Page 46 of Rebels and Roses

“You always know just the right words to say, though. I’ll just upset them.”

“Their son just died, Fiona. I would imagine they’re going to be upset no matter what. This is a family situation.”

“You’re family.”

“No, I’m not,” he said, keeping his voice steady but firm. “This is not my news to share with your parents. You need to do this. Can I give you a ride back to the hotel?”

Not happy with his refusal, her uncertainty as to how to deal with him morphed into something far more calculating. A smug smile bloomed on her face, and her eyes glittered with triumph.

“Once I start talking, I may not stop,” she said. “I might even tell your family that you’re the bestselling author S.S. Cooper. You don’t want that to happen, now do you? Maybe you should call my parents and tell them about Tom. I’d hate to reveal one of your big secrets.”

If Cooper could kick his own ass, he would. He only had himself to blame, however. He’s the one who had married her, ignoring all the red flags along the way.

She thought she had him by the short hairs, but she’d calculated wrong. He’d intended to eventually tell his family; he simply wasn’t in a huge hurry. He would have told them already except for his dad.

“Go ahead,” Cooper urged. “But blackmail goes both ways. I know shit about you that would curl your old man’s hair. The best you got is that I’m actually a productive member of societyinstead of a deadbeat, and that I make a hell of a lot of money. That’s not much of a threat. You’re losing your touch, Fi. Seven years ago, you would have done better.”

The only tell that she was furious was the visible trembling of her lips and hands. Otherwise, she appeared as cool as a cucumber.

“Take me back to the hotel. Asshole.”

She stomped toward where he’d parked his car, not sparing a glance over her shoulder to see if he was following her. Before he left, he wanted to let Finn know that he was taking her back to the inn.

His phone vibrated with an incoming text. Jane had messaged him that Tom’s almost-fiancée Erica had shown up at the bookstore. Was Tom with him?

Damn. This wasn’t going to go well.

The news of Tom’s death hadn’t hit the town gossip grapevine yet. His thumb hovered over the screen, but he didn’t think that breaking the news over the phone was a good idea. Instead, he sent a message back that he’d be there in a few minutes. Finn would want to talk to Tom’s fiancée.

Cooper would drop Fiona back at the inn, and then go directly to the bookstore. Did Erica know about Tom’s drug problems, debt, and general womanizing?

It looked like they were about to find out.

Jane couldn’t believehow everything in the world could be upended in such a short span of time, but somehow it had. Erica was here in town, Tom was dead.

I’ve barely even had my coffee.

Erica was now crying for a different reason. Her fiancé Tom had been found dead, which was a shock to them all, of course. The young woman was beside herself, angry that she’d let him out of her sight. Apparently, she’d known that the man she planned to marry someday had a drug problem.

“He was getting help for it,” Erica explained, the tissue clutched in her hand a sodden mess. “He was seeing a therapist. He’d been clean for months.”

“Did you know that he’d been to rehab several times?” Cooper gently asked. Finn was still at the scene with Tom’s body waiting for the coroner. “Did you know that his sister Fiona was here to take him again? To a place in Miami?”

Anger immediately crossed Erica’s delicate features. She tossed the tissue onto the table and ripped a new one from the box that Lucy had slid in front of her. They’d moved this conversation into the backroom, but there were a few customers in the main area that were curious as to what was going on. The gossips would fill them in eventually.

“Fiona,” Erica spat out, her lips curled in distaste. “She wasn’t making anything any better. She babied Tom, telling him that his addiction wasn’t that bad. She’d say that he’d get help when he was ready. I find it hard to believe that she was going to take him to rehab. In Miami or anywhere else.”

“You didn’t get along with Fiona?”

“Does anyone?” Erica shot back. “She only cares about herself. I’ve never seen a more self-absorbed person in my life. She simply would not leave us alone. She’d dig around until she found one of Tom’s weaknesses, and then she’d try to exploit it.”

“What for?” Cooper asked. “How did she do that?”

“What for? She wanted to pull all the strings. Control. She wanted Tom to do whatever she told him to do. And before you even ask me, I don’t know why that was important to her. His life didn’t even affect hers, but she’d still do it. He and I would bedoing great, and then she’d show up. She’d mess with his head, and the next thing I knew he’d go on a coke binge after being clean for months. It was almost like she couldn’t stand for him to be healthy and happy.”

From the expression on Cooper’s face, he believed Erica completely. For the dozenth time, Jane had to wonder just how he’d ended up married to Fiona. He’d explained that he’d been young and optimistic, but…damn. He’d been willingly blind, too.

Lust. It had to be lust. Perhaps Fiona was great in the sack. Jane had seen men fall for women who were a red flag-waving party, but they didn’t seem to care as long as they were getting laid.

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