The Secret Kiss of Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page A

it hadn’t worked. And now he belonged to her.
    ‘So there you have it, a full confession of my recent crimes,’ Kayla said with a sigh the following evening and took a sip of her drink. She looked at her best friend, Maddie, and waited for the verdict, but for once, uncharacteristically, Maddie remained silent for a long time.
    They were seated in a small booth in one of the new wine bars near Maddie’s office and thankfully the music hadn’t yet been turned up to the level where conversation became impossible. Kayla had poured out the tale of the painting without leaving anything out. She and Maddie had been inseparable since they’d first met on a course for legal secretaries and they didn’t have any secrets from each other. If anyone could understand her feelings, it would be Maddie, so her friend’s continued silence unnerved Kayla slightly.
    ‘Well?’ she prodded anxiously, watching Maddie twirl a long coppery curl around her middle finger.
    ‘I don’t really know what to tell you,’ Maddie finally said, ‘except, I think you’re in big trouble.’
    ‘I’ve figured that out for myself, thank you very much.’ Kayla laughed. ‘The question is, how do I go about softening the blow? I’ve got to tell Mike, obviously, but I don’t really know how.’
    ‘You’re absolutely sure you want to keep this monstrosity? I mean, you don’t even know who this guy is, so it’s not like he’s an ancestor or anything.’ Maddie was frowning, deep in thought. ‘Although, that’s an idea. Perhaps you should claim that he is? Didn’t you have some uncle down in Devon or something who was drawing up your family tree? Blame him.’
    ‘The man in the picture is not a monstrosity. Just wait till you see him. He’s incredible! The artist who painted him must have been a genius. Every time I look at him I think he’s about to step out of the frame and talk to me. I swear, I thought he winked at me the other day.’
    ‘Well, that’s a great help,’ Maddie muttered sarcastically.
    ‘No, seriously, I’m not taking him back. I’m keeping him no matter what.’ Kayla was adamant, but as she said the words she wasn’t entirely sure whether she was trying to convince Maddie or herself. ‘Besides, I’ve nearly bankrupted myself to buy him. I can’t back down now.’
    ‘How much overdrawn are you?’
    ‘Not overdrawn exactly, but I had to use up all my savings, as well as the money from Auntie Em, so I’ll have to borrow money from my mother to pay for the wedding dress. And if Mike wants a contribution towards the honeymoon, well, that could be a bit tricky.’
    ‘Oh, Kayla.’ Maddie shook her head. ‘You realise you might be jeopardising your wedding here? What’s Mike going to say when he finds out you’ve spent every penny you have? And on a painting of a handsome bloke?’
    ‘Not handsome exactly, but … I don’t know.’ Kayla hung her head. ‘Actually, I was going to ask you something.’ She hesitated before plunging on. ‘The thing is, yesterday Mike was being really irritating and suddenly I had this feeling that maybe I’m making a huge mistake. How well do I know him really? We’ve kind of rushed into things, haven’t we? I mean, we’ve only been engaged for a short time and hadn’t been going out all that long either when Mike proposed. It seemed like it was meant to be, but now I’m not so sure. What do you—’
    ‘Hang on a minute.’ Maddie held up a hand to stop Kayla in mid-flow. ‘It’s not because of this painting business, is it?’
    ‘No, it has nothing to do with that at all.’ Even as she said the words, Kayla knew she was lying. It had everything to do with the mystery man. He’d made her realise that perhaps there was something missing from her real life romance. Something vital. She looked away and thankfully Maddie didn’t argue the point.
    ‘Well, you know everyone always gets nervous before their wedding. It’s entirely normal. You have to expect