Seduction and Lies. Donna Hill

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      Savannah Fields woke up on Sunday morning and barely made it to the bathroom. She was only in her first trimester, and morning sickness was kicking her butt—day and night.

      “You okay, baby?” Blake called from the other side of the bathroom door.

      Savannah splashed cold water on her face, leaned over the sink and drew in long, slow breaths in the hopes of controlling the rocking and rolling going on in her stomach. How could something that would ultimately be so precious make you feel like you wanted to die?

      “I’m…fine,” she was finally able to say. “Be out in a minute.”

      Slowly she raised her head and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. The doctor assured her that the morning sickness would stop after three months. She still had one to go. She gripped the side of the sink as another wave of nausea swept through her belly and made her head spin.

      Savannah moaned. How was she going to be able to fulfill her latest undercover assignment if she could barely hold her head up? She was going to need help.

      Jean Armstrong, the head of The Ladies Cartel—affectionately known as TLC—had called her into the Cartel offices at the brownstone on 135th Street in Harlem three weeks earlier to congratulate her on the successful completion of her last assignment, which was to uncover a suspected land fraud deal in downtown Brooklyn. What Savannah had uncovered was not only a major scam but also the fact that the development was going to be built on top of an ancient African burial ground. It had been a difficult assignment, and not so much because it was her first but because her husband, Blake, was the contractor on the deal and she was bound by her oath to the Cartel not to reveal what she was doing to anyone—and that included her husband.

      Her investigation had also led her to believe that her husband, her soul mate, was not only involved in the unscrupulous land deal but also was having an affair with the woman who was behind it all, millionaire heiress Tristan Montgomery. Savannah needed the help of her two best friends, Danielle Holloway and Mia Turner, to prove otherwise, and they did.

      Unfortunately, Savannah had broken a major rule of The Ladies Cartel by involving anyone who was not a sworn member. Fortunately for her, it had turned out well, and Jean reminded her how lucky she was when she gave her this latest assignment.

      Savannah flushed the toilet and rinsed out her mouth. At least her head had stopped spinning.

      One thing she knew for certain was that she was going to have to break some more rules if she was to get the next job accomplished. She could certainly use the skills of the Cartel members, but she knew she could trust Dani and Mia more than any other two people on earth.

      Blake knocked on the door. “Savannah, are you okay?”

      “Coming.” Gingerly she made her way to the door and opened it.

      Blake was standing on the other side with a distraught look on his ruggedly handsome face. She smiled wanly.

      He put his arm around her shoulder. “Can I get you anything?”

      “Yeah, a time machine. Speed this process up by about seven months.”

      Blake grinned and kissed the top of her head, and led her back to the bed. “If I could, you know I would, baby.”

      She waved off the bed. “I think I need to move around. I want to meet the girls for a late lunch.”

      “You sure you’re up to it?”

      She nodded. “Yeah, some ginger ale and a few crackers, and I’ll be good as new.” She left his embrace and went into the kitchen. Moments later she could hear the blare and roar of a basketball game coming from the living-room television set.

      Must be Sunday, she mused, smiling as she popped open a can of ice-cold ginger ale and took a long, refreshing swallow. Sunday was game day in the Fields’ household. Blake carved out his position on the couch and watched games all day long, nonstop, even if they were on videotape, which gave Savannah the perfect opportunity to hang out with the girls. And today they needed an emergency meeting.