Under His Spell (13 page)

Reading so quickly she could hardly keep
up with the words, Kennedy saw that Jimmy DeLuca was one of the leading figures
in a New Jersey crime family.
 
He’d
been imprisoned for racketeering most recently, and a few years ago he’d beaten
a murder charge when the state’s lead witness against him had
disappeared—most experts had assumed assassination, but the body had
never been recovered.

As she read another article, Kennedy’s
hand drifted over her mouth.
 
This
man had seen her taking pictures of him, had seen her face, had probably gotten
her license plate number, and by now knew exactly who she was.

Oh
God.
 
How could I be so stupid?

Now she knew that she needed to tell
Easton everything immediately.
 
No
matter how angry he’d be, she had to let him know.
 

This was too serious to keep secret.
 
His brother was in trouble with a Mafioso,
a killer, and that man was a danger to anyone near and dear to Dean as well.

She was so consumed by her fears that she
didn’t hear the bathroom door open, and didn’t realize that Easton had come out
until his voice startled her from her spell.

“What the hell are you doing?”

She spun around, her heart pounding.
 
“Oh, I’m—I’m sorry.
 
I…I can explain.”

Easton’s eyes were blazing.
 
He had a towel wrapped around his waist
and his cell phone was in his hand.
 
“You can explain?” he said, his voice harsh and incredulous.
 

“Yes, please, just…just give me a
chance.”

Easton’s jaw muscle flickered as he
glared at her.
 
“I just got a series
of texts from Red,” he told her.
 
“The story just came out this morning.
 
When were you going to tell me about
it?”

Kennedy’s mouth opened and closed.
 
A story had already come out about
it?
 
But how?
 
How could anyone have known about his brother
and his connection to that horrible man?

“I had no idea,” she said.
 
“I mean, I’m confused.”

“I can see that,” Easton spat.
 
“But you must not have been too confused
to sell your story to the highest bidder.”

“I didn’t sell anything!” she cried.

“Then how do you explain The Globe
running a story with all of the juicy details?”

“About your brother?”

Easton’s eyes narrowed.
 
“My brother?” he said, now suspicious
and also confused himself.
 
“What
the hell does my brother have to do with this?”

“I don’t know what we’re even talking
about,” Kennedy said.

“We’re talking about the story in the
Globe—that disgusting tabloid.
 
Since you apparently like using my computer so much,” he continued, “why
don’t you go on their website and see for yourself?”

Kennedy stifled a sob, turned and pulled
up a webpage and went quickly to the Globe’s site.
 
Right away she saw it and literally
couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“But how?” she said, almost begging him
to tell her.

“Seems like you’re the one who should be
answering that question,” Easton replied, his voice betraying his impatience.

The headline was absolutely devastating.

TROUBLE
IN PARADISE?

Beneath that eye-catching title was
another caption.

NICOLE
JAMESON’S ADOPTED SISTER SURFACES AND THROWS FAMILY INTO TURMOIL!!!

And beneath that, pictures of Nicole
looking upset, crying on Red’s shoulder, and pictures of Nicole’s mother and
father with angry, betrayed faces, and then a full-page article detailing
everything about Kennedy.

She read the article in total disbelief
of what she was seeing, shaking her head, uncomprehending.
 
“I didn’t tell anyone,” she said.
 
“I never sold my story, never.”

“Bullshit,” Easton said.
 
“And to think I fell for it all, hook
line and sinker.”

She turned around and faced him.
 
“Please, please, please.
 
You have to see that there’s no reason
why I would have done that.”

“I don’t see any such thing,” he said,
watching her with mistrust.
 
“All I
see is a woman who likes to create drama and discord wherever she goes,
claiming victimhood all along.”
 

She started to cry.
 
“That’s not fair and it’s not true.”

“And now you’re going to explain what you
know about my brother.”

She opened her mouth, knowing that
nothing she could say at this point would do anything but cause him to hate and
mistrust her more than he already did.

“Say it,” Easton commanded.
 
His eyes were like two daggers, and it
hurt to look at him so she turned her gaze away.

“Please don’t do this,” she begged.

“Tell me the truth, Kennedy,” he said,
his voice raising.
 
“Tell me what
the hell you did to my brother.
 
Tell me everything, now.”

She couldn’t bear to look at him.
 
But there was no turning back now.
 
Everything was falling apart before her
eyes.
 
Everything that had seemed so
perfect, so real, so beautiful that she could see and taste and touch it.

She’d been so close to her new life.
 
Nicole had been coming around to
thinking of her as a real sister, someone to get closer with, and Easton had
been falling for her, beginning to trust her again despite it all.
 
They’d made love.
 
It had been perfect.

But now that was finished.

It was time to tell him the rest of the
truth, Kennedy realized.
 
There was
no saving anything, because what she would tell him next would ruin whatever
sliver of trust hadn’t already been destroyed.

Kennedy met Easton’s hostile gaze and
began to speak.
 
She began to tell
him about Sheri, and what Kennedy had found when researching Sheri online.
 

Easton’s eyes grew wide with alarm, but
Kennedy just kept talking, spilling everything, knowing that nothing between
them would ever be the same.

THE
END OF BOOK 19

Stay tuned for book 20 in the For His
Pleasure series, coming soon!
 

Meanwhile,
check out For His Pleasure from Red’s point of view, when you read the sexy new
Kelly Favor book,
Controlling
Her
, available now!

And
don’t forget to check out Kelly’s other hit series,
Naked
,
available now on Amazon, B&N and Kobo.