Chicago

by Tiffany Aaron

  Table of Contents

  Legal Page

  Title Page

  Book Description

  Dedication

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  New Excerpt

  About the Author

  Publisher Page

  A Totally Bound Publication

  Chicago

  ISBN # 9781781848388

  ©Copyright Tiffany Aaron 2013

  Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright November 2013

  Edited by Rebecca Douglas

  Totally Bound Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

  Published in 2013 by Totally Bound Publishing, Newland House, The Point, Weaver Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QN

  Warning:

  This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a heat rating of Totally Sizzling and a Sexometer of 2.

  This story contains 112 pages, additionally there is also a free excerpt at the end of the book containing 8 pages.

  Fallen

  CHICAGO

  Tiffany Aaron

  Book four in the Fallen series

  Neither Grant nor the world is ready for what he unearthed in Peru.

  Grant Carson doesn’t believe in angels or anything he can’t see or touch, yet the skeleton he has in the vault at his lab threatens all he thinks to be real. But that isn’t his only problem. Someone is looking for something, and they think Grant has it. He has to turn to Danielle for help.

  Danielle Weston has lived on Earth for millennia, and she’s always managed to keep her heart safe. Until she meets Grant Carson, an archaeologist at The Field Museum. He’s never given her the time of day until his lab gets broken into.

  Suddenly, Danielle has to decide if telling Grant the truth about where she came from and what she really was is worth risking his love. But if she doesn’t, things worse than losing Grant’s approval could happen, and the world isn’t ready to know the truth.

  Dedication

  Thank you to my awesome editor for cleaning Chicago up, and to the line editors and proofers who did their best to bring my story up to its highest level. Also, thank you to all the readers who are enjoying the continuing stories of my fallen angels.

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Chicago Bears: Chicago Bears, NFL

  Sears Tower: Sears, Roebuck and Company/Willis Group Holdings plc

  Waldorf: Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts

  Indiana Jones: George Lucas

  Mona Lisa : Leonardo da Vinci

  Chapter One

  Danielle stepped from her car and handed the valet her keys. It had been a long time since she had eaten at Geja’s. She’d always enjoyed the fondue restaurant. Smiling at the doorman, she entered the cozy restaurant on the basement level of a town house.

  “May we help you, ma’am?” the maître d’ asked.

  “I’m here to join the Reynolds party.”

  “Of course. Right this way.”

  Trisha’s laugh rang out as Danielle followed the man around the corner, and her mood lifted when she saw her three best friends.

  “Already enjoying the wine, I see,” she joked as she slid into the booth next to Janet.

  “It’s about time you got here. It’s your damn birthday party.” Trisha giggled as she toasted Danielle with her glass.

  Joan leaned over to hug her and whispered, “Dickhead broke up with her today. She’s been crying off and on all day.”

  Danielle reached out and squeezed Trisha’s hand. “I always said you were too good for him.”

  Trisha giggled again. “It’s strange but you were the only one to tell me that. I thought you were jealous.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Jealous?” She saw Janet’s warning glance. “Maybe, but let’s forget about that and celebrate.”

  “You’re the only woman I know who doesn’t freak out about getting older.” Patty shook her head as the waiter poured Danielle some wine.

  “Why freak out when it’s just a number?” She smiled. When you’ve been alive for thousands of years, one more doesn’t matter.

  * * * *

  Janet and Patty were trying to fish their potatoes out of the boiling oil in their fondue pot while Trisha laughed hysterically at them. Danielle wanted to remember this moment when all her friends were happy and enjoying life. Pausing time, she tried to burn an image of them in her mind so she could remember it when they were gone.

  “What are you doing?” Mika’il appeared beside her table. He glanced around at all the frozen people. “You’re not supposed to be able to stop time.”

  “I’m not? I must have missed the meeting where you told us what we could and couldn’t do. Are you here to yell at me for this or was there some other reason why you’re gracing me with your presence?”

  He glanced down at her. “I just wanted to say thank you again for helping Dominic. I know it goes against your beliefs.”

  “This is the third time you’ve thanked me. Let it go. It wasn’t Dominic I was helping out anyway. I’ll pay for it somehow, I’m sure.” When the archangel didn’t answer, she looked up at him. Narrowing her eyes, she said, “I’m right, aren’t I? I’m going to pay for being a Good Samaritan.”

  “It’s not my place to tell you how hard I worked on setting this up, Danielle.”

  “What the hell do you mean by that?”

  “I can’t tell you how difficult this job has been.”

  She snorted. “I sometimes wonder exactly what your job is, Mika’il.”

  “There are moments when I ask God the same thing.”

  Her cell phone vibrated, breaking the spell. When she reached to answer it, Mika’il disappeared. Her friends were laughing again.

  “I have to answer this.” She stood and went outside, since the use of cell phones was prohibited within the restaurant. “Hello?”

  “Miss Weston?” A husky and angry voice came over the line.

  “Yes?”

  “This is Grant Carson. I need you to meet me at the museum as soon as possible.”

  “Why?” She could tell by the tone of his voice that whatever he had planned wasn’t going to be a happy meeting.

  “It’s very important. I don’t wish to discuss it over the phone.”

  “Okay. I’m in Lincoln Park. I’ll be there as soon as traffic will let me.”

  “Fine. I’ll be in my lab.” He hung up.

  She looked at her phone for a moment then put it away. When s
he went in to say goodbye, her friends protested.

  “It’s an emergency. I really have to go.” She tossed some bills across the table to Janet, ignoring their pleas to take her money back. “That’ll cover most of the meal. I’ll call you later.”

  She rushed from the restaurant and waited impatiently for her car. There had to be something wrong, otherwise Grant would never have called her. A faint feeling of uneasiness gathered in her stomach, and suddenly she had a compelling urge to get to the museum. Danielle contemplated using some of her power to hurry the process up, but she wasn’t sure if the problem was worth her wasting her power on. Since she didn’t have a way to replenish her powers, she decided to drive like mortals would.

  Her car arrived and she drove across town without causing an accident or using any power while going as fast as she could on the crowded Chicago streets. She rang the bell beside the employee door. The security guard opened it and nodded.

  “Miss Weston, Dr Carson is waiting for you in his lab.”

  “Thank you.” She headed toward the basement area where the labs were.

  She opened the door and gasped. Grant stood in the middle of the lab, pottery shards littering the floor around his feet. His tense shoulders and fists propped on his hips spoke of his rage.

  “What happened?” She looked around.

  “Why don’t you tell me?” He glared at her.

  “What are you talking about? I didn’t have anything to do with this.”

  “Someone broke in and destroyed all my Peruvian objects. Can you tell me what they were looking for?” He swung an arm wildly to encompass the entire room.

  “How should I know?” The unclean feeling hanging over the room kept her from moving past the doorway.

  “They left a note.” He tossed her a piece of paper.

  She caught the note and read.

  Tell Danielle I’ll be back.

  She looked up at Grant. “They mustn’t have found what they were looking for.”

  “I guess not if they’re coming back. What were you looking for?”

  “I didn’t have anything to do with this. I deal in authenticating, Grant, not breaking them.” While the power coming from the note told Danielle that it was written by an unrepentant, she didn’t sense the same power coming from the broken pottery. Someone else had done the damage. She touched the crate where some of the artifacts had been stored. “This doesn’t feel right.”

  “What do you mean? Of course it doesn’t feel right.” Grant’s anger was evident in his clenched hands and narrowed brown eyes. “Some asshole came in here and destroyed priceless artifacts.”

  “It feels like two different crimes were committed here.” Danielle waved toward the note she had placed on one of the tables. “If I’m right about who might have left the note, she would never have broken any of these pots.”

  “Why wouldn’t she?”

  “She’s dancing on the edge of sanity, I’ll admit, but she has a great deal of respect for antiquities.” She reached out to run a finger over a gold chain, stopping herself from actually touching it. “Whoever broke your pottery was looking for something and became angry when he didn’t find it.”

  “Wouldn’t your girl do that?” Grant moved to stand in front of the door leading to the vault.

  “She has all the time in the world. There’s no need for her to panic. If she wanted to, she could just outwait you.” She glanced around at the destruction. “No, the other vandal panicked when he couldn’t find what he was looking for.”

  “How do you know any of this? Why should I believe you?” He stared at her with suspicion in his eyes.

  She shrugged. There was no way he would accept that she could feel the energy left by the intruders. The note definitely had been left by one of her fallen brethren. More than likely it was Brittany, a forsaken angel Danielle had come across while living in Chicago, and Danielle knew Brittany was holding on to her sanity by a thread. Danielle wished she could help, but from the beginning of her banishment, she had tried to stay neutral. The trouble between the Enforcers and unrepentants wasn’t her worry.

  For a long time, Danielle’s biggest problem had been fighting the depression threatening to drag her to the dark. Finally, she had managed to make peace with her circumstances and was living her life as normally as possible.

  “Danielle?”

  Blinking, she focused on Grant’s face. Even though he was still angry, she saw a hint of worry in his eyes.

  “It’s just a hunch.” Her gaze moved to the vault behind Grant. “Did you bring anything else back from Peru?”

  “No,” he said quickly.

  He was lying, but she wasn’t going to push it. “I’ll call a friend of mine in the police department. He can come over to write a report up.”

  “What am I going to tell the Peruvian government? It took a lot of promises for me to get permission to bring the artifacts here.” Grant ran his fingers through his hair.

  Her hands itched to smooth the locks sticking up, but she didn’t think he’d be interested in her touching him. “Put them in some boxes. I’m sure we’ll at least be able to glue them back together.”

  “Glue?” He groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  She was, but she wasn’t going to mention it to him. When everything was settled, she’d put them back together. It wouldn’t use up too much of her power and he wouldn’t get into trouble with any of the governments.

  She got out her phone to call Nevan Largent, a detective in the Chicago police department to ask him to join her at the museum. While they waited, she and Grant stood staring at each other. Danielle wanted to know what was behind the vault doors. Whatever it was made Grant extremely nervous whenever she moved closer.

  * * * *

  Thirty minutes later, the security guard buzzed them. “Dr Carson, there’s a Detective Largent here to see you.”

  “Escort him to the lab, Jeffery.” Grant glanced at Danielle, trying to ignore how his body reacted to her being in the same room as him. “Your friend got here quickly.”

  “Nevan had a feeling something was wrong.”

  “Does he get those kinds of feelings often? Just like you do?”

  He wasn’t sure how he felt about her. Anger still boiled under the surface, but instinct told him Danielle didn’t have anything to do with the destruction, though she might know who did it. And feeling that way made his attraction to her a little easier to take.

  “More than I like,” the detective said as he entered the lab. Nevan stood about six foot with a stocky build. His light green eyes surveyed the room, searching the dark corners.

  “No more of you waiting to pop out?” Nevan asked Danielle as he moved toward them.

  Nevan reminded Grant of a jaguar he had glimpsed in the jungle. The feline had glided across the ground cover without making a noise—Nevan moved with the same grace and stealth.

  “It’s only me right now,” Danielle answered the detective.

  “But there were others here earlier and they left angry. What they were looking for wasn’t here.” He glanced at Grant with eerily intelligent eyes then looked beyond him to the vault. “Or it was here, but they couldn’t get at it. Are you going to tell me what they were looking for or do you want me to guess?”

  Grant didn’t say anything, not trusting the detective simply because Danielle vouched for him.

  “I’m Detective Nevan Largent, Dr Carson. While I’m inclined to trust you, Danielle, I want to know what happened from the doctor’s viewpoint.”

  Danielle ignored the detective’s wish, and said, “I know who left the note, but she didn’t destroy the pots and I had nothing to do with this.”

  Grant was shocked to see the detective nod. “Why do you believe her?”

  “I’ve worked with her enough to trust her when she tells me she knows who did this.” The look Danielle got from Nevan told Grant that the detective wouldn’t take any nonsense from her. “What was she looking for, Danielle?”
/>
  She shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s nothing here that would set her off.”

  Grant shot a glance at the vault. When he looked back, both of them were watching him.

  “Is there something in that vault we should know about, Carson?” Nevan asked.

  “No, nothing,” he stammered. The looks of disbelief he got said neither of them believed him. I never could lie worth a damn.

  “I don’t have a fingerprint kit on me, but I don’t think we’d get anything off the pottery anyway.” Nevan closed his notebook before turning to Danielle. “Things better not get out of hand.”

  “Why are you telling me? I’ve got nothing to do with any of this.” She seemed defensive.

  “You’re the only one I’ve dealt with and if bad things start happening, I’m going to blame you.”

  “Thanks a lot, Nevan. I’ve never caused you trouble.” Danielle’s face was flushed, anger and disappointment sparked in her blue eyes.

  Stay out of it, man. He fought a strange urge to defend her.

  “You never have, but something’s telling me this is the start of big trouble.” Nevan scowled.

  “I wish I could say you were lying, Nevan, but I’m afraid you’re right. Don’t worry, I’ll bring people in to help.”

  “It’s those people that worry me.” The detective grimaced. “I’ll take the report, but you had better fix this problem before I go over the edge.”

  Largent proceeded to take notes and pictures. An hour later, he was finished. “I’ll file the report in a few days.” He glared at Danielle again. “I meant what I said. Fix this or I will, and no one will like how I take care of it.”

  They were silent for a few minutes after the detective left. Grant looked over at Danielle and asked, “A scorned lover?”

  She laughed bitterly. “On a good day, Nevan can barely tolerate to be around me. I would drive him to murder if we were lovers.”

  “Why did I get the feeling there was more being said than just the words I was hearing?”

  “There was, but it wasn’t anything you’d understand.” She turned to sweep the lab with her gaze, pausing at the vault door before looking back at him. “Do you need me to help clean up?”