His Captive Lover (The Thorpe Brothers Series) Read Free

She couldn’t believe this was actually happening.  How had her life gotten so out of control? 
    She was wearing jeans and a tee-shirt instead of a professional looking suit.  Since the police had banged on her door in the early hours of the morning, she didn’t have any make-up on, her hair was a mess and she was terrified out of her mind.  The police had arrived with a warrant for her arrest about four o’clock in the morning, waking her up out of a sound sleep and tossing questions and a piece of paper at her moments before they started rummaging around in her house.  She’d answered the door in her robe, pushing her brown curls out of her eyes and trying very hard to focus.  And now she stood in front of a busy courtroom, her mind frantically trying to figure out what was happening. 
    “Do you have counsel?” the judge barked out over the noise of the audience.
    Mia looked around, finally figuring out that the judge was talking to her.  A lawyer?  Was this really happening to her?  “Umm…” she started to say but she didn’t have a chance to answer the judge.  She was about to open her mouth but was stopped by someone behind her. 
    “Ash Thorpe here to represent Ms. Paulson, Your Honor,” a deep, commanding voice said. 
    Mia looked around, her grey eyes scanning the crowd.  A super tall man was stepping out of the crowd and her eyes widened in shock. She looked up into his blue eyes, wondering why he was here, who he was and why he was coming forward.  A man this gorgeous shouldn’t be in a courtroom.  And he definitely shouldn’t be standing next to her.  But then, she shouldn’t be here either!  She should be rushing out of her little cottage home, dropping her keys onto the wooden steps and grumbling as she bent down to pick them up again as she raced down the stairs so she could get to school before her kids started arriving.  She should be worrying about spilling her coffee on her suit as she fought the traffic into the city. 
    Instead, because of some weird, unexplainable twist of life, she was standing here, defending herself against a murder charge.  Surely this was some sort of nightmare and she’d wake up in a moment.  The sky would be lightening on the horizon and she’d figure out that she needed to wear a lighter suit instead of a wool one because it was going to be a hot, fall day instead of those delicious, cool ones that made her feel more motivated. 
    No, this horrible moment wasn’t happening to her.
    “How does your defendant plead?” the judge demanded over the din. 
    “Not guilty, Your Honor,” the gorgeous man stated confidently. He stood right next to her, but didn’t even bother to consult her on any of the issues.  “We request that the defendant be released on her own recognizance,” the crazy-tall man was saying.
    The prosecutor spoke up and Mia’s eyes swung over in that direction, completely confused about what was being said.  Was this about her or another case?  “The defendant is accused of murdering her ex-fiancé out of jealousy.  The people request that the defendant be remanded until trial.”
    Tall-Gorgeous-Dude shook his head, his eyes glaring at the prosecutor.  “Ms. Paulson doesn’t have even a parking ticket to her name,” the tall, muscular man called back, his voice confident and deep, sexy and Mia couldn’t believe that she was thinking something like that while her entire life was at stake.  “She hasn’t been engaged to the supposed victim in four months, nor does the prosecution even have the body of which Ms. Paulson might have murdered.”
    The judge swung his eyes back to the prosecutor with irritation, stunned that the prosecutor would bring a murder charge without a body.  “Is that true?” he asked.
    The prosecutor shook his head, “The victim has been missing for more than a week.  His blood was found on the murder weapon with Ms. Paulson’s fingerprints.”
    The judge shook his head.  “If