Full Exposure: A Loveswept Contemporary Erotic Romance by Tracy Wolff Page A

But it wasn’t his fault that Damienwas getting out, just as it wasn’t his fault that first degree rape and murder had been pled down to manslaughter ten years before. Money talked in Louisiana, more than almost any other place in the country, and Damien’s family had a lot of money. Not enough to cover up the crime completely, but more than enough to keep Damien from spending the rest of his long life in prison. Like her, he was twenty-eight. He had years and years ahead of him to pretend that none of this had ever happened.
    “Serena. Answer me.” Jack’s face swam into focus again, his eyes frightened now, his mouth a grim slash as he reached for her.
    “I’m fine.” She forced the words past her too-tight throat, nearly strangling on them. She closed her eyes and Sandra’s beloved image hovered there, smiling, laughing, so full of energy that anyone looking at her feared she’d explode if she sat still for more than a couple of minutes at a time.
    Again tears threatened and again Serena beat them back. Sandra’s picture slowly faded, only to be replaced by the photos Jack had brought. He was wily and good at his job; instead of packing up the whole file for the parole board to see, he had packed the three most gruesome of the set. No reason to desensitize the board to the crime. Sandra’s mutilated body swam before her eyes and Serena’s stomach revolted. She barely made it to the trash can in time.
    “It’s okay. Ssshh, it’s all right.” Jack’s hand stroked her back soothingly as Serena fought for control. When the dry heaves finally stopped, she stood slowly, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
    “Here, take this.” Jack handed her a bottle of water and Serena rinsed her mouth gratefully.
    “Thank you.” When she spoke her voice wasn’t back to normal, but it was audible and nearly steady. She took a few more steadying breaths, relieved that the crushing chest pain had eased slightly.
    Jack nodded, placed a hand at the small of her back and guided her toward his car. “Let’s get out of here.” He too was aware of Damien’s imminent release, just as he knew the LaFleurs would be here to pick him up in style. Damien’s younger brother, Michael was already here—though he hadn’t said a word throughout the proceedings, he had sat in the back of the room watching everything. She remembered him and his unnaturalstillness from school, from a time when they could be—if not friends, then at least not enemies.
    He’d smiled at her when she’d first arrived, but she hadn’t been able to smile back—not when his very presence at the parole hearing reinforced everything she already knew. The LaFleurs had bought Damien’s sentence and now they were buying his freedom. Michael hadn’t shown any reaction at all when his brother’s parole had been granted. Not even a flicker of his eyelashes or a quirk of his lips betrayed any surprise he might be feeling. But then again, why should he have been surprised? The outcome had been a guaranteed certainty before any of them had set so much as one foot in the room.
    Serena followed Jack to his car and settled into the passenger seat, grateful for the blast of cooling air that hit her face within seconds. They drove in silence for a while before she finally worked up the energy to speak. “I’m sorry.”
    He snorted. “For what?” Stopped at a red light he turned to her, clasped her hand in his and looked straight into her eyes. “
I’m
sorry. I never should have brought you here. But I thought, if they could see you, then maybe …” His voice trailed off.
    “Then maybe the money wouldn’t matter?” Serena asked bitterly. “I didn’t realize you were an idealist.”
    His mouth tightened, but he said nothing. What could he say, Serena wondered. Nothing would make it okay that her sister’s rapist and murderer would soon be wandering free—years before his full joke of a sentence had been served.
    The rest of the two-hour ride was