Heart Breaker, page 1
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shannon Curtis has worked as a copywriter, business consultant, admin manager, customer service rep, logistics coordinator, dangerous goods handler, event planner, switch bitch and betting agent, and decided to try writing a story like those she loved to read when she found herself at home after the birth of her first child. Her books have been nominated finalists for Favourite Romantic Suspense every year from 2011 to 2015, as well as Favourite Continuing Romance Series by the Australian Romance Readers Association. Now she spends entirely too much time daydreaming about hunky heroes and malicious murders—for her books, of course! She loves reading, loves writing, and loves hearing from her readers, so visit her at www.shannoncurtis.com and say hi!
Also by Shannon Curtis
Runaway Lies
HEART
BREAKER
SHANNON CURTIS
www.harlequinbooks.com.au
This book is dedicated to my grandmother...
A pint-sized pocket rocket who loved to read, wanted to write, and didn’t mince words.
Vale, Mavis Catherine Winnel.
We miss you so much.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
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
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Acknowledgements
CHAPTER
1
How do you attract a guy without coming off slutty or desperate? Leona dangled two different earrings from her earlobes. Classy or sexy? The sterling silver, cubic zirconia and freshwater pearl drop earrings had just enough sparkle to catch the eye, and were timeless in style. But the gold-flame drop earrings did look kind of modern and sexy. She turned her head first one direction, then the other, then sighed. Well, the pearl earrings did match the heart-shaped pearl pendant Lex had sent her ...
She chewed her lip in a half-smile as she donned the earrings. She wanted to impress him, but not seem eager to please. She touched the pendant thoughtfully. She’d been so surprised to receive the gift, especially as they hadn’t officially met. Well, that was going to change tonight.
She was so excited she could pee. Or puke. A glance at her watch showed she still had nearly two hours before she was due to meet him at the Opera Bar. Okay, just breathe. The thought of finally meeting the man of her dreams was surprisingly unsettling. A smile teased her lips. Unsettling, but in a good way. He’d let her pick the venue. He wanted her to feel safe and comfortable. Her smile broadened. How sweet, and how considerate. Typical Lex. Well, it was an open bar in the middle of Circular Quay, she couldn’t feel any safer than being surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands, of people. She bit her lip. Oh, god—what if he was a bore? Or smelled? His emails and late-night phone calls suggested he was a good conversationalist, but this was different. This was in person.
No, everything would be fine. Better than fine. She smoothed a golden lock back behind her ear. She’d finally be able to see that gorgeous hunk in the flesh.
She surveyed the shoes she’d lined up in front of the mirror. The sexy stilettos, or the lower heels? What if they walked around the harbour? The lower heels would be far more practical.
But the stilettos looked so much sexier, and she did want to impress her man. He was so handsome—and they shared enough mutual friends online for her to know the photos were accurate. She shook her hands out in nervous excitement. After all these weeks of emails and texts, and then phone calls ... they’d finally be able to hold hands.
It wasn’t like she was meeting a total stranger. Maybe they’d do more than just hold hands ...
She reached for the more practical pair of shoes as the doorbell rang. She frowned.
‘Who on earth ...?’ She trotted along the carpeted hallway in her bare feet to the front door. It couldn’t be Harm. Her cousin had flown to Melbourne the night before for a weekend conference, and Leona had made sure to clear her schedule for tonight’s date. Her eyes widened. God, please don’t let it be Mum! That’s the last thing she needed, her mother on her doorstep without Harmony to run interference.
Leona peered through the stained glass panel in the door, then gasped. All she could see through the distorted, coloured glass was a pair of trouser-clad legs topped by a massive floral display. A white van was parked in the driveway bearing a subtle florist’s logo.
‘Oh, my god,’ she breathed as she opened the door, staring in amazement at the oversized bouquet. The scent of roses assailed her, the mountain of white blooms stunning against some dark green leaves.
‘Delivery for Leona Thomas,’ a man’s voice rasped from behind the blooms.
‘That’s me,’ she said, beaming, opening the door wider.
The man stepped closer to hand over the bouquet, and she gave a little laugh as she tried to take them off his hands.
‘Wow, they’re heavy,’ she said as the box dipped. Hands full, she turned to walk down the short hall into the kitchen. ‘Hang on and I’ll get my wallet.’ Her first ever job had been as a deliverer for a local pizzeria, and she always made sure to give a tip to any driver.
She placed the boxed bouquet gently onto the kitchen bench, shaking her head slightly in pleased surprise. Lilies peeked out between the roses, one of her favourite flowers. The bouquet was beautiful, and would have cost Lex a fortune.
She reached for the handbag she’d draped over the back of a kitchen chair, turned to walk back to the front of the house, and shrieked.
He’d followed her in.
‘Oh, I—’ She clasped a hand to her chest. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she gasped. ‘You startled me.’
His face was scarred. A large, jagged line slashed angrily across his forehead and his left temple, radiating down the side of his face and neck, and she averted her eyes quickly, not wanting him to think she was staring. God, he’d scared the crap out of her. ‘Uh ...’ She gestured back down the hall, holding her handbag up, indicating she’d pay him his tip at the door—where he could then get the hell out of her house. She was teetering between scared spitless, anger at his presumption, and guilt because he probably got a lot of negative reaction when people saw his face.
He gave her a little smile, his stare a little too focused, forcing her to maintain eye contact.
‘You really are beautiful,’ he said to her.
She swallowed as she approached him, hoping her proximity would force him to step back—and closer towards the exit.
It didn’t.
‘Please, let me show you out,’ she said as politely as she could manage.
‘Oh, I’m not going anywhere, Leona,’ he said quietly, his lips curling with satisfaction as she frowned. The skin at his left temple pulled down, causing his eye to narrow. Goosebumps rose on her arms, and a growing sense of disquiet at his familiarity had her clutching her handbag. The door. The door was just down that short hall beyond him. Her neighbours were outside. Cars were in the street. She tried to step around him, but he dodged with her.
She swallowed, terror rising inside her now as she realised his bulk—big powerful shoulders, strong legs, and massive hands. She had been so distracted by his scars, she hadn’t focused on anything else. Now, though, she was noticing a lot more. Like the black gloves he wore.
‘Get out,’ she said, dismayed when her voice emerged as a whisper. ‘Go, now,’ she said in a stronger, louder voice.
‘Tut, tut,’ he murmured, shaking his head as he stepped closer. She matched his step, retreating as he advanced. ‘Playing hard to get, huh? You know I love it when you do that.’
Her mouth opened to scream, but his fist flashed so fast, hit her so hard in the face, she cried brokenly as she whirled and slammed into the kitchen table. A chair rocked on its legs, then toppled over. Fire. Her cheek felt like it was on fire. She whimpered as she pressed her trembling hand to her heated, sore face. She could feel him right behind her, his body a threatening wall against her back. This can’t be happening.
‘You like it rough, huh?’ he murmured. ‘That’s okay, I can do rough.’
She faced him, her arm up to hold him off, but he hit her again, this time catching her in the temple. She sucked in a breath, trying to blink off the darkness as she stumbled back, and another chair fell. She had to get away, had to get help, She tried to dodge around him. The front door. Safety. She screamed, the sound cut short as he grabbed her hair and yanked her back against him. Her eyes widened and she cried out in fear, in pain. She reached behind her, tried to loosen his painful grip at the back of her head, wincing at the burn as some follicles pulled from her scalp.
She flinched when he held something in front of her face, and her stomach churned in panic. A syringe.
A drop of fluid swelled at the tip of the needle. ‘You and I are going to be perfect together,’ he whispered into her ear, and she shu
She sagged against him, strength leaving her limbs, a euphoric lethargy stealing over her, robbing her of energy, of resistance.
‘That’s much better,’ he whispered, pressing his cold lips to her temple.
‘You’re back already?’
Harmony Talbot smiled at her colleague’s exclamation as she settled into the back seat of the taxi. ‘Yes, I am, Joe. I presented my workshop, made some new contacts, but I couldn’t stick around for the rest of the day.’
‘What is Smiley going to say when he hears you dodged nearly a full day of networking?’
Harmony rolled her eyes. ‘I’ve got some new leads, trust me. I just wasn’t going to sit through another full day of awkward smiling and nodding and introducing myself. If people want to use ISpy, they will. If they don’t, they won’t. I’m tech, not sales. Smiley can cough up and send one of his reps if he’s not happy with what I’m bringing home.’
Joe Bennett snorted. ‘Sales always rack up a massive expenses bill. All that schmoozing.’
‘Yeah, well, I don’t schmooze.’ Ugh, she’d rather kiss a snake. She glanced out the window. The taxi was driving around the bay towards Rodd Point. She’d be home, soon. ‘How did the test go with Abacus?’ Abacus was one of their newer clients, and they were still conducting initial testing before designing improvements to their network security.
‘There are some major weaknesses. I’m surprised they haven’t been attacked, but don’t worry about that until you come in tomorrow.’
‘I might log on and try some test runs tonight.’
‘Harm, it’s Sunday. Enjoy it. The rest of the team are exhausted trying to keep up with you—and that’s with you in a different city for the last three days.’
‘You just want to play games,’ she said dryly, a smile briefly touching her face before it disappeared. She didn’t need Joe to point out that her life seemed to revolve around work. It didn’t. Not quite, anyway.
‘I’m always playing games.’
‘Don’t think I don’t know that,’ she said. She was Joe’s supervisor—he had to realise she knew how he spent his time at ISpy. He was damn good at what he did though, so she wasn’t going to quibble. Hell, she supervised a team of techno geeks who hacked and cracked security. An enthusiastic gamers’ environment was par for the course. Truth to tell, occasionally she’d oppose them in a game online without them realising they were battling against their supervisor.
‘Yeah, but I still get my work done,’ he said in an automatic defence that had Harm’s smile returning to her face.
‘It’s not a problem.’ If it was, they’d be talking about it in her office, not joking about it over the phone. Her mobile phone beeped in her ear, and her heart sank. ‘I have to go, Joe. I’ve got another call coming through. See you tomorrow.’
‘Say hi to your mum for me.’
She grimaced as she interrupted the Jaws theme and took the call. ‘Hi, Mum.’
‘Oh, Harmony, thank goodness I caught you,’ her mother responded, her relief obvious in her tone. Harm idly wondered what emergency could possibly have befallen her mother since the night before.
‘What can I do for you, Mum?’ This time.
‘The light bulb blew in the spare bedroom. Are you back home yet?’
‘No, I’m still in Melbourne,’ Harm lied immediately. Just one day, she wanted just one day without having to drop everything and come to her mother’s rescue. She shot the taxi driver a dark look as he frowned at her in the rear-view mirror. ‘I’ll be home late tonight, so I’ll come by and change the light bulb tomorrow, okay?’ She made a gesture to the taxi driver to switch his attention back to the road.
‘Oh. All right.’
She could hear the disappointment in her mother’s voice, and mentally cringed, then tried to ignore it.
‘How is it going in Melbourne?’ Elizabeth Talbot asked.
‘Oh, it’s fine.’ A conference full of relatively boring talks, hers included, with attendees who ranged from the socially-inadequate brainiacs to the arrogant hard-sell company reps. It had been tedious. ‘Yeah, I think I may have picked up some new clients.’ Smiley would be delirious. She half-hoped nothing would come of it, and then Smiley would send someone else on these torturous trips. But then, she wouldn’t escape her mother ...
‘That’s nice, dear. Did you meet any nice men?’
‘There were over three hundred people at the conference, Mum, and most of them were very nice.’ Most. Okay, maybe some.
‘I mean, did you meet any nice man in particular? You’re not getting any younger, you know. You need to find yourself a nice man and settle down.’
And there it was. At least her mother had waited three whole days before broaching the topic of her lack of a significant other.
‘I have settled down, Mum, and I’m quite happy, thank you.’ She loved her job, didn’t need anything else. Didn’t have time for anything else. Besides, she’d had a man once, and it hadn’t worked out—thanks to Mum, not that she realised.
Her mother sighed, but apparently chose not to pursue the subject. ‘What time can you come around tomorrow? Would you like to come for dinner?’
‘Dinner?’ Harm shuddered at the thought of sitting for two hours with her mother and aunt as they complained about the weather, the current prime minister, what happened at the golf club, the short skirts of today, or Harmony’s unmarried state and lack of a social life. She almost wanted to hop on a plane back to Melbourne. Yet she hadn’t seen her mother since Thursday night. The sooner she got a face-to-face visit over and reassured her mother she was truly fine, the sooner she could return to her semi-normal life. Besides, the taxi driver was shooting her a look that she assumed was meant to pile on the guilt.
‘Sure, I’d like that,’ she said.
‘I’m shopping at Aldi tomorrow, do you want me to get you anything?’
Harm frowned. ‘Uh, I haven’t seen our pantry or fridge in three days. I wouldn’t have a clue what we need. Have you tried calling Leona?’ She shared a rented Federation cottage with her cousin.
‘Jennifer has tried to call her all weekend, but keeps missing her.’
That didn’t surprise her. She and Leona often screened the multitude of calls from their mothers. Harm, on the other hand, had been in regular contact with her cousin over the weekend, if only by text.
‘Well, don’t worry about us. We’ll do whatever grocery shopping we need later.’
‘Are you sure? They’ve got underwear on special tomorrow.’
Harm closed her eyes. ‘It’s okay, Mum. I can get my own underwear.’ This time she ignored the taxi driver’s stare.
‘I’m just asking, you seemed to really like the last lot I got you.’
And that was the problem with lying to save someone’s feelings. ‘Seriously, it’s fine, Mum. I’ll look after it.’
‘All right, but if you change your mind ...’ Elizabeth’s voice trailed off.
I won’t. ‘I’ll be sure to let you know.’ She glanced out the window. She was about a block away from home. ‘Uh, I’ve got to go now, Mum. There’s another session starting.’
‘I’ll see you tomorrow, then.’
‘Yep. ’Bye.’
She disconnected the call and slipped the phone back into her handbag. A movement in the front seat caught her eye. The taxi driver was shaking his head.
‘Like you’ve never lied to your mother,’ she muttered. She dug around in her bag to retrieve her wallet as the taxi pulled up to the kerb. She gave him her credit card to charge, then took the receipt. She sure as hell wasn’t going to give him a tip, not when her mother doled out judgement for free. Which was probably why the driver took so long to pop the boot.
‘Don’t get out,’ she called, smiling through her sarcasm at the man who showed no sign of moving from the driver’s seat. She lifted her suitcase out of the boot and let it roll across the road to the kerb while she hefted her laptop bag and handbag to her shoulder and slammed the trunk of the car shut.
The taxi drove off before she’d stepped onto the footpath.
