Killer Kisses Read Online Free Page A

Jim was obligated to defend the man to the best of his ability—but he didn’t need to be blind-sided.
    He had listened to her, nodded and said, “Don’t worry. I’ve got it under control.”
    But the nagging concern that something wasn’t quite right in the case forced her out of bed and back to the office.
    The building was dark, the back door locked. Had Jim gone to his club for a nightcap? As she entered the foyer, a distantthumping sound came from the direction of her husband’s office followed by a loud groan. Visions of her spouse being beaten and struggling for his life raced through her head. Had a homicide victim’s family member, enraged by a not guilty verdict, finally gotten revenge?
    “Jim!” She raced down the short hallway to his office, threw open the door, and froze. The dim light from the computer screen clearly outlined the appalling scene.
    A naked, thirty-something, visibly pregnant blonde sat on a man’s lap, facing the door, her mouth an “O” of surprise. “Oh, my God! It’s your wife!” Her partner's face, contorted with shock, rested on her shoulder.
    Sandra flipped on the overhead fluorescent lights. “Not again,” she said exhausted by his constant philandering. “What’s this make? Bimbo number fifteen?”
    Red-faced and short of breath her husbandsaid, “What are you doing here?”
    “Working.” She turned her attention to the bimbo. “ Strange to see you here, Ms. Cain. Or should I call you Assistant District Attorney, since you’re supposed to be preparing to prosecute our client?”
    The woman jumped up, attempting to cover herself while struggling to pull on her panties.
    “It’s not what you think,” Jimsaid in a tone usually reserved for hostile witnesses.
    Sandra pointed at his crotch. “I’d say I have a smoking gun right here--so to speak.”
    He jumped up, grabbing a file folder to cover himself.
    “This is a new low, even for you," she snarled. "Now I understand why you weren’t worried about this case. But, please, do go on, oh great defense counsel. Try to talk your way out of this one.”
    “Candi’s the real deal.”
    “Your first name is Candi?” Sandra asked the now weeping younger woman. “What were your parents thinking?”
    “Leave her alone!” Jim shouted, reaching for the other woman’s hand.
    With Candi at his side, Sandra had a sudden mental image of Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden of Eden. An irresistible urge to giggle overwhelmed her.
    “I love her.”
    Sandra stopped and stared. “What did you say?”
    “I love her. She’s carrying my baby. We’re getting married.”
    “No, you don’t mean it. You never mean it. ” She couldn’t take her eyes off the woman’s swollen belly. It felt as if someone had reached into her chest and slapped an iron fist around her heart. His baby .
    He slipped an arm around Candi, then kissed the top of her head. “We wanted to tell you, honest. But not this way. I didn’t intend to hurt you. It's over. We’re over.”
    Vision blurred, breath ragged, she stumbled backwards, and nearly tripped over a briefcase. As she righted herself on the door jamb, she saw the look of pity on Jim’s face. Turning on her heel, she bolted.
     
    ~*~
     
    The expensive Manhattan hotel offered all the amenities, including an honor bar, stocked with mini-bottles of booze. Pulling out the first four her hand touched, she lined them up by height on the nightstand, then placed one of Jim’s sleeping pills in front of each bottle.
    One pill for every miscarriage she'd suffered through.
    Her wedding band landed at the end of the line-up. Kicking her shoes off, she sat on the edge of the king-sized bed, and flipped through the television channels, stopping when she came across, The Women . Joan Crawford, wifeof a philandering husband, stood in a department store dressing room confronting the other woman about their affair—only to have the hussy announce the husband planned to divorce her.
    It was as