Tangled Web: A Small Town Romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 6) by Giulia Lagomarsino (an ebook reader txt) 📕

“What does Robert think about this?” I asked Eric. “Does he even realize how dangerous it is at the office for Anna?”

“Shit, I didn’t even think about talking to him about it.”

“And what about all these crazy people on the sidewalk? Any one of them could just come barreling out of a store and run right into one of them!”

Eric snapped his fingers at me. “Good thinking. We need to warn the town.”

I pulled out my phone and shot off a quick message on the town Facebook page. Caution!!! Three pregnant Cortell women wandering around at any given time. Watch for dangers that may pose a threat to them, and be mindful of where you step. No accidents acceptable!

“Dammit,” Eric swore. “I don’t know how we’re going to get around the diner.”

“What about the diner?” I asked in confusion.

“That small step down after you enter the lobby. That’s a hazard for anyone, but for a pregnant woman?”

I nodded and then slapped myself upside the forehead. “And what about Joe? He has those old stairs at the apartment? Shit, I left Sofia there this morning by herself. God, I’m such an idiot!”

I turned to head back to the apartment, but came up short by Corduroy and Jack walking toward us.

“What’s all the yelling about?” Jack asked.

“Oh thank God!” Kat shoved past me. “Arrest them!”

“For what?” Jack asked a little too curiously.

“For being idiots! They want to lock Anna, Sofia, and I up because we’re pregnant, and apparently, that’s really dangerous.”

“Lock you up?” Jack grinned. “That sounds like kidnapping.”

“It is!”

“Uh, Kat—“ I started, knowing exactly where this was going.

“And just where were they planning on holding you?”

“Probably in a bunker until our pregnancies are over,” Kat grumbled.

“Well, we can’t have that.”

Jack pulled out his handcuffs and nodded to Corduroy. “Would you like to do the honors on Eric?”

“It would be my pleasure.”

“What the hell is this? You can’t arrest us because we were trying to find someplace safe for the girls to go during the day.”

Jack shook his head at me. “According to Kat, that’s not what was happening. We’ll just take you down to the station until this is all worked out.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Eric spat. “I’ve got a house to start construction on!”

Jack nodded. “I think you’re going to be delayed.”

“This is bullshit,” I spat as Jack yanked my arms behind my back. “You can’t just keep arresting us.”

“Kat, tell him that I wasn’t kidnapping you,” Eric pleaded.

She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Promise me that you won’t ban me from using the stairs, or running, or anything else that’s equally ridiculous.”

“You know I can’t do that,” Eric growled.

She turned to Jack and smiled. “Do what you have to do, Jack.”

“With pleasure.”

“You can’t be serious, quiche-girl!” I shouted over my shoulder as Jack wrenched my arms behind my back. “I brought you pizza!”

“And then you told on me for running!”

I glared at her, trying to be pissed, but honestly, it was pretty hard. “This isn’t over yet.”

“It is for the next few hours,” Jack said as he pushed me down the sidewalk.

Andrew

I sat in the living room looking over the files for my case. But every time I tried to concentrate on what was written, I kept going back to look at the damn woman’s face. Lorelei. God, that name made me hard. She was a real beauty, skinny, average height, but beautiful, dark hair that had me thinking of some very indecent ways to use it to my advantage in the bedroom. I couldn’t afford to think like that. She was a suspected murderer.

Dropping the file, I scrubbed a hand down my face and sighed. I wasn’t getting any shit done just sitting here fantasizing about all the ways I could fuck her. And worse, I was supposed to be looking into her past, her very shady past. Three men in her life had died. That couldn’t be a coincidence. Although, from the research I had done so far, I couldn’t see any way that she had benefited from the first two dying. Then again, maybe she was just testing the waters, trying to get the feel for murder.

Sofia came out of her bedroom, carrying small paint cans and a paintbrush. I immediately jumped up from the couch and rushed over to her. “What are you doing?” I asked, snatching the cans out of her hands.

“Well, I was thinking about adding some color to the living room. I want to be ready for when the baby comes.”

My brows furrowed and I chewed on my lip. “When the baby comes…what are you planning on doing for the crib?”

“Well, I figured that the baby would stay in our room.”

I glanced over at my bedroom door and made a split-second decision. “You should turn my room into the baby’s room.”

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “What? We couldn’t do that. Where would you sleep?”

“I can find an apartment.”

She pursed her lips at me, crossing her arms over her chest. “Where exactly? There aren’t exactly a bunch of places for rent. We know, because we’ve looked.”

“You have?”

“Well, it was something to look into when we found out we were having a baby. But there’s just not a lot available right now. I mean, there are homes for sale, but we don’t have that kind of money right now.”

“Well…still, I think you should use my room. I can sleep on the couch.”

She snorted in amusement. “I’ve slept on that couch. There’s no way I’ll let you do that. Besides, a baby won’t take up that much space. We’re only getting what we absolutely need, and we already have all the details worked out. We’re going to use a pack n’ play, that way we won’t have a huge crib in the room. And we looked up some shelving units from Ikea that are affordable and will save us space. Really, we don’t want to go crazy.”

“But if you had a room for the baby—“

“It would be a waste of space.