by Fiona Archer
“All you have to do to show your appreciation for me setting up today is buy me coffee.” Cleo nodded to the entrance of Seven Dishes. “And a pastry. Or a cupcake. I’m not sure which yet. I’ll know when I see all the goodies.”
London grinned. “No problem. I was going to offer anyway. Do you think Jinx would like some too?” she asked as they entered.
“Absolutely. She’s addicted to Harper’s coffee.”
At the mention of the storeowner’s name, London’s smile disappeared. “God, her dad was murdered.’ The story had been on the news non-stop. “The poor woman.” London didn’t know Harper well, only to smile and say hello when she’d visited the café with Cleo, but the bubbly brunette had always been friendly.
Cleo’s mouth turned down. “Yeah, it’s been rough. I spoke to her last night.”
With perfect timing, Harper Fox exited the café’s kitchen area. Her gaze landed on Cleo, but the smile that usually reached her eyes was clouded by the shadow of grief.
“Cleo.” Harper walked from behind the staff only area over to her friend and gave her a hug. A ghost of a smile crossed her face as she nodded to London. “Hi, London. You guys in for coffee?”
“To go. We’re—”
“London,” a deep voice said from behind, inadvertently interrupting Cleo.
London turned.
Heath Justice, the central figure of her late night dreams, stood behind her with another, equally tall man. Both of them were dressed in t-shirts, jeans, and boots, and had attracted the gazes of more than a few women in the café.
While the other man’s brown-blond waves and square jaw were attractive, it was the darker haired detective who stole her attention.
“Heath.” She smiled, hoping she managed to hide the flurry of nerves sweeping over her. What was it about this guy that made her so hyperaware of her own actions? “You here for the coffee? Seven Dishes is the best.” She cringed inwardly. Lord, she sounded like a cheesy spokesperson, but the words kept coming. “The food’s great too. You should try the stroganoff. It’s my favorite.” God, why didn’t she shut up? “Isn’t it, Cleo?”
She swung her gaze to her friend, who stared at her with slightly wide eyes.
“Is that so?” A faint hint of amusement underlined Heath’s comment.
“Heath, I haven’t seen you since Harper’s last dinner party.” Cleo flicked her now curious gaze between London and Heath. “You two know each other?”
“Met last Thursday,” Heath answered for them. “Her brother Derek and I work together. And speaking of family...” He nodded toward the man who had been beside him and had stepped to Harper’s side, resting a muscled arm across her shoulders. London noted the way Harper leaned into the big man, seemingly gaining comfort from their contact. “London, this is Seth, my younger brother.”
Seth wore an easy smile. “Great to meet you, London.”
“Hi.” She smiled back, then looked to Heath. “It’s so cool you know Cleo and Harper. Small world.”
He dipped his head slightly to one side. “Have you seen Derek lately?”
“No, nor any of the family. Last couple of days, I’ve locked myself away in my writing den, working on my new series.” Oh, gosh that sounded so glib considering Harper’s troubles. She reached out and gently squeezed the woman’s hand before letting go. “Honey, I’m so sorry about your dad.”
Harper nodded, her voice husky as she whispered her thanks.
“What are you doing today?” Cleo rubbed a hand along her friend’s arm.
Harper shrugged. “Hanging around the apartment. I spent yesterday and last night with Mom. Sienna’s with her today.”
So she’d be alone, caught up in her thoughts. “Maybe...”—London bit her lip as Harper glanced her way—“I don’t know if you’re interested, but Jinx is playing fairy godmother to my Cinderella today and waving her stylist magic wand over me. Cleo’s coming too. If you want to join us…” She left the offer hanging.
Harper’s gaze brightened, before she looked to the side. “I don’t know if—”
“A few hours with your girlfriends is a great idea,” Seth encouraged. “Heath and I will be with Adam. I’d feel happier knowing you weren’t by yourself upstairs.”
Harper glanced up at Seth before facing London. A hint of a smile eased the sorrow from her features. “I’d like to come. Thanks, London.”
“Excellent. First, I need to order coffee and cake.” She moved around everyone to get to the counter, aware Heath had followed her.
She forced herself to stand still as she studied the treats in the glass cabinet. All the while, tingles raced up her arm at her nearness to Heath’s body.
He bent to get a better look at the lower shelves bearing portions of cake and tarts. “Hard to choose what looks best,” he mused. Still leaning over, he turned his head so their gazes collided at near eye level. “Do you have a weakness?”
Her pulse stuttered. He meant cake. She swallowed. Heath’s gaze flicked to her throat, then kicked up to her face. He straightened and waited for her answer.
Taking her time, she surveyed the case. “I like the lemon poppy seed cake.”
Heath’s hooded gaze made a lazy study of her face. “Not too sweet. You like some bite with your sugar.”
The sound of the rich timbre of his voice as he said bite—as if promising a dangerously wonderful endeavor— sent a ripple of excitement through her. Even so, she couldn’t let him win this game of wits that easily. “Sometimes, but sweetness encourages a person to take more.”
“True. However, challenging yourself with a different taste is all part of those new experiences you lectured me about when we first met.”
Touché. Two could play this game. “Too much bite and everything tastes sour.”
He smiled. A slow, devastatingly sexy smile that made her toes curl in her leather sandals. She really, really hoped he hadn’t noticed.
“You’re an interesting woman, London Shaw.”
“I am?” Damn, her voice sounded all breathy.
“You are.” His gaze swept over her, lingering on her face. “Fair warning, Red. I plan on getting to know you better.”
A thrill of anticipation raced through her body.
Exactly what did his idea of ‘getting to know you’ entail? A date? Long walks in the country? Handcuffs?
For a second, she wondered if it was a good idea. Okay, two seconds. Three at the most. “I’m okay with that.”
He treated her to another slow smile, and oh yeah, she totally curled her toes. This time not caring if he saw her do so.
Cleo appeared at her side. “Harper’s going upstairs to get her purse, then she’ll join us outside. She and Jinx have lattes, no sugar. I’m an Americano.”
“Great.” London cleared her throat and reminded herself she and Heath weren’t alone in some dimly lit restaurant.
Powering on like the trouper she was, she smiled at the young woman who came to serve her. Wasn’t her name Abby? The barista always wore the cutest outfits, which reflected her fun personality. Today’s was no different with a formfitting sky blue t-shirt teamed with a bib-n-braces shorts in the same soft shade of pink as her Alice headband. London loved seeing someone living life with such a sense of joy.
“Hi there. I’ll have two lattes, one Americano, one cappuccino and”—London turned to Heath and Seth—“what about you guys?”
Heath answered. “Two Americanos, thanks.”
London nodded and faced Abby. “Two more Americanos. All large sizes and to go, please.”
Abby scribbled their orders down and handed them to another server at the coffee machine. “Anything else?”
London glanced at the guys. Both shook their heads. Lightweights. “Four slices of cake, whatever you choose, Abby, and please make one lemon poppy seed, thanks.” She ignored the soft chuckle beside her and glanced at a big clear jar on the counter. “Oh, and four of those M&M cookies too.”
“Great choice.” Abby boxed the
treats and rang up her purchases.
London opened her purse, but Heath stepped in and handed Abby some money.
“I’m paying,” London insisted.
“No. I pay or Seth pays. Those are the choices. It was my turn.” Heath accepted his change from Abby, dropping a couple of bills in the tip jar before returning his wallet to the back pocket of his jeans.
London blinked at Heath. “I didn’t agree to those choices.”
“Consider it one of my rigid outlooks on life.” Heath quoted her words from their first encounter. And judging by the untroubled look on his face, he wasn’t offended by the memory, simply determined to have his way.
Mr. Black and White with no room for interpretation.
Abby appeared with one tray holder containing four coffees and a second with two on their own. “Here you go.” She handed them to Seth, who had reached out. With a quick smile, she moved to the next customer.
Before London knew it, she was outside, holding a box of cake, while Seth handed over the tray of four coffees to Harper.
The younger Justice brother dropped a kiss on Harper’s lips. “Call me when you’re finished. Depending on where we’re at, we’ll work something out about dinner.”
London couldn’t forget her good manners. “Thanks for the coffee and cake, Heath.” He’d insisted on paying against her wishes, but it was a thoughtful gesture.
“My pleasure.” He stepped closer, enough that he was all big and tall and in her space but not touching her. “Sometimes a man wants to pay because that’s how he sees his role, and sometimes it’s because he wants to buy a pretty girl some cake.” His voice lowered as his gaze held hers. “The kind with the perfect amount of bite.”
Her breath caught. All she could see was his face—the strong lines of his cheekbones and jaw, and the faintest silvery line of a one inch scar near his left eyebrow.
“Have a great day, Cinderella.”
Then he turned and disappeared with Seth through the entrance to the apartments above the café.
She stared after him for what seemed ages only to become aware of her companions’ silence—and their openly curious stares. Yikes. She tried some rousing enthusiasm to divert their attention. “Let’s get this day started. House of Jade here we come!”
Harper stared back, her eyebrows raised.
Cleo made a scoffing sound in her throat. “You met Heath last Thursday, huh? Prepare to share those details later, girlfriend.”
Yeeeeaah. So much for the distraction.
London followed the two women across the street and past a couple of storefronts, stopping as they reached the shiny black door with the brass plaque on the side stating, ‘House of Jade’.
As Cleo pushed the door’s button to summon Jinx, Harper leaned in close to London. “If it’s any consolation, you coped well with Heath just then.” This time, her smile reached her eyes, showing the lightheartedness that had been buried under sorrow. “I can personally attest to the power of the Justice brothers’ brand of shock and awe.”
Shock and awe. What a perfect description for the way Heath’s commanding stare and words had destroyed her resistance and left her a mess of need and fascination.
The question was, what defense would she launch…and did she want to?
****
“You’ve got to be kidding me?” Heath said as he, Seth and Adam sat at the breakfast bar of Seth’s old apartment not thirty minutes after they had left the women at Seven Dishes.
Adam had taken over the lease a month ago, right after Seth moved in with Harper. Not only was it convenient for all involved, but the kitchen’s black marble breakfast bar also provided Adam with a working area as he made plans to get his private investigations company up and running. The coffee table and black leather lounge Seth had left behind were covered with neat piles of paper, brochures for office equipment and other sundry paraphernalia for setting up a business.
Now all Adam needed was an office, since he already had a client.
And speaking of Adam’s first client, Heath couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.
“Elizabeth Fox handed her husband’s journal over to you? No provisos, no demands in exchange for this information?” Whatever was contained within those pages could prove a goldmine to the investigation.
“None.” Adam dropped the photocopied document in front of him. “She led me into her husband’s study Thursday morning, opened a secret compartment to his desk, and handed me the journal. Your colleagues were interviewing Fox’s lawyer and about to start searching the house, so I left and had a party with a Xerox machine.”
“Jesus, Adam—”
His oldest brother cut him off. “Once I had my copies, I handed over the original to Tollison.”
Good. Heath didn’t want to have to bail his brother out of jail.
But a question remained unanswered. “How did Elizabeth know where the journal was? She stated to Tollison she wasn’t aware of any of Fox’s dealings.”
“Her husband had shown her where the journal was kept.” Seth gave a derisive smile. “He warned her if anything ever happened to him—legal or otherwise—to move the journal someplace safe, out of the house. I guess he thought of it as his insurance policy. He could use it to blackmail others to get him out of whatever shit he’d fallen into.”
“And she was never tempted to read it for herself?”
Adam shook his head. “Elizabeth Fox is a smart woman. I’m betting instinct told her she was better off keeping her distance from her husband’s affairs.”
What you don’t know can’t hurt you? Heath knew that assumption didn’t always prove true. “So what’s in the journal?”
“Dates. Amounts of money. I can’t make out everything—yet.” Adam’s mouth hardened. “He used a code for people and businesses dealings. Seth’s working with Sienna’s husband, Lance, to try to decipher the details. Tollison’s got a team doing the same. We know Fox invested in a nightclub but no idea why. The rumor is there’s a tie-in with the Russian mafia and money laundering, but we have no proof.”
Heath would check with Kennedy and Faulkner to make sure they were kept in the loop. “Any news on the replacement chauffer?”
“None.”
Seth’s flat tone said it all. Either the guy was back behind enemy lines or possibly dead.
Heath leaned his forearms on the dark marble breakfast bar. “The coroner put Fox’s time of death between ten and midnight Wednesday night. His wife last saw him at 8 p.m. Wednesday before he left with his chauffer for a meeting. She happened to be standing on the second floor near a window that looks out onto the front drive. She didn’t recognize the car he left in.” He looked at both men. “I checked with Kennedy at the station. He told me we lost CCTV of the vehicle when they drove out to the suburbs. The car hasn’t appeared on any cameras or tollways since.”
Seth tossed his pen onto the scattering of papers before him. “Since his body was dumped in the city, we can assume he was driven out of the city in one car and back in another. Whether he was alive for the return journey we don’t know.”
Seth rose and stretched his arms above his head, hands clasped, facing the ceiling. They hadn’t been working for more than an hour, but Heath understood; his brother was frustrated.
Adam, trained to wait out his enemy, cast a concerned glance at Heath. Their kid brother had been through a rough couple of days on top of a rough month before Fox’s death. Life had been a bitch for their family these past five weeks.
“How’s Harper today?” Adam stood and went to get more coffee from the pot on the counter.
“Emotionally exhausted.” Seth’s mouth twisted. “But I’m hoping she’ll have fun today.” His gaze landed on Heath, and a gleam entered his eyes—one Heath didn’t trust. “She’ll be pumping London for information. That’ll give her a new mission.”
Adam frowned. “London? Information?”
Heath sighed. Would Harper forgive him if Seth came back with a black eye?
/>
“Well?” Adam demanded.
“London’s the younger sister of my new partner, Derek Shaw. We met at their parents’ house last Thursday. Not long before I got the call about Fox.” He might as well share all the details before Seth annoyed him and Adam to the point one of them produced a gun. “I like her. I’m interested and made it known to London. Harper saw that unfold this morning.”
Adam grunted, clearly indicating he’d processed his brother’s dating aspirations and had moved on. “And London’s a friend of Harper’s?” Adam asked.
“No.” Then again… “Yes, likely after today. I think they know each other through Cleo, and since they’re spending a few hours together at Jinx’s salon doing girl shit, I’m betting they’ll all be best friends with London by the second glass of wine.”
Adam nodded, having seen Cleo, Jinx and Harper together a number of times since Seth and Harper hooked up. “Your partner’s sister? Christ, you and Seth know how to choose women with complicated family connections.”
“I doubt Derek has veto power over who London dates.” He remembered the way she had stood defiant in front of her brother when cornered outside their parent’s garage. “But I’m aware I need to tread with care.”
If privacy and time had allowed last Thursday, Heath would have pressed harder with London, asked more questions, found out what brought a smile to her face. After all, he’d already broken the ice earlier that morning.
What else was left?
Draw your gun on a woman. Cuff her. Ask her out on a date.
A good plan.
Adam glanced at Heath as he poured his coffee. His expression gave nothing away. His dry tone was another matter. “Still, it will be amusing to sit back and watch you navigate the fine line of working with Derek while dating his kid sister.”
And it would be equally amusing to Heath to punch his older brother in the mouth. And hey, a bonus for Adam, any blood wouldn’t show up much on his navy t-shirt, saving the bastard on laundry.
Seth shook his head. “Bro, you’re assuming she agrees to date him. London may shoot Heath down in a flaming ball of rejection that could burn for weeks to come.” Any idea of brotherly concern for Heath was negated by Seth’s shit-stirring grin.