by Shenda Paul
"You take care and enjoy your time together. I love you." She kisses my cheek and turns to embrace Angelique warmly. I say goodbye to Matt before facing my parents.
"Why are you crying? It's only three weeks," I tease Mom.
"I'm just happy, darling; you be happy." She pulls me in for a long hug. I lift her off the ground the way I used to as a teenager. "Thanks for everything," I whisper.
While Mom and Dad quietly talk to Angelique, I crouch down beside Grace. "I won't say take care of her because I already know you will. Just be happy—both of you," she tells me tearfully.
"We will, and thank you, Grace, for entrusting your most precious possession to me." I hug her gently before stepping aside to allow Angelique to wish her mother a tearful goodbye. When she rises, I take her hand and lead her to the waiting limousine. Finally, settled in the back, I raise the privacy screen before lifting her exquisite face to mine.
"Alone at last, Mrs. Thorne," I murmur, lowering my mouth to hers.
-The End-
Bonus chapters, outtakes, for Counsel and Justice are available to read on the author’s website.
www.shendapaul.com
Coming Soon
Angel
A companion piece to Counsel and Justice
Read Angelique’s intriguing and emotional retelling of her life leading up to and including the events that take place in Counsel and Justice.
Prologue
I can’t tear my eyes from his image. I’ve seen several sides to Adam Thorne now; the belligerent man whose car I ran into, the confident and highly intimidating prosecutor I witnessed on this morning’s newscast, and now this—a vision of a light-hearted and apparently affectionate man. I can’t help but wonder, should I run into him again, just which version I’d be confronted with.
I send up a silent prayer, probably my thousandth since the news about Justin broke. I pray that I don’t get caught up in this mess that seems to worsen each day. And I also hope, most fervently, that Adam Thorne never discovers my true identity.
Subscribe to receive information on Angel’s release date:
www.shendapaul.com
Acknowledgments
I owe the following people a debt of gratitude.
Tony. For your continued support and encouragement, for listening, reading, and endlessly discussing. Thank you. You have my unconditional love, always.
The fantastic team at Publish Green. Aaron. Your warm welcome and professionalism cemented PG as my choice for my first foray into publishing. Thank you.
Taylor N, especially. For your expertise and for so generously sharing your knowledge and patiently guiding me through the process, which, for me, has been an entirely new and, at times, fraught experience. Thank you.
Thank you also to everyone else at PG, who played a role in the publication of my books.
Denise, Melissa, Penny. For your warmth, friendship and unstinting support throughout the writing and now the release of the Counsel series. Thank you.
And of course, always, to all who read my writing. I remain humbled and delighted by your interest in my work. Thank you.
About The Author
Shenda Paul has been passionate about reading for as long as she can remember.
She’s dreamed, since childhood, of writing her own books. Every character she read about, every deed they performed, gave wings to her imagination. A romantic at heart, it was inevitable that, later, she’d dream of passionate romance, all-consuming love, brooding, broken men and the women who love them.
Counsel, her first published novel, had its initial incarnation on a community fiction website. She was astounded, delighted and humbled by its overwhelmingly positive reception.
Shenda remains grateful to those readers; their expressed love for the characters, their encouragement and the very many requests to publish, helped inspire her to do so.