“Did you hear me talking about that murder?” he asked.
“What?” she gasped out. “What are you talking about?”
“At that reception at the . . . what was it . . . the St. Charles Club. You know, where we first met. I was talking to Larry Dalton about, you know.”
Her heart was in her throat.
“I know what?”
“That drug enforcement agent who went into the ocean when he was messing with my shipment from Taiwan.”
“No,” she breathed.
“Got to keep you close,” he muttered, “in case you heard. A wife can’t testify against her husband.”
Her heart was already pounding so hard that she could barely breathe. Then as his hand reached for her, she felt her heart leap into her throat.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
As John made a grab for Stephanie, she stepped out of the way.
Sleep. Just sleep. You need to sleep, and you’ll feel so much better in the morning.
To her profound relief, he accepted the suggestion and sank into sleep. Making a hasty escape, she hurried to her own room, her pulse pounding.
She thought he’d wanted to marry her because he wanted entrée into an old New Orleans family. Now she knew it was more than that. He thought she’d overheard a conversation about a murder he’d ordered.
She hadn’t heard him. But now she knew. In the morning, would he remember that he’d told her?
“Oh God,” she whispered, thinking that she was in more trouble than she’d realized.
As soon as she closed the door, Craig was in her head.
Thank God.
You were watching that.
Yeah.
You heard about . . . a murder.
Yeah.
What am I going to do?
Hope to hell he doesn’t focus on it when he wakes up.
As she caught the raw edge in his silent voice, she shuddered. Then she picked up that he was thinking about her in bed with Reynard, not about the man’s murderous past. He already knew about that.
Now the dark and dangerous images swirling in his mind made her gasp.You can’t break in here. Don’t try. They’ll catch you.
I’m coming in for you.
Wait
I will. I’ll figure something out.
She pulled off her gown and shoes and found a long tee shirt she could wear—something very unsexy if John appeared in her room.
