Deception by Aleatha Romig
DECEPTION
Book 3 of the INFIDELITY series
Copyright @ 2016 Romig Works, LLC
Published by Romig Works, LLC
2016 Edition
ISBN e-book: 978-0-9863080-8-6
Cover art: Kellie Dennis at Book Cover by Design (www.bookcoverbydesign.co.uk)
Editing: Lisa Aurello
Formatting: Angela McLaurin at Fictional Formats
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage and retrieval system, without the written permission from the copyright owner.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book is available in print from most online retailers
2016 Edition License
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the appropriate retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
ENTRAPMENT
WHAT TO DO NOW…
STAY CONNECTED WITH ALEATHA
BOOKS BY AUTHOR ALEATHA ROMIG
ALEATHA ROMIG
I don’t often do dedications. I’m making an exception.
I want to dedicate this book to the greatest man I had the pleasure of knowing. To the man who ended up with me because he fell in love with my mother. To the man who changed both of our lives for the better from the first day we met.
This is not to my “stepfather,” but to my dad and grandpa to my children.
Thank you for loving me, having faith in my dreams, and always supporting me.
I hope I made you proud.
You will live forever in the hearts of those of us who loved you.
The Infidelity series contains adult content and is intended for mature audiences. While the use of overly descriptive language is infrequent, the subject matter is targeted at readers over the age of eighteen.
Infidelity is a five-book romantic suspense series. Each individual book will end in a way that will hopefully make you want more until we reach the end of the epic journey.
The Infidelity series does not advocate or glorify cheating. This series is about the inner struggle of compromising your beliefs for your heart. It is about cheating on yourself, not someone else.
I hope you enjoy the epic tale of INFIDELITY!
Book THREE of FIVE in Aleatha Romig’s INFIDELITY series.
“Infidelity - it isn’t what you think”
It all began in Del Mar, a chance meeting with a single rule—one week only.
Or did it?
Lennox ‘Nox’ Demetri and Alexandria ‘Charli’ Collins had every intention of following their agreement but rules are made to be broken. In CUNNING they are reunited with Nox setting down new rules for the game and Charli having no choice but to follow them.
Now, once again, the game has changed. Nox and Charli’s hot sensual encounter has grown into something more but it is threatened with secrets and regrets. Is it their love and intense sexual chemistry that’s pushing them together or something darker, a puppetmaster behind the scenes pulling the strings on their love affair?
Shadowy villains lurk around each corner and everyone is suspect as Nox’s and Charli’s pasts collide with the present and threaten to compel them back to their predestined fates.
Can deals brokered in the past be negated by something as pure as love and as steamy as the attraction shared by Nox and Charli? Or was it all a deception—starting with that very first meeting?
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Aleatha Romig comes a sexy, new dominant hero who knows what he wants and a strong-willed heroine who has plans of her own. With classic Aleatha Romig twists and turns, the depth of this epic romantic suspense continues to reach new levels as past and present intertwine. The Infidelity series will have readers swooning one minute and screaming the next.
Have you been Aleatha’d?
DECEPTION is a full-length novel, over 350 pages, and the third of five books in the INFIDELITY series - It isn’t what you think!
(This series is not about nor does it advocate or condone cheating)
I SAW THE plain white envelope lying on the middle of my desk. Slowly, I moved forward, confident it hadn’t been there earlier in the evening. My feet barely moved as I made my way around the desk. It was like a dream as I floated closer, as if the envelope were a snake and would sense my sudden movement and strike.
Alexandria was scrolled across the front.
My heart did triple time as I reached for it. Blood coursed through my veins and through my ears, muting the world around me. With shaking fingers, I lifted it and opened the flap.
The first page was a picture. I’d never seen the woman before, but she looked familiar. It was because she looked like me. Her hair wasn’t auburn but beautiful rich shades of brown, long and flowing about the same length as mine. Her eyes were a soft brown, darker than mine, but with golden flecks. She was smiling at the camera and dressed in something red. It was only a headshot.
I sank to the chair. I didn’t want to keep looking, but like gawking at a train wreck, I couldn’t look away. My heart knew who she was, but it needed confirmation. I moved the picture to the back of the stack of pages and began to read.
Alexandria,
I’m sure you’re mad or even freaked out that I had this put where you’d find it. I’m sorry. I won’t say that I’m not trying to scare you. I am.
You won’t return my calls. You won’t return my text messages even when Adelaide explained how much I need you. Now I need you to listen. Please listen. Please keep reading.
You know who she is, don’t you? The woman in the picture?
Her name was Jocelyn Marie Matthews Demetri.
My stomach sank. I needed to stop, to show this to Nox, but I couldn’t.
Was, Alexandria, she was. She’s dead.
Your boyfriend killed her.
The Demetris are dangerous. I won’t go into all the illegal activities, including prostitution, but know that it’s there. I just want you to know about the man you’re sleeping with. The man she slept with. The man who killed her.
My empty stomach twis
Stop! Stop! Stop reading!
My heart screamed out, but my eyes continued to roam.
Lennox wouldn’t allow her family to see her body. He had her cremated before any evidence could be found.
Evidence. Her parents have both sworn statements about his abuse. On more than one occasion they witnessed bruises on her wrists. They’ve both testified to that.
I looked to my wrists. There was a faint brown mark from where I’d pulled too hard against the satin. I continued to read.
He was a workaholic. They say she was sad and scared.
Their testimony is available. They have a civil suit pending against him. He bought off the judge for the petition of evidence in a criminal matter, but even the great Lennox Demetri can’t stop all the wheels of justice.
Get out. Leave. Come home or at least move back to your apartment.
Alexandria, I’m scared to death.
I also think he’s behind framing me with Melissa. He could be the reason she’s missing. By getting rid of her, he can remove me from your life.
Lennox is dangerous.
I’m begging you. Your mother is begging you.
Ask him if he’s responsible for Jocelyn’s death… and get out!
Bryce
Why couldn’t he let this go? Why would he think Nox was connected to Melissa? That didn’t make sense.
The letter consisted of two pages. Each handwritten page surrounded the picture. I didn’t want to move the last page of words. I didn’t want to see her again.
I hadn’t realized I was crying until a tear splashed against the paper.
When I looked up, my eyes met Nox’s. His pallor matched his cold, icy eyes, so different than only minutes earlier.
“You shouldn’t have touched it.”
I couldn’t comprehend. “Touched what?”
“That letter, Charli. You’re destroying evidence. Deloris can dust it for fingerprints.”
My head moved slowly back and forth as I realized I was holding Jocelyn’s picture.
How angry would Nox be?
Before I could think, I was up on my feet, my heels sliding across the wooden floor as I backed away from him. “Where’s Deloris?”
“She’s on her way up. What’s the matter? What did that say?”
“I-I…” I rolled my lips between my teeth. “I need to talk to her.”
Nox took a step toward me. His expression morphed from concern to something more intense as I once again took a step back. “What the fuck, Charli? Are you afraid of me?”
“No,” I answered too quickly and too loudly.
When he closed the distance, he snatched the papers from my hand. I didn’t release them quickly enough. The momentary tug of war allowed them to fall. They fluttered to the floor, Jocelyn’s smiling face looking up at us.
Color returned to his face as red covered his cheeks. The vein in his forehead bulged, and the muscles in his neck tensed. “What the fuck is this?”
I blinked, afraid to speak, yet unable to stay silent. I searched his eyes and worked to even my voice. “I think it’s nothing. I think it’s my family trying to scare me.”
“You think?” He lifted her picture from the floor. “Your family broke into our apartment?”
I shook my head. “I doubt it. They probably paid someone.”
Nox couldn’t pull his eyes away from Jocelyn. The edge of the page crumpled as his grasp tightened.
“Please look at me,” I begged.
The muscles in his temples flexed as he clenched and unclenched his jaw.
“Nox!”
Slowly, he looked away from her to me.
“Just tell me that you had nothing to do with her death. Tell me you weren’t responsible, and we will go to the hotel, or stay here. There’s no threat.”
He didn’t speak.
“Please, Nox,” I begged, reaching for his hands, wanting to help him, to take away the pain this letter caused. “Please. I didn’t gather this information. It was thrown at me. It doesn’t even make sense. Just tell me you aren’t responsible for her death, and I’ll ignore everything the letter said.”
The floor dropped out from under me as his answer echoed against the freshly painted walls.
“I can’t.”
“I CAN’T.”
Nox’s deep voice echoed from the walls of my newly decorated office. Their vibrations amplified within my soul, the meaning lost as I searched his icy blue stare.
I can’t.
Indecision and uncertainty rushed through me.
Who was this man?
Did I even know?
Nothing mattered but the one recurring question that, while answered, remained unexplained.
Please, Nox, tell me that you’re not responsible for her death.
My heartbeat quickened as I stepped back from the man who had been my lover, from the man whom I’d trusted. Mute and deaf. The words I can’t were the only ones I heard over the deafening silence. Yet there was more. The world unrelentingly spun, tilting on its axis as life continued beyond my fog.
Nox’s large hand reached for me, pulling me from the abyss of my thoughts. Like fur-lined handcuffs, his grip was strong and unbreakable while at the same time gentle and comforting. The expression upon his handsome face changed before my eyes. The anger or defiance I’d seen only seconds before morphed, combining with hurt and concern.
“Charli,” Nox said.
My name hung in the air like the clanging of a church bell, the next ring coming before the other disappeared, each time louder than the time before.
My knees gave way as my retreat met with the freshly painted wall. I couldn’t back any farther away. Down was my only option. As I descended into a crouching position, so did Nox. Our physical connection severed, though our gaze remained set.
Afraid to look away, from the corner of my eye I saw her face. Not that of Deloris, now holding tightly to the doorjamb, her complexion as pale as the walls, but of Jocelyn. She smiled knowingly up from the floor near my feet, still clad in the Louboutins. The high heels forced my knees toward my breasts. I grabbed onto my own tender wrists, clung to my legs, and willed my invisibility cloak of childhood to cover me.
What would Jocelyn have said if she were here? Would she assure me of my lover’s innocence or warn me of his dangerous ways? Would she hate me for being with her husband or thank me for reminding him to live?
“Alex. Alex,” Deloris spoke my name in a steadfast tone as she touched Nox’s shoulder and moved slowly toward me.
She didn’t stare at the beautiful face of the woman in the picture. If I didn’t know her well, I’d say she didn’t see it, but that wasn’t true. Deloris Witt saw everything. She knew everything. In one glance she’d summed up what had happened—how my world had crumbled in a heap of broken dreams.
Her conclusions were always correct.
At Deloris’s encouragement, Nox stood and backed away, his distance allowing me to breathe, giving me oxygen and filling my lungs. The much-needed air gave my body what it needed to carry on its involuntary processes. I couldn’t comprehend or consciously think as my body shuddered with pent-up sobs, and Deloris reached for my hand.
“Alex, let me help you stand.”
The tightness of my own grip around my knees had gone unnoticed until I released my hold and the circulation returned to my hands and arms, pink returning to my stone-cold fingertips. I wobbled as I stood, unsure why the world was on tilt.
Perhaps I was drunk.
No, I’d barely touched the lemon drop martini. One sip, or was it two?
The room spun around me. Lines that had been straight were now curves, ebbing and bowing. My empty stomach reeled before it free-fell from unknown heights. I stumbled toward the plush chaise lounge.
Nox was immediately at my side, his strong arm encircling my waist as he steadied me.
“Don’t touch me.” It was the first phrase I’d uttered, my first comprehensible thought.
“Alex, may I get you something? Water?”
Is she serious? Water? I shook my head.
My dry tongue darted to my parched lips as I tried to steady not only my voice but also the ricocheting of my heart. Surely they could both hear it bouncing between my spine and ribs. I couldn’t look at Nox. I needed space.
“Deloris,” I began, searching her eyes for comprehension. “Will you please take me to my apartment?”
“Fuck.” Nox’s expletive was barely a whisper, yet it filled the room with his displeasure.
“Alex, you’re safer here,” Deloris offered.
My senses returned. Noises registered—the hum of the air conditioning and the beat of Nox’s shoes as he paced against the polished wood floor. The aroma of our uneaten dinner wafted through the air.
“Safer here?” I rebuked. “This apartment was broken into. Your perfect security was breached. I hardly consider that safe.” Each statement came with more conviction.
“It was,” Deloris admitted. “However, if you two had stayed out a little longer, I would’ve had this resolved without your knowledge and you’d still feel safe. I guarantee, I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
I narrowed my glare as indignation grew. “Without my knowledge? Without my knowledge? If we’d stayed out longer, I would never have known about the letter? It was addressed to me!”
I released her hand, her hold no longer comforting. “What else don’t I know? What else has been hidden from me?”
“Charli,” Nox’s velvet timbre reverberated through the cooled air. “It’s for your own good.”
“My own good?”
“Lennox and I have tried to explain,” Deloris said. “There are constant threats. It doesn’t do you or anyone any good to know all of the details. It would be—”