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Persuasion (Temptation Series Book 2), page 1
Persuasion
Temptation Series #2
T.K. Leigh
PERSUASION
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental or, if an actual place, are used fictitiously. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
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Published by Carpe Per Diem, Inc
Edited by Kim Young, Kim’s Editing Services
Cover Design: Cat Head Biscuit, Inc.
Cover assets:
© Igor Vetushko
Used under license from Deposit Photos.
Copyright © 2022 Tracy Kellam
All rights reserved.
Persuasion
I came to Hawaii to get answers about my sister’s death.
But that all changes when I meet her.
Beautiful. Charming. Haunted.
And the last thing I need in my life.
But that doesn’t mean I can stay away from her, a powerful force pulling me toward her when all rationale tells me to keep my distance.
So we make an agreement.
One week. No names. No falling in love.
It’s the perfect plan.
Until a shocking revelation shakes my foundation to its core, leaving me to question everything I thought I knew about her.
I knew this temptation was a disaster waiting to happen.
I didn’t realize it would be so devastating.
Books by T.K. Leigh
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
The Dating Games Series
Dating Games
Wicked Games
Mind Games
Dangerous Games
Royal Games
Tangled Games
The Redemption Series
Commitment (Redemption Duet #1)
Redemption (Redemption Duet #2)
Possession (Possession Duet #1)
Atonement (Possession Duet #2)
ROMANTIC COMEDY
The Book Boyfriend Chronicles
The Other Side of Someday
Writing Mr. Right
ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
The Temptation Series
Temptation
Persuasion
Provocation
Obsession
The Vault
Inferno: Part 1
Inferno: Part 2
Inferno: Part 3
Inferno: Part 4
The Beautiful Mess Series
A Beautiful Mess (Beautiful Mess Trilogy #1)
A Tragic Wreck (Beautiful Mess Trilogy #2)
Gorgeous Chaos (Beautiful Mess Trilogy #3)
Chasing the Dragon (Deception Duet #1)
Slaying The Dragon (Deception Duet #2)
Vanished (A Beautiful Mess Novel)
Heart of Light (A Beautiful Mess Novel)
Mature Young Adult
Heart of Marley
For more information on any of these titles and upcoming releases, please visit T.K.’s website:
www.tkleighauthor.com
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Contents
A Note from the Author
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Provocation
Playlist
Connect with Me
Free Book!
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for picking up a copy of Persuasion. Your support means a lot.
Before you dive in, I just wanted to repeat the same warning I included in the preface to Temptation.
As with the previous book in this series, this book will also contain certain content that may be triggering for particularly sensitive readers. While I never glorify or go into detail, certain content will be alluded to throughout this story, including suicide, sexual assault, psychological abuse, and murder. Please keep that in mind if you are a particularly sensitive reader who may trigger easily.
Thank you and I hope you enjoy Persuasion!
Prologue
The End of Temptation
Julia
“Have you been following that?” the stylist asked as she cleaned her brushes.
“Sorry… What’s that?”
She nodded at the screen I’d been staring at, even though I wasn’t really watching. “About Lachlan Hale’s sister.”
I shook my head, squinting. “Who?”
“The pitcher for Atlanta,” she responded, sounding shocked, as if the name were as recognizable as George Washington. “Since you’re from there, I figured you’d have heard of him.”
“I don’t follow baseball,” I offered with a smile.
“Either did I until I saw him in a uniform.” She winked. “They say female attendance at games skyrockets when he’s scheduled to pitch.”
Curious, I stole a glance at the screen, expecting to be met with yet another tall, muscular, bearded man who did nothing for me.
Nothing could have been further from the truth.
My heart plummeted to the pit of my stomach when a pair of blue eyes stared back at me.
The same blue eyes that peered into mine as my body experienced immense pleasure all night long.
“Jules…,” Naomi breathed, clutching my hand as we both gaped at the familiar man on the screen.
“They’ve been covering this, like, nonstop,” Margo-Mary continued, completely oblivious to the utter shock rendering me mute, erasing my thoughts, stealing my breath. “Lachlan is a bit of a local legend here on the island.”
I should have told her I didn’t care. That I had absolutely zero interest in some young, attractive baseball player. But I couldn’t find the words.
I did want to know more about him. About the man I knew as Chris. About the truth behind the person who’d made me smile and laugh for the first time in years. About the past we’d agreed to leave outside of our bubble.
“He went to high school here,” she continued. “Was supposed to play for UCLA before the Hawks organization snatched him up. He started in the minors, yet quickly advanced to the majors. I’m shocked you’ve never heard of him. I was just in Atlanta on a film shoot. His face is all over billboards, bus stops. He’s everywhere.”
“We’re not…,” Naomi began when I simply remained mute. “We’re not really into sports.”
“Anyway…,” Margo-Marry rattled on, lowering her voice, as if about to share a juicy piece of gossip. “A few days ago, his sister was found unresponsive in the bathtub, her wrists slit. He was the only family she had left, so he was called to identify the body. Apparently, even though she’d been diagnosed with depression, he refused to believe she’d kill herself. Punched a detective. Sent him to the hospital with a broken nose and jaw. I think there’s more to the story. There had to be a reason he flew off the handle and assaulted a police officer, right?”
My breaths came quicker, heart squeezing. “Right.”
He did say his sister had died. I’d simply assumed it was some tragic occurrence. Cancer or a car accident. But suicide? I couldn’t imagine.
A flash on the screen caught my attention. My eyes involuntarily went to it. A photo of Chris…Lachlan appeared, this one of him wearing casual clothing, more closely resembling the man I’d gotten to know.
But that wasn’t what caused my stomach to knot, the world spinning around me.
It was the woman at his side. His sister. The only family he had left…
And the same woman who, just last week, had confronted me, asking questions about my ex-husband.
My serial stalker, rapist, and murderer ex-husband.
My serial stalker, rapist, and murderer ex-husband she was convinced was somehow connected to more recent deaths.
It was probably nothing.
After all, Nick was in prison. Unable to
Unable to stalk, rape, or kill another woman.
It was all just a coincidence that this woman who’d been looking into my ex-husband was now dead of an apparent suicide, a method he’d used on his previous victims.
A strange, unusual, unintentional coincidence.
An unbelievable, ridiculous, one-in-a-million coincidence.
Being married to a narcissistic sociopath had forced me to be observant.
To pick up on his moods before it was too late.
To learn every single detail about what made him tick, for no other reason than my own survival.
As I stared at Lachlan’s sister, her eyes the same vivid blue as his, one thing I’d learned about Nick screamed at me.
When it came to him, there was no such thing as a coincidence.
One
Julia
Ten Years Ago
The crunching of tires on pavement cut through the kitchen like a shotgun, unease and trepidation filling me.
In my mind, this was just as bad as a gun going off.
Just as petrifying.
My hands grew clammy. The hairs on my nape stood on end. My pulse steadily increased, the world seeming to spin around me as I desperately tried to maintain some sort of grip on myself.
I needed to.
It was the only way to survive.
“Daddy’s home,” Imogene squealed, jumping up from the couch where she was surrounded by all things important to a four-year-old girl. Stuffed animals. Barbies. Coloring books. Even some play food she’d been pretending to make in her kitchen so she could grow up to be “just like Mama”, as she repeatedly told me.
God, how I prayed she wouldn’t. That she’d be stronger than me.
That she’d be freer than me.
Drawing in a deep, fortifying breath, I followed Imogene from the kitchen in our house on the outskirts of Charleston, glancing at the mirror by the entryway to take in my appearance. I knew Nick would be home today. Had hours to prepare for this inevitability.
It never got easier, though.
Whenever he disappeared for weeks on one of these business trips, I fantasized about vanishing myself. Taking Imogene and leaving this life behind.
Leaving Nick behind.
But as he reminded me every time he felt me slipping away, there was no escaping him. No matter where I’d go, he’d find me. Find us.
And he’d take Imogene from me.
So I stayed…for her.
I suffered…for her.
I died a little more every day… All for her.
When the door opened, I snapped my head toward it as Nick’s frame, striking and ominous, filled the entryway.
To most, he was handsome, sexy. When I first laid eyes on him during my English 101 class my freshman year of college, I definitely thought so. Silky, blond hair. Chiseled jawline. Chestnut eyes with flecks of gold. And a smile that charmed everyone.
But there was a darkness lurking beneath his attractive exterior. I sensed it in my bones, even if I couldn’t quite explain what caused it. Couldn’t pinpoint my unease to one precise incident or occurrence. Instead, it was a collective premonition.
But a collective premonition, a feeling in my gut, wasn’t concrete evidence.
“How are my two best girls?” he asked in his refined, Southern drawl that was as smooth as butter…and as shrewd as a snake.
It was a voice that once gave me comfort. Now all I heard was his condescension. His control.
His reminder that I belonged to him.
But was he really so bad?
Or was I simply self-sabotaging, as my therapist often suggested?
I’d heard horror stories about women who’d married controlling spouses. They weren’t allowed to go out with friends. Weren’t allowed to work. Weren’t allowed access to their finances.
That wasn’t the case with us. Nick encouraged me to spend time with my friends. That way, he wouldn’t feel so bad leaving me for as long as he had to.
As far as working went, Nick had never been anything short of amazing when it came to supporting my dreams. He’d even put his own teaching and research career on hold, started working for a PR firm that dealt with educating the public on various museums, so I could start my own business.
If he were the manipulative man I often felt he was, he wouldn’t do all that. Would he?
“I’m so glad you’re home, Daddy!” Imogene reached her little arms toward him.
Face lighting up, Nick swooped her into his embrace, her body tiny compared to his.
I couldn’t stop the smile from tugging on my lips as I watched him shower her with affection. If he were such a bad person, he wouldn’t dote on our little girl the way he did.
These were the types of arguments I often had with myself, constantly at war with my thoughts. Just when I was certain there was something off about Nick, he’d do something that contradicted everything I convinced myself had to be true.
Like the time he designed a website so I could take online orders for all the baked goods I’d been making and delivering to friends up until that point, the first step in realizing my dreams of having my own bakery.
Or when he completely gutted our kitchen and had all state-of-the-art appliances installed so I could be more efficient when it came to preparing orders for my thriving business.
Or when he drove me to an empty storefront in downtown Charleston and told me he’d leased it so I’d finally have my own brick-and-mortar bakery.
Like I’d always dreamed.
If he were truly a horrible person, he wouldn’t go above and beyond to do all these things for me. Would he?
Then why couldn’t I shake this unsettled feeling inside me that something was off about my husband?
“And how about my wife?” Nick asked as he slowly walked toward me.
With every step he took, my heartbeat kicked up a little. Not in desire, as once happened whenever I saw him. But something I couldn’t explain. Something that had grown stronger since Imogene was born.
“Is my wife happy to see me?”
I forced a smile. “Of course.”
“Then show me.”
I stood on my toes and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, not lingering longer than necessary.
“Come now…” He carefully lowered Imogene to her feet. “Is that the best you can do after your husband was gone for two weeks?” There was a teasing quality to his voice. But within the frivolity and lightness, I heard something else.
A warning.
Without giving me a chance to protest, he looped his arm around my waist, pulling my body flush with his. His lips covered mine, forcing them apart, his tongue sliding against mine. His kisses once filled me with so much want. So much hunger.
Now, though, it felt forced.
Most marriages went through this kind of thing. Right? We weren’t the carefree people we were before marriage and a kid. A kid who was in and out of the hospital the first year of her life. That would put a strain on any marriage. And it had. During those early days of Imogene’s life, all my focus had been on her health. I never noticed Nick growing distant until he came to me in tears, confessing he’d been unfaithful.
Any other woman would have been upset.
Not me.
