Temptations - The Complete Series Read online

  Part I

  Twisted Temptations

  Temptations Series Book Two

  Copyright © 2016 by Annie Jocoby

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  Chapter 1

  Serena

  I rested comfortably in the hospital bed, with Slade lying next to me. I could hear his heart beating as I laid against his chest. His skin felt incredibly warm, and I opened up the buttons of his shirt and put my hand on his incredibly hard pec. Even though I was exhausted from my ordeal, and still felt incredibly weak, I also found myself feeling very turned-on. I was safe, Slade was there with me, and his smell of clean aftershave and man was making me tingle. It didn’t help that he kept bringing my face to his and would give me light, feathery kisses that would deepen before he would abruptly stop, telling me that I needed my rest and we couldn’t possibly make love in that hospital bed.

  I knew that he was right about that. Making love in a hospital bed wasn’t a good idea, considering how often the nurses would come in to monitor my blood pressure and check on me. Even though I had a private room, there was no way to put out a “Do Not Disturb” sign, so Slade and I weren’t truly alone.

  Nonetheless, I was starting to crave him again. Now that I knew that he was not guilty of Jordan’s murder, I felt that I could truly open up to him. And, the fact that he came to save me meant a lot to me as well. I was worried, of course, about what kind of deal he had to make with Charlotte to get me out of that hell-hole, but that was another matter for another day.

  At some point, of course, Luke and Dalilah came to see me with their new daughter, Olivia. They came in while Slade and I were cuddling on the hospital bed, and they both looked surprised to see Slade, to say the very least.

  Dalilah had a bouquet of flowers in her hand, and Luke was carrying little Olivia in a swaddling cloth. The baby was only a few days old, but I could already see both of them in her beautiful little face.

  “We have to stop meeting like this,” Luke said, addressing me, but looking right at Slade.

  “I know.”

  “Do you mind telling me what happened?”

  I took a deep breath. “I seem to have run afoul of some mobsters. I’m defending one of them, and, well, let’s just say that my defense of one of the mobsters didn’t sit to well with the person that I was trying to bring down.”

  Luke immediately looked worried. “Serena, you’re not in trouble are you?”

  Just then, Dalilah put the flowers on a table, and she approached Slade, her hand out-stretched. “I’m Dalilah, Serena’s future sister-in-law, and this is my fiance, Luke, who is Serena’s brother.”

  Slade gave Luke and Dalilah both his free hand, while his other arm was tightly wrapped around me. “Slade Bridgewell.”

  Dalilah raised an eyebrow at me, and it didn’t take an empath to figure out what she was thinking. You lied to me when you said that you didn’t have a man in your life. She didn’t looked pissed, though, merely amused.

  Slade stroked my hair while I talked with Luke and Dalilah. “Let me see that little baby,” I said. “Bring her here.”

  At that, Luke handed me the swaddled infant, who was fast asleep, but making faces as newborns do. “Who do you think that she looks like?” Luke asked me.

  “Hmmm,” I said, looking at the child’s perfect rosebud lips and tiny little nose. She had a tuft of hair on her head already, dark hair, which meant that she took after Luke in that regard, as Dalilah was a deep ginger. “I see both of you, to be perfectly honest. It’s hard to tell at this point, although she is a beautiful child.”

  Slade was mesmerized with the little girl, and he reached over to touch her nose. She didn’t stir, but continued to sleep soundly. Just like my two dogs, I thought – this little baby was like all tiny infants, and would probably sleep through an earthquake. Not that there were any earthquakes in San Diego, of course.

  Which reminded me, of course, about Bella and Gigi. “My dogs. Oh, crap. They’re still at the day care. Not that they mind it, but I can’t believe that I forgot all about them.”

  Slade kind of nudged me. “That’s to be expected, Serena. You survived being kidnapped and thrown into a hole and left for dead. Your survival instinct kicked in, so little things like your dogs still being at the day care are probably the last thing on your mind.” Then he kissed my forehead lightly. “But, don’t worry, when you were sleeping, I called the day care place and made sure that they’re okay there. They moved them into the doggie hotel, and the attendant said that they’re having a ball playing with the other puppies. So, don’t worry. They’re safe and sound and will be waiting for you when you get out of here.”

  I let out a sigh of relief, and I gripped his hand tighter. “Thanks for doing that, Slade. That’s wonderful that you know my needs without my even saying a word.”

  “Well, I know how much those dogs meant to you.”

  “Wait, so you have dogs?” Dalilah asked. “What kind?”

  “French bulldogs. They’ve always been my favorite. I got two litter mates from the rescue agency. They’re names are Bella and Gigi. I didn’t pick out the names, but they fit.”

  Dalilah giggled. “I can’t wait to meet them.”

  “How long will you guys be in town?”

  Dalilah shrugged. “Luke has to be back in a couple of weeks, because he’s starting a new painting that’s been commissioned by one of the big hotels. Of course, he can get started here. We’ve talked about it, and we’d really like to stay awhile, to make sure that you’re doing okay. It seems that you have a lot on your plate.”

  “Well, that’s an understatement, of course. I’ve got a ton of stuff to do, and I take the bar this weekend in Sacramento.” I didn’t mention, of course, that Slade’s case was my top priority. I didn’t quite know how to tell them about Slade and who he was, although I had the feeling that Luke and Dalilah already knew. They paid attention to the news the same as anyone else, and I could see in their eyes that they were regarding him just a bit warily.

  Slade seemed to sense that I was wanting to talk to my brother and future sister-in-law alone, because he offered to go to the vending machine and get me something to drink. “What would you like?” he asked me.

  “Well, you know that I don’t drink a lot of pop, so if they have some kind of tea just bring me that. Otherwise, a bottled water would be great.”

  He pointed at Luke and Dalilah, both of whom said the same thing as me. Tea if they have it, water if they didn’t. “Thanks,” they said in unison.

  At that, Slade got off the bed and disappeared from the room.

  I took a deep breath as Dalilah took my hand. “Oh, my god, that’s Slade from the news casts. Everyone thinks that he brutally beat his business partner to death. I hate to ask this, but what are you doing with him?”

  She seemed very worried, and I loved her for that. I saw in Luke’s face that he, too, was worried. “Slade is actually a client of the firm’s. I’m on his legal team for his case. I can’t really tell you much more than that, though. I will tell you definitively that he didn’t do it.”

  “How do you know that he didn’t do it?” Dalilah asked. “I’ve seen the news, and it looks very bad for him. All the pundits think that he did it.”

  “Of course they do. They do because they’re lazy and so are the police. I remember, years ago, that there was a murder case that involved a woman that was sleeping with a congressman. Chandra Levy was the girl’s name. She was found dead in the woods. The congressman’s name was Gary Condit. The pundits made this Gary Condit look guilty as hell, for a variety of reasons. Ruined his career and his life. Turns out his only crime was sleeping around on his wife. Some random person actually killed that poor
girl, but you would never know it by watching the news that summer. That whole thing happened because of a lazy press and lazy police-work and tunnel vision.”

  Now that I knew that Slade was innocent, and I knew who did it, I was prepared to make a full-throated defense for him, no matter who asked me about it. “Okay,” she said. “I just don’t want you to get involved with…”

  “A murderer?” I finished her thought for her. “Don’t worry, I’m not.” Of course, I was involved with him before, even though I didn’t know for sure if he was a murderer or not, so I don’t know what that said about me.

  “Yes.” Dalilah was still looking worried. “How do you know that he didn’t do it?”

  I sighed, looking at Luke, who now had little Olivia and was also looking at me with the same worried look on his face as Dalilah’s. Would Dalilah understand the spiritual message from Jordan? I knew that Luke was going to call bullshit on the whole thing, so I was prepared for that. But Dalilah had the same abilities as me, even if she had a hard time acknowledging them.

  I took a deep breath. “Jordan told me that Slade is totally innocent.”

  “Jordan. The victim?” Luke was incredulous. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Now, Luke, you’ve always known that I can sense things. Talk to spirits.”

  “I’ve known nothing of the kind. You’ve always said things like that, but…”

  “But what? I don’t know how it is that you still don’t believe me. I expect this from dad, Amy, Chris and Mark but not you. You’re engaged to somebody who has the same abilities as me, after all, so you better brace yourself.”

  Dalilah was quiet, and pale, getting paler by the second. “She’s right,” she said to Luke. “I do know things. I’ve covered it up all my life, but somehow, when everything started to calm down between you and me and the whole Nottingham situation, I’ve started to…see things. I can’t explain it, though.”

  “Oh my god,” Luke said. “Okay, Serena, so you’re involved with a guy. The whole world thinks that he brutally beat his business partner to death. And you’re okay with being involved with him because of some hocus-pocus message that you hallucinated?”

  I crossed my arms. Thank god I didn’t tell him that I saw Jordan when I was in that hole, after not having eaten or drank anything for days. He would really think that it was all a hallucination. “You can believe what you want, Luke. Listen, I don’t need the lecture from my baby brother. You haven’t exactly been the paragon of great decision-making.”

  “I just don’t want to see you end up hurt or dead, that’s all. Just be careful.”

  I took his hand and squeezed it. “I am careful. He didn’t do it.” My heart quickened as I braced for the next question. Because I had no idea how I was going to bring Malcolm down. No clue whatsoever. I was going to have to find that video that was missing, somehow, someway. That was the only thing that I could think of that would show definitively who killed Jordan.

  At that, Slade came back into the room. I hated to think that he might have heard what I was saying to Luke and Dalilah. I didn’t want him to know that they were so suspicious of him, although I was quite sure that he was used to the suspicions. “Here,” he said, handing me a bottle of water. He then handed Luke and Dalilah their bottles of water as well. “I looked for some iced tea, but they weren’t selling that at that particular machine. I can keep looking for you if you like.”

  “No, this is fine,” I said, opening up the bottle of water and taking a sip. “Thanks for this.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said with a smile.

  Olivia woke up, and Luke handed the little girl to Dalilah. “Well, I think that I have to feed and change this little one,” she said. “We better go. We’ll be back to see you tomorrow, though, unless you’re home.”

  “I should be home tomorrow. The doctor needs to come and check on me, though, but I would imagine that I can go on home. There’s nothing really wrong with me, after all. I feel great, too.”

  At that, they both kissed me on the cheek and left. Slade climbed back onto the bed with me. “They seem nice,” he said. “I’m sure that they warned you away from me, though.”

  “They did. But I think that I put them in their place.”

  Slade was quiet for a moment, just stroking my hair. “Do you now believe for sure that I didn’t do it?”

  “I do.”

  “What changed your mind?”

  It was my turn to be quiet. I didn’t know what to tell him. Like Luke, Slade didn’t believe in my powers. He was going to scoff, I knew. But maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe, since I now believed him for sure, he would be grateful for Jordan’s message.

  But probably not.

  “I don’t know, I just had an epiphany.”

  “An epiphany. Well, Serena, I don’t know what brought the epiphany on, but I’m glad that you finally believe me. Now we can move forward with our relationship and not have that hanging over our heads.”

  He interlaced his fingers with mine and kissed me on my cheek, then on my lips. “I can’t wait to get you alone. I’ve thought of little else since I found you, I’m ashamed to say.”

  I felt the tingles when he said that, as I thought of his lips exploring every inch of my body. I examined his beautiful hand, that was gripping mine. And, just like that, I thought of something.

  “You’re left-handed,” I said. “At least you eat with your left hand.”

  “Yes, I’m left-handed. Why do you ask?”

  I shook my head. The investigators didn’t indicate if the killer was left or right-handed, and I had no idea if they could tell something like that from the crime scene. What I did know was that Malcolm was not a lefty. He was right-handed, like most of the world.

  I knew that I was going to have to speak with the investigators on this case. It was something that so fundamental, I was surprised that I didn’t think about it. Surprised and a little ashamed that something so simple escaped me. I realized that I was relying on Malcolm’s analysis of the case, and not being proactive enough. I trusted that Malcolm was on the up-and-up, and, now that I knew that he wasn’t, I was going to have to do the investigation that he no doubt was neglecting to do.

  “I need to speak with the investigator for the police on your case.” My heart started to pound. “I need to see if they were able to tell if the killer was left or right-handed.”

  Slade was quiet. A little too quiet. “That’s a good idea.” That was all that he said, though.

  I looked at him. “Slade, what is going on? You’ve done very little to help with your own defense. In fact, you’ve thwarted me when I tried to go down a path towards finding out who really did this. Now, I’m telling you that I need to speak with the investigator about whether or not the killer is left-handed, and you don’t exactly seem enthused.”

  He sighed. “Sometimes I wish that you weren’t involved in this mess. I’m glad that you are in that, if you weren’t, I never would have met you. But, Serena, you’re mixed up with some dangerous people because of me. You were kidnapped because of me. I wish that you could just live your life without all this danger hanging over your head all the time. If something happened to you because of something I did, I honestly don’t think that I could forgive myself.”

  “I am involved in this mess, and you should be too.” I shook my head, trying to shake off the feeling that Malcolm wasn’t the only person who was trying to throw his case.

  It seemed like Slade himself was throwing it as well.

  Chapter 2

  Slade – Ten Years Earlier

  “Slade,” Charlotte was saying to me. She was sitting by the side of the pool, and I was in the water, lounging on an air mattress. “Where are we going tonight?”

  I put my head on the pillow of the mattress, and my hands went into the water. I floated lazily to the side of the pool and shoved off the wall again. “I don’t know. I have to study, so maybe we need to take a rain check.”

  I might have on
ly been 18, but I was already in college, having been admitted to UCLA when I was just 16. Charlotte had a hard time trying to understand that, of course. She was my age, but had just graduated high school, as most people my age had done. She didn’t have the kinds of pressures that I did. I put these pressures on myself, because I wanted, more than anything, to make something of myself. If anybody had asked me why, I probably couldn’t answer them. It was embarrassing for me to admit the truth – I needed to take care of my mother. Not Helen, of course. She didn’t need anyone’s help. Well, maybe the help of a good shrink, not to mention rehab. But monetarily? She didn’t need a thing.

  My mother, on the other hand, was a completely different story. She was a convicted felon. Nobody would hire her. Not that she was well-off even before she killed my father. She wasn’t, because she was a woman of few skills aside from raising a family. Her felony black mark therefore was just one thing that kept her from making a living. As it was, she was working for a fleabag motel as a maid, making precious little.

  I knew that I was going to have to get out of school soon and get a job that paid well enough that I could buy her a house and make sure that she had food on the table every evening. So, when I was accepted to UCLA at the age of 16, I jumped at the chance to go. Helen and Scott were paying for everything, of course, so I knew that I didn’t have to worry about financial aid and scholarships and all of that.

  “Another rain check?” Charlotte said. “You’re getting very boring, I hope that you know that.”

  “Well, you might think that I’m boring, but I see myself as driven. I’m driven to get out of school as soon as I can. You know that I’m going to soon be studying for my PhD as soon as I get out of UCLA, too, so you might as well get used to my not paying as much attention to you as you might like.”