Read Online The Tangled Web: an international web of intrigue, murder and romance by J.P. Lane - Free Book Online

again, her breath quickened as Mike looked into her eyes, reading her, playing her like a guitar until she sang. Then her body arched in spasms and she climaxed as if she would never stop.
    She rolled over on her side, now relaxed as a leaf floating on the river. Her thoughts floated to her brother. He’d never settled back down after the divorce. She assumed he must date someone, but didn’t know whom. He kept that part of his life to himself, and him being in New York most of the time, she knew nothing about his personal life. Careful not to wake Gordon, she pulled the sheet around her thinking about her plan. Surprisingly, she had managed to twist Logan’s arm into staying on for brunch. Lauren hadn’t been quite as easy to coerce. Virginia had tried every method of persuasion, including expressing her concern over Lauren’s long drive back to the city alone at so late an hour. Even with that, Lauren hadn’t budged. It wasn’t until Virginia had suggested Island Daily News might want to do an article about the estate that Lauren’s reluctance to spend the night flew out the window. Virginia smiled. She could hardly wait until morning.
     

TEN
     
     
     
    The face was so familiar it was almost startling. Sleepily, Lauren gazed at it. At first glance she had assumed it was Logan, but as she studied the portrait carefully, she came to the conclusion it must be Logan’s father. The elder Armstrong’s eyes were considerably darker than Logan’s and they did not hold as much warmth. Lauren got out of bed and drew closer to the portrait. The resemblance between father and son was remarkable. They had the same swarthy complexion, the same thick dark hair with traces of silver. Logan even had the same cleft in the chin.
    Slipping on the robe Virginia had thoughtfully laid out for her the night before, she went over to the French doors and threw open the blinds. This room, which had been David Armstrong’s study, opened onto the verandah where she and Logan had sat talking the night before. Now with the sun up, Lauren had a clear view of the gardens merging almost seamlessly into lawns that swept towards the boundaries of the property. Beyond the property lines, miles of sugar cane fields stretched toward the low hills in the background. Vale Verde was one of several sugar cane plantations that had made the Armstrong fortune in the colonial days when sugar was king.
    Lauren stood gazing out the window for a minute or two before she closed the blinds and went to shower and dress. What a stroke of good fortune Virginia’s invitation had been, she thought gleefully as she stepped into the shower. The Artful Dodger may have been able to give her the slip for the entire duration of his party, but he could not escape her now.
     
    Gordon and Virginia had already started on coffee when she joined them in the breakfast nook. Completely engrossed in the Sunday crossword puzzle, Gordon was oblivious to her quiet entry until he heard Virginia bid her good morning. He tore his eyes away from the crossword and looked up, first with open-eyed surprise, then with displeasure.
    Virginia quickly tried to smooth her husband’s ruffled feathers. “I’m sorry, Gordon, I completely forgot to tell you I’d invited Lauren to spend the night. She’s interested in doing an article about Vale Verde.”
    Gordon summoned as much of his good breeding to the breakfast table as his fury would allow. He was livid with Virginia, in the first place for inviting the woman, and secondly for not telling him she had done so. Virginia invariably invited whom she pleased, but a bloody reporter invading his sanctuary on a Sunday morning? And they were now on a first-name basis as if they were friends? A strained greeting was on the tip of his tongue when Logan stepped into the room.
    Lauren gasped in surprise. On seeing her, Logan nearly dropped the magazine he was clutching.
    Gordon shoved his newspaper aside. “This morning is full of surprises,” he