Too Wicked to Keep Read Free Page A

plan to steal their father’s ring, sell it and use the profit to start a new life somewhere fresh…or at least, somewhere that didn’t have Wanted posters with his name on them.
    The Netherlands, perhaps? Outer Botswana?
    But once he’d arrived in the Crescent City, he’d ended up helping his brother, an FBI agent, solve a case and save the woman he loved. On top of that mess, Michael had ended up giving Danny the damned ring voluntarily, which took all the fun out of it.
    For revenge, the stupid gold-and-emerald heirloom was now nearly cutting off the circulation in his right hand. And as the pièce de résistance, the one woman who’d broken his heart had, for some unknown reason, now traveled cross-country to rub his nose in her long and happy marriage.
    This was karma. It had to be.
    â€œSo, what are you doing here, so far from the man who stole you away from me?”
    She laughed, but there was no trace of humor in those brandy-colored irises.
    â€œIs that how you remember things? Because as I recall, you were the one who did all the stealing.”
    Five years of time and distance, plus wearing, even under duress, his infamous ancestor’s ring, gave him the balls to snag her by the waist and pull her in close.
    Five years of marriage gave her the confidence to remain still, a curious grin playing on her lips while she waited to see what he’d do next.
    Those five years did not, however, protect him from the instantaneous slam of need that exploded through his system from the scent of her perfume and the silky warmth of her skin.
    â€œYou stole my heart,” he murmured.
    She twisted away from him, but she probably hadn’t even heard him over the music and clanging sounds of the casino. “You lost the right to touch me a long time ago.”
    He leaned back into his chair. Maybe if he exuded his typical casual air, the heartbeat ramming against his chest wouldn’t be so obvious.
    She hadn’t meant to lose her cool. Danny could see the combination of anger and shock in her eyes. But her intense reaction proved one thing—she hadn’t gotten over him. Maybe she still hated him. Maybe she spent every day cursing his name. But at least she hadn’t forgotten him. That was something.
    â€œYou’re right.” He took another drink, grateful for the smooth burn of the scotch as it slid down his throat. “But you know exactly who I am, Abby. If you wanted torub my face in how hot you look after five years of marriage, then you’ve accomplished your goal. If you want to slap my face or have me arrested, then go ahead.” He leaned forward, his newly acquired ring glittering on his hand. “But don’t parade that luscious body of yours so close to mine and expect me to keep my hands off. Every man has his limits. Even me.”
    â€œI’m counting on you to push past those limits, then,” she said stiffly.
    For the first time, he caught a glimpse of the haughty, privileged princess he’d met five years ago. But only a glimpse.
    â€œWhat are you talking about?”
    â€œI came here to find you.”
    â€œAnd your husband let you? What is he, a moron?”
    â€œDon’t speak that way about Marshall,” she shot back. “He was a good man who didn’t deserve what I did to him.”
    Was?
    Danny stood. “No, he didn’t deserve any pain we caused him.”
    She pressed her mouth into a tight line—a line Danny couldn’t help but want to breach. On a normal day, at a normal hour, Abigail was a classic Mediterranean beauty, with her thick, dark hair, smooth olive skin and expressive amber eyes. But when she was angry—when she let her control slip even a little—she knocked the breath from his lungs.
    â€œVery true,” she conceded. “But I didn’t expect to hear compassion from Daniel Burnett, or is it David Brandon again?”
    â€œI haven’t been David