The Arrangement Anthology 1(142)
My eyes drop to his tie. I stare at it like it’s an anchor. I have to ask, but how do I ask him something like that? How can I even mention it now? He said he loves me. I should kiss him and squeal with glee. Instead, these dark thoughts linger and make me question everything.
“Sean…” I whisper his name. Licking my lips, I look up into his face. Every ounce of hope is dashed when he sees my expression. It’s like he already knows my question. “Everyone says you’re not a person to mess around with, that I should leave you and never look back. They say you’re ruthless and coldhearted. I never understood why. I don’t see it. Then, I heard something… I have to ask. What happened to Amanda and the baby?”
A current of cold dread runs through my stomach. Sean is so tense. His face loses any trace of the man I was talking to. It becomes a blank slate. Fear flashes in his eyes when looks back at me. “If you’re asking that, you already know.” He pulls away from me. I watch him walk over to the window and look out at the city. Sean stares vacantly.
I follow him across the room. “What I heard couldn’t possibly be true. It doesn’t make any sense. I see the way you mourn. You grief is as palpable as mine.”
“No, it’s not. My grief is nothing like yours.” He turns suddenly and our gazes lock. Wild terror burns behind his eyes like he’s lost in a horrific memory. Sean steps toward me. “What you heard is true. I killed my wife.”
COMING SOON:
THE ARRANGEMENT VOL 7
*****
THE ARRANGEMENT SERIES
This story unfolds over the course of multiple short novels. Each one follows the continuing story of Avery Stanz and Sean Ferro.
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MORE ROMANCE BOOKS BY H.M. WARD
DAMAGED (A Novel)
SCANDALOUS
SCANDALOUS 2
SECRETS
THE SECRET LIFE OF TRYSTAN SCOTT
And more.
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The Arrangement
Vol. 7
H.M. Ward
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by H.M. Ward
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form.
Laree Bailey Press
First Edition: May 2013
THE ARRANGEMENT
Vol. 7
A note for e-readers:
This volume is 121 pages in the print edition (trade paperback). Please be advised that the number of pages may appear to vary based on your e-reader, making this volume appear to have more or less pages due to the size of your screen.
CHAPTER 1
I blink at Sean as my stomach crashes into my shoes. The way he looks at me makes the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. Goose bumps line my arms. It feels like I stepped into a freezer. I manage to choke out, “That’s not true. How could it…”
Sean’s dark gaze locks with mine for a moment. Every thought in my head says run.
On some level I knew there was something wrong with him, that Sean had this darkness hanging over him. I thought it was grief. The way that he acts screams unresolved grief over his wife’s death, over losing his only child. But this, this revelation, chokes me into silence. My feet are glued to the spot.
Sean watches me for a second. It’s almost like he hopes that I’ll run and never look back, but I don’t move. I won’t. For a moment, there’s no air. I’m falling through space, lost in his eyes. Sean can’t be a killer. I think it over and over again, but the twisting inside my stomach won’t stop. His words are true. I can feel the weight of his confession and it scares me. I’ve been fighting too hard to stay alive and this man says he snuffed out two lives before they got going.
I don’t look away. It isn’t that I don’t believe him, it’s that I see something else there. The darkness is tied to death, but this wasn’t a grisly murder. I feel it in my bones, as though the premonition is part of me.
Sean finally looks away and turns. “You’re not running away.”
“Yeah, I’m a little crazy like that.” I try to steady myself, but I can’t. My pulse is pounding in my ears and my body is tense, ready to run. I try to sound calm. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”