Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 74005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
“Pull back from what?” I ask. “Breathing?”
“From breaking into a third house today.”
I snort. “I wasn’t going to.”
“You were thinking about it,” he says. “Every time Gordon Brown was mentioned. I can see it in your eyes.”
I scoff. “Thought you saw love there.”
“I see both,” he says. “That’s the problem.”
I glare at him. “And what do you see now?”
He exhales sharply. “Message received.”
I sigh, gazing out the nearest window. “It doesn’t matter anyway. It was easy to find information on Reyes. He’s a well-known man, a member of the Colombian congress. I don’t know shit about Gordon Brown. His last name is so common. A million results come up when I do a search.” I think about signaling Byron for a third bourbon but then decide against it. I turn back to Falcon. “You know the thing about being the fixer?”
“What?”
“You don’t get any credit when it works. You just get the next mess.”
He lifts his empty glass. “To the next mess.”
I clink his and don’t smile.
36
DANIELA
I slam the door to the mother-in-law suite.
The frame rattles. The wall shakes. My breath does, too.
Footsteps.
Then knocking.
I open the door.
Raven stands there. “Hey. Are you okay, Dani?”
I fall into her. Tears start again. “We fought,” I choke. “Hawk and I. He’s… He’s going rogue, Raven. I’m scared. Anyone he thinks might be behind the gifts? He goes after them. Evidence or not.”
Raven eases me to the loveseat while keeping her arm around me. “That doesn’t sound like Hawk.” She lifts her eyebrows. “That sounds like Eagle. Or Falcon, if it’s for Savannah. Hawk’s the cool head. He doesn’t blow up.”
“He did today.” I sniff hard. “He must think he’s invincible.”
“Or,” she says softly, “he’s in love with you.”
I let out a caustic laugh. “We haven’t been together that long. You can’t call it love. Right now I’m not even sure I like him.” I wince. “No offense to your brother.”
Raven laughs. “I sometimes hate my brothers. But I always love them. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.” She stands, tugging me up with her. “Come over to the main house. It’s almost dinnertime. You need food. Belinda will be thrilled. Robin’s coming, too.”
I wipe my face with my sleeve. “Okay.”
We cross through the hallway door and head into the kitchen. I inhale. Butter and thyme. What has Phyllis prepared? She’s sliding something from a sheet pan. Roasted carrots. Yum. I inhale again. Roast chicken with sage.
Belinda barrels in before the plates hit the table. Her feet are bare, which is odd. She flings herself at me. “Dani!”
My heart loosens. “There you are.” I crouch to her height. “How was the sleepover?”
“Epic.” She’s already talking fast. “Gwen C. has a bunk bed with a slide. We’re kind of too big for that, but it was fun anyway. We had pillow fights and we did makeup and we watched movies and had cheese balls and—”
“Cheese balls,” Raven says, rolling her eyes. “Bee, I think you could live on cheese balls.”
“Cheese balls are elite cuisine,” I say solemnly.
Belinda grins. “I even let Gwen play my piano app on my phone and she stinks at ‘Für Elise’ but I didn’t laugh. I was nice.”
Raven leans on the island. “I had to sit her at the real piano to get a practice in. I had to encourage her. That never happens.”
“I’m glad,” I say, meaning it so much it stings. “I mean, piano is important. You should always foster your talent. But I also want you to have friends.”
“Me too,” she says, shrugging like it’s nothing and everything. “Are you eating with us?”
“I am.”
The door opens. Vinnie’s voice from the foyer. “Smells like Phyllis’s chicken.” He inhales. “Perfection.”
Robin comes in with him, cheeks flushed from the heat, a bottle of something cold in her hand. She sees me and drops her purse to hug me tight. “You okay?”
“I will be.” I pull back. “Hi.”
We sit. The food is as good as it looks. I taste, nod, taste again. Eating is difficult when so much is nagging at me, but sustenance is sustenance. We all need it to survive.
Our conversation is mundane until dinner is finished and Belinda leaves the table to do her homework.
Vinnie waits until Phyllis serves coffee. “Okay. I have some news.”
My heart skips and my nerves jump. News. Not good news. I lay my fork down and brace myself. “What is it?”
“The chocolates.” He lifts a brow at me. “Toxicology ran them. All of them.”
My stomach tightens. “And?”
“Nothing.” He points with coffee spoon. “No toxins. No poisons. No funny business. Perfectly safe to eat.”
I blink. “But the note. It said one had ‘a special surprise.’”
“I know,” he says. “It was probably a scare tactic.”
“Then it worked.”
He nods. “Seems like it. I’m so sorry about all of this.”
I sit back. “So…no poison.”
“No poison.” Vinnie sips his coffee. “We should push on other suspects. People you—” He stops abruptly. Then, “People who were around you in Colombia. Marco Ramirez. Dietrich Klein. Isabella Valentini.”