At Wit's End Read Online Free Page A

done? The money was gone, probably already spent.
    Petty revenge was tempting in its own right but Marie really wasn’t that kind of person. Or was she? If she saw Michael today wouldn’t she be the first in line t o, at the very least, slap him?
    The doorbell distracted her from that train of thought and she quickly went to the door, double-checked Susan was on the other side and buzzed her in. With her professional face on Marie went to the elevator and began the process of wowing the client.
    An hour later Marie had a pad full of notes and ideas with a hefty deposit check tucked into the pages. Because Susan wanted to have her in-laws believe she had prepared the dinner Marie wouldn’t need to call in any favours for servers or a bartender. Small blessings.
    She changed into comfortable clothes, blew out the candles and poured herself another glass of wine. She propped her feet on the coffee table and went online. She wanted to update C U There’s website and she hadn’t checked for messages today. Now seemed to be as good a time as any.
    The crisp white wine was exactly what the doctor ordered. Susan had liked it also and Marie made a note to pick up a few of the bottles for Susan’s dinner party. Marie cocked a brow when she saw she had a new message through C U There’s site. She opened it and was thrilled to note it was for another consultation.
    Apparently Brad Witson had been out of town for several months. He had just gotten back to the States and he wanted to throw a semi-formal party to announce his return. Having learned her lesson Marie went to a search engine and dug into what she could about Brad Witson’s life.
    She checked the dates on the results that came up and realized he must have been out of town for most of the past year. She found that interesting and wondered how he’d heard of her business. She would make a point to ask him that. Her eyes widened as she began reading the results that had come up.
    Brad Witson had been a wunderkind in the business world for several years. His name came up repeatedly in finance articles. Everything he touched seemed to turn to gold, the Kid Midas of Wall Street. Then one day nothing. He completely disappeared. There were a few “Where’s Wit?” articles and it appeared that question hadn’t been answered.
    It would be soon, Marie knew. Her natural curiosity had her wondering why he’d left and where he had been. If it was somewhere interesting culturally perhaps she could use it as a theme for hi s party.
    There was a tab that offered images and she selected it. While the page loaded she refilled her wi ne with what was left in the bottle. When she sat back down and looked at the screen she gave an involuntary gasp.
    Surely somewhere the gods were laughing. Not only had they given him the ability to make money at the drop of a hat but the man was hot in the way that any woman with a pulse could appreciate.
    “My God, he could model underwear,” she muttered and scrolled down the page. Lo and behold she found images that actually did show him modelling a very fashionable designer’s line of boxer briefs. He looked younger in those pictures and she gathered he’d modelled in college. Marie swallowed heavily and wondered how on earth she’d ever get through the consultation without ripping his clothes off.
    She toggled back to the message he’d sent and sent back a reply with her cell phone number. She wondered what his voice would sound like when he called and knew she was being ridiculous. She hadn’t had a high school crush since, well, high school. She’d have to get over this or she’d embarrass herself no end when they met.
    “Good night, Brad,” she whispered to the screen. She blew the image a kiss and took her tipsy butt off to bed.
     
    The fitness room was empty except for Marie. Her schedule had always been different from most of the people who lived in the building so she wasn’t surprised. She relished having time alone to force