Deadly Charade - By Virna Depaul Page 0,79

my feelings, but...but...”

“But you kissed her in court, remember? Even if it was to hurt me...”

He winced and swiped his hands over his face.

Despite his obvious discomfort, Linda forced herself to continue. “If she loves you, how do you think she felt when you disappeared for days without contacting her? Especially knowing how you feel about me?”

“I never told her about us or how I felt about you—” Tony said quickly.

“You wouldn’t have to. She would have seen the way you looked at me. A woman who loves a man would recognize his desire for another woman. And you know what they say about a woman scorned.” She snorted. “For all we know she’s the person behind the attempts on my life—” Her eyes widened as the truth of her own words sunk in.

He felt his own eyes widen, as well. “No,” he whispered. “I can’t have been that wrong about her. Can’t have brought that kind of sicko danger into your life simply because some woman...some woman...”

“Cares about you, Tony. It might be in some kind of twisted way, but she does care about you.”

His face tightened. “If she’s responsible for the threats on your life, that’s not going to stop me from—”

His cell phone rang. When he looked at the screen, he cursed. “It’s her. But why now? Carl must have told her I came by.”

Linda nudged him as the phone continued to ring. “Aren’t you going to answer?”

“I—I don’t know. Damn it, if what you just said is true, what am I going to do? Confront her? Risk her blowing my cover and ruining everything I’ve worked for?”

Linda cupped his face in her hands and urged him to look at her. As he gazed at her, his accelerated heartbeat slowed slightly.

“You’re going to do what you need to do, Tony. And if there’s any way you can help Justine while doing it, you will. Because you’re you.”

He swallowed hard. Basked in the pleasure of her faith in him. At least in this, right here and right now, she had faith in him.

“Answer the phone,” she said softly.

He did.

Several minutes later, he hung up and looked back at Linda. Anger. Fear. Dread. They swirled through him like a tornado, making him shake and breathe hard. He shook his head in disbelief. “She said she set up a meeting between me and the guy she’s been buying Rapture from. I have no idea whether it’s the same man who contacted me or not, and I didn’t tell her about that. I’m supposed to meet her at the club tonight.”

“But,” she prompted.

“But...she knows I’ve been seeing you. And she doesn’t like it. She says she’ll make sure the meeting goes through. But only if I meet her at a motel before the designated time. Take some of the Rapture drugs. And have sex with her.”

Chapter 29

“No,” Linda whispered. She didn’t know what horrified her more. Tony being forced to take drugs or being forced to have sex with Justine.

No, that wasn’t quite true, she thought. The sex definitely horrified her the most, and what kind of hypocrite did that make her given she’d left him because of the drugs in the first place. Either option was unbearable. “You can’t, Tony. Please don’t—”

He gave a sharp bark of laughter, startling her. “Of course I can’t. I’m not about to let someone blackmail me into doing drugs or having sex with her.”

Relief swept through Linda even as she wondered...wasn’t some part of him tempted by the drugs? By the possibility of sex with a woman as beautiful as Justine?

It was if he could read her mind. He glared at her, held her away from him and said, “No amount of money or drugs could persuade me to sleep with Justine. I want to avenge Rory and help others, but I’m not going to do it that way.”

She suddenly couldn’t help herself... She flung her arms around his waist and hugged him close. “I’m so glad.”

His laugh this time was softer. Exasperated yet full of affection. As he lapsed into silence, however, she could practically feel him struggling to adapt to the weird turn of events.

They held each other for several minutes before she said, “So what are you going to do?”

Tony pulled back and released her. “I’m still not completely sure whether the cops I’ve been working with are clean, but I have no choice but to trust them. They’re the lesser of several evils as far as I’m concerned. I’m going