This is the third book in The Chilvati Series. I highly recommend reading them in order: The Dangerous Ones, The Silent Ones, The Wild Ones. All books are up on my profile page.

PROLOGUE

Beeeeep . . . beeeeep . . . beeeep.

"Coming, coming," Elizabeth Shaw muttered as the buzzer went on and on. The stove had a relentless shrill for a timer, but its modern look and bonus features more than made up for it. "That pretty face of yours is the only thing saving you from the scrap yard," she spoke to it.

Opening the door, she took a moment to savor the warm, sweet odor. "Mmmh." The bread was the half-baked kind from the grocery store, not scratch but still pretty good. She pulled it out to cool on the counter. The digital clock read five forty-five, which meant Tony would be home in fifteen minutes. You could set your watch by that man's habits.

After putting the chicken on, she poured the wine into a decanter and carried it to the dining room. The table was already set. She swept her gaze across it. Candles. It needed candles. She pulled out two tapers along with her mother's silver candlesticks from the mirrored sideboard and placed them a foot apart on the table. Stepping back, she chewed on one of the fingernails she'd polished earlier.

They hadn't had a nice sit-down dinner together in . . . longer than she could remember. Maybe the candles were too much. Too romantic. She didn't want to get his hopes up just to have them come crashing down when she told him. He was going to be angry, really angry. Disappointed too. But beneath the tough, disciplined exterior, her husband was a good man. He might not speak to her for a while, but he would forgive her.

Hopefully.

She would have felt more confident had she not put him through all this once before—and ended up in the hospital. She touched the bump on the bridge of her nose, the constant reminder of that day. After that there had been tears and apologies and promises made, on both their parts.

But she had gone back on her word, hadn't she.

With a quick swipe, she grabbed up the candles and held them to her chest. Put them down. Picked them up . . . Jesus, just relax. Leave them and decide whether to light them later.

A soft thud drew her eyes to the ceiling. Had Tony come home early? Maybe while she was in the basement getting the wine? No, he wouldn't have walked by all this without seeking her out. Listening, she racked her brain trying to think of what else it might have been, but all was quiet. She returned the candles to the table.

A wet hiss sent her back to the stove to turn down the burner under the potatoes. She dug out the masher and set it on the counter and smiled. Mashing the potatoes had always been Tony's job, and he kept the combination of butter, milk, and seasonings he used a secret.

Secrets. Her smile faded. Heavy and dark, hers pulled her down like ankle weights worn in the water. As painful as this unburdening was going to be, it would be nice to swim freely again.

She took the salt and pepper to the table and did one more inspection. A centerpiece would have been a nice touch, but she'd had no time to—

If it hadn't been for the creak in the floorboards, she might not have noticed the shadows creeping along the walls on either side of her or the slight dimming of the light coming from the kitchen.

She didn't need to turn around to know who stood behind her—anger always altered his breathing, and now the heat of it hit her neck in short, savage bursts, like flames of a fire licking across her skin. In the moments that followed there was fear, but there was also regret. She was too late, had waited too long to tell her version of things. He had figured out what she was up to.

"Lizzie," he said in a slow groan, as if it pained him to do so.

She closed her eyes. Not long ago she'd loved hearing him call her that. Now she hated it. But she was willing to pretend, willing to beg for forgiveness. Ignoring the panic that sapped her strength and had her heart pounding in her chest, she spun around . . .

And screamed.    

END OF PROLOGUE

I'm happy to be back to posting again. I will be updating once a week with this one starting with a new chapter this Friday. I'll let you know if that changes.

I missed you guys, all my regular commenters ❤️ 

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