Dark Bargains 2: Dark Bargains, #2

By Olivia Blake

I killed her.

Lucas told me that he killed his wife, but he refuses to say any more than that about what happened. Is it true? Does it even matter? I'm starting to fall for him anyway, just like Stephanie has. But Marcus is never going to let me go, and he torments me with what can never be.

Do you really think a man like Lucas, who is as proud as Lucifer and can have any woman he wants, is going to settle for his brother's cast-off whore?

I don't believe in ghosts, but I have two of them haunting me right now. One of them was my wife. She's dead. The other is the woman my brother brought home. He's killing her. I have to find a way to save her, but I'm not sure I can even save myself. And I'm beginning to wonder if she's even the woman I thought she was.

If she'd sleep with Marcus, would she do other things for him? Like prank calling his brother pretending to be his dead wife?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tove Press
• Release date: Jul 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781513042053

Book preview

DARK BARGAINS

PART TWO

OLIVIA BLAKE

Dark Bargains: Part Two

Copyright © 2016 Olivia Blake

All rights reserved. No part of this eBook may be reproduced in any form or by any means, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Names, characters, places, businesses, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Summary

I killed her.

Lucas told me that he killed his wife, but he refuses to say any more than that about what happened. Is it true? Does it even matter? I’m starting to fall for him anyway, just like Stephanie has. But Marcus is never going to let me go, and he torments me with what can never be.

Do you really think a man like Lucas, who is as proud as Lucifer and can have any woman he wants, is going to settle for his brother’s cast-off whore?

I don’t believe in ghosts, but I have two of them haunting me right now. One of them was my wife. She’s dead. The other is the woman my brother brought home. He’s killing her. I have to find a way to save her, but I’m not sure I can even save myself. And I’m beginning to wonder if she’s even the woman I thought she was.

If she’d sleep with Marcus, would she do other things for him? Like prank calling his brother pretending to be his dead wife?

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dark Bargains 2

Bonus Material

Preview: Dark Bargains 2

The Winter Billionaires

With One Word

Lessons in Love

About the Author

Dark Bargains 2

I KILLED HER.

The words crashed back and forth through Diane’s mind like the ringing of some enormous cathedral bell. She stared down at Lucas, begging with her eyes for him to explain because her mouth wouldn’t form the words, but his gaze remained fixed off in the distance and he refused to look at her.

A door rattled on the floor above her. "Diane! Get in here now!"

She did not want to go. Lucas stood there like some broken thing, an empty husk shattered by Marcus’s accusations, and her heart begged her to go and to try to comfort him. Doubt held her nailed to her spot on the stairs, though, unable to take even a single step closer to him. Had she been wrong about him after all? Was he nothing but another Marcus, only more cleverly disguised?

Diane! I won’t tell you again.

The menace dripping from Marcus’s words forced her back to her feet. She had no choice but to obey him. Bitterly she turned away, praying for some word of explanation to give her an excuse to pause, but Lucas still would not look at her. Did she really need more proof to damn him than that?

Reluctantly she trudged the rest of the way up the stairs to the landing, icy needles of fear clawing at her spine with each step. It was going to be a very bad night. Marcus’s mood had been foul even before they got back to the lake house, and his brother’s interference had no doubt sent it spiraling down into one of his black rages.

And now she had no one at all to turn to, no one to believe in. Her last source of solace had been stripped away to leave her soul naked and defenseless against Marcus’s endless assaults. However bad that had been before, after daring to trust in Lucas and having that snatched away it would now be far worse. Somehow, though, she would have to bear it.

I killed her. Dear god, what had Lucas done?

* * *

He watched her go, sick at heart for what he’d lost and what he was losing now. Marcus was right, of course. He wasn’t any kind of white knight. Had he really wanted to save Diane from whatever she’d gotten into with Marcus, or had he just wanted to take his brother’s place? Nevertheless, when she disappeared at the top of the stairs, his chest felt as though it was full of broken glass. What was happening to him? How had he lost it like this in such a few, short days over a woman he barely knew? Drained of life and emotion, he shut off the lights and stumbled up the stairs to his room. Things would have to look better in the morning.

Four-thirty. The numbers on the alarm clock hung in the darkness like slashes of bright blood. Beside the bed, Lucas’s phone jittered and rattled on the wooden nightstand as it vibrated with an incoming call. Still half-asleep he reached for it, then stopped with his hand arrested in mid-air as his pounding heart brought him fully awake. It hadn’t even been two hours since his quarrel with Marcus. No one would call at this time of night. No one except…

It was a brand new phone and he’d changed his number, but the caller had found him anyway. Sandra St. Cyr.

Anger boiled up, dragging him out from beneath his sheets. He was getting tired of this. His fingers snatched up the phone and swiped across the glowing face to answer.

I don’t know who you are or why you’re doing this, but when I find out I swear you’re going to fucking regret it, he snarled.

Low, bubbling sobs answered him, filled with pain and heartbreak so visceral that he bent double and gritted his teeth. A kick to the stomach wouldn’t have hurt so much.

I’m sorry, Lucas. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it.

Shut up, he whispered. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."

"I’m sorry. Please don’t leave me here alone. It’s so cold."

It took all of his strength to stand up and take a breath. Stop it.

Please help me. I swear I’ll do better. I won’t do it again.

"Stop it!"

The crying began again, and something inside of him snapped. He couldn’t take anymore. While Lucas didn’t believe in ghosts or the supernatural, he had to see for himself. Swiftly he dragged on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and gripping the sobbing phone in white-knuckled fingers he staggered down to the garage. In seconds the engine of his Ferrari roared to life, and he barely waited long enough for the door to open before he jammed his foot on the accelerator.

His phone lay on the seat beside him, the sound of weeping muted by the rising shriek of the Ferrari’s engine as Lucas tore through the night. He never looked down at it, though, his eyes glued to the dark, perilous road. At the

Reviews for Dark Bargains 2

[Anne Baker · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed reading the whole series but felt that the whole story was rushed. It could have been brilliant with a bit more depth to the story