by It Girls
"The nurse stays put." Frank frowned. "You worried about Jack and Harrison?"
Chloe sighed. "Until I know who hurt her, I'm worried about everyone but you and me."
"I'll be parking myself bedside, then."
For his girls… "Good. I'll check in later. Call me if— "
"If there's any change in Miss Emma's condition, if anyone named Greene shows up, if anyone tries to get in to see Miss Emma, and— " Frank paused to catch his breath. "How about I just call you if anything at all happens?"
Chloe smiled into the phone. "That'll work. Bless you, Frank. I adore you!"
"Damn right."
*
Half an hour later, Chloe departed the salon. According to Jacques, on the day Emma had taken Tatiana's appointment, Tatiana had come in and been taken as a walk-in, filling in a cancellation. They'd left the salon together, deciding where to have lunch. Which made the discussion at the G.R.C. about Emma stealing the appointment totally bizarre.
By the time Chloe locked herself in her car, she realized that for the first time since finding Emma, she wasn't numb with fear. She was confused about what the hell was really going on, but she was not numb with fear.
It had to be because she was doing something and not just waiting to become the Duke's next victim. She put her purse on the passenger seat. Maybe that was the key to dealing with fear constructively: to do something, even if it wasn't totally right. She no longer felt helpless.
Pondering on that epiphany, she keyed the ignition and then phoned Ryan Greene at his Manhattan office.
When he answered, she said, "Ryan, I'm terribly sorry to bother you, but I'm trying to find Brit and not having much luck." Okay, it was a lie. She hadn't tried anywhere else. But it couldn't hurt to know where Ryan was, either. "Any idea where he might be?"
"He and Erik are having lunch at Perrini's. I'd be with them, but Tatiana and I had to review some documents and— "
"Tatiana is there?" Shock, laced with disappointment. Jack had lied to her. Again. Damn it. "May I speak with her? It's important."
"I'm sorry, but she just left," Ryan said.
Oh. Had she been there, or was this yet another lie? "Did she happen to say where she was going?"
"Gotham Rose Club to do something for the Halloween Ball."
No way. Definitely a lie. The ball was on Chloe's turf. Tatiana wasn't involved except as a guest. "Thanks, Ryan."
"Of course," he said. "I still owe you dinner. When do you want to collect?"
Twelfth of never. Chloe grimaced. "Can I get back to you on that? I'm so tied up with preparations for the ball."
He poured on the charm. "Don't make me wait too long."
"I won't." Chloe hit End then speed-dialed the G.R.C. When Olivia answered, she asked, "Has Tatiana showed up there?"
"No. We've been scouring the state for her. So far, it's as if she doesn't want to be found."
"Rubi didn't know anything?"
"Not a thing," Olivia said.
Disappointed, Chloe stopped at a red light and watched a young mother push a stroller with twins in it across the street. "What about her Rose pin?"
"It was found in the hotel room with Emma and Jack, Chloe."
"So she was there." Jack had told the truth. But Ryan had just lied.
"Her pin was, anyway," Olivia said. "Renee is terrified that something has happened to Tatiana. I know you two aren't the best of friends, but you won't let that get in the way— "
"Of course not." The light turned green. Chloe pressed down on the gas pedal. "What does Renee think happened to her?"
"The same thing that happened to the three Russian women."
"Ryan Greene just told me that Tatiana was with him until a few minutes ago and she was on her way to the G.R.C."
"That's impossible." Olivia was emphatic.
"Why?" Chloe hooked a left and stopped for another light. Traffic was a bear, but with luck, she'd get to Perrini's before Erik and Brit departed.
"Because Samantha's been watching him since he left home this morning and Tatiana hasn't been anywhere near him."
Proof. Ryan lied. "I'm all over it, Olivia." Chloe ended the call then glanced at her watch— nearly two o'clock. She pulled up to Perrini's curb. Her stomach growled; she'd missed lunch.
The valet notified Lucas of her arrival, and he met her at the door. "How is Emma, my dear?"
"There's been no change." Chloe pressed a light kiss to Lucas's cheek. "That was thoughtful of you, bringing lunch to her parents at the hospital."
"They won't leave her even to eat decent food," he said. "I'll see to it that they are fed well while they wait with their daughter. They have to keep up their strength."
"Thank you, Lucas." Chloe squeezed his arm.
"Are you hungry? I was just about to sample a new dish."
She was, but first things first. "Starving. Can we eat in a bit— in your kitchen?" For Chloe, eating in the kitchen with Lucas was a wonderful, comforting event. In her parents' home, she'd never been allowed to eat anywhere but in the formal dining room, and at her apartment, she had rebelled by never eating at the table. But in Lucas's kitchen, the intimacy and warmth that should be in a home at the kitchen table surrounded her. Chloe loved that feeling.
"Of course, my dear." Clearly pleased, he smiled and his eyes twinkled. "You have something to do first, I take it?"
"Erik is here with Brit. I want to talk to him."
"I wish Prince Erik was not associating with that man." The lines alongside Lucas's mouth deepened to grooves. "He should never have left Emma alone. Most assuredly, not there."
"She paid him to go," Chloe reminded Lucas, though he was old world and that wouldn't relieve Brit of responsibility for Emma's safety. Not in Lucas's eyes, or in Frank's. Necessary or not, it was kind of nice, noble, that protective chivalry.
"Come," Lucas said. "Take care of the nasty business so that we can progress to the pleasant." He clasped her arm and patted it as they walked through the corridor to the main dining room. "Shall I ask Luigi to make you linguini with white clam sauce?"
Her favorite. "I'd love it, but whatever you're tasting today will be wonderful." Luigi couldn't make a bad meal. He was incapable of it.
Lucas escorted her to the table where Erik and Brit sat, then walked away. "I'm sorry to interrupt," Chloe said.
Erik and Brit stood up. "Sis," Erik said, clearly surprised to see her. His throat flushed and the bright color crept up over his face. No doubt, he was remembering the promise he wouldn't make to her that morning.
Brit smiled. "You're welcome to interrupt anytime."
"Thank you, Mr. Carouthers," she said, keeping it formal.
"Call me Brit, please."
She nodded and sat down. The men returned to their seats. There was no alcohol on the table. Erik resolutely refused to drink during negotiations. "I see this is a business lunch," she said. "I'll try not to keep you long."
"It's no problem," Brit said. "We've concluded that portion of our meeting."
Chloe glanced at Erik, who looked away. "Actually, I came to talk to you about Emma. I'm hoping you can give me some insight on what happened last night."
"There isn't much to tell, really," Brit said with a slight shrug. "I won her date at the auction, Ryan dropped us off for dinner at Lagniappe. She asked a question I refused to answer, and she doubled my bid to get me to leave— so I did. That's about it."
"What was the question?" Emma was direct, but typically she was subtler than Brit had described— unless she was angry or afraid. Then, all bets were off on what she would say or do.
The look in his eyes turned molten. He was angry and not bothering to hide it. "She asked how much it had cost me to buy down the bulk of my brother's charges in Florida."
Chloe fought to keep her shock from showing and smiled. "Vintage Emma," Chloe lied. "Subtle as mud."
"Damn, Brit," Erik said. "You had to be furious. How did you answer that?"
Glad Erik had asked so
Chloe didn't have to, she waited for the response. When it came, it wasn't what she had expected.
"A dead witness doesn't charge a dime." He smiled but it didn't touch his eyes. "It was absurd. Who would I pay?"
Erik laughed, thinking Brit was joking, but Chloe knew better. He'd left a witness dead— officially, due to natural causes, of course. Not bloody likely. "That's quite an answer," Chloe said, straddling the line.
"I thought so." He smiled, clearly pleased with himself.
"So you left Emma at Lagniappe and returned to Perrini's."
He nodded. "I didn't leave here until after midnight." He turned serious. "Once your brother's been arrested, when anything happens, you're the first suspect on everyone's lists— even if you've never committed a crime. For the record, I haven't," he said. "Not in Florida, and not last night. Emma was fine the last time I saw her. I'm sorry she's hurt, but I have no idea what happened to her."
He had a point Chloe understood well since her own arrest. And believe him or not, she recognized an exit line when she heard one. As far as Brit was concerned, this discussion was over. Considering what she'd learned, that was just as well.
Emma didn't frighten easily, but she clearly had feared him. That was the only time she went straight for the jugular. So what had he said or done to trigger fear in her?
"Thank you for talking to me." Chloe stood up. "I'll leave you two to your business." She avoided meeting Erik's gaze, left the table and headed for Lucas's kitchen.
She walked through the single swinging door. "Luigi, I'm starving," she called out.
It thrilled Lucas's chef. He laughed hard and deep, his round stomach jiggling. "Ah, good. Luigi appreciates a woman who knows good food. Come to my table, Princess."
Eager to do just that, she smiled and walked around a lattice partition.
Jack was sitting at Lucas's kitchen table.
Chapter 10
Chloe stopped in her tracks and stared.
Lucas clasped her arm and guided her to her chair. "You listen to Jack, Princess Chloe," he whispered that advice, "with your ears and your heart, eh?"
She looked from Lucas to Jack.
"I hear you've been dodging bullets again." Jack took a bite of ravioli.
Lucas flushed guiltily. "I told him about the gunman shooting at you when you found him and Emma." He held up a staying hand. "Harrison did not shoot, Princess. The man who fired on you stood on a ledge on the outer wall of the building, and Harrison did not fire his weapon." Lucas paused and let that sink in. "I beg you. Just listen to Jack."
Chloe had realized that about Harrison, of course. Couple it with his lie about the Governess's orders, and all his motives were suspect. "You look fine. Are you?"
Jack nodded. "I expect I'd feel nothing if you hadn't shown up when you did."
She hadn't dared to think of that. But the gunman…
His eyes held a lot of hurt and a little challenge. "Has it occurred to you that the only time you're getting shot at is when you're with Harrison Howell?"
Jack sipped from his wineglass. "Think for a second, Chloe. We're doing great. Then you find me in a compromising situation just as Howell shows up, plants absurd suspicions in your mind that you should know better than to believe, and we're alienated." The censure in that remark was clear. "Then he turns on Renee and makes you doubt her." Bitterness put an edge on Jack's tone. "Then Emma's attacked and left in a coma, Tatiana disappears— no insight available from either of them— I'm drugged and out of commission, and then you're shot at— again." He lifted his eyebrows. "Are you seeing a pattern, here?"
An idiot would see the pattern. Chloe rubbed at her forehead. "There are things you don't understand and I'm not free to explain, Jack."
"Ditto." He put down his fork. "Which brings us to a new bottom line."
She didn't track that shift. "What new bottom line?"
"We can work together and maybe survive this, or not and…"
"And what?"
He looked directly into her eyes. "Die."
Chloe absorbed that, then looked at Lucas and asked a question that abused their friendship. She could but hope he'd forgive her. "Are your friends' friends still pursuing that contract on me because of Marcus?"
Lucas spoke with no hesitation and no doubt. "No friend of my friends would dare to touch you. There is no Mafioso contract, my dear. There never was."
That left her reeling. "Then who tried to assassinate me to prove to Marcus he should do what the mob told him?"
Lucas didn't answer.
Jack did. "It wasn't the mob that wanted Marcus to lose evidence. It was Marcus's associate— the Duke."
When Lucas agreed, Chloe asked, "Who is the Duke?"
Jack spared Lucas a glance. "On that, we have a difference of opinion. I believe he's Harrison Howell."
Chloe looked at Lucas. "Ryan Greene," he said. "Marcus went to him for help. He's part of the business cartel with Brit Carouthers. And he knows too much, and has too great an interest, where he should have little— namely, in the Roses."
She looked back at Jack. "Harrison could be working for Ryan. Or vice versa."
"If Ryan is guilty," Jack said, "one person knows it."
"Tatiana." She would have guessed from seeing his financial records. "And she's missing."
"Not missing," Jack corrected her. "Kidnapped."
Chloe's skin crawled. "It appears so."
Jack wasn't happy to not be taken at his word, but that was just too bad. He had given Chloe valid reason to doubt him and to verify what he told her. She met his gaze without apology.
He drank from his glass. "So do we work together, Chloe?"
She didn't want to end up dead, and she did feel he had told her the truth as he believed it to be. He'd also made some very astute observations. "Yes, we work together."
*
Leaving Jack in Lucas's kitchen, Chloe tried repeatedly to contact the Governess for those further instructions— no luck— and spoke with those who'd attended the date auction. Three of them verified that Brit Carouthers had danced in the grand ballroom until well past midnight. He couldn't have attacked Emma.
But did he know who had? That remained possible.
Chloe returned to the kitchen, to Jack. "Any luck?"
"No one has seen Tatiana. Her family sounded very nervous. Not afraid, just nervous."
He thought a second. "What if she faked it, Chloe?"
"Why would she fake it?" Chloe had her own opinion on that, but wanted to hear his.
He lifted a shoulder. "Maybe she tipped her hand, and the Duke's decided she has become a liability."
"Could be, if he's discovered that she knows his identity." He'd protect himself at any costs. Chloe was convinced of that.
Jack stood and came out from behind the table. "I need to run down a couple things. I'll call you shortly." He didn't touch her. The hurt was still in his eyes, but so was concern. "Be careful, Chloe."
"You, too." She watched him leave. Her heart felt wrung out and she mourned all they'd lost. Would they ever get back to where they'd been before he'd lied to her about London?
Lucas circled her with an arm. "Give it time, my dear."
Blinking hard, Chloe looked up at him. "I don't think there is that much time, Lucas."
"Of course there is. The heart has an impressive ability to heal, Princess. One must only let in that which restores."
Once broken, trust was just…broken. "What restores?"
He gave her a tender smile. "Forgiveness."
*
It was nearly five o'clock before Chloe got back in her car and left Perrini's. She buckled her safety belt, then dialed Harrison's cell. He'd find it odd if she didn't check in with him.
On the third ring, he answered. "Howell."
Uneasiness rippled through her. "It's me, Chloe."
"Ah, the princess awakens."
"The princess hasn't been to sleep, she's been gathering information, which is in short supply, and she's
hoping her partner's had better luck."
"A little. Can we talk, or do you want to meet?"
She definitely didn't want to see him without first hearing from the Governess, and even then, not unless she was wearing a Kevlar vest or Frank's suit of armor. She'd dodged enough bullets already, thank you very much. "Phone works for me."
"You first, then."
Chloe relayed events between Emma and Brit. "I verified that he was on the dance floor when Emma was attacked." Chloe swallowed hard. "Thanks for having Mac Dayton guard Emma."
"The Governess considered it prudent."
So did Chloe. Yet if she didn't completely trust Harrison, could she trust Mac Dayton? No. But Frank was there.
"You okay, Chloe?"
She wasn't. But for the first time since she'd seen Emma battered and bruised on the floor and Jack unconscious, Chloe felt more angry than scared. Confused and lost, too, but more angry than scared. Maybe she wasn't a coward. Maybe she was just almost a coward. "I'm fine."
His line clicked. "Damn. Let me call you back. The Governess is phoning."
"Sure." Suspicious, Chloe quickly dialed the Governess.
The phone rang and rang, but neither her voice mail nor her answering service answered. The Governess was not in her office, and that set off an alarm in Chloe. At the next red light, she dialed Renee. "Have you heard from the Governess?"
"No," she said, agitated. "I've been phoning her since early this morning and have yet to reach her."
"She was supposed to call me this morning, but I haven't heard from her, either." Chloe was worried. Especially now that Harrison and Ryan had claimed contact with women Chloe couldn't reach. "Still nothing on Tatiana, right?"
"Right. We've searched all day. I did phone Rubi, but all she knew was that Tatiana had gone to Hollow Hill to meet the man she's been dating."
"Who is he?" Chloe asked.
"Warren," Renee said. "Rubi didn't know his last name."
"Emma's interviewer." Was that significant?