Sin and Bone by Debra Webb

Author:Debra Webb
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2018-09-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Evergreen Avenue, 8:30 p.m.

The Old Town neighborhood had grabbed Bella’s heart the first time she strolled along the tree-lined narrow streets with its Victorian buildings and brick alleyways. She’d actually stumbled over the house on Evergreen completely by accident. The historic architecture and classic brick had been exactly what she wanted. Three bedrooms, three baths and an office. Perfect. Plenty of room if her sister and the children ever wanted to visit.

Bella wasn’t holding her breath on that one but she could always dream. She and her sister had lost touch after she basically abandoned Bella and then, years later, refused any sort of help financially rather than drifting from one jerk of a husband to the next.

The price of a house in this neighborhood had been difficult to swallow but Bella was frugal in other areas. Her car was not a luxury model. She shopped sale racks at her favorite department stores. Her furniture was an eclectic collection of what she’d already owned and revitalized with unique flea-market finds. It felt like home. She was happy here.

Devon Pierce stood in the center of her small living room and surveyed the decor. His expression didn’t show approval or distaste. Her whole house would fit into his west-side parking garage with lots of room to spare. Whatever he thought of her home, she refused to be nervous. This was her. She neither needed nor wanted to impress him.

Well, maybe just a little.

“I’ll be right back,” she said.

He nodded, his attention captured by the framed photographs on her mantel.

She rushed up the stairs to her bedroom. Poking her head into the closet, she dragged her leather overnight bag from the top shelf. She’d had the well-broken-in bag since she graduated high school. Her favorite teacher had bought it for her. The woman had assured Bella that she would go far and she had made her promise to believe in herself.

“So far, so good.” Not once since she’d left for college had Bella doubted her ability to rise above where she’d come from. She was more than capable of going as far as she chose, and she refused to believe otherwise. The Colby Agency had given her the opportunity to fulfill herself professionally on many levels. Chicago provided a fresh start with no one to look at her and wonder how she survived, much less thrived.

Until Devon Pierce. He hadn’t hidden his surprise in regard to what he’d learned about her past. To her surprise, she had not been intimidated at all by his questions. Impatient, less than thrilled, but not daunted in any way.

All she needed right now were a few things for the next couple of days. She left her overnight bag on the bed while she selected the clothes she needed to pack. Conservative tops, slacks and a couple of lightweight dress jackets. She tossed in her favorite sleepwear. A spare pair of shoes, underthings and her cosmetics bag. She kept a cosmetics bag packed for just this sort of occasion.

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