Love, Honor, and Betray by Roby, Lawson (ebook reader ink txt) 📕

being caught and arrested, all because he wantedto help save Charlotte’s marriage to Curtis, and Charlotte didn’t know many people who would be willing to do that. Charlotteclicked on the Friend Request link on Dooney’s page, but then she couldn’t help searching for Michael Porter, a guy she’ddated just before getting back together with Curtis. At the time, Matthew had only been seven, so she hadn’t spent nearlyas much time with Michael as she would have liked, but she’d never forgotten about him.

She wondered how he was doing these days, so when the search engine listed a number of members with his exact same name, shescrolled through all the photos until she found his. The man still looked just as good as ever, and it only took her secondsto remember how intense their lovemaking had been. She remembered how they hadn’t been able to get enough of each other wheneverthey’d been together. The only problem was, he’d been married and unwilling to get a divorce; thus she’d moved on with Curtiswithout any regrets.

Now, though, she could barely click on the link to his Facebook page fast enough. She wanted to see if he had his privacyoptions set in a way where only his current Facebook friends could read his wall postings or if basically anyone could viewthem. She smiled when she saw that she could in fact read some of his most recent updates, then clicked on his Info tab tosee what personal information she could find out. Interestingly enough, not much had changed. He still resided in the Chicagoarea, still worked in investment brokering; he loved watching old movies, loved golfing, and, yes, he was still very married.

Charlotte read as much as she could about him, but when she could no longer fight her desire to contact him directly, sheclicked on the link that would allow her to send him a private message—a behind the wall sort of way of communicating with Facebook members when you didn’t want anyone else seeing what you had to say.

When the window opened, Charlotte began typing her note.

Hey Michael,

How are you? I’m sure my contacting you will come as a huge surprise, but I do hope you are doing well. It’s been a long time, but since I came across your name here on Facebook, I thought I’d send you a quick hello.

Take care and hope to hear back from you soon.

Charlotte

Charlotte reread her message, checking for any typos, and hit the Send button. Then she returned to her home page and browsedthe comments of friends who had also posted new statuses. She immediately saw one from Alicia that said, “God has given mea second chance with the best man in the whole wide world, so life truly doesn’t get any better than this.” Charlotte smiledbecause she knew Alicia was talking about her first husband, Phillip, and the fact that they’d been seeing each other againexclusively. They’d had a very painful breakup, which had all been because Alicia had started sleeping with a successful drugdealer named Levi Cunningham. But now she and Phillip were working on a brand-new relationship with each other. After herdivorce from Phillip, however, things had only gotten worse because she’d quickly married that horrible JT. The man had beenthe biggest whoremonger on this side of hell, even worse than Curtis had been at one time. So everyone had been thrilled whenAlicia’s marriage to him had only lasted a few months, and she’d been able to walk away without children or any other JT Valentineconnection.

Charlotte clicked on the Comment button and typed a response:

You couldn’t have said it better, Alicia, and I’m so happy for you and Phillip!

Alicia answered right away, thanking her. Just then, though, Charlotte saw that she had a new message in her inbox, so sheclicked on the icon. It was from Michael, and she couldn’t believe he’d responded so quickly. Strangely, she felt a little nervous but opened his note so she couldsee what he had to say.

Hey you,

This really is a very pleasant surprise, and I’m so glad you made the effort to contact me. I still think about you from time to time, and I’ve always wondered how things were going with you.

Charlotte knew Michael was only trying to be kind, because there was no doubt that, like most other people, he surely knewabout the many public scandals she and Curtis had found themselves involved in.

Well, I won’t keep you, but I do hope we can catch

up and try to stay in touch. I mean, isn’t Facebook

amazing?

Michael

Charlotte hit the Reply button and typed another note.

Yes, Facebook is wonderful, and I really would like to stay in touch with you, Michael.

A minute or so passed, and Charlotte saw yet another message from him.

So if you don’t mind my asking, how’s married life treating you? And yes, before you ask, I am still married to Sybil but we’re basically only going through the motions.

Charlotte wasn’t sure how to respond to his question. Part of her wanted to bare her soul and tell him how miserable she’dbeen lately with Curtis, but instead, all she said was:

I’m sorry to hear that and hope things get better for the two of you.

She waited for Michael’s response.

I appreciate your well wishes, but you still haven’t answered my question.

Charlotte hesitated but knew she had to type something.

You know how it is. Marriage can be great on certain days and not so great on others.

She thought about how much easier this would have been had she sent him a friend request right from the start, because thenthey’d simply be able to chat in real time by instant message.

Michael’s next note said:

I’m sorry to hear that, and I may as well admit that I have heard rumors and know things haven’t always gone so well between you and your husband. But I was hoping maybe you were happy now.

Charlotte heard Curtis’s truck entering the garage and knew it was time to end her