schemes.
Only Tally had ever managed to change her fortune.And she’d been on quite a roll lately, and Bree wished some of her luck would rub off.
After last night, Bree could use it.
Scooping up her mail from the floor in her foyer, she locked up the house and headed out into the bright afternoon. She walked through the alley past Café Eros, inhaling deeply of all the wonderful smells emitting from within. Beignets. Coffee.
After a night spent tossing and turning while visions of Jude Robicheaux and Lucas Russell warred through her subconscious, she’d awakened feeling as if she’d been run down by a riverboat.
But she had a problem to solve, so she’d gone online to the sheriff department’s Web site to confirm Jude’s status.
He did still have an active warrant, which meant he wouldn’t surface openly. She couldn’t decide if that would bode good or bad for her.
Today wasn’t the best of days for a krewe meeting, but Bree knew the distraction would do her good. Otherwise she’d be sitting at home, alternately debating what to do about Jude and remembering how tingly she’d gotten when Lucas had touched her.
So stepping into the busy street, she flagged a passing cab. She hopped in, gave the driver the address of the krewe’s den on the river and skimmed through her mail as they wove through Canal Street traffic.
Bill, bill, overdue bill…hmm, what was this?
Lifting up the plain white envelope, she scanned her name and address in computer-generated text. There was no return address or any postmark, which meant the sender must have hand delivered the letter to her door.
A chill skittered up her spine, and she had the wildimpulse to tear the envelope to shreds and toss the pieces out the window to scatter through the streets like so much confetti during a Mardi Gras parade.
Oh, please don’t let Jude know where she lived!
Lifting her gaze to glance at the cabbie, who didn’t seem to notice the earthshaking anxiety happening in his backseat, Bree inhaled deeply to dispel the sensation.
With the thought of a ruined pair of seventeen-dollar hose steeling her resolve, Bree opened the envelope to find a single sheet of copy paper and more of the same computer text.
A vanishing act, gorgeous? Is that any way to welcome back the love of your life?
Blood rushed to her head only to drain away just as quickly, leaving her clammy, dizzy and nauseous.
Two sentences, but the message was crystal clear.
You can run but you can’t hide.
Arrogant bastard probably thought she couldn’t resist him—prize catch that he was.
And the humiliating part—once upon a time she couldn’t.
Damn man looked like a dark angel with that inky black hair and those crystal eyes. He knew it and used his looks to disarm stupid young women who hadn’t yet learned that the inside of the man was a lot more important than his yummy chocolate coating.
But in all fairness to her, while Jude’s looks had first attracted her, his looks hadn’t been what had sucked her deep into his life. That had been all about being taken care of. Jude had spotted her weak spot and had exploited it.
Bree had been a shamefully easy mark.
After their mother had gone MIA, Tally had stepped up to the plate and taken control of the situation. Bree had lether. That was the natural order of things. Always had been. They’d chosen to postpone college and rear Mark to keep him from being farmed off into foster care.
But life hadn’t been easy, and when Jude had shown up, he’d seemed like an answer to her prayers. He’d flashed and dashed her big-time, bought her clothes and paid her bills and helped out with Mark’s expenses. He’d shown her a lifestyle of fancy restaurants and expensive shopping sprees that had dazzled her into blindness about his character.
At eighteen, Bree had thought Lady Luck had been smiling all over her. By the time she’d started questioning whether that luck was good or bad, she’d already known the answer deep
Only Tally had ever managed to change her fortune.And she’d been on quite a roll lately, and Bree wished some of her luck would rub off.
After last night, Bree could use it.
Scooping up her mail from the floor in her foyer, she locked up the house and headed out into the bright afternoon. She walked through the alley past Café Eros, inhaling deeply of all the wonderful smells emitting from within. Beignets. Coffee.
After a night spent tossing and turning while visions of Jude Robicheaux and Lucas Russell warred through her subconscious, she’d awakened feeling as if she’d been run down by a riverboat.
But she had a problem to solve, so she’d gone online to the sheriff department’s Web site to confirm Jude’s status.
He did still have an active warrant, which meant he wouldn’t surface openly. She couldn’t decide if that would bode good or bad for her.
Today wasn’t the best of days for a krewe meeting, but Bree knew the distraction would do her good. Otherwise she’d be sitting at home, alternately debating what to do about Jude and remembering how tingly she’d gotten when Lucas had touched her.
So stepping into the busy street, she flagged a passing cab. She hopped in, gave the driver the address of the krewe’s den on the river and skimmed through her mail as they wove through Canal Street traffic.
Bill, bill, overdue bill…hmm, what was this?
Lifting up the plain white envelope, she scanned her name and address in computer-generated text. There was no return address or any postmark, which meant the sender must have hand delivered the letter to her door.
A chill skittered up her spine, and she had the wildimpulse to tear the envelope to shreds and toss the pieces out the window to scatter through the streets like so much confetti during a Mardi Gras parade.
Oh, please don’t let Jude know where she lived!
Lifting her gaze to glance at the cabbie, who didn’t seem to notice the earthshaking anxiety happening in his backseat, Bree inhaled deeply to dispel the sensation.
With the thought of a ruined pair of seventeen-dollar hose steeling her resolve, Bree opened the envelope to find a single sheet of copy paper and more of the same computer text.
A vanishing act, gorgeous? Is that any way to welcome back the love of your life?
Blood rushed to her head only to drain away just as quickly, leaving her clammy, dizzy and nauseous.
Two sentences, but the message was crystal clear.
You can run but you can’t hide.
Arrogant bastard probably thought she couldn’t resist him—prize catch that he was.
And the humiliating part—once upon a time she couldn’t.
Damn man looked like a dark angel with that inky black hair and those crystal eyes. He knew it and used his looks to disarm stupid young women who hadn’t yet learned that the inside of the man was a lot more important than his yummy chocolate coating.
But in all fairness to her, while Jude’s looks had first attracted her, his looks hadn’t been what had sucked her deep into his life. That had been all about being taken care of. Jude had spotted her weak spot and had exploited it.
Bree had been a shamefully easy mark.
After their mother had gone MIA, Tally had stepped up to the plate and taken control of the situation. Bree had lether. That was the natural order of things. Always had been. They’d chosen to postpone college and rear Mark to keep him from being farmed off into foster care.
But life hadn’t been easy, and when Jude had shown up, he’d seemed like an answer to her prayers. He’d flashed and dashed her big-time, bought her clothes and paid her bills and helped out with Mark’s expenses. He’d shown her a lifestyle of fancy restaurants and expensive shopping sprees that had dazzled her into blindness about his character.
At eighteen, Bree had thought Lady Luck had been smiling all over her. By the time she’d started questioning whether that luck was good or bad, she’d already known the answer deep
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