BACK IN HER HUSBAND'S BED by Andrea Laurence Page B

security cameras the way they are, it’s very hard to capture someone cheating when they’re a professional. The tapes could make all the difference.” He urged her to consider it. He didn’t want to start bullying her around and force her to do it by holding the divorce over her head again. She’d completely shut down and that wouldn’t get them anywhere.
    “I can guarantee your safety. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you, Annie. I promise you that.”
    Annie looked up, her concerned gaze meeting his serious one. He meant every word. Nate might want to punish his wife for what she’d done, but if anyone else touched a hair on her head, they’d regret it.
    It seemed to calm her. After a moment she nodded softly and looked away. “Fine,” she said, clearly defeated and unhappy about it. “But—” she pointed sharply at Gabe “—he doesn’t get to tape it under my blouse.”
    “Fair enough,” Nate said. “Gabe, why don’t you go get the equipment and we’ll do a test run this afternoon before the tournament starts. I want all the bugs worked out so it doesn’t interfere with her game.”
    Gabe nodded and left the room.
    “I’m surprised you’re so interested in not impacting my card playing. You never seemed to care much for my career before.”
    Nate knew he hadn’t been supportive enough of Annie. For some reason, he hadn’t seen playing cards as a career. It was a game, not a job. Time had given him perspective on his mistake, but their disagreement on that point had likely been a deal breaker for her. He didn’t push all the blame for their ruined marriage on Annie—just the fact that she’d run instead of talking through their issues like adults.
    “I know it’s important to you,” he said. “But it’s also important to us. We need you to play in the tournament as long as possible. If you get eliminated on the first day, we’ve lost our insider.”
    Annie glanced down at the table with a sigh. “I should’ve known you had an angle.”
    * * *
    “You’re kidding me, right?” Tessa Baracas glared at Annie across the bright turquoise table of the Desert Sapphire’s Mexican cantina, Rosa’s.
    Annie didn’t look at her. Instead, she focused her gaze on her uneaten dinner and the platinum wedding band searing her finger. She hadn’t been looking forward to having this conversation, especially with a wire taping their every word. “No, I’m serious.”
    “Did you not learn your lesson the last time?” Tessa looked horrified. Her skin, so pale compared to Annie’s olive tone, was even lighter with shock, if that was possible. Her red-gold hair was pulled back into a tight, sleek ponytail, her jewel-blue eyes wide with surprise and confusion.
    The eyes were the sole feature Annie and Tessa seemed to share. The sparkling-blue color was the most noticeable trait they’d inherited from their mother. Sure, they had similar builds, with ample curves and heart-shaped faces, but that’s where the similarities ended.
    They had different fathers, ones that their mother had apparently hand selected for the sole purpose of creating beautiful babies. Tessa’s father was a ghostly pale Irishman with hair like fire. Annie’s father was Italian with jet-black hair, warm brown skin and a full sensual mouth—at least, that was what she’d been told. She’d never met him. Their mother had never stayed in one place long. Never kept a man longer than he was of use to her. Which was why Tessa looked as if Annie had just slapped her across the face when she mentioned reconciling with her husband.
    Tessa shook her head and slumped back into her seat. “You need to be focused on the game. Not on men. You of all people should know that. It was the first thing you taught me when I started playing.”
    “Do you think I planned this? Because I didn’t.”
    Tessa anxiously moved food across her plate with her fork. “You shouldn’t have come back here. I just knew you weren’t strong enough to resist