Read Online Lucky Streak by Carly Phillips - Free Book Online Page A

out of commission, the younger Corwin generation, Mike, twenty-seven, Jason, twenty-six and Derek, thirty-two, hoped the old stories would die out. Unfortunately, their fathers wouldn’t let it. The older generation still believed in the curse.
    Mike’s father most of all. Or at least, he was the one who’d taken fear of it to the most extreme.
    After Mike’s experience in Vegas with Amber—meeting and marrying, half convincing himself he could have something special with this woman, a stranger, because of some connection he’d felt, only to lose both her and his winnings—he could almost begin to see why his father believed in such nonsense.
    Almost.
    He arrived at the café to find Derek already there. The cousins were similar in looks, with dark hair, but Derek kept his short while Mike avoided the barber’s chair.
    â€œHey, cousin, how’s life treating you?” Mike asked, sliding into the plastic-cushioned booth across from Derek.
    â€œPretty damn good considering.” Derek grinned, the same smile he’d been sporting since marrying his high-school sweetheart, Gabrielle Donovan.
    â€œConsidering the curse?” Mike asked knowingly.
    Unlike Mike, who just didn’t deal with the curse, Derek had openly avoided it, breaking up with Gabrielle before college to avoid the fate of the rest of the Corwin men. Later, he’d gotten another woman pregnant, married her hoping to have a family and a child without invoking the curse because there’d been no love involved. The marriage had failed anyway. And Gabrielle, a successful author, had returned to prove to Mike’s stubborn cousin there was no such thing as a curse—just coincidence and bad choices. She was still proving it, every day of their almost year-long marriage. Though Derek was wary, he was too much in love to live without her.
    Derek leaned forward on the table. “Considering your father is making us insane.”
    â€œCan I take your orders?” a waitress asked, interrupting at just the right—or wrong—moment.
    Derek shut his menu and ordered a hamburger and fries.
    â€œMake that two, please,” Mike said.
    They both ordered colas and the waitress left, leaving Mike to return to the subject at hand.
    â€œOkay, what’s the old man done now?” he asked.
    Derek’s gaze darkened. “He’s into voodoo.”
    Mike wasn’t surprised. In the last few years, his father had taken to alternative religions to ward off the curse. Juju dolls hung from the trees lining the path leading up to his secluded house and he’derected ancient totem poles for protection. Mike didn’t understand Edward’s reasoning and didn’t want to try. The farther he stayed from the insanity, the better.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Mike reluctantly asked.
    â€œHe’s spooking Gabrielle and you know that isn’t easy to do.”
    As an author who made a living dispelling paranormal beliefs, Gabrielle wasn’t easily scared. If Edward was upsetting Gabrielle, he must have gone too far. “Tell me.” Mike gestured to Derek to continue.
    â€œWell, we wanted to keep it quiet, but about six months ago, Gabrielle had a miscarriage,” Derek said, his voice low.
    â€œDamn.” Mike shook his head, absorbing the news. “I had no idea. I’m sorry,” Mike said to his cousin.
    Derek inclined his head, acknowledging the words. “According to the doctor, it was a freak thing. There’s no reason to think it will happen again or prevent us from having a healthy baby.”
    â€œThank God.” Mike expelled the breath he’d been holding.
    â€œAnd we’re trying again.” Derek grinned once more. “But your father found out about the miscarriage. We figure he overheard Gabrielle and her friend Sharon talking about it in town.” He shook his head. “Ever since he’s been obsessed with protecting