Sinful Love (Sinful Nights #4)

Her stomach churned at the thought, but she pushed those feelings aside, denying them. She was tired, so fucking tired of scraping by for everything. Every last penny. Every goddamn dime. Besides, she wanted to raise her family with Luke. Was that so wrong? How could it be, now that God had put this baby in her belly?

Still, her chest heaved as she placed her necklace in the bottom drawer of her jewelry chest.

“Everything okay?” Thomas asked

She pressed her lips together and nodded. “Just fine.”

She ran a hand over her stomach, a fresh wave of nausea kicking in. She gritted her teeth, not wanting to let on. She’d had morning sickness that lasted all day long with her other pregnancies. No surprise she’d have it again with this one. She hadn’t slept with her husband in months, so she’d never had any doubt who this baby’s daddy was.

This baby was her reason.

She’d gotten in too deep with the drugs, and the gang, and the selling. But now, she had a way out. If she could pull this off—and Luke had assured her that Jerry Stefano was the best—then they had a chance.

Luke had promised he’d leave town with her. They’d escape with the money and go to Arizona, Florida, Texas…anywhere. Start a new life with the man she adored. Be with him, her baby, and all her kids. All five of them under one roof with the man she loved madly.

It was her only choice. It would be worth it, the end result, the freedom.

Thomas walked behind her and placed a hand on her back. “Come to bed. You’re so tired these days. Get some rest.”

He kissed her hair and she shuddered, wondering again if she could go through with this.





CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE


“The piano store?”

To say Annalise was surprised was an understatement. More like shocked, but also excited. The latter because Thomas has driven past the piano store with her once, and made a passing comment about a guy from work being an unlikely musician. But she’d never have thought it was the epicenter of the local gang that had ripped Michael’s family to pieces.

She gripped the edge of the iron latticework table in her fifth-floor flat and stared at him through the computer screen with wide eyes. “I drove past there. With your father. We drove past it one day.”

“Holy shit. What happened? Why?” he asked from the other side of the world. He was in his home, the steel counters of his kitchen framing the video screen.

“You and I went to the movies one Saturday afternoon, but before then your father had come over to play poker with Sanders and Donald. He drove me to your house. Do you remember?”

It was all so clear in her mind. It wasn’t as if she had been lingering on that particular memory for any reason, but now that he mentioned the piano shop, that day splashed to the surface of her thoughts with a particular kind of clarity.

“That’s where the Royal Sinners run the operation from,” he said in a breathless whisper.

“A piano store. That’s so clandestine,” she said, as the flutter of the French news station from a television a floor below drifted up through the late fall air. The weather was cool and crisp, and her terrace doors were open. The Eiffel Tower stood proudly a few blocks from here, and if she leaned far enough out the window, she could catch a glimpse of the flickering lights that lit it up at night.

He nodded. “My private detective found out last night. Apparently they run everything from there. Did you learn anything when you drove past it? Did my dad say anything unusual?”

She shook her head. “No. Not all. He simply noticed someone from work heading there. He didn’t give a name, but I remember he was big and broad, and incredibly tall.”

Michael’s eyes narrowed, and he hissed the name. “T.J. Must have been T.J.”

She clasped her hand over her mouth, shock coursing through her. She collected herself and said, “That was T.J.? Your father was surprised that he’d gone into the piano store. That was literally all he said about the place. It was a very fast conversation at the traffic light. But before then, we were chatting about work.”

Michael gestured for her to tell him more. “About the promotion he was looking for? He always told me he was hoping to impress the guy who ran the company. But nothing came of it. Obviously.”

“I overheard him and the others talking about ‘extra work trips’ at the game. I believe he said someone at work told him to stop asking so many questions. Then when we drove past the store, he said the guy heading into the shop had been giving him a hard time at work, but that was all.”