by Shauna Hart
Chapter 24
Jade felt the other woman’s tongue slide into her mouth, and she recoiled. She turned her head away, her eyes narrowing.
“You and Ruby?”
Zoë pulled back, a blistering look in her eyes. “Until she met up with that idiot,” she explained her tone harsh. “She thought he was actually going to marry her.” She shook her head. “She was a fool.”
Jade swallowed. “Was she in love with him?” she inquired.
Zoë shot her a quelling look. “She was in love with me!”
When Jade didn’t say anything, Zoë continued. “I loved her. We were happy. Then, all of the sudden, she tells me that she met someone. I’m not a fool. I saw them together at the club. But then she tells me she was just experimenting when she was with me. She said that it was over. That’s where she was wrong.”
Her gaze softened as she turned to face Jade, the gun cradled in her lap. Her hand stroked Jade’s cheek before letting it trail down her chest. “Have you ever been with a woman before?”
She watched Zoë’s hand glide over her breast, and her stomach knotted with fear. “No,” she replied.
Zoë’s eyes met hers as she licked her lips. “There’s nothing like it. Men are so focused on their own pleasure that half the time they don’t get the job done. But a woman does. A woman knows just where to touch. I could show you.”
Jade felt her stomach roll at the other woman’s touch. “I don’t think so.”
Zoë lifted her chin, her gaze piercing. “Why? Because of your precious Clay?”
“Zoë, please untie me. If Alex wakes up, he might try something,” she reasoned.
Zoë scoffed. “Are you kidding? He’s not going to hurt me. After all, I am the one with the gun.”
“But he killed Ruby.” The words came out in a rush. “He admitted it to me.”
Zoë’s eyebrows arched. “Did he?” Her laughter filled the room. “That’s perfect.”
Jade’s eyes narrowed.
What the hell was the matter with her?
Didn’t she understand that they were still in danger?
“Why are you laughing?” she demanded.
Zoë’s hand came up to stroke Jade’s hair as she leaned closer. The piercing look she gave her made a chill race up Jade’s spine. “Because he didn’t kill Ruby. I did.”
Jade felt the room spin.
“What?” she asked, shaking her head. “That can’t be true.”
Zoë got to her feet, walking over to the foot of the bed. “But it is. I gave her a chance, you see. A chance to be happy with me. But Ruby didn’t want to be happy. She wanted to waste her time on scum like him,” she said, pointing to Alex.
“So you killed her?”
Zoë’s jaw clenched. “She had a choice. She made the wrong one. I was even willing to let her have her stupid affair with him, but then she had to go and get pregnant. She was sloppy and she was stupid. She thought he would marry her if she told him. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“No!” she cried out, not wanting to believe what Zoë was saying.
“When I saw him come into the building, I knew that she was really going to do it. She was really going to blackmail him into marrying her.” She glanced over at Alex, her lips twisting on a smirk. “Stupid fool choked her so hard that she blacked out before she even got the chance. When she came to, I was waiting. She was so scared that she started promising me that it would just be me and her, that she would stop seeing him. But I knew it was all lies. Everything with her was lies. She actually thought that she could play me. Well, she was wrong.”
Jade pushed herself up as far as she could, her eyes glittering. “How could you do that to her? She trusted you!”
Zoë leaned over, a menacing look on her face. “I trusted her too. Don’t you get it, Jade? She was a whore. You’re sister was a whore who’s better off dead!”
She shook her head, her cheeks wet with tears. “What about Mr. MacLean? Did you kill him too? Did he get too close to the truth?”
“He would still be alive if you would have just dropped it,” Zoë callously reminded her.
Pain sliced through her heart. “Damn you, Zoë! He didn’t deserve to die.”
Zoë shook her head dejectedly. “I thought you were different, Jade. I thought we could have something together. I thought if I took you to the club, I could make you see that. But then you went to stay with him.”
“Clay?”
Zoë leaned her head back, her eyes rolling. “Yes, saintly Clay who can make just about any girl drop her panties in front of him and forget her morals. Ruby used to talk about him like he was some sort of god. I could never figure out why he broke it off with her.” Her gaze centered on Jade. “But I guess now I know. How long were the two of you fucking around behind Ruby’s back?”
Rage mingled with fear as she fought against the ties to be free. “What I do doesn’t concern you, and it never will,” she bit out.
A slow smile crept across Zoë’s lips as she raised the gun and aimed it at Jade’s chest. “Pretty soon, it won’t concern anyone.”
Jade heard the sound of the gun being cocked and knew that her time was up.
This was it.
If only she had listened to Clay, she would be at his apartment right now. Instead, she was about to end up just like Ruby. With only seconds left, she thought of all the things that she would never do. If only she could tell Clay how she really felt about him. If only she could be with him one last time.
But she couldn’t.
Because in a few seconds, she would be dead.
Chapter 25
Jade waited for the shot that would rob her of her life. A cold sweat began to break out on her forehead as she realized that Zoë was about to kill her. The Zoë she had called a friend was now standing over her with a gun pointed at her chest. It didn’t seem real.
But it was.
“It really is a shame, you know. You really are beautiful,” Zoë lamented.
Jade gritted her teeth as she tried to prepare herself for the bullet.
Suddenly, Clay bounded into the room, launching himself at Zoë. He grabbed her arm just before she pulled the trigger. A shot rang out, the sound reverberating through the walls of the small room. It tore across the top of Jade’s shoulder, making her cry out.
Clay threw Zoë to the floor. She tried to point the gun at him, but he grabbed her wrist, effectively pinning it. She struggled beneath him. He banged her hand on the floor until she dropped the gun. She brought her knee up into his groin, hard. He grunted, falling back. She crawled over to the gun. Grabbing it, she stood, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
She pointed the gun at Clay. “Finally, I get a chance to take down the man everyone wants,” she said, her voice laced with sarcasm.
“Drop it!”
Jade’s gaze flew to the open door. Detective Ambrose stood in the doorway, his feet planted, his gun firmly trained on Zoë. Her gaze flickered back and forth between the three of them. Still, she kept the gun leveled on him, refusing to drop it.
“I said put it down!” Ambrose yelled.
Zoë looked at Jade. “I loved her, you know. I would have done anything for Ruby. We could have been happy, if she just would have loved me back.”
“Drop it!” The command rang out a second time.
Zoë’s eyes returned to Detective Ambrose. “Sorry, Detective, but jail just isn’t something that I can do,” she said. She brought the gun to her head and squeezed the trigger.
Jade watched as Zoë’s head recoiled from the shot, blood spattering the walls. She slumped to the floor in front of Clay, the gun falling beside her. Jade squeezed her eyes shut, wanting to block it all out. Pain spread through her wounded arm as her heart cried out.
“Jesus,” Alex hissed, pushing himself up against the wall to avoid the pool of blood that was forming around Zoë’s dead body.
Clay got up, scrambling across the room to Jade. He closed her shirt before pulling th
e ties from her wrists. He checked her arm.
“You’re going to be alright. It’s just a flesh wound.”
“Ambulance is on the way,” Ambrose said. She watched as he pulled a scarf off the bedpost and handed it to Clay.
Then he turned his attention to Alex. “Mr. Talbot, come with me.”
Clay wrapped the scarf around her arm to stop the bleeding. When Alex was gone, he pulled her into his arms. She clung to him, burying her face in his chest.
“I thought…I thought…” She broke off on a sob.
“Shhh,” he said, his hand stroking her hair. “It’s okay. I’m here.”
After giving the police statements and having her arm wrapped, Clay took her back to his apartment. She had thought that finding out who killed her sister would take away some of her grief. But it didn’t. If anything, it increased it. Knowing what Ruby went through, knowing how much she had needed someone, anyone to save her, made the pain that much more intense.
Clay helped her onto the couch, settling in beside her. She glanced over at him for a minute. She still couldn’t believe that he had come back after what she had accused him of.
“I’m sorry. I can’t believe that I actually thought…” She trailed off, not wanting to put into words the awful thoughts.
“Don’t. We could both drive ourselves crazy with ‘what ifs.’ I’m just glad I got there in time,” he admitted softly.
She pulled back to look into his eyes. “Why did you come back?”
“I wanted to tell you that I took the test.”
Her eyes widened. “You did?”
He nodded grimly. “I didn’t want anything to stand between us. I guess that doesn’t matter much now.”
Her gaze lowered. “No,” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. “I still can’t believe it.”
“I know,” he replied, his lips forming a thin line. “She actually thought that Zoë was her friend.”
“So did I,” she confessed.
Poor Ruby.
By the time she figured out the truth about Zoë, it had been too late. Even she had fallen for the farce Zoë had created. When she thought of how close she had come to losing everything, she shivered.
“Stay with me, Jade. Don’t go back to Florida,” he said.
She turned, her eyes meeting his.
When she didn’t answer, he continued.
“Stay with me,” he repeated. “Not because you’re in danger or because I’m worried about you. Stay with me because I love you. Because I’ve always loved you, no matter how hard I tried to fight it. Isn’t it time for our happy ending to start? Haven’t we waited long enough?”
Yes.
They had waited long enough, too long.
“Okay,” she heard herself say.
Hearing the words come out of her mouth made her realize how much she meant it. It had always been Clay. She had been in love with him since that strange night when he had coaxed her to let down her defenses. Being with him had changed her. It had opened her up, breaking down all of the barriers that she had kept so meticulously in place.
And he was right.
It was time to stop running from who she was and what she wanted.
It was time to start living.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shauna Hart began reading romance novels at the age of twelve. Unfortunately for her, her grandmother found out that she was reading a book from her stash and confiscated it! Once she got a little bit older, she began the wonderful journey into romance for a second time. She started writing romance when she was thirteen years old. Each day in school, friends would come to read the next chapter.
Finally, she decided to take writing seriously and attend a Romantic Times Convention. After six years of submissions, she received a contract for her erotic romance novel from the Whiskey Creek Press Torrid Line.
Shauna Hart is originally from Indiana, but now lives in Florida. She lives with her husband, son and two cats. When not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, playing video games and watching movies. She also loves to travel. Over the years she has seen many wonderful places, including Italy, Greece, Spain, Sicily, France, Bahamas, The Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Curacao, Martinique, and various states in the U.S. She hopes to one day travel to Egypt, Ireland, Scotland and England.
You can visit her at www.shaunahart.com.
Table of Contents
THE PLEASURE OF SIN
Copyrigh
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUTTHE PLEASURE OF SIN
Dedication
Chapter 1New Orleans, Louisiana
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
ABOUT THE AUTHOR