The Family Jewels Read Online Free Page A

waves, lots of body, loose and shiny. What do you think? We can stop at Tina's Salon and have her do it.”
    Sadie was still doing mental gymnastics trying to figure how she was going to pay for the dress. Now she lifted a hand to her sloppy topknot and cringed.
    She’d planned on saving a few bucks and putting her own hair in an up-do, but her sister's eyes were filled with a spark she hadn't seen in months. Some things were more precious than money. She’d just have to find a way to work it out.
    “Okay,” she said, turning to face her sister. “And then we'll get yours done too. If you let me buy you a Cinnabon first and scarf down the whole thing, along with a Jamba Juice.”
    Clarissa's smile dimmed a little and she shook her head. “That's a silly waste. My hair’s still too short for a style. And no one is even going to see it except the nurses at the hospital.”
    She pulled her gaze away, but not before Sadie saw the wistful look in her eyes.
    “Puh-lease,” she snorted. “You lay around in bed all day surrounded by hot doctors. I'm pretty sure there’s no better time to make sure your hair is looking good. I let you slide for a couple weeks, but come on, sis, there’s no earthly reason for the lack of lip gloss and those nails?” She sent a disparaging look at Clarissa’s un-manicured fingertips. “How about a shape-up and polish while we're there?”
    It was impulsive. It was short-sighted. It was positively frivolous. But the look on her sister's face was worth whatever it cost, tenfold.
    She was beaming.
    “Okay. But not Cinnabon. I’m hungry for food-food. Get that dress off and we’ll go next door to Chuck's Chicken Shack. I'm about to clean them out.”
    Sadie laughed as Clarissa called over the dressing room door to the saleswoman who'd helped them.
    “We’ll take it!”
    When she finally left Clarissa in her bed four hours later, her sister was exhausted but gorgeous and still beaming.
    Sadie made her way out the rotating hospital door, a bounce in her step. When she’d sent Clarissa to Chuck’s Chicken next door, she and the saleswoman at the dress shop had made a deal. So long as Sadie returned the dress in good condition the next day, she could rent it for the bargain price of fifty dollars. Everything was going her way.
    A tiny nugget of hope bloomed in her chest as she started her car on the first try. Tonight was going to be a game changer for them. And when it was over, it would be over. The hiding. The running. The constant fear.
    She’d be able to truly start living.

3
    J ake took a long pull from his glass of scotch and looked around the room. Opulence was apparently the theme of the day for this event. From the trays piled high with lobster tempura and shrimp puffs, to the flutes filled with Dom, it was a high-class affair. Once this was over for good, he vowed to spend the next six months eating nothing but fish and chips and the occasional burger. He was full to the gills of all the fussy food and drink.
    "So I look up and there's this Italian woman standing in the doorway, and let me tell you, she was en fuego .” Alistair bit his knuckles and rolled his eyes for effect. “Ass for days.”
    As his host prattled on, Jake tried to recall a time he'd been more bored, but he was coming up empty. An hour in and all he'd been able to find out that he hadn't already known was that, during parties, Hannigan closed off the personal wing of the house. Not because he feared anyone stealing from him, he'd explained. It was because the house was so big, people would get lost and it would take them hours to find their way back to the party.
    Jake had nodded like he was impressed, but the boasts and jokes were grinding on his nerves more and more every day.
    He should be happy. After all this time, he’d finally gotten into the hive of the bee. He’d played it perfectly, making Alistair all but beg him to show up tonight. Now that he had, he was Hannigan’s new favorite. All he had