and I bet you don’t check in with her every time you go somewhere.”
    â€œYes, I do.”
    â€œDid she know you were going to New Orleans?”
    â€œYes,” she replied haughtily.
    â€œDid she know why? ”
    She frowned and punched the arrow pointing up. “Not exactly.”
    He smirked, and then held back the doors after they slid open.
    â€œWhy the secrecy?”
    Abby scowled. She’d meant for tonight to be about her eking out painful answers from Daniel—not the other way around.
    â€œI never told her about you.”
    She hurried inside, slid her resident key in the slot and programmed the elevator to go to the twenty-first floor. It was late and she was tired. Her mouth felt dry and cottony, a result of two glasses of wine, a high altitude and a lot of talking. She didn’t want to confess to him how she’d hidden her worst mistake from her best friend, even after all these years. They had more important things to discuss—things that weren’t so much about her.
    As the elevator shot upward, she grappled with the fact that after researching her thoroughly before he’d gone after the painting, Daniel had obviously not picked up a single newspaper or searched her name through Google since he’d left. He’d had no idea that Marshall had died. He’d had no clue that she’d taken a job as a curator for several private art collections and spent the rest of her time leading tours of Chicago’s great museums for kids from working-class and struggling neighborhoods who might not otherwise have a chance to experience the city’s many artistic and architectural treasures. She led a simple, unexciting life, but one with purpose and meaning.
    At least, that’s what he’d said when she told him.
    And she wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about his reaction. In a way, she was disappointed that he hadn’t been more…disappointed.
    They arrived on her floor and she quietly padded down the carpeted hallway and unlocked her door. The minute she stepped inside, she felt the warm softness of fur curling around her ankles. Lady, her short-haired,dark tortoiseshell cat, had immediately come to greet her while Black Jack, her long-haired male, stared at her from atop her antique china cabinet with his assessing amber eyes.
    â€œJack! Get down from there.”
    The cat, predictably, ignored her.
    She tossed her purse aside and scooped Lady into her arms. The loud purring made her smile. When she turned, Daniel stood rooted in the doorway, eyeing her as if she were some sort of alien.
    She glanced down at her pet. “Are you allergic?”
    â€œTo cats specifically? No. To pets in general? Yeah.”
    â€œBut you’re a cat burglar,” she said, snuggling Lady’s furry head beneath her chin. “I assumed you’d love my sweet babies.”
    â€œNobody says cat burglar anymore.”
    â€œI just did,” she corrected him.
    The cat’s soft vibrations of contentedness soothed Abby’s frazzled nerves. She was glad to be home, even if she’d had to bring Daniel with her—even if her life could fall apart in a thousand different ways if her crazy plan to save her family from humiliation failed.
    She slipped into the kitchen and checked the food and water bowls, which were full. She grabbed a pouch of cat treats out of the pantry and endured Lady’s impatient mewls on her way back into the living area, where she intended to coax Black Jack down from his perch. She was a little