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Authors: LISA CHILDS
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shootings, too.”
Parker’s head bobbed in a sharp nod. “That’s it. That’s why you’re doing this—to get evidence against her. It’s that whole keep your friends close and your enemies closer...”
After that kiss, he had been tempted to get close to her. Real close.
“Stacy’s not my enemy.” She wasn’t his friend, either, and given their families’ histories, they were unlikely to ever become friends.
“Then what is she?” Candace asked, her usually even voice nearly shrill with emotion.
“My fiancée.”
While Parker and Candace both sputtered at his announcement, Nikki remained oddly silent. She was usually the most gregarious of the Payne siblings—the most like their mother even though she vehemently denied the comparison. She wanted to be tough and cynical like her brothers. Logan preferred her as she was. Innocent and hopeful and maybe more romantic than she would ever admit. She studied him carefully, as if trying to find something that wasn’t there: love.
“Did you let Mom talk you into this?” Parker asked. “Is this one of her matchmaking schemes?”
Probably. “You really think I would let Mom manipulate me into one of her plans?”
“If not, why are you marrying her?” Candace asked. Her voice was still shrill and now he recognized the anger behind it. Why was she so angry about his fake engagement?
Maybe if his siblings had come alone to see him, he would have admitted the truth. But all he really knew about Candace Baker was that she was ex-military and ex-police and now a damn good bodyguard.
He replied in the tone his siblings and employees alike knew brooked no arguments. “I have my reasons.”
“Love,” Nikki said, as if she’d found what she’d been looking for on his face.
Parker snorted. “Did you hit your head when Logan knocked you down on the church steps earlier? There’s no love between him and Stacy. It’s called hate.”
“It’s called passion,” Nikki said. “That fine line between love and hate. Those two have been obsessed with each other for years. The way they’ve stared at each other during court and the parole hearings...”
Candace groaned as if she’d seen it, too.
What had they seen?
Nikki emitted a wistful sigh. “It’s so Romeo and Juliet...”
“Yeah,” Candace said. “Both of them wound up dead.”
Parker chuckled. “Is that one of your reasons, Logan? Love?”
While Nikki continued to study his face, as if waiting for his confirmation, Parker and Candace looked beyond him to the woman who padded barefoot from his bedroom. Instead of her black funeral dress, she wore his tuxedo shirt now with the cuffs rolled up and the tear in the shoulder revealing more of her honey-toned skin. Despite the smudges and blood on the shirt, her black lace bra and panties were visible through the thin white silk.
“Okay,” Parker said with an appreciative whistle. “I can see what those reasons are now.”
What the hell was Stacy Kozminski up to now? Dressed as she was, the woman was more dangerous than the bomb they’d found in her apartment.
* * *
W HAT HAD SHE been thinking? Stacy could have kicked herself for acting so impulsively as to take off her dress and pull on Logan’s shirt. She wished that she’d brilliantly planned the action in order to prove the validity of their fake engagement.
But she’d really just acted on impulse. She’d heard that woman’s voice—full of jealousy and disdain for her—and she had reacted. Childishly...
Heat flushed her face, but she refused to succumb to humiliation now—especially with that short-haired Amazon woman glaring at her with stark hatred. And jealousy...
Who was she exactly? Did she have a right to that jealousy? What was she to Logan? Stacy had seen her at the last couple of parole hearings, as if she’d come with him to offer her support. Or stick her nose in where it hadn’t belonged. Logan had never been married, so she wasn’t a current or even an
Parker’s head bobbed in a sharp nod. “That’s it. That’s why you’re doing this—to get evidence against her. It’s that whole keep your friends close and your enemies closer...”
After that kiss, he had been tempted to get close to her. Real close.
“Stacy’s not my enemy.” She wasn’t his friend, either, and given their families’ histories, they were unlikely to ever become friends.
“Then what is she?” Candace asked, her usually even voice nearly shrill with emotion.
“My fiancée.”
While Parker and Candace both sputtered at his announcement, Nikki remained oddly silent. She was usually the most gregarious of the Payne siblings—the most like their mother even though she vehemently denied the comparison. She wanted to be tough and cynical like her brothers. Logan preferred her as she was. Innocent and hopeful and maybe more romantic than she would ever admit. She studied him carefully, as if trying to find something that wasn’t there: love.
“Did you let Mom talk you into this?” Parker asked. “Is this one of her matchmaking schemes?”
Probably. “You really think I would let Mom manipulate me into one of her plans?”
“If not, why are you marrying her?” Candace asked. Her voice was still shrill and now he recognized the anger behind it. Why was she so angry about his fake engagement?
Maybe if his siblings had come alone to see him, he would have admitted the truth. But all he really knew about Candace Baker was that she was ex-military and ex-police and now a damn good bodyguard.
He replied in the tone his siblings and employees alike knew brooked no arguments. “I have my reasons.”
“Love,” Nikki said, as if she’d found what she’d been looking for on his face.
Parker snorted. “Did you hit your head when Logan knocked you down on the church steps earlier? There’s no love between him and Stacy. It’s called hate.”
“It’s called passion,” Nikki said. “That fine line between love and hate. Those two have been obsessed with each other for years. The way they’ve stared at each other during court and the parole hearings...”
Candace groaned as if she’d seen it, too.
What had they seen?
Nikki emitted a wistful sigh. “It’s so Romeo and Juliet...”
“Yeah,” Candace said. “Both of them wound up dead.”
Parker chuckled. “Is that one of your reasons, Logan? Love?”
While Nikki continued to study his face, as if waiting for his confirmation, Parker and Candace looked beyond him to the woman who padded barefoot from his bedroom. Instead of her black funeral dress, she wore his tuxedo shirt now with the cuffs rolled up and the tear in the shoulder revealing more of her honey-toned skin. Despite the smudges and blood on the shirt, her black lace bra and panties were visible through the thin white silk.
“Okay,” Parker said with an appreciative whistle. “I can see what those reasons are now.”
What the hell was Stacy Kozminski up to now? Dressed as she was, the woman was more dangerous than the bomb they’d found in her apartment.
* * *
W HAT HAD SHE been thinking? Stacy could have kicked herself for acting so impulsively as to take off her dress and pull on Logan’s shirt. She wished that she’d brilliantly planned the action in order to prove the validity of their fake engagement.
But she’d really just acted on impulse. She’d heard that woman’s voice—full of jealousy and disdain for her—and she had reacted. Childishly...
Heat flushed her face, but she refused to succumb to humiliation now—especially with that short-haired Amazon woman glaring at her with stark hatred. And jealousy...
Who was she exactly? Did she have a right to that jealousy? What was she to Logan? Stacy had seen her at the last couple of parole hearings, as if she’d come with him to offer her support. Or stick her nose in where it hadn’t belonged. Logan had never been married, so she wasn’t a current or even an
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