The Ex
You’ll be up all night with this addictive thriller from the New York Times bestselling author.What if, one by one, your exes were being murdered – and all the evidence pointed at you?Hotshot lawyer Quinn Cortez is infamous for his prowess in the courtroom – and the bedroom. But when his latest conquest – notorious party girl Lulu Vanderley – is found butchered, Cortez becomes the prime suspect.Suffering paralysing blackouts, and with no memory of his actions at the time of the murder, Cortez must fight to clear his name. Lulu's cousin Annabelle is willing to believe he is innocent – until more bodies are discovered, and all the clues lead back to him.To catch a killer, Cortez must explore the blackness within him, and confront the shocking truth…
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Beverly Barton
THE EX
Published by AVON
A Division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain as Amnesia by HarperCollins 2011
This eBook edition published 2018
Copyright © Beverly Barton 2006
Cover design © Diane Meacham Design 2018
Cover photograph © Shutterstock
Beverly Barton asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9781847560018
Ebook Edition © May 2018 ISBN: 9780007328949
Version: 2018-06-04
For John Scognamiglio, editor extraordinaire, and Richard Curtis, agent par excellence. Thank you both for excellent professional guidance.
Also, with great appreciation to Michael Speltz, my research “partner in crime.”
Contents
Lulu Vanderley was rich, blond and beautiful. Women envied her. Men wanted her. She had it all. Everything. Except…There was one thing she wanted that could never truly be hers. Quinn Cortez. And knowing she couldn’t have him made her want him all the more.
They’d been lovers for several months, ever since they’d met through mutual acquaintances in Vail. In the beginning, a hot affair had been enough for both of them. He’d made it clear from their very first date that he was a no-strings-attached kind of guy. And she’d been well aware of his love-’em-and-leave-’em reputation. But that was before she fell in love with the gorgeous hunk, before she decided that she wanted to become Mrs. Quinn Cortez. And as a general rule, Lulu got what Lulu wanted.
She stared at her reflection in the mirror and smiled devilishly. No man had ever been able to resist her. And that was one reason she and Quinn were perfect for each other. They were two peas in a pod—a couple of gorgeous, irresistible philanderers.
Tonight she would spring the trap, the age-old trap that had caught many a poor fool. Quinn wasn’t invulnerable. He was as susceptible as any man to feminine wiles and little white lies. She’d weep and swear she didn’t know how it could have happened. She’d told him the first time they had sex that she’d been on the pill for years and since he’d also used a condom every time, convincing him she was pregnant might not be easy. But all he had to do was talk to her doctor. Lulu was definitely six weeks along.
Running her hands over her tall, slender body, from waist to narrow hips, she studied her image. Her beauty had always gotten her whatever her family’s wealth wouldn’t buy. But neither could give her what she wanted most.
Quinn might be a womanizer, but he wasn’t a heartless cad. If he believed she was carrying his child, then there was a good chance he’d do the honorable thing and marry her.
And if he doesn’t, what will you do?
She’d get an abortion, of course. No way in hell did she want to get tied down with a squalling baby unless the little brat served some purpose.
The mantel clock struck the hour, reminding her that Quinn would be arriving soon. Her stomach tightened. Lulu laughed. It wasn’t like her to be nervous.
Everything was ready. A bottle of champagne was chilling. A second bottle. She’d already drunk three glasses from the first bottle in an effort to steel her nerves and lull herself into a tranquil haze. Not good for the baby, she supposed, but what the hell. The silk bed linens were turned down, soft music was playing and she was wearing her most alluring sheer black teddy.
Quinn had just won another high profile case, this time involving country singer Terry McBryar. The Nashville jury had come back with a not guilty verdict in the case against McBryar, who had been accused of murdering his manager. Of course, this victory was only one in a long line for Quinn Cortez, who was one of the nation’s most highly acclaimed trial lawyers.
