Private Scandal Read Online Free PDF

circled around to hug her before she left. She was so defeated by all this that he knew he had to think of some way out of it for her.
    Once she was gone, he sat on the edge of his desk and waited. Danny kept quiet for long minutes before speaking.
    “You’re really going to marry Megan Carlton?”
    “First chance I get.”
     
     
    By the time she got off the second bus, Megan realized she really should have slept for more than an hour yesterday. Even though it was mid-day, it wasn’t safe to be nodding off on public transportation, especially with a transient eyeing your handbag.
    Luckily, the sun on her face bolstered her enough to fake alertness as she walked to her apartment. In the last two weeks she’d been working both jobs every day, volunteering at Carlton House, and barely sleeping more than an hour at a time. It seemed every time she’d drift off, she’d hear something that spooked her—cars backfiring, neighbors fighting, kids playing a joke and trying to open her front door. At least she hoped it was a joke. Either way, she couldn’t relax and was running on nothing but adrenaline and caffeine.
    It felt like treading water in the middle of a deserted ocean, no rescue in sight. Wendy had been talking with Evelyn, and collecting double tips for it. Megan wanted to help, but she couldn’t afford to for much longer. Each month that she didn’t pay off her old cell-phone bill, they tacked on a ridiculous interest fee. It was as if they expected her to dig her way to China with a runcible spoon. She’d even started going to other electronics stores looking for the charger, but it seemed her phone wasn’t a standard model. Of course. Ava had picked them out, and she always got the latest thing.
    Megan walked faster, hoping momentum would carry her far enough to get behind a locked door before she crashed. She was so exhausted even her brain was tired, so she might actually get some sleep rather than lying awake and wondering about her family.
    “Where have you been?” The deep voice rocked her back on her heels and the slamming of a car door sent adrenaline rushing through her veins. She grabbed for the can of pepper spray on her keys as her brain slowly registered the hulking figure walking towards her.
    She had half a mind to spritz him with the pepper spray anyway. “Damn it, Brandon. You scared me.”
    “I shouldn’t have. I’ve been watching you for two blocks. If you’re going to live in a place like this, you need to be aware of your surroundings.” He crossed his arms over his chest, his shirt bunching around his shoulders with the movement.
    “You shouldn’t jump out in front of women, or you might find yourself on the wrong end of a can of mace. There, we’re even. One piece of advice for another.” She stepped off the curb, hoping to get across the street and up the stairs before Brandon caught up with her.
    His fingers wrapped around her arm, keeping her from fleeing. “I saw Ava.”
    Megan froze. The problem with sleeping with the enemy was that they knew exactly where you were vulnerable. She needed to know that her sisters were all right. She hadn’t spoken with either of them since they were thrown out of the hotel and Briana decided to visit the cat-loving aunt they hadn’t seen in twenty years.
    They used to talk almost every hour, and now the only sound between them was silence. She needed to hear their voices, but she’d settle for knowing one of them was okay.
    She turned to face Brandon, cocking her head to the side and trying to appear haughty for all she was worth, which wasn’t much anymore. “And?”
    “She said you had quite the fight, you know, about me. It seems that to her, you were all about defending my honor. And yet when I see you, you can’t be bothered to even step on my toes. What’s that about, Meg?”
    “I didn’t have all the facts. It turned out you are every bit as cold and ruthless as my sister thought.”
    “Come on now, Meg. Cold isn’t