Shattered Heart (Z series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

envelope clutched in her hand.
    JT released the breath he’d held.  Remember why you’re here, Malone.
    He headed back for the living room and sat down on the overstuffed sofa. He turned the small key over in his hand. The moment he saw the thing, he knew it wasn’t a regular key. It looked like it fit a lockbox of some kind. Now all he had to do was find the one it opened. Too bad that could take some time—time he didn’t have. Damn it .
    This was a clue though, and he was going to learn what Shaun had on Terran if it killed him. Not only so he could put the man away and leave this godforsaken place, but to help Charlotte move on with her life. Almost two years was a long time to mourn. Hopefully finding justice for Shaun would somehow help her start over. To possibly meet another man deserving of her and to have a family. Then she could put this nightmare behind her, like he would Terran, once the bastard was behind bars.

 
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
     
    Breaking glass startled Charlotte awake. She shot out of bed, her gaze darting around the room, surprised to find her bedroom window intact.
    She crept into the hall. From outside she heard a truck rev, then tires squealing.
    When she entered the living room, a shadowy figure emerged from the doorway. The scream ready to escape her lips died when she remembered JT’s presence. Instead, she blew out a breath.
    “What happened?” She looked from one end of the room to the other. Glass shards spattered the floor beneath the front window. “Was it Terran?”
    “I think it was one of his goons.” JT moved closer.
    Charlotte noticed he wasn’t wearing a shirt and that he was nothing but sinewy, ripped muscle. She’d never been up close and personal to a guy who looked as perfect as him. A person would have to work out a lot to get a physique that fine.
    She swallowed the lump in her throat, angry she’d allowed herself to think such immoral thoughts about someone other than her husband. Then again, Shaun never looked like the man standing next to her. Not even close.
    Charlotte mentally shook herself. “What came through the window?”
    “A rock.” He pointed to the large stone lying in the far left-hand corner of the room. “I’ll replace the pane of glass tomorrow.”
    “You can’t chance being seen. Oh God, did the guy driving the truck get a look at you?”
    “I doubt he could tell who I was, but I’m sure he knew I came from this house.”
    “Now what? He’ll go back and tell William. How am I going to explain someone being here at two in the morning.”
    “You don’t have to, Charlotte. You’re a grown woman. Your husband has been gone long enough for you to take a lover.”
    “But I told him—”
    “To hell with Terran. Besides, the guy is in his sixties, isn’t he? Surely he knows you wouldn’t be marrying him for love and all that comes with that. He’s not stupid. A woman your age has needs.”
    His insinuation made her skin warm. She hadn’t had any of those so-called needs for a long time, not until JT showed up.
    Her gaze inadvertently slid to the man’s nicely outlined package in the pair of snug-fitting jeans. Charlotte had never been brazen enough to do such a thing. Until now.
    Her attention shot back to his face to find that her ogling hadn’t gone unnoticed.
    “I ah...”
    He reached out and brushed his knuckles against her cheek, crumbling her reserve.
    When she didn’t retreat, his hand cupped the back of her neck, and he drew her close.
    Charlotte held her breath as he leaned in and his lips came down on hers. Her blood turned to molten lava.
    His lips slanted over hers, stirring something innately carnal inside her.
    Her palms slipped up his chest.
    He moaned and crushed her to him, his tongue forcing her lips apart to plunge into her mouth. No kiss had ever been so primal—so animalistic.
    So incredibly mind-blowing .
    Charlotte couldn’t think past the pleasure. JT had opened the floodgates to her desire, and she