Hey! It's my second favourite season! And to celebrate, a story of some terrible things that hold lifelong grudges, my Witch Bitch Mical, a Spanish redhead (they exist. I have witnessed the glory!), and the loveliest Romanian I will ever write. Light your candles my dears, it's about to get dark...
Remains on Amazon
Remains on AllRomanceeBooks
What's left of a blurb
Considering her husband would happily strangle her on sight, Mical Wentworth has a battle on her hands to win his trust back. Jamie believes she betrayed him in the worst way possible, when all she had tried to do was to protect him from the horror that has stalked her family for decades. Now all her avenues of escape are fading away, she is desperate to make it up to him. She can accept her fate as long as her husband can forgive her.
Strangulation is far too good a death for Mical, and Jamie Santillan has thought of all the ways he’d kill his estranged wife for what she did. But when she turns up on Jamie’s doorstep almost a year after disappearing, the possibility of murder slowly leaves his mind. She’s running away from something. The Mical he knows isn’t afraid of anything, in any world. And nothing should get to her before he does…
What's left of an excerpt
Barely
dressed in one of Jamie’s shirts that carried the faintest scent of him, worn
in the hope that it would lull her to sleep. She wandered into the kitchen in
search of coffee, following the scent like a Bisto kid.
“Morning,”
she said on a yawn. “Do you mind if I have what’s left?”
Jamie
barely looked at her, only started sifting through his mail. “If you want.”
She
poured herself a cup and blinked several times to wake up. “Busy day today?”
she asked into the silence.
“If
that’s you asking, if I’ll be leaving the house empty, the answer is no. I work
from home.”
She
turned around to spread butter and jam on her toast. “No need to crucify me,
it’s just a friendly morning question.”
He
looked up, mouth open and ready to start a war, when he clocked the shirt.
“What the hell?”
“What?”
“That’s
my shirt!”
“Yes,”
she mumbled around her toast. “I borrowed it.”
His
jaw worked furiously. “Get it off. Now.”
She
couldn’t help it; she gave a tinkle of surprised laughter. “Oh, come on. I haven’t
stolen it. You can just wash it if you think I smell that bad…”
“You
didn’t have any nightwear in that Titanic of a suitcase?” There was a vein in
his temple that looked fit for bursting.
“Jamie,”
she said, as if calming a serial killer. “You’re being…”
“Just
take it off now!” His voice thundered in the kitchen.
“Fine.”
She stripped the shirt off and threw it in his face. “Why do you have to be so
petty? It is a lousy shirt.”
He
wrestled the shirt from his face, “No, it is you taking the…” He realised that
she wasn’t wearing anything, but silk shorts. In the cool air of the kitchen,
her nipples began to tighten. Jamie’s eye level dropped.
“Hello!”
Kelly burst into the kitchen, and saw Mical standing there topless.
Her
lips pursed. “I see you’re settling in.”
“Don’t
mind me,” Mical said evenly. “It’s nothing Jamie hasn’t played with before.”
She flashed them both a tight smile, and took her tea and toast to her room.
She
heard the beginnings of their argument, and perversely noted that it was quite
turning her on.
***
Kelly
exploded. “What the fuck was she doing? Have you just shagged her?”
“Kel,”
Jamie sighed, rubbing his face in brisk strokes, trying to banish the image of
Mical’s breasts from his sight.
“Just
say it!” She folded her arms, tapping a beat of annoyance with a trainered
foot. “I knew it. I knew it was a bad idea you letting her stay here.”
“Kel,
she is winding you up.”
“Then
why are you letting her walk around naked?” she screamed, picking up a side
plate and smashing it onto the floor. Jamie let her rage on, glancing at the
cheque he received for his article in Criminal Law Weekly. There was also a
cheque from a crime writer whom he had met through Twitter, funnily enough, and
was helping with his research. Maybe if he took Kelly for a shopping spree, she
would stop her god-awful racket.
“Kelly,”
he said finally, as she started on his dinner set. “There is nothing going on.
I told her off. She is trying to play me. I am not having it. You yelling at me
will make her happier, so please stop it.”
She
abruptly closed her mouth. “I’m sorry, babes.” She sat next to him and dotted
kisses over his cheek. “She’s just really pissing me off, acting like she owns
this place.”
Jamie
gave her a reassuring kiss to her temple. “It’s okay.”
She
rubbed a hand over his back. “Do you even know where Madam disappears to all
day?”
“As
long as she’s not here, I don’t care. Here, look. I just got paid.” Kelly’s
eyes widened. “Oh my God! How much dough is that?”
“Enough
to go shopping. Come on, we’ll go up to London and get you a bag and shoes.
Whatever you fancy.”
“Dinner,
too?”
“Of
course.” He gave another smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “We haven’t
spent much time together. Let me have a shower and we’ll go.”
Kelly
kissed him and gave a little squeal of joy. “I’ll sweep up this mess and we’ll
be on our way to Harrods!”
Jamie
stood up and winced. His leg was hurting again. He’d have to take his
painkillers and drive. It’d be quicker. The less time he spent on his feet, the
better.
***
As
Jamie disappeared into the bathroom, Kelly quickly dispatched the broken
crockery, then hovered outside of Mical’s room. Even in the corridor, she could
smell that rose perfume of her expensive designer candles.
Resolved,
Kelly put her hand out towards the door handle, only for it to be pulled away.
Wearing a slash neck knit jumper in a vivid blue with sleek-looking leggings
and thigh high boots, Mical stared down at her.
“Going
to work?” Kelly smirked.
“Can
I help you?” Mical asked mildly.
“Just
checking you’ve found clothing.”
Mical
flashed a grin that made Kelly uncomfortably aware that she was still her
boyfriend’s wife. “That’s so sweet of you to be concerned about me. Mind out, I
need to shut the door.”
“Got
somewhere to be?” Kelly demanded as Mical hooked her coat over her arm, along
with her Birkin bag.
“If
Jamie wants to know where I’m going or what I’m doing, he can ask me. I have no
problem telling him directly.”
“What
if he doesn’t see it your way?”
“Then,”
Mical closed her door firmly, “he will have to stay in the dark.” Her mobile
began to ring and she answered it. “I’m on my way. No, don’t worry. It’s all
under control.” She gave Kelly a look of appreciation. “Enjoy your shopping
trip.”
Kelly
returned the smile with as much muster as she could find and waited for the
front door to close. She went back to Mical’s room and opened the door. There
was a familiar chocolaty smell along with the rose and underneath… Something
slightly rotten. Like an abandoned, moulded tea cup.
On
the bedside table sat an array of potions. Crème de la Mer, Elemis, Chanel,
Philosophy…that bitch had money falling out of her ears. Just as she edged
towards Mical’s hefty suitcase, she heard Jamie call her. She tried to open it,
but realised there was a combination on the case. She told herself that she
would figure it out on the way to London. Bitch features wasn’t going anywhere.
