Widow's Web (Elemental Assassin) Read Online Free PDF

in a minute. Then, she focused her attention on Owen again, all smiles and sunshine once more.
    “Call me, darling. You have my number. Any time, day . . . or night.”
    Wow. Subtle she was not. I don’t think her meaning could have been any clearer than if she’d hiked up her dress and asked Owen to do her right there on the table.
    Salina winked at him, then sashayed back over to McAllister’s table, where the lawyer was still standing, his hands now clenched around the back of the chair he’dpulled out for her. He didn’t like being ignored any more than I did. The two of them sat down, and McAllister started talking, although Salina was only half listening to the lawyer, her gaze repeatedly drifting over to Owen.
    My lover sighed and looked at me. “About Salina—”
    I reached over and straightened his tie, giving him the same killer smile Salina just had. “Not while we have an audience, darling . There’ll be plenty of time to chat in private on the drive home.”

    I told the waiter to put the bill on Finn’s tab, and Owen and I left Underwood’s and got into his car. We didn’t speak on the drive over to Fletcher’s house—my house now. Owen steered his Mercedes Benz to the top of the driveway and put the car in park, but he didn’t turn off the engine. Instead, he stared out the windshield into the darkness—brooding.
    I wondered what he was seeing—what he was remembering about Salina. The time they’d been together, the things they’d shared, how she’d made him feel when they were alone in the dark, their skin touching, their hands exploring, their bodies arching into each other.
    My heart pulsed with jealousy at the thought of them together, but I stayed quiet. Owen hadn’t been a virgin any more than I had been when we’d gotten together. We both had pasts—Owen had just seen more of my dark, violent one than I had of his.
    He finally sighed. “Ask away. I know you want to.”
    “You and Salina?”
    He nodded. “Me and Salina.”
    “How long ago?”
    “A lifetime,” he murmured. “Maybe two.”
    I waited for him to go on, to talk about how they’d met, the time they’d spent together, or even why they’d broken up. He didn’t say anything, but his face, his whole body, was tight and tense with emotion—with pain. Whatever had happened between them, it hadn’t ended well. Still, I kept quiet, waiting for Owen to tell me about them in his own way, in his own time. That’s what he’d done for me when I’d run into Donovan while on vacation in Blue Marsh. I figured I owed Owen the same courtesy.
    He sighed again. “Anyway, it’s over, and it has been for a long time now. I hadn’t seen or heard from Salina in years . . .”
    “Until she left that message at your office last week.”
    He nodded. “Right.”
    And that would have been about the time Owen had started acting distant and distracted. Ah. Lightbulb finally on, and a bloody little slice on my heart and ego to go along with it. To realize that Owen had been preoccupied because of Salina—and that my lover hadn’t told me the first thing about her until forced to tonight. Reunions with old lovers rarely went well, and it seemed like there was more history between the two of them than most. Still, I didn’t care too much about Owen’s past with Salina, as long as he knew that I was his present—and, most importantly, his future. Something I planned on showing him tonight.
    I reached out and trailed my fingers down his face. “Come in?” I asked.
    He hesitated. “I really shouldn’t. I’ve got an early meeting tomorrow.”
    “I understand,” I murmured, keeping my face smooth and hiding the hurt that pricked my heart.
    Owen gently reached for my hand and kissed my palm, right in the middle of my spider rune scar. “Rain check?”
    “Of course.” This time, I was the one with the faint voice.
    Owen hesitated again, then leaned over and pressed his lips to mine—but he pulled back far too soon, like