Wedded or Worse: Wedded, #3

By Brynn Paulin

Married to the Enemy. Sounds like a Lifetime movie, but it's my life. Sort of.

 

Growing up in the Santori household, I was always aware of Maverick Santori. We were playmates then companions. Until I turned sixteen. Then suddenly, it was as if he hated me. Every smile received a glare in return. Any touch resulted in a recoil. Fine. Who needed him? So I just got on with my life. Problem was, he was always in my space, chasing everyone away.

 

Now, we both work for the Silver Falls Police Department, and we've been assigned the same case. Kill. Me. Now. Okay, I probably shouldn't say that. We have to act like a married couple to lure out a group of dangerous criminals. And I'm the bait. And Maverick needs to keep me safe while bringing down the crooks.

 

I'm not sure what's worse: being bait, trusting Maverick, or having to act as if I'm in love with him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Supernova Indie Publishing Services LLC
• Release date: Oct 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781623443894

Book preview

Wedded or Worse

Beyond the Law

By Brynn Paulin

Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC

Powered by Your Imagination

Wedded or Worse

by

Brynn Paulin

Married to the Enemy. Sounds like a Lifetime movie, but it’s my life. Sort of.

Growing up in the Santori household, I was always aware of Maverick Santori. We were playmates then companions. Until I turned sixteen. Then suddenly, it was as if he hated me. Every smile received a glare in return. Any touch resulted in a recoil. Fine. Who needed him? So I just got on with my life. Problem was, he was always in my space, chasing everyone away.

Now, we both work for the Silver Falls Police Department, and we’ve been assigned the same case. Kill. Me. Now. Okay, I probably shouldn’t say that. We have to act like a married couple to lure out a group of dangerous criminals. And I’m the bait. And Maverick needs to keep me safe while bringing down the crooks.

I’m not sure what’s worse: being bait, trusting Maverick, or having to act as if I’m in love with him.

Copyright

© 2021, Brynn Paulin

Wedded or Worse

Cover Art by Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC

Electronic Format ISBN: 978-1-62344-389-4

Published by: Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC

Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

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

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Chapter One

~ Wynter Bruni ~

I was clicking away at my computer, following an evidence trail down a rabbit hole and into a winding warren, when I realized he was standing in my office doorway. Detective Maverick Santori. The man of my nightmares. My nemesis.

What? I said, not looking away from my screen.

What are you doing?

None of your business. Not your case.

Chief wants you. Us, actually. I was sent to get you.

I sighed, half-growling, as I locked my computer and stood. For the first time since he’d interrupted me, I let my gaze take him in. Maverick—Mav to just about everyone—had beach boy good looks, with unruly sun-streaked blond curls, and blue-gray eyes. As a detective, he kept himself fit, looking mouthwatering in casual clothes and suits.

And didn’t it piss me off that I noticed any of that. Right now, he wore a suit with the panache of a Hollywood A-lister and a small smirk that told me he knew he was hot. As I followed him toward the chief’s office, I didn’t check out his butt. I didn’t. God knew if I wanted to do that, I could just eye him at home.

Yeah…at home.

That was a weird situation. We both lived at the Santori compound. Him, because his parents, Dom and Mira Santori, owned it, and for me, because my father was one of Dom’s top men. Which made it all sound very mafia. It wasn’t. Not anymore, anyhow. Once upon a time, before Dom took over, it had been deep in the underworld.

From my understanding, the change hadn’t been easy, but Dom had been determined. But still, the structure of the organization, though legal, remained the same.

I wasn’t naïve enough to believe everything was on the up and up. I suspected no one else in town believed they were squeaky clean, either, but everyone accepted the organization and didn’t dig into it. The Santoris kept