Czytaj książkę: «Tempting Target»

Chapter 1

“You hid a ruby in your shoe?”

If he weren’t increasingly irritated about that fact, Detective Reed Graystone would have found it amusing. Alluring. And strangely appealing. Especially since the woman currently storing a priceless gem in her pink Crocs was one of the most fascinating people he’d ever met.

Lilah Castle shrugged before slipping her foot back into her now-empty shoe. “I was going for diamonds but sometimes a gal’s gotta settle.”

“I don’t believe this.” Reed fought the urge to tug at the ends of his hair and watched—oddly helpless—as she picked up the bloodred stone and set it on her gleaming stainless-steel kitchen counter.

The ruby was roughly the size of a large summer strawberry. Red facets caught the light, the gem’s rich depths reflecting color back in a vivid display of nature’s power. A vibrant crimson reflected from the shiny surface of the counter, only adding to the ethereal glow of the piece.

Although large for a gemstone, the ruby and its two mates were, relatively speaking, small. They could be easily hidden in any number of places. Lilah had obviously suffered minimal discomfort with this one shoved in the toe of her shoe.

With a sharp glance around her industrial kitchen, he acknowledged she could have hidden it anywhere with no one the wiser. Sewn into the seam of her purse by her business partner, the seamstress. Effectively dropped into a file cabinet by her other partner, the wedding planner. She could have even left it in the bottom of the series of spatula containers that lined the wall of her kitchen and no one would know.

Who knew a wedding business had so many places to hide the precious and the priceless? Then again, who knew that these particular stones had lain in the floor of an old Dallas warehouse for nearly fifty years?

Half a freaking century.

Reed mentally shook his head at the improbability of that. Gemstones of immeasurable value and purported to hold a curse, hidden away in an old industrial concrete floor. Of course, improbable didn’t mean impossible.

Which brought them to today.

This case had surprisingly few answers so far for the three frightened yet determined proprietors—Lilah Castle and her two partners, Cassidy Tate and Violet Richardson.

Reed hated complications. He’d developed the distaste early—his childhood so full of them he’d lost count—and had determined he would avoid them like the proverbial plague of locusts when he grew up.

So how the hell was he caught up in the middle of a major mystery revolving around jewels gifted to the British Crown during World War Two and subsequently buried in the concrete floor of a Dallas warehouse?

It had been just over a week since Elegance and Lace had been first broken into. Five days since they’d discovered the rubies that the thieves had been after. Three since the architect, Tucker Buchanan, had saved his now-fiancée, Cassidy, from her deranged ex.

And two since Reed had glued himself to Lilah Castle.

Things had grown far more complicated than he ever could have imagined.

“You do realize you can’t keep them. This one or the ones your girlfriends have stored in safe-deposit boxes. Which, I might add, is where this one should be, too.”

“I know.” She shoved her hair behind her ear, a long pink streak twining through the blond like an invitation to touch what he instinctively knew would be silky-soft strands.

Pushing away the fanciful thoughts, his voice was a bit harder than he intended. “You sure?”

“Quite.”

“Because every time I look at you looking at that rock, I see stars in your eyes.”

“It is a priceless ruby.”

“Not nearly as priceless as your life.” As a loud shout drifted toward the kitchen, he gestured in the direction of the sounds coming from the other half of Lilah’s business, walled off from the kitchen to meet board of health codes. “All of your lives.”

“Which is why, until we figure out who’s behind this, we need to keep them safe.”

A small snort escaped his lips before he reached for a plate of chocolate-covered madeleines she had set out on the counter. He’d made no secret what he thought of their plan to keep the rubies hidden, but Reed also knew he needed to maintain the proper balance between cajoling and flat-out directing.

Their landlady owned the rubies free and clear and had put them in the care of the women for safe-keeping. Since they were hers to do with as she wished, he had no power to take the gems.

So instead, he’d stuck close, watching and waiting while the women tried to put their business back to rights and get on with their lives.

They might wish the problem had corrected itself but he knew whomever had struck, desperate to have the gems, was sure to have another go at it.

Lilah gave him the eye as he reached for another of her delicious cookies, the calculation clear in those brown depths. “You don’t like what we’re doing?”

“Hell no.” Reed eyed the madeleines, considered a third before he shoved a hand into his pocket. “The people who want those jewels mean business. And they’re not going to let anyone stand in their way.”

“The rubies give us leverage.”

“There is no leverage when you’re dead, Cupcake.”

* * *

Lilah waited for something to register—some fear at the deep, masculine voice that spoke at her, full of righteous frustration—but all she could manage was a delicious little shiver.

Despite the danger inherent in their situation and the threat that hung over them all, she still felt safe. Protected. And, if she were honest, she also felt that sly, subtle shiver of attraction that fired the blood every time she looked into those haunting gray eyes fringed by thick, dark lashes.

All because of the man standing opposite her.

Reed.

No, she mentally chided herself, it was Detective Graystone. Which really was the more professional way to think of him.

Lilah knew it bothered him she’d hung on to the ruby. His frustration had been on display multiple times since she and her business partners had found the gems buried in the concrete floor of their wedding business, yet he always maintained a professional demeanor and a polite attitude.

Which only made her want to muss him up.

She didn’t trust men who projected absolute control, yet she couldn’t deny the appeal of the stoic cop. Nor could she fully deny he was spot on with the rubies, one of which was still warm from her body heat.

A situation she knew she needed to fix, even as she couldn’t quite deny the need to keep the ruby in her possession. Yes, the stone fascinated her, the good detective wasn’t wrong about that. But it was something more.

She’d lived without any control—or a single bargaining chip—for too long. The idea of placing that control in a safe-deposit box nagged at her.

So while she battled the rational versus the instinctual, she kept the ruby buried in her shoe.

And despite their danger, she couldn’t deny how the stones had brought a sense of closure to her best friend, Cassidy.

Even more important, they’d brought with them the love of Cassidy’s life, Tucker Buchanan.

Another delicious shiver pulled her from the thoughts of Cassidy and Tucker as her gaze caught Reed’s. The man was an interesting one, she mused. Physically impressive, with a broad chest and narrow waist, he wore authority in every muscle and sinew of his body. But it was more than the physical.

Quiet, calm and decidedly by the book, he’d been assigned their case after the first break-in the week before. He’d been professional, and she, Cassidy and Violet had also seen how much he cared about his job.

Reed Graystone was a good cop.

It wove around his shoulders like a mantle, telegraphing his desire to protect and defend.

But none of it changed the ornery need to poke at him. Lilah knew it was no use to pick a fight but the tension of the past week had begun to fray everyone’s edges. So she stood her ground and allowed her eyebrows to take a decided lift north. “Cupcake? Is this the sort of sexist nickname you use with all the women in your life? Or is it some derogatory reference to my profession?”

Another cookie disappeared between his lips, followed by a wicked grin a few short moments later. “I’d never insult a woman who spins sugar into gold.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Tucker’s partner, Max Baldwin, with an empty plate in hand. He was as large as Reed—larger, actually, his figure thicker and boxy—and their impressive forms seemed to fill up her kitchen, making the vast space appear small. Max’s bright blue eyes narrowed as they roved over Reed. “Are there any more of these bacon cheese puffs, Lilah?”

She didn’t miss Reed’s raised eyebrows but the detective said nothing as she reached for a fresh tray of Max’s favorite appetizers she’d kept warming on top of the stove. “Of course I have more.” Barely. Lilah made a mental note to bake in greater quantities when Tucker and Max came over for lunch. When a second note quickly followed the first—make more madeleines for surprise visits from the detective—she swiftly pushed away cozy images of Reed Graystone regularly sitting in her industrial kitchen.

She scooped several more bacon-and-cheese-wrapped puff pastries onto the plate and passed them over to Max.

Although the casual talk of appetizers seemed silly relative to the problem they were still dealing with, Lilah knew the food helped provide a subtle sense of normalcy. Tucker and Max had spent several days with them after the destructive break-in to help fix the ruined display areas while also providing the simple reassurance of their presence. They’d also managed to subtly redesign those areas and Cassidy had been like a kid with candy as she rearranged several of her creations on a series of raised platforms.

A few treats were the least she could do.

Since the showdown a few days prior with Cassidy’s ex-fiancé, Robert Barrington, life had begun to return to normal. The need to look over shoulders or keep an eye on the large display windows that fronted their shop had begun to recede. So had the hard bundle of nerves that had settled deep in her stomach.

What they’d not yet decided was what to do about the rubies. Hence today’s visit from the good detective.

Reed’s eyebrows rose. “Jeez, Baldwin. Hungry?”

Max’s gaze drifted toward the depleted cookie plate and the smatter of crumbs on Reed’s black T-shirt. “Pot. Meet kettle.”

Cassidy’s new fiancé, Tucker, walked in. She might have half the building to herself, but Lilah didn’t think this room had seen this many men in one place since it was under construction.

“Did you seriously eat them all, Baldwin?” Tucker asked, looking at the empty plate on the counter.

Tucker’s tall form and sweet smile brought about her own grin. Cassidy had chosen well. Tucker Buchanan was a gentleman, in every sense of the word. He’d also protected Cassidy when the threat around the jewels had hit its worst, and Lilah knew they were crazy about each other.

She turned back to the stove and let her new reality settle over her once more.

There were men inside her business. In her kitchen, in fact. Large men who had seen violence and were equally capable of committing it.

That fact should have bothered her, yet they’d all made her feel safe.

Secure.

Max and Tucker were former military, part of the Army Corps of Engineers. She didn’t know all the details, but Cassidy had shared a bit of Tucker’s background and she knew his skills in architectural design were only rivaled by his ability to destroy architectural marvels.

As for Reed...

She hadn’t pegged his personality yet and she was usually very good when it came to reading others.

Usually.

Lilah shook off the old memories and focused on the matter at hand. She’d made a valiant attempt to read the detective over the past week and while she didn’t have all the answers, she couldn’t deny that he also made her feel safe.

His devotion to justice certainly went a long way toward cementing that feeling, but it was something more. Something hovering just out of reach. A sense, really, that Reed Graystone was more than the sum of his parts.

And there she had it. Where her business used to be full of estrogen and wedding talk, it had devolved into discussions centered on danger, decades-long deception and men who gave her moon eyes over her gooey, pork-infused pastries.

She wasn’t a fanciful woman—she’d lost that skill long ago—but even she wasn’t immune to that juxtaposition.

“Come on. Back in the main office so we can discuss finally getting back to normal.” She didn’t miss the matched looks of longing across all three men’s faces at the small scattering of appetizers on the warmed plate. “After, of course, I throw another batch in the oven.”

* * *

Reed snatched the last puff pastry—more to piss Max Baldwin off than any real hunger—and watched the byplay between the three women who had descended into his life like Dorothy in the middle of Oz.

While he didn’t quite feel as if he had a house on his head, he was increasingly concerned how his world had exploded in vivid Technicolor.

Speaking of color...

Lilah returned, now with a plate of desserts that drew a worshipful expression from Max, and set them down on an oversize coffee table in the main area of what Reed supposed was a bridal salon. A long wall of mirrors and elaborate-looking dressing rooms stood on the far wall and he had positioned himself in a very large velour chair in a shade of red that screamed brothel or a Louis of France. Fourteenth? Fifteenth? Who the hell knew.

Buchanan’s boxer, Bailey, watched with equally worshipful eyes until Lilah pulled a boiled soup bone from behind her back. Those solemn brown eyes nearly rolled into the back of his square head as she offered it to him.

If dogs could talk, Reed suspected he’d have heard a prayer of thanksgiving. As it were, the ugly—yet lovable—beast gently took the bone between his teeth and trotted toward a welcome mat near the front door.

The dog had lain near that door since all of them had assembled earlier, his devotion to his task only pulled away by the arrival of the food. While he didn’t consider himself a fanciful man, Reed could only think of the boxer’s behavior as sentinel duty.

He keyed in to the reassuring feel of his gun strapped to his ankle, but couldn’t deny the presence of the large dog offered a damn good bit of reassurance, as well.

He turned back to Lilah, color exploding before his eyes once more as he looked at her. It wasn’t simply the vivid pink streak that stood out in her blond hair, currently brushed behind her ear, but it was her.

The woman just transmitted pink in everything she was.

Her warm, rosy cheeks. A wide, generous mouth, with plump cherry-colored lips that had drawn his gaze more times than he could count. And her usual pair of thick pink plastic shoes that seemed her perpetual choice of footwear.

Even with her nondescript white baker’s coat and black slacks, when Reed looked at her he saw pink. The fact that he found that wash of color so enticing was only the latest surprise in a long line of them over the past few days.

“We need a plan to draw them out.”

Reed keyed back in to the discussion, his ears ringing with the mention of a plan. “I went along with you on this once but not again. You need to get those damn stones out of your possession.”

“We’ve been over this.” Lilah’s voice was quiet, her usual animation gone. “No one, not even the Dallas PD, will be able to protect all of us. And without the stones we don’t have any leverage.”

“And with them you’re all sitting ducks.” Reed was done pussyfooting around the argument. He understood the choice to hide the jewels. And while he didn’t have to like it, he also knew his jurisdiction to do anything about it was suspect.

But he’d be damned if he was going to sit there and let them talk about drawing out some criminal who was determined to get ahold of the find. Especially after their faceless enemy had proven how ruthless he was in his pursuit to acquire them.

The break-in that had started it all had devolved into a body dumped at the back door and an attempted kidnapping on Cassidy. Although they’d determined the responsible party for the body was Robert Barrington, Cassidy’s ex-fiancé, the man’s lack of history as one of Dallas’s criminal masterminds didn’t sit well with Reed.

Someone else was pulling the strings.

Reed took a cream puff and considered the rest of the players. Although he’d initially given Buchanan a second look, the man’s devotion to helping the women and his subsequent relationship with Cassidy had changed Reed’s mind.

Buchanan’s partner, Max Baldwin, was an interesting one. Stoic and stiff, he’d obviously come to understand the implications of taking possession of the stones after their discovery. And, in his remorse, had grown gruff and impatient as they worked through various scenarios.

Reed also hadn’t missed the byplay between Max and Violet. His career was all about observing people, and the two of them had something going on, even if it was just a massive case of verbal foreplay.

But none of it changed the fact Violet was mad Max accidently focused the mastermind’s attention onto the women. She was smart and sharp, but her every exchange with the man held decidedly tart edges and a layer of frustration that his impulsive act had put them in this position in the first place.

Reed rubbed the back of his neck, willing away the tension curled there. This was a case, nothing more. He had no right to be mad or frustrated with the three women who’d had their livelihood—and their lives—interrupted.

But nothing about this case had been easy or smooth and he was increasingly coming to care about what happened to this crew.

So here they were. Four days into an endlessly circulating argument that he hadn’t figured a way around.

The women had jewels that they were rightfully allowed to possess. Said jewels had a bad history and an even worse present. And none of them were willing to give them up.

Damn it.

He always knew how to figure his way around a problem. It was the Reed Graystone way of life. He was good at figuring his way around problems.

Cassidy’s phone ringing punctuated the tense silence and he saw the quick flash in her eyes that suggested she’d like to ignore it, before a reluctant sigh had her off the couch and headed for the hallway. Bailey glanced up at her with an adoring expression as she moved toward the back of the shop—another sign of just how in this together the women of Elegance and Lace and the men of Dragon Designs were.

Even the dog had adopted the women as his own.

Reed’s gaze drifted to Lilah and he fought the swell of attraction that always punctuated his interactions with her.

How had it come to this?

His thoughts had been consumed by a woman who lived and breathed pink and who perpetually smelled like vanilla frosting. And even if the vanilla was a side effect of her job as baker extraordinaire, the pink was just a flat-out choice.

He liked long, lithe women who dressed in all black and avoided commitment like the plague.

Instead, he’d found himself increasingly intrigued with a woman who looked like a cross between a guardian angel and a pixie with a Pepto-Bismol addiction.

Cassidy waved from the hallway, the dark expression on her face a match for the somber words she murmured over and over. “When? How? Who would do that?”

Tucker crossed to her, his arms around her as she continued to murmur in shocked surprise.

“What is it?” Violet spoke first as soon as Cassidy had hung up the phone.

“Robert was found dead. Out in an empty field near Fair Park.”

Robert, the ex-fiancé who’d tried to kidnap her.

“Murdered, more like.” The words were out before Reed could pull them back or soften the implication, and he was already reaching for his phone to contact the investigating officer.

Lilah spoke first, her vivid features going ashen with the question. “But wasn’t he in jail?”

“Which means whoever’s been behind all this got to him or managed to post bail for him.” Reed dropped his phone back into his pocket. The call could wait.

“Where the hell did he find a judge who would let him post bail?” Tucker’s anger exploded like a gunshot. “The bastard attempted premeditated murder.”

“That’s what I need to find out.”

* * *

Lilah busied herself in her kitchen, the long, sleek countertops shining like a homing beacon as she set out trays of ingredients. Cupcakes today, for a wedding shower in Highland Park, followed by a delivery of a luscious Italian crème cake for a ninetieth-birthday party. The grandmother of a happy bride they’d taken care of the previous spring.

It was a light day, relatively speaking, and Lilah thought she might work on a few designs for an upcoming holiday wedding. She’d tried several poinsettia designs in fondant and hadn’t yet settled on what she wanted.

Anything to keep her mind off the matter at hand.

Attempted kidnapping. Stolen jewels. Murder.

A hard shiver gripped her shoulders as she thought of Cassidy’s former fiancé. She’d never liked Robert Barrington, even if she’d never been exactly sure why, but she certainly had never wished the man dead.

Of course, that was before he’d attempted to kidnap and attack her best friend.

Lilah wrapped her arms around her midsection at the all-too-recent memory. She was deeply grateful Cassidy was okay, but knew her friend still had a long road ahead. Robert had almost gleefully shared the horrific news that Cassidy’s sister had been murdered by her husband years earlier.

Cassidy had worked so hard to move on from the loss of her sister. To have the truth revealed in such a callous manner only reinforced what an evil man Robert had truly been.

She fought off another shiver at the memories of her ex that always hovered just beneath the surface. The angry words. The dismissive statements. But when the statements had turned to fists...

“Fitzgerald shower?”

Cassidy’s statement pulled Lilah from her dark place, the memories skittering back into the shadows. “Yep.”

“Champagne frosting?”

“Of course.”

“Yum.” Cassidy ran a hand down Lilah’s back, the comforting gesture at odds with their casual words.

Lilah should have known her friend had seen the memories reflected in her eyes.

True to form, Cassidy hovered an extra moment—waiting—but when Lilah said nothing, she moved on, pouring a cup of coffee at the counter before refilling Lilah’s own mug. “I’d offer to help, but since a Betty Crocker box mix and Rice Krispies treats are the limits of my baking abilities, I’ll keep you company instead.”

“Never underestimate a woman who can microwave marshmallows.”

“It’s a gift.” Cassidy laid the coffee down.

“And the company’s always welcome.”

They drifted through odds and ends of conversation. An upcoming wedding they each had a role in. Violet’s latest report from the Design District’s last town hall, including a collective promise from the nearby businesses to help keep a closer watch. And a new boutique that had opened in Uptown that they wanted to do some advance recon on.

Normal. Comfortable. And deftly avoiding the elephant that sat on their chests like a lead weight.

“You didn’t stay on long with your mom last night.” Lilah disengaged the paddles from her hand mixer, scraping each with a spatula before giving them to Cassidy. She knew her friend and her pleading puppy-dog eyes were a match for Bailey’s. Cassidy let out a small sigh of contentment.

“No one’s batter tastes like yours.”

“Naturally.”

Lilah waited her own beat before pressing her point. “You haven’t told your mother what happened yet.”

“No.” Cassidy shook her head, her blue eyes going wide.

Lilah knew she wasn’t one to tell others how to make their family decisions, but, well, this was them. They were a unit and she’d be damned if she was going to keep her mouth shut.

The news of Robert Barrington’s death was one more confirmation that things were spiraling out of control. “You need to tell her. For her own protection, she and your father need to know.”

“She won’t keep it to herself.”