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.Is that going to be aproblem? You ve given me enough to satisfy my duty as an officer of the court but if you retrying to involve me in something illegal& Steele snorted a laugh. I wouldn t dream of it. I m starved.What s for dinner? Steven sat down at the kitchen table and Katy sighed.Wednesday.Double-shift night.Every week Steven showed up for dinner between shifts with a few hours to kill.Heclaimed it was for the children, but it totally disrupted their weekly routine.Instead ofdoing their homework, the kids played video games with him, watched movies and atepopcorn.Then he sauntered out of the house, leaving her with the mess and meltdowns,overdue projects and tests.She hated Wednesdays but the kids always had fun, and if she couldn t give them a two-parent family, at least she could ensure they had a solidrelationship with their father. Isn t this great? It s like old times, and look how happy the kids are. Melissa and Justin grinned on cue and disappeared from the table to set up the Wii.Steven leaned over and grabbed her hand.The overpowering sickly sweet scent ofDrakkar Noir laced with antiseptic assaulted her nose and she stifled a sneeze. I miss you, Kate.I want you back.It would be the best thing for the kids.They needboth their parents& together. He squeezed her hand hard.Too hard.Katy winced andtried to pull away. Steven, let go. You suffered as a child without a father, he continued. Don t put your kidsthrough that. He punctuated his obviously rehearsed speech with a sad, unconvincingsmile.She tugged again. You re hurting me. His face flushed and his eyes glittered fever bright.He squeezed harder and her bonesgrated painfully over each other.Heart pounding, she stared at him in horror.What waswrong him? His callous, demeaning, manipulative behavior during their marriage hadbordered on emotional abuse, but he had never once been physical.She grabbed a dinner knife and held it above his hand. Last time, Steven. With a soft sigh, he released his grip.Katy wrenched her hand away. What the hellwas that? I m willing to forgive you, Steven said quietly. For tearing the family apart. Forgive me? We re divorced for a reason.In fact, many reasons.Should I list all theirnames? Steven didn t even flinch.She knew he felt no guilt about his affairs. Think about it, Kate.Try to put the happiness of your children before your own.Youneed a stable influence in your life.After I saw you in that trashy outfit, I realized youneed me back.God knows what people thought, seeing you parading around like a Don t you dare! She shoved her chair back and forced herself to walk across theroom, away from him.One more word and she would slap him, and not just once. DidSally leave too fast for you to find a replacement? Is that why you re trying to get backtogether? He stood up and walked toward the living room, dismissing her with an absent waveof his hand. We ll talk later.I promised Justin another game of Wii bowling. Katy threw her napkin at his departing back and stifled her scream.She tidied the kitchen then headed to her office for a moment of calm before thestorm of hyperactive, overtired children descended on her.After the divorce, she hadreplaced Steven s dark, oppressive furniture with a glass desk, cream leather chairs andopen steel-framed bookshelves, transforming the dark, stuffy space into a light and airyoasis.A sanctuary of sorts.She pulled out the Saunders file and found the list of names.Despite the threat,Martha had decided to continue with the case.Her boyfriend had encouraged her toforge ahead and leave the threats to him.What would it be like to have such a supportive partner?Katy sighed and called the number for the third man on Martha s list, Terry Silver.IfMartha had the courage to keep going, she would be with her client every step of theway.After setting up an appointment to see Silver the following week, Katy closed the fileand buried her head in her hands.She couldn t stop thinking about Mark.If she didn tfind a way to deal with her fierce attraction to him, she might as well kiss her careergoodbye.She knew, without a doubt, one day, in the haze of lust that invariablydescended on her the moment he drew near, she would go too far.If she hadn t already.At exactly ten o clock, Mark s cell rang.He settled himself on the tired hotel bed.Well-worn springs creaked under his weight.He hadn t expected her to call
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