Fatal Destiny Read Free

Mr. Lincoln a visit.”
    “You must’ve lost track of time.”
    “I guess.” She shrugged and checked her watch. “Wow, it’s getting late.”
    “Sam, the shower—”
    “Oh shit! Shit, shit, shit .” She scrambled to her feet. “Let’s go.”
    He stopped her when she would’ve headed for the stairs.
    She looked up at him, questioning. “We’re late. We have to go.”
    “Sam…”
    “What?”
    “Is everything okay?” He hated the weird, needy tone of his voice. But more, he hated that he had to ask.
    “Everything’s fine. I’m sorry I was late. I lost track of time. Now are we going to go or stand here all night asking questions?”
    “It’s not just tonight.” He reached out to caress her cold face. “You haven’t been yourself lately. I’m worried.”
    “What are you worried about?”
    She looked like his Sam. She sounded like his Sam. But her eyes… the clear blue eyes that had always been the gateway to her innermost feelings were shuttered now. Did he dare say it? Did he dare risk opening that door? How could he not?
    “Is it the wedding? Is that the problem?”
    She stared at him as if he had two heads or were speaking a foreign language. “What about the wedding?”
    Nick’s heart raced, his mouth went dry and his palms were suddenly damp. “Do you still want—”
    “To get married?” she asked, seeming incredulous.
    He nodded.
    “Do you ?”
    “Yes! You know I do! I just don’t know what you want anymore. You won’t talk to me! If you’ve changed your mind or something has happened, I wish you’d tell me. Just tell me. Anything would be better than wondering what’s going on with you.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Haven’t I been going to dress fittings and meeting with Tinker Bell and doing all the things I need to do?”
    He nudged at the marble with the toe of his loafer. “Yeah.”
    “Why would I be doing that if I didn’t want to get married?”
    Nick couldn’t think of a good answer to that.
    “I was late for the shower. I’m sorry about that. But let’s not turn it into something it’s not, okay?”
    Biting his tongue and holding back the desire to shake her until she leveled with him, Nick nodded.
    She brushed past him, and he followed her, relieved to have found her but still riddled with worries. She’d said exactly what she thought he needed to hear. But the wall was still up, and he was beginning to wonder if it would ever come down again.
     
    The gifts had been opened and properly oohed and ahhed over. She’d eaten and laughed with her sisters and coworkers and even razzed his deputy chief of staff, Terry O’Connor, a man she’d tangled with in the past, about his flirtation with Chief Medical Examiner Lindsey McNamara.
    Their guests left with an impression of a happy bride eagerly awaiting her big day. The moment the last guest left, though, Sam mentioned a headache and went upstairs to bed. Before the miscarriage, they’d always gone to bed together. Always. Now, it seemed she couldn’t go far enough out of her way to avoid him.
    Listening to the soft cadence of her breathing, he remembered something she’d once shared about being lonely with her ex-husband. She’d said that even when Peter was sitting right next to her on the sofa or lying next to her in bed, she was often lonely in the relationship. They’d vowed to never let that happen to them. Yet here in the dark of night with the woman he’d waited so long to find sleeping right next to him, Nick was lonelier than he’d ever been in his life.

Chapter 2
    Sam waited impatiently in the exam room. Harry was running late, but she’d forgive him since he snuck her in last-minute on a Monday morning. At least this time he wouldn’t have his hands all over her girl parts.
    A knock on the door preceded him into the room. “So sorry to keep you waiting, Sam. I had an emergency earlier that’s put me behind.”
    “No problem.” Like she did every time she saw Nick’s