snorted, then chuckled. “The first time I called Sandra, I could hear the kids screaming their heads off, and she tried to put a move on me over the phone. Suggested conjugal visits. She thought I had Tony's money.”
In the darkness, Faith grinned. “They were made for each other. You should have taken her up on the offer.”
“And paid child support for the rest of my life. No, thank you, ma’am. Having kids is definitely not on my agenda. I have to figure out how to feed the family I have without making more. By the time Ines is out of college, I'll be forty-seven. I don't see me starting a family at that age.”
That thought inexplicably saddened her. She hadn't known a twinge of hormones since leaving Tony, but this man with the sexy eyes had her reevaluating her sexless life. An ex-con and lawyer, for heaven's sake! Could she stoop any lower?
That didn't mean he wouldn't make a good lover, the Eve in her argued.
And he'd make handsome babies.
“A lot of men start late these days.” She did the calculations and concluded he was only a couple of years older than she. While she'd grown up in the relative cocoon of family love and security, he'd been toughing his way through a harsh world she hadn't experienced until late in life. He'd known it from birth. That made him decades older in terms of living. She didn't know where she was going with these crazed thoughts. She needed sleep.
“Maybe I'll marry a rich lawyer,” he answered with sarcasm.
She chuckled. “There you go. Serve both of you right.”
“We can start tracking down the death certificate in the morning.” He returned to his objectives. “No reason we can't call banks while we're at it. And maybe you should open your storage and poke around. If Sandra was desperate enough to proposition me, he must not have left her much. That proves the money is still out there somewhere.”
“You keep dreaming.” Yawning, Faith curled up in the seat and tried to sleep.
“What else have I got to do?”
She couldn't argue with that, and he didn't say anything more. She dozed until the car halting woke her. She considered not opening her eyes, until Adrian reached over her arm for her purse. She caught his wrist and twisted hard, the way she'd been taught in her self-defense courses.
With his other hand he twisted back, disarming her without hurting her.
“It's after midnight. This place is cheap. I'll pay you back later. We have to get some sleep before we tackle the banks.”
Blinking, she looked up into a flashing neon sign advertising vacancy.
“You think I'm paying to shack up with you in a cheap motel?” she asked incredulously.
“You'd prefer an expensive one?” Grabbing her purse, he removed the billfold she kept her credit card in and helped himself.
He took the keys with him when he went in to register.
Faith tried to gauge their location but they were still in the middle of nowhere. It figured he wouldn't take her to one of the big intersections laced with hotels and restaurants.
She could get out and walk and see if anyone would answer their door at midnight, but he'd find her before she walked half a mile. What's more, she risked being run over by a car in the dark, raped by the first person who saw her, or robbed, at best.
She wasn't a brave person. Better the devil she knew than the one she didn't.
Slumping in the seat, she practiced cursing.
Four and a half years earlier
“Where the hell is my Jag?”
Tony's frown wrinkled every inch of his brow as he glanced again to where the carefully shrouded sports car should be. The historical society hadn't allowed a garage addition to shelter it. “You didn't drive it, did you?” he asked in horror as he walked up the oak-lined drive from the chauffeur-driven car at the curb, accompanied by two men considerably larger than he.
Looking up from the notes she was scribbling for the couple beside her, Faith glanced toward the approaching men and fought back a frisson of alarm.
In the darkness, Faith grinned. “They were made for each other. You should have taken her up on the offer.”
“And paid child support for the rest of my life. No, thank you, ma’am. Having kids is definitely not on my agenda. I have to figure out how to feed the family I have without making more. By the time Ines is out of college, I'll be forty-seven. I don't see me starting a family at that age.”
That thought inexplicably saddened her. She hadn't known a twinge of hormones since leaving Tony, but this man with the sexy eyes had her reevaluating her sexless life. An ex-con and lawyer, for heaven's sake! Could she stoop any lower?
That didn't mean he wouldn't make a good lover, the Eve in her argued.
And he'd make handsome babies.
“A lot of men start late these days.” She did the calculations and concluded he was only a couple of years older than she. While she'd grown up in the relative cocoon of family love and security, he'd been toughing his way through a harsh world she hadn't experienced until late in life. He'd known it from birth. That made him decades older in terms of living. She didn't know where she was going with these crazed thoughts. She needed sleep.
“Maybe I'll marry a rich lawyer,” he answered with sarcasm.
She chuckled. “There you go. Serve both of you right.”
“We can start tracking down the death certificate in the morning.” He returned to his objectives. “No reason we can't call banks while we're at it. And maybe you should open your storage and poke around. If Sandra was desperate enough to proposition me, he must not have left her much. That proves the money is still out there somewhere.”
“You keep dreaming.” Yawning, Faith curled up in the seat and tried to sleep.
“What else have I got to do?”
She couldn't argue with that, and he didn't say anything more. She dozed until the car halting woke her. She considered not opening her eyes, until Adrian reached over her arm for her purse. She caught his wrist and twisted hard, the way she'd been taught in her self-defense courses.
With his other hand he twisted back, disarming her without hurting her.
“It's after midnight. This place is cheap. I'll pay you back later. We have to get some sleep before we tackle the banks.”
Blinking, she looked up into a flashing neon sign advertising vacancy.
“You think I'm paying to shack up with you in a cheap motel?” she asked incredulously.
“You'd prefer an expensive one?” Grabbing her purse, he removed the billfold she kept her credit card in and helped himself.
He took the keys with him when he went in to register.
Faith tried to gauge their location but they were still in the middle of nowhere. It figured he wouldn't take her to one of the big intersections laced with hotels and restaurants.
She could get out and walk and see if anyone would answer their door at midnight, but he'd find her before she walked half a mile. What's more, she risked being run over by a car in the dark, raped by the first person who saw her, or robbed, at best.
She wasn't a brave person. Better the devil she knew than the one she didn't.
Slumping in the seat, she practiced cursing.
Four and a half years earlier
“Where the hell is my Jag?”
Tony's frown wrinkled every inch of his brow as he glanced again to where the carefully shrouded sports car should be. The historical society hadn't allowed a garage addition to shelter it. “You didn't drive it, did you?” he asked in horror as he walked up the oak-lined drive from the chauffeur-driven car at the curb, accompanied by two men considerably larger than he.
Looking up from the notes she was scribbling for the couple beside her, Faith glanced toward the approaching men and fought back a frisson of alarm.
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