Craving Vengeance Read Online Free PDF Page A

wove his
fingers between hers. She shook her hand loose.
    He shot her a sideways glance and dropped his
hand to his side. “Shannon, baby, what’s the matter?” She refused
to look at him. Apprehension squeezed her chest. She hoped nobody
would see them together and tell Spinelli, but she was easily
noticeable as she clenched a dozen long-stemmed, red roses in her
hand.
    Her pace increased. She needed to get to her
car and get him as far away from here as possible.
    She slid into the drivers’ seat and slammed
the door as Joshua climbed into the passenger seat. Shannon cranked
the engine and pulled into traffic.
    Joshua leaned toward her and nudged her
shoulder. “Come on baby, what’s the matter?” he asked again.
    Shannon made an abrupt right-hand turn into a
parking lot and halted on a dime in the far corner parking stall.
Anger shot through her. Her lips quivered as she spoke. “What’s
wrong with me? You just announced in front of God and everybody
that I was your fiancé. I know this may be hard for you to believe,
but I didn’t sit around waiting for your return for the past two
years, just as I said I wouldn’t when I handed the engagement ring
back to you as you boarded your plane to Nicaragua. I’m in a
relationship now with someone I love. What if your little show gets
back to him before I get a chance to tell him about you?”
    Joshua sat for a moment just gazing at her.
The corners of his mouth began to lift upward. The smirk she’d
grown to hate beamed radiantly. “I hear the words coming out of
your mouth, but they’re quite contradictory to the ‘welcome home’
kiss we just shared.”
    Shannon ground her teeth together and inhaled
deeply before she loosened her jaw enough to speak. “You’re wrong.
That kiss meant nothing. I was caught off-guard.”
    * * * *
    Spinelli reached into his pocket and pulled
out the small black velvet box he’d picked up the day before. He
popped it open and stared at the heart shaped solitaire diamond
that sparkled like new fallen snow crystals. He snapped it shut and
stuffed it back into his pocket. How could he have been such a
fool? The stench of betrayal surrounded him.
    He glanced back out the window from the
fourth floor stairwell to find Shannon climbing into the driver’s
seat of her blue Chevy Impala. A strange man slid into the
passenger seat. It was the same strange man he’d seen kissing her
not five minutes ago in the hallway.
    Aren’t you happy to see your fiancé? The words echoed in Spinelli’s head. Fiancé? What the hell? He
should have confronted Shannon on the spot, but that word, fiancé¸ unnerved him. He heard it and ran for the stairwell
before he threw up in front of them both. He’d gone to Shannon’s
office to see if she wanted to get some lunch with him, but that
kiss and that word left him feeling like he might never eat again.
How could he have been so stupid? How could he not have known she
was engaged? And he called himself a detective!
    He leaned against the wall. He couldn’t seem
to pull his gaze from them. He watched as they drove out of sight.
His jaw clamped down so hard he thought his teeth might break. His
ears hurt, and his vision blurred. Sweat slid down his back. What
the hell just happened here? He thought Shannon was happy with him.
She’d been with him every available moment for the past two months.
Who was this guy, and where did he come from all of a sudden?
    He blew out a heavy sigh and shook his head.
He should have known better. True love, true happiness? Who was he
kidding? Those things didn’t exist for people like him. He’d
learned that lesson long ago.
     

Chapter Five
     
    Spinelli’s phone
buzzed. He pulled it from his hip to find Walker’s face staring
back at him. He tapped the screen. “Spinelli here.”
    “Are you about done with your lunch
date?”
    Some lunch date. Little did Walker
know, he hadn’t even had a chance to take Shannon to lunch because
she was too busy feasting on