A Twist of Betrayal Read Online Free PDF Page B

sharp painful teeth. He couldn’t get them out of his mind. He couldn’t forget that she was pregnant. The fact itself was a shock to his system. But what surprised him most was that the idea of a baby wasn’t too hard to accept. He supposed the idea of a baby depending on him scared him more than anything. And most of all, he thought, even though it was buried deep beneath the shock, that Justine betrayed him.
    He laughed out loud, his harsh laughter ringing throughout the silence that threatened to suffocate him. Could he raise the baby she carried? Could they work through this?
    Hell, he wanted to.
    Everything they’d done so far was worth fighting and working for, right? He loved her. He thought she loved him.
    He knew it was going to take work, but he was willing.
    When Justine didn’t come right back, Dan fought a nagging feeling that something was wrong as he cleaned up the mess. He couldn’t take back the damning words he’d said to her, nor was he certain as to what he should say to her when she came home. Justine was probably over at Hannah Harlome’s right now trying to think it through. But the feeling that something more, something worse than their argument, was wrong refused to leave and was even stronger when he finished cleaning up. With a heavy sigh, he threw all the tools and rags into one of the buckets he and Justine had used. He picked up the bucket as a powerful, but a strange thought touched him. Like cold fingers wrapping around him, he knew. He just knew his worst nightmare was about to come true. Justine was in trouble.
    It was more than just the feeling that something happened to Justine. It was the feeling that he was going to lose her in some way. He refused to dwell on the possible idea that after all the things they’d said to one another, he already might have lost her in more ways he could imagine. He hadn’t really meant the things he’d said, he knew. They had just been a cover of sorts against his true feelings.
    She was his life. He couldn’t imagine not sharing this house with her. He didn’t want it without her. He couldn’t imagine not sleeping with her. He was just going to have to make her see his side of this situation, that’s all.
    But what side was that? For a moment he wasn’t certain.
    But where was she? She should be back by now.
    Absently, more to ease his own mind, he dialed Harlome’s phone number. Hannah answered on the second ring, and he could hear one of Hannah’s children crying in the background. Hannah’s greeting sounded as cheerful as ever.
    “Hey, Hannah? I was just wondering if you’d heard or seen Justine? She left for the store a short while ago, and I expected her back by now. I thought maybe she might have stopped by at your house on her way home. She didn’t answer her cell,” He lied. He hadn’t even tried to call her, thought it would be a stupid waste of time after their argument. He forced his voice to remain casual as if he and Justine hadn’t just had the worse fight of their marriage, as if her not coming home was nothing out of the ordinary. His throat was tight with worry and remnants of pent-up anger, it had been hard to get the words out.
    “No, I haven’t seen or heard from Justine,” Hannah said.
    “Thanks,” he said, doing everything in his power to keep his voice sounding lighter than he felt. “If she happens to stop in, just let her know I called. She’s probably got her phone on vibrate or something. I’ll keep trying her.”
    He hung up and realized he still held the grout bucket in his hand. And that horrible feeling that something was terribly wrong still threatened to choke him. Dan dropped the bucket, and it hit the new tile with a heavy thud that echoed through the house.
    “Justine…”
    His truck was parked out front, and Dan raced to the front door with every intention of driving up to the grocery store and finding her. He had no idea how he knew something was wrong. He just did. He needed to get to