Foster Siblings 3: Brokedown Hearts Read Online Free PDF Page A

where Jonah wanted Ben to watch David. Jonah wanted to make sure David didn’t start stalking Christian again. Ben would happily do that for the protective man. But what Jonah really wanted, Ben knew, underneath this request, was peace of mind and a good gut feeling from an authority figure that David was better and wouldn’t be a danger to Christian any longer. The man was scared for the safety of the person he loved. Therefore Ben would do his best to research everything he could about David Joyner and put Jonah’s mind at ease.
    Oh shit. Movement . A woman approached David outside the restaurant, and Ben slunk down farther in his seat. He quickly shuffled through his file, searching for printouts. I know that face. I’ve seen it before.
    Yep. The haircut and color were different from those in the wedding photo Ben had found on the Internet, but that was definitely Carrie Joyner. Well, now back to Carrie Hobbs, David’s ex-wife.
    Interesting. Maybe . Ben couldn’t get into that small restaurant without being noticed—not after the lunch crowd had already left—so he shifted upright for a better angle and view. Sometimes body language said everything.
    Let’s see what yours says to your ex, David Joyner.
    Fascinated—maybe more than he should be, for such a low-rent gig—Ben nonetheless got comfortable and watched.
    WITH HIS HEART hammering hard enough to make his chest hurt, David stuck his hand out in greeting to his ex-wife. “Thank you for agreeing to meet me.” Hell, as much as David hadn’t been in love with Carrie, she was a good woman and a sight for sore eyes.
    Rather than shake David’s hand, Carrie pushed her purse higher on her shoulder and tightly crossed her arms against her breasts. “I almost didn’t. I went back and forth with it.” She finally gave him a fleeting moment of eye contact. “That’s why I’m late.”
    David ignored the jab to his middle, something he had no right to feel, and gestured inside. “I’m glad you decided to come. Let’s go place an order and get a table.”
    Although Carrie followed David inside the restaurant, she said, “I’m not hungry. I don’t want to eat.”
    David heard the unspoken with you added to the end of that sentence, but once again he forced himself to take the hit without flinching. “If you want to grab a table, I’ll just get us some lemonade, then.” He remembered from their time together the tart and sweet drink was Carrie’s favorite.
    With a murmur to the manager behind the counter, David placed his order. As he waited, he noticed Carrie shift repeatedly in the booth she’d taken, and she watched him like a hawk. Carrie’s behavior stung. Under the woman’s open scrutiny, David’s skin crawled, and he wanted to run away. No . With deliberate force, David planted his feet into the tile flooring. Don’t you dare bolt out that door.
    Christ, though, he really wanted to leave. Right now. Rather than let such a destructive desire get the better of him, David snapped the elastic hair band wrapped around his wrist. And then did it again. And again. And again. With each biting sting against his skin, he reminded himself that he was not the victim and that any thoughts in that vein would infect his brain and regress him to that unhealthy, bad head space he’d lived in for most of his teenage and adult life. Say what you need to say to her. Be polite. Stop having expectations. Things will go how they go, and you need to deal with it no matter what happens.
    With the words and advice of multiple psychiatrists spinning in his head, David grabbed their drinks and an order of fried platanos and eased into the booth seat across from Carrie. Tentatively, he slid one of the icy glasses to her side of the table. She took it but didn’t drink. She didn’t speak, and she kept glancing out the picture window to the street.
    After studying Carrie’s profile in silence for at least two minutes, taking in all the differences during the