Unwritten by Tressie Lockwood Read Free Book Online

sorry.”
    “That’s all you have to say?”
    He held up his hands. “You realize it’s necessary, don’t you, Evie? Our hunch was right about him. No matter what he’s done, he loves you.”
    “Whatever.”
    “Can I see the message?”
    She handed over her phone, and her fingers brushed his. She snatched her hand away and walked over to sit on the coach. To her annoyance, he joined her there, his head bowed, and a lock of his dark hair fell onto his forehead. She reached to push it back without thinking, and he gazed at her. “Um, sorry. My mistake.”
    He looked at her awhile longer, his expression blank. She felt that familiar cool attitude and shrank from him.
    “Its meaning?” he asked.
    She licked her lips. “It means he’s fine, and he’ll contact me soon.”
    “Tell me how you know that.”
    “Does it mat—”
    “You said you would cooperate.”
    She jumped to her feet and crossed the room to look out the window. “When we were kids, we didn’t have a lot. He came to live with us when I was five. He was eight. Getting something for Christmas was like, well, a miracle because my father liked to gamble away everything he made. I don’t even know what kind of charities were in place for kids back then. All I know is my dad would say if he hit the number, he would buy us toys.”
    “I know most of that, but go on.”
    She rested her forehead on the glass and shut her eyes, recalling her and Anthony’s upbringing. After his parents died in a car accident, her mother insisted on taking him in as her own. Evie’s dad had agreed, but it hadn’t changed the way he wasted money or cheated on her mother.
    “Anthony made board games for us to play, and one of them included a crazy coding system. We studied for weeks to learn it. In a way, it was brilliant. At least I always thought so. Complex enough to fool most adults, but simplistic enough for a five-year-old. Well, in all honesty, it was more pictures back then and evolved to letters and numbers as I grew older.”
    Kian rubbed his chin and tapped the phone screen. “And this is language from that game?”
    “Yes. I haven’t thought of it in years, but I guess I still remember.” She turned from the window back to her ex-husband as he studied the message. She knew without saying so he worked to crack the code. “I bet the boys down at the bureau have figured it out already.”
    He looked up at her. “They will soon.” He removed his cell phone from his jacket and pressed a few buttons. Soon he relayed the meaning of her message to whoever he spoke to on the phone. “Evie?”
    She started because she hadn’t heard him cross the room. He stood in front of her, too close, and her fingers itched to touch him. Why couldn’t she just get over this man and move on?
    “Anthony dealt in all kinds of information. His contacts ranged wide, from members of organized crime to mailroom clerks. Everyone we know who had any dealings with him, we’re putting the squeeze on to get them to talk.”
    She hugged herself. “But if they won’t betray Anthony, I’m the link. I’m the one the FBI is looking at.”
    To her surprise, he rubbed her arms and drew her to his chest. “I’ll keep you safe.”
    She pulled back and looked up at him. Warmth reflected in his eyes, but she didn’t know if it was a ploy he used to get her to trust him and help him with his investigation, or if he genuinely felt something for her. At that moment, she didn’t care. She ran her hands up his chest and down around his waist, moving closer. His cock twitched against her lower belly, and she kissed his chin.
    At first, she thought he’d push her away. His hands hovered above her shoulders. She shut her eyes, waiting for the coming humiliation. “I shouldn’t do this,” he said, his tone husky.
    He slanted his mouth over hers, and curled his fingers around her arms. When he pushed his tongue between her lips, she parted them, welcoming him in with hunger. She clung to him,