Fatal Affair: 1 (Courthouse Connections) Read Free

Winston-Roe’s offices in a high-rise building. He
couldn’t complain. The breathtaking view of the Hillsborough River and
University of Tampa’s famous minarets was a nice job perk.
    Fortunately from a personal standpoint, an
executive of one of his corporate clients had run afoul of state regulations.
He had involved his employer in civil litigation that might drag on for months
before a settlement was reached. Hence JD would be spending considerable time
in the courthouse for the foreseeable future.
    He’d get to see Lanie often, because from
what she said, he gathered that her solo practice consisted mostly of low-level
criminal defense cases, with a few wills and personal injury cases tossed into
the mix. That meant she spent a lot of time in the seat of the Thirteenth
Circuit Court.
    She beeped and waved when she turned off
I-75 toward Plant City, where she still lived in the senator’s house, while he
headed in the opposite direction, toward downtown. He could hardly wait until
he could be with her again.
    Not just for sex, although the sex had been
incredibly good. Maybe he’d see about renewing his membership at the exclusive
Cigar City Club. He hadn’t had the heart to visit after Miriam had become too
ill to enjoy the BDSM play they’d both enjoyed. After her death he’d avoided
the place because it only exacerbated his sense of loss. Now, though, he could
imagine taking Lanie there, tutoring her in the fine art of submission in a
place where discretion was the watchword.
    He had a feeling that once initiated, Lanie
would love the kink that had been so important to his sex life. The club could
give them freedom to play without being afraid of showing up in the tabloid media
the next morning.

Chapter Two
     
    “You’re doing what?” Bert Davies’ shrill
voice rang out from Wayne’s study as Lanie came in from the garage. “Are you
fucking insane?”
    Wayne cleared his throat, speaking as
though he were explaining something he thought even a child should understand.
“Lanie wants a divorce. I think she’s right. Both of us are damn tired of
living a lie.”
    Damn you, Wayne. Put it all on me. The warm glow Lanie had enjoyed all the way back from Key West
suddenly turned chilly. She’d tried not to think about the reaction Wayne’s
campaign manager would have to the news that she was not only leaving Wayne but
also intended to abandon the role she’d been playing for the past eight years
to persuade his constituents that he was a happily married man whose wife was
his chief political supporter.
    She stepped inside the room to deathly
silence. Only Bert’s ragged, heavy breathing gave her an indication of just how
pissed off he was. “What’s going on?” she asked as if she hadn’t heard the
angry exchange of conversation between Wayne and his manager. Hell,
puppet-master would be a more accurate description of Bert’s job description,
because as long as she’d known the two men, Wayne had never done so much as
take the simplest of political positions without getting an okay from Bert.
    “You’re not walking out on us now, sugar,”
Bert said, giving her a look that made her want to dive under Wayne’s desk and
hide. “Not if you know what’s good for you.”
    Lanie didn’t have to guess what would
happen if she got on Bert’s bad side. She’d seen enough of Wayne’s political
enemies destroyed on the other man’s say-so. Bert had no compunction about
spreading lies about his enemies.
    In her case, though, he wouldn’t have to
lie. He could simply unearth parts of her distant past that she wasn’t proud
of—things that would probably make people who mattered think less of her.
    You’re worried about JD. Admit it. It wasn’t as though she’d lied about where she’d come from during
those long walks along the beach, but she hadn’t exactly revealed the whole
sordid story of how Lanie Trudell had suddenly become Mrs. Elaine Winstead. Admit
it, Lanie, you picked and chose what