Secrets, Lies & Lullabies by Heidi Betts

Author:Heidi Betts [Betts, Heidi]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-10-02T07:00:00+00:00

Eleven

The blood drained from Jessica’s face. She felt it flush down her neck and through her body all the way to her toes, leaving her dizzy and light-headed.

Afraid she might actually faint, she took a step back, relieved when she bumped into one of the armchairs standing in front of his wide desk. She leaned her weight against it, reaching behind to dig her nails into the supple leather to help hold her upright and in place.

Licking her lips, she swallowed past the overwhelming drumbeat of her heart. Barely above a whisper, her voice grated out the only thought spiraling through her mind. “How did you find out?”

A flash of anger filled his expression. “DNA isn’t the only thing I had tested. A friend on the police force ran your fingerprints for me, and they came back as Jessica Madison Taylor. No criminal record, I’m pleased to say, but it turns out you aren’t at all who you claim to be. Your prints showed up as a former employee of both Mountain View and Bajoran Designs.”

Well, not Bajoran Designs so much as Taylor Fine Jewels, when it existed. Still, she didn’t know what to say. Shock that he’d found her out reverberated through every bone and nerve ending.

She certainly hadn’t expected to be called out quite so soon. She’d actually been hoping she could find a time and place and way to tell him on her own. Eventually, when she couldn’t keep it under wraps any longer.

“So what was your plan, exactly?” Alex asked, bitterness seeping into every syllable. “Seduce me for company secrets so you could sell them to the highest bidder? Or was the goal all along to get pregnant so you could blackmail me later with an heir?”

What little blood had worked its way back to her brain seeped out just as quickly. Her breath came in tiny, shallow gasps as her chest tightened and she swayed on her feet.

“What are you talking about?” she said, her jaw clenched. Partly because she was angry and partly because she was literally shaking. Her arms, her legs, her teeth. Every inch of her was quaking with the effort to hold back the maelstrom of emotions raging through her like a tidal wave. “I didn’t get pregnant on purpose. And I didn’t sell anything to anyone.”

Alex didn’t look as though he believed her.

“But I didn’t get lucky with just a single, uninhibited chambermaid, did I? You’re the daughter of Donald Taylor, granddaughter of Henry Taylor, both of whom used to be in partnership with Bajoran Designs. Aren’t you?”

A beat passed before she answered. “Yes.”

“And you just happened to be at the resort, cleaning my room.”

She raised a brow, her grip on the chair at her back loosening as she began to regain some of her equilibrium.

“Actually, yes.”

Doubt filled his stony features and was evident in his snort of derision.

“Call Mountain View. Give them my real name, and they’ll tell you I was employed there long before you checked in.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.