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The Ex
BEVERLY BARTON
You’ll be up all night with this addictive thriller from the New York Times bestselling author.What if, one by one, your exes were being murdered – and all the evidence pointed at you?Hotshot lawyer Quinn Cortez is infamous for his prowess in the courtroom – and the bedroom. But when his latest conquest – notorious party girl Lulu Vanderley – is found butchered, Cortez becomes the prime suspect.Suffering paralysing blackouts, and with no memory of his actions at the time of the murder, Cortez must fight to clear his name. Lulu's cousin Annabelle is willing to believe he is innocent – until more bodies are discovered, and all the clues lead back to him.To catch a killer, Cortez must explore the blackness within him, and confront the shocking truth…
Beverly Barton
THE EX
Copyright (#u64125e08-32ea-55f4-bd6a-ca8893004330)
Published by AVON
A Division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
First published in Great Britain as Amnesia by HarperCollins 2011
This eBook edition published 2018
Copyright © Beverly Barton 2006
Cover design © Diane Meacham Design 2018
Cover photograph © Shutterstock
Beverly Barton asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9781847560018
Ebook Edition © May 2018 ISBN: 9780007328949
Version: 2018-06-04
Dedication (#u64125e08-32ea-55f4-bd6a-ca8893004330)
For John Scognamiglio, editor extraordinaire, and Richard Curtis, agent par excellence. Thank you both for excellent professional guidance.
Also, with great appreciation to Michael Speltz, my research “partner in crime.”
Contents
Cover (#u6b63abe4-9522-5f56-959d-4d0e591ffffe)
Title Page (#uf6d95ad0-158e-5cc1-97b2-4cb67a0c6f88)
Copyright (#u38e0ef58-8c81-58df-973d-3b4dfa0f9ac6)
Dedication (#u8535f730-f5a9-5371-8e86-7aaed6ae9043)
Prologue (#u6a775574-df90-5ca2-9856-5099adbef6fe)
Chapter 1 (#udbbfe10e-421c-5481-988d-f73cf44e5ce4)
Chapter 2 (#ucd6a5701-5d85-54bb-bb19-6571aece04df)
Chapter 3 (#u80d31e0f-cfb2-587a-a885-3884411fa0da)
Chapter 4 (#u4a77859b-0e02-5a12-a8d4-f79bc4191998)
Chapter 5 (#u40373cab-1151-5c4f-90d6-bf25b6328dce)
Chapter 6 (#u9ddb8aa3-0a60-5009-8406-b2c07ec8515f)
Chapter 7 (#u8116f0fb-16c2-529b-af62-4494d67c351a)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 22 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 23 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 24 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 25 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 26 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 27 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 28 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 29 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 30 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 31 (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Acknowledgments (#litres_trial_promo)
Keep Reading … (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)
Also by Beverly Barton (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Prologue (#u64125e08-32ea-55f4-bd6a-ca8893004330)
Lulu Vanderley was rich, blond and beautiful. Women envied her. Men wanted her. She had it all. Everything. Except…There was one thing she wanted that could never truly be hers. Quinn Cortez. And knowing she couldn’t have him made her want him all the more.
They’d been lovers for several months, ever since they’d met through mutual acquaintances in Vail. In the beginning, a hot affair had been enough for both of them. He’d made it clear from their very first date that he was a no-strings-attached kind of guy. And she’d been well aware of his love-’em-and-leave-’em reputation. But that was before she fell in love with the gorgeous hunk, before she decided that she wanted to become Mrs. Quinn Cortez. And as a general rule, Lulu got what Lulu wanted.
She stared at her reflection in the mirror and smiled devilishly. No man had ever been able to resist her. And that was one reason she and Quinn were perfect for each other. They were two peas in a pod—a couple of gorgeous, irresistible philanderers.
Tonight she would spring the trap, the age-old trap that had caught many a poor fool. Quinn wasn’t invulnerable. He was as susceptible as any man to feminine wiles and little white lies. She’d weep and swear she didn’t know how it could have happened. She’d told him the first time they had sex that she’d been on the pill for years and since he’d also used a condom every time, convincing him she was pregnant might not be easy. But all he had to do was talk to her doctor. Lulu was definitely six weeks along.
Running her hands over her tall, slender body, from waist to narrow hips, she studied her image. Her beauty had always gotten her whatever her family’s wealth wouldn’t buy. But neither could give her what she wanted most.
Quinn might be a womanizer, but he wasn’t a heartless cad. If he believed she was carrying his child, then there was a good chance he’d do the honorable thing and marry her.
And if he doesn’t, what will you do?
She’d get an abortion, of course. No way in hell did she want to get tied down with a squalling baby unless the little brat served some purpose.
The mantel clock struck the hour, reminding her that Quinn would be arriving soon. Her stomach tightened. Lulu laughed. It wasn’t like her to be nervous.
Everything was ready. A bottle of champagne was chilling. A second bottle. She’d already drunk three glasses from the first bottle in an effort to steel her nerves and lull herself into a tranquil haze. Not good for the baby, she supposed, but what the hell. The silk bed linens were turned down, soft music was playing and she was wearing her most alluring sheer black teddy.
Quinn had just won another high profile case, this time involving country singer Terry McBryar. The Nashville jury had come back with a not guilty verdict in the case against McBryar, who had been accused of murdering his manager. Of course, this victory was only one in a long line for Quinn Cortez, who was one of the nation’s most highly acclaimed trial lawyers.
The fact that Quinn had a reputation for being ruthless excited Lulu. She’d always been fascinated by bad boys.
When she had telephoned him earlier today to congratulate him on his big win, she’d heard reluctance in his voice the minute she invited him to drive over to Memphis this evening so they could celebrate together. But in the end, she had persuaded him. Telling him that she’d be waiting in her bedroom, wearing only a teddy, and eager to suck his dick had given him all the incentive he needed.
“I can get there by eight,” he’d told her. “Is your extra key in the usual place?”
“Right where it always is,” she’d said. “Just let yourself in. I’ll be waiting.”
Thinking about the night ahead, Lulu shivered with excitement. She’d had dozens of lovers, but none compared to Quinn. The guy was a real stud, in every sense of the word. She’d give him a blow job, then they’d drink champagne and cuddle by the fireplace here in her bedroom. After he was relaxed and mellow, she’d spring her big surprise.
Guess what, Quinn, you’re going to be a daddy.
Laughing, pleased with her almost foolproof plan to trap her man, Lulu twirled around the room.
She heard a noise. The front door opening? Her heartbeat accelerated. Quinn was here. He’d arrived early. He must have broken every speed limit between Nashville and Memphis. That had to mean he was eager to see her.
Hurriedly, she turned off all the lights and lit the candles she had arranged on top of the sleek, modern cherry dresser. Only the candlelight and the glow from the flickering blaze in the fireplace illuminated the room. The right ambience was so important.
“Quinn? Darling, I’m back here waiting for you.”
His footsteps tapped quietly over the hardwood floors in the foyer and down the hall.
“You got here early, didn’t you?” She licked her lips.
Why wasn’t he answering her?
She scratched her long fingernails over her nipples, hardening them instantly. “Come on back here, big boy. I’ve got what you need.”
She stood by the fireplace, primed and ready, eager for what lay ahead. When she saw him standing in the doorway, her heart caught in her throat. She did love this man, loved him to distraction. He stood there in the shadows, a tall, dark silhouette. Broad shouldered, lean hipped. Six one. And every inch a man.
She held open her arms. “Come to mama. Let me take good care of you.”
He took several steps toward her. His blue-black hair glistened in the firelight. God, he was handsome. Ruggedly handsome in that exotic way only men of mixed heritages were. Quinn was a delicious mixture of Mexican and Irish.
As he neared her, she thought how incredibly young and sexy he looked tonight. Even men looked better by candlelight. At forty, he possessed a body any twenty-year-old would envy. And she knew from personal experience that he had the stamina of a man half his age.
“Hello, Lulu,” he said, and she thought there was an odd tone to his voice. He didn’t sound quite like himself.
She took a tentative step toward him, closing the gap between them. When she looked up into his piercing black eyes, she gasped. “Quinn?”
