“They aren’t nefarious, Rich. There was no subterfuge. The land belongs to me. I’ll find the documentation that I’m sure exists.” She hoped. Her brother was a lawyer and he’d signed over his half, so he would know where to find the legal deed. Unfortunately, he was out of the country for six weeks, on a long-overdue vacation with his fiancée.
“Know this, cousin.” Rich’s eyes glittered with hatred. “You better be calling your lawyer because I will take you to court. No judge in the land would uphold a drunken bet over a deed passed down through generations.”
It wasn’t like she hadn’t spent the better part of the last few weeks inside a courtroom, so as far as threats went, it was fairly meaningless to her. Melody opened her door and crossed her arms with fake bravado. “We’ll see. Now goodbye, Rich.”
She didn’t think he would take the hint. Finally, he strolled forward, taking his sweet time. She wanted to smack the smirk off his face.
“I’ll be in touch, cuz.” She glared at him as he walked by. “See ya later, doll face,” he tossed at Deanna with a wink before he checked out the sales area and sauntered out the door.
Raine, having heard the initial commotion, had joined Deanna and they were watching him depart with a look of disgust. Then Deanna turned to Melody. “He’s family?”
“Unfortunately.”
“I’m sorry. He’s a piece of work.”
“Eh, we aren’t close.”
The bell over the door jangled again and her eyes whipped around, expecting to see Rich amble back inside for round two. Thankfully, Kendall Demarchis entered the shop with Olivia Larrson close behind.
“Oh my gosh, it looks amazing in here,” Kendall gushed as Melody hugged the women. “You did a fabulous job.”
“Thanks. Taylor helped.”
“She has a wonderful eye for details,” Olivia agreed, taking her turn and hugging Melody. “I’m so excited for you.”
“I’m excited for me, too.” The women all laughed. “Kendall, Olivia, these are my employees, Raine Vickers and Deanna Prescott.” The women all shook hands.
“What are you two doing out and about?”
“We have a meeting with a potential client, but we left early so we could come by and check out your space,” Kendall said.
“I’m glad you did,” Melody told them. “How about coffee and pastries? I stopped by the bakery this morning.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Olivia said.
“I got up early to run with Dorian, so I deserve a few calories,” Kendall rationalized.
“Follow me.”
“Who was the man leaving your shop when we arrived?” Kendall asked as she selected a cream-filled donut from the box.
“That was my cousin, Richard.”
Olivia winced. “Then I guess I shouldn’t tell you that he gave me the heebie-jeebies.”
Melody laughed. “No, that’s okay. He gives them to me, too. Always has.” There was something off about Rich, and it wasn’t just his troubled childhood.
“Hey, do you think he’s the one who left the note?” Raine asked.
Both Kendall and Olivia stopped abruptly, Kendall with a pastry half to her mouth, Olivia about to take a drink from a bottle of water. They just froze in place until they asked in unison, “Note, what note?” They really did spend too much time together.
Melody waved a dismissive hand. “It’s nothing and I’m sure it wasn’t from Rich. He’s trying to claim a family inheritance that belongs to me.”
Kendall’s eyes narrowed. “Did he threaten you?”
“He did mention taking me to court, but I’m sure he wouldn’t go through with it.” She hoped.
“The note’s not nothing,” Raine insisted, rushing past Melody to grab it off her desk. She handed it over to Olivia while Kendall read over her shoulder. Melody sighed and walked in after them. She didn’t want it to be blown out of proportion. She was sure it wasn’t meant for her.
Olivia looked from the note to Melody. “What does this mean?”
“No idea. Deanna found it on the floor this morning.”
“That’s it,” Kendall announced, pulling her iPhone from her purse. “I knew we should’ve insisted that our guys wire this place to the hilt.”
“That’s not—” She broke off when Kendall turned her back to speak into the phone. “Necessary,” she added under her breath. Her new friends had done so much for her already. She didn’t want to keep imposing on their generosity. If COBRA Securities handled it, it would be top-of-the-line and expensive. She refused to take any more handouts, so she’d insist on paying, even if the thought of more debt caused her blood pressure to rise.
“Stop now before it’s too late,” Olivia read from the typed note. “Stop what? Producing the cream? Opening the store? Airing the infomercial?”
“I really don’t think it was meant for me. I mean, it doesn’t make sense. I’m not hurting anyone with my products. We don’t test on animals. No trees were harmed in the production process.”
“It really doesn’t make sense,” Olivia agreed. “Still, it doesn’t hurt to take precautions. And you really should have a security system so that no one tries to steal your magic potion.”
Melody chuckled. Her friends were right. She should have contracted with COBRA Securities to secure the building, but she didn’t own the space. She’d have to call the owner and ask for his approval before any security system was installed.
Kendall disconnected. “They’ll be here soon. Now let’s see where the magic happens.”
Truly, the women did spend too much time together, both calling her cream magic. Maybe that’s what the note meant. Someone heard them calling it a magic potion and they thought she was a witch selling a cauldron-bubbled brew.
She shook her head at her silly notions. She didn’t care what Deanna or any of the others thought. The note wasn’t meant for her.
Chapter Four
Ignoring the sweat that rolled down his temple, Grant popped up over a ledge, sighted the enemy through the night-vision scope and squeezed the trigger, a thrill of satisfaction racing through him at the agonized scream. One tango down.
He ducked back down and listened for any movement that might give the opponent away: a ragged breath, the creak of a floorboard, any noise that didn’t belong. There it was—a muted thump. He slid to his stomach, eased around the corner and fired off another round, nailing the perp. Two down.
“Ten o-clock.” Dorian Demarchis barely whispered the words. Grant swiveled around and fired. Another bad guy down. He scooted behind the ledge as another attacker returned fire but missed.
Their location had been compromised, so using hand signals, Grant indicated for them to take up a defensive position behind a stack of pallets a few feet away. From that locale, they could keep their eyes on anyone who tried to sneak up on them in their former spot. Dorian led the way, with Grant close on his six. They’d just dropped behind the wooden crates when the peal of a cell phone had him glancing over at his partner with raised eyes.
“What the hell, man? No cell phones in the middle of battle.”
“It’s the wife. Sorry,” he said as he answered, not sounding the least bit sorry.
Fine, his partner wanted to wimp out, no problem. It’d be up to him to destroy the enemy…and there he was. Grant braced his arms on top of the pallets, preparing to fire when Dorian’s voice derailed him.
“What happened to Melody Franklin?”
Grant’s head whipped around at the name. The enemy used his distraction to land a shot center mass. His chest plate erupted in a riotous dance of red lights. Dammit. He’d been killed. He slid down to sit beside Dorian, whose brows were narrowed with concern as he concentrated on the call.
The overhead lights kicked on and Grant whipped off the NVG’s, preparing for the taunting that he knew was coming. Dan Bradley didn’t disappoint. He stomped over, his arms out to the sides. “What the hell was that, Colton? You served yourself up like a big, fat Thanksgiving turkey
on a platter. A ten-year-old could’ve taken you out.”
“Hey!” Kai Costa complained. “I could’ve if you’d let me play.”
“We aren’t playing. This is battle, kid.”
“Oh yeah?” Kai grabbed the gun Grant had propped against the wall and aimed at Dan, sending his chest plate into a screaming red light fit.
Dan cast a horrified glance at his chest before holding out his arms. “Hey! You just shot me!”
“Uh oh,” Kai muttered before tossing the gun back to Grant and bolting. Dan threw back his head and let out a rebel yell as he followed. The training facility was vast with dozens of obstacles and hidey holes. Kai would be able to shake Dan easily.
Dorian pushed to his feet as he hung up, his brows knotted with concern. Grant’s internal bells were ringing like a firehouse alarm, but he tried to sound casual. “What’s up with Melody Franklin?”
Dorian’s brows lifted. “You know her?”
Trying for nonchalance, Grant hitched a shoulder. “I met her when she tutored Sean and Tiff a few months ago.”
“Oh, right. Well, she’s in the process of opening a shop downtown. She developed a face cream that all the women swear by. Kendall calls it her magic potion and she slathers it on religiously.”
“I heard Layla talking about that. She’s a die-hard fan, too.”
When he’d met Melody, she’d been studying to be a teacher. Apparently, her background was in chemistry and she developed a product that worked miracles for the complexion. He heard through the grapevine that she was shooting an infomercial to launch the product. His sister-in-law, Layla, was one of the stars selling the product.
“Melody found a note on the floor of her shop this morning that said something like, stop now or else, and then her cousin paid her a visit, threatening her.”
“About selling the face cream?”
“No, he threatened to sue about some family inheritance that he thinks belongs to him.”
“Didn’t she just win a court case with her former employer?” Not that he soaked up all the information on her he could ferret out like a sponge or anything.
“She did. She’s been through a lot lately.”
Every protective instinct in Grant’s body stood at attention, ready to defend. “You headed over there?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m free. I’ll come with.”
#
Olivia clicked off the monitor, but Melody couldn’t pull her gaze away from the blank screen. She was struck speechless. All she could do was sigh.
“Was that a good sigh or a bad sigh?” Kendall asked expectantly.
The edges of her lips curved upward and then erupted into a massive grin. “Oh my gosh, good…no great! Definitely great! Spectacular!” The infomercial was amazing. She’d watched the entire thing being filmed, but this was nothing like what she’d witnessed sitting in the studio with the bright lights overhead and cameras rolling around everywhere and people hustling behind the scenes. This was a professional presentation and it was edited perfectly with a soundtrack that meshed seamlessly with the audio and video. If she didn’t own the company, she’d be on the phone right now placing a huge order—that’s how convincing Jade Bradley had been selling the product. She was simply the perfect spokeswoman. Kendall and Olivia were very good at their jobs, and along with the other women who’d banded together to sell her product, she couldn’t be happier with the end result.
The infomercial featured several celebrities including Jade, singer Layla Colton, bestselling author Taylor Costa, television chef Kaitlyn Bradley, along with Kendall and Olivia, both former award-winning reporters. It featured exotic beauties in agent Talia Cohen and Violet Kincaid, wife of agent Jake; All-American beauties in agents Maggie McQueen, Hillary Billings and Kayla Hepburn, along with Ben Colton’s wife, Rachel. Even the younger generation was represented with high-school beauty Lauren Dianetti, the daughter of one of COBRA Securities first clients. They had already finished recording when Harlow Duquesne, the granddaughter of the President of the United States, arrived and after testing her product, she taped an additional testimonial that Kendall and Olivia slipped into the package. Plus, they each filmed smaller sixty-second commercials that would run at different times during the day on major networks and ones that catered specifically to women.
Talk about star power!
And not a one of them would let Melody reimburse them for their participation.
She wasn’t sure how she’d been so lucky to have met these amazing ladies, but she thanked God for them every night. She would’ve been content becoming a professor and teaching the next generation her passion of science, but something would’ve been missing. She might not have noticed it right away, but eventually, there would be a void in her life that teaching couldn’t fill. She was living a dream that started when she was a young girl playing around with her chemistry kit. But as wonderful and amazing as her dreams had been, they didn’t compare to real life. Even if she only sold a few jars of Harmony, she couldn’t be happier nor imagine anything more exciting.
“We thought so, too.” Olivia clapped her hands, bringing Melody back to the present. “You’re going to be a star!”
“Oh, I don’t know about that…”
“You are, sweetie,” Kendall said grabbing her hands. “You have an amazing product. My skin has never looked better.”
Their complete certainty in her success had sweat forming in her palms, so she squeezed Kendall’s fingers with affection and then let go so she could wipe them on her pants. This was all happening so fast. She felt like her life had become a run-away train. In a few short weeks, she’d not only rented an office space and started plans on a production facility, she’d picked out packaging and was working with TKO Productions on an advertising campaign. Soon the infomercial would run. Was she ready?
“I do hope you hurry and develop a body cream to get rid of cellulite,” Kendall added.
They all laughed. “As if you’d need it,” she remarked to the fit, tone woman who regularly worked out with her husband.
The bell over the shop door chimed and Melody cringed, hoping it wasn’t Rich for a return visit. The occasional looky-loo stopped in, even though the sign clearly stated they weren’t open for business yet. Still, she didn’t want to turn anyone away. She’d had sample packages made up and Deanna had handed them to the visitors, instructing them to come back tomorrow to purchase.
“Well, hello.” Deanna’s voice was a throaty purr. “Welcome to Harmony. How can I help you gentlemen?”
“We’re here to speak with Melody Franklin.”
“In here, hon,” Kendall called out, recognizing her husband’s voice.
Good. It was Dorian Demarchis, not Rich. Kendall’s former SEAL husband was stunning. That explained Deanna’s reaction.
Deanna led Dorian to the office, mouthing, “Oh my God,” as she stepped aside to let him in.
The tall, dark-haired man headed straight for his wife, gathering her in for a kiss. Feeling as if she was intruding on a private moment, Melody glanced away. Her eyes landed on the man who entered her office behind Dorian. She gasped and took an involuntary step backwards, knocking into Raine and sending an armful of papers flying.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.” She spun around and bent to help gather the papers, willing her flaming cheeks to subside. She realized she was the only one collecting the pages. Raine was frozen in place, her mouth gaping open. She was as mesmerized as Melody.
“Here, let me help,” a deep voice rumbled and she jumped. The man moved like a cat. She hadn’t even heard him approach. Of course, that could be because her heart was pounding like a bongo drum in her ears. He moved so close, his wonderful masculine scent drifted to her, intoxicating her. Clean, woodsy. She chanced a peek at the man. The last time she’d seen him, he’d been sporting a bushy beard and longish hair raked back from his striking face. He’d also been sans shirt and he had the most amazing chest she’d ever seen. An eight-pack
with cuts along his hip flexors that disappeared beneath a small white towel. Not an ounce of fat, but several scars peppered his torso. They did nothing to detract from the perfection. If anything, they added to it. The marks were the badges of honor of a true hero. Now his face was smooth and his dark hair was cut short, emphasizing his chiseled jaw. The piercing blue eyes were exactly the same.
Grant Colton.
“Hello, Melody.”
“Hel…” she had to clear her throat. “Hello, Mr. Colton.”
“Grant.”
Her eyes shot to his and she promptly lost her breath. Having all that electric blue intensity focused on her was overwhelming, like taking a hit with super-charged defibrillator paddles. She broke eye contact, looking back at the papers on the ground without seeing them. Her hands were moving, tapping the edges to straighten them, but her mind was a complete blank. She had no idea what to do next, what to say. The man muddled her brain.
“Oh, uh, sorry,” Raine mumbled, taking the pages from her fingers and standing. A large hand clasped Melody’s elbow to help her up and she jolted from the contact. Had he used a taser or something? He snatched his hand away quickly. He was staring strangely at his empty hand. Had he felt it too?
“We heard you had a little excitement here today,” Dorian said, oblivious to the undercurrents in the room or her chaotic, jumbled thoughts.
She shook her head to clear the Grant-induced fog and glanced at the other man in the room. She’d forgotten anyone else was around. Grant’s overwhelming presence filled her office. “Kendall over reacted calling you. It was nothing.”
“A threatening note isn’t nothing,” Grant disagreed, looking up from reading said note.
“We don’t even know if it was meant for me. There’s no name or anything.”
“Where did you find it?”
“Deanna found it over by the front entry this morning. I’m sure someone just dropped it accidently or something.”
Say Goodbye to Melody Page 4