Wicked Ways: A Novel

ISBN: 031238808X

Author: Hill, Donna

Condition: Used

About the AuthorDonna Hill, author of books including Divas, Inc. and In My Bedroom, lives in Brooklyn, New York. She has more than fifty published titles to her credit, three of which (Intimate Betrayal, Masquerade, A Private Affair) were adapted for television. She has been featured in Essence, the Daily News, USA Today, Today's Black Woman, and Black Enterprise, among many others.Product DescriptionTess McDonald has a score to settle. It was she who set into motion a series of events that caused the murders of two adversaries. Tess even turned complete strangers, Kim Sheppard and Nikki Perez, into partners of a deadly crime. With life good now that their nemeses are out of the way, they celebrate. But not for long. On the night that the three women reunite, Tess receives a phone call that has the potential to ruin everything that she has put in place. Vincent, the one man that Tess would have changed her life for, has found her and her cohorts and he knows everything. She agrees to meet him with the intention of silencing him for good. But Tess is shocked when Vincent asks her to leave with him and put her criminal past behind her. However, Kim and Nikki aren't about to let her go so easily.Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Wicked WaysBy Donna Hill St. Martin's GriffinCopyright 2008 Donna HillAll right reserved.ISBN: 9780312388089Wicked WaysONEKILLING VINCENT WASN'T PART of her plan. He should have stayed in New York and left well enough alone. He shouldn't have contacted her--told her that he knew everything--told her that he would not allow her to continue hurting people.Vincent. Damn you.Tess McDonald's pulse beat a little faster. She'd been in love with Vincent, and if she really thought about it, she still was, at least as much as she allowed herself to love anyone. That made what she had to do so much more difficult. However, she didn't live in the kind of world where love was an option. Allowing feelings to enter into her life resulted in this--a rendezvous with murder.Tess eased her rented white sports car along the dark narrow roads. A light drizzle fell onto the windshield. The full moon's iridescent light flashed from behind the tops of swaying palm trees.She'd come to Aruba not only to recover from months of tension, anxiety, and murders, but also to reestablish her business. For more than a decade she'd been the highest paid and most influential madam on the East Coast.A rueful smile tugged the corners of her full mouth. She'd worked hard to assemble her elite stable of women and develop her powerhouse clientele list. She'd had a multimillion-dollar business, and Tess intended to reclaim it here in Aruba. Her former clients included everyone from Fortune 500 CEOs to politicians and judges. The key to her long-standing success was discretion, for which she'd been well compensated.Life had been good--until Tracy got too close. That her own sister had been the catalyst for the demise of her business was unfortunate, to say the least. Tracy's zeal as an assistant district attorney for New York City--always on the side of justice, law, and order--led directly to her death. Life was full of ironic twists, wasn't it?Tess would never forget the night of the newscast that detailed the gunning down of Assistant DA Tracy Alexander. Her sister. Dead.Now Tess was once again on the precipice of loss. It's always those closest to you that brought the most harm, she mused, navigating the gravel road. Perhaps she didn't keep her enemies close enough. She almost laughed. Almost.After relocating to Aruba it had taken her months to get set up again: to recruit the perfect women, to cultivate relationships with the men of wealth who lived on the island, as well as with those who visited on holiday. Tonight's elaborate gathering at her secluded villa was the culmination of all her work. She'd left her guests inthe capable hands of Charrie Lewis. Hopefully, this task wouldn't take long and she'd