“There’s just one more thing,” Mercedes said. “I have something else to tell you. Something you may not like.”
Chapter 2
Chloe should have known better. Brides always used their chipper, happy voice before laying out a bombshell request. Like flying to the rainforest for a tree house wedding. Or wearing a hideous orange bridesmaid dress. Or flirting with a newly divorced brother-in-law.
Chloe worked with a bride who had pre-wedding jitters so bad she started an argument with her man just to have an excuse to break off the whole thing.
An hour later, they were hugging and kissing like nothing had ever happened. But only after Chloe had gone hoarse talking them both off the ledge.
“Well, ” Mercedes began slowly, “the thing is, my father is sending an FBI detective to your parents’ house today. He’ll want to speak to you and your father.”
The FBI? Chloe slammed her kneecap into the tiny desk and stuffed down a cry of pain. “What’s going on, Mercedes?”
“Let’s not speak over the phone about this. The line is probably not secure. I know about such things. My father, you know.”
“Hmph,” Chloe growled.
Uncle Max, the international real estate magnate with deals in every country, ran a tight ship. Whenever Chloe had met one of his employees, they were carbon copies of one another—tight-lipped without a sense of humor. Sounded like a few of the FBI agents she’d known when she was with the bureau.
“Do you personally know this detective? Is there a family connection? Besides, my parents are currently at the governor’s mansion, not their house. I’m not at my apartment, either. It’s been a morning of Mom’s fundraisers.”
“Dad says he sent him to the governor’s mansion, but I have no idea who the detective is,” Mercedes said. “We’ll talk about this more when you get here. I assume you’ll arrive a few days before the wedding?”
“I’m thinking about three days ahead of time, but I need to spend the next three days doing a bit of rearranging and hand-holding with my other clients.”
“Well, I don’t need you to hold my hand.”
Chloe smiled at that. She knew her cousin better than Mercedes thought she did. “I also don’t want to talk to an FBI agent. You should know that.”
“Why would I know that?”
“Doesn’t your mother ever speak to my mother? They’re sisters-in-law.”
“I’m not sure. . .”
Chloe’s palms were suddenly clammy. Never again did she want to be in the same room with an FBI agent.
“Mercedes, I don’t think this is going to work. I’ll be at your wedding with my parents and brother next week, but I think it’s best if you find someone else to stand in place of your AWOL bridesmaids.”
“But you just promised, Chloe. I don’t understand what the issue is. I thought it was all worked out.”
“Until you mentioned the FBI. Are you in some kind of trouble? I don’t want to get involved. I don’t even want to know what it is! Please leave me out of it.” Just talking about the possibility caused Chloe’s heart to beat erratically. “Are you in trouble? I won’t do anything illegal and go to jail for you.”
“Nobody is going to jail, now stop it! Speak with the FBI guy—and then call me back. He’s probably almost there.”
“What do you mean, he’s probably almost here? Do you have him on FaceTime or something? This is getting weird.”
“I’m not sure how secure this line is—even if it is the governor’s mansion.”
“Great. Now I’m being listened to by the NSA. The FBI is going to unmask me and make my life miserable.”
“Stop being so dramatic.”
“Hey, that’s my line,” Chloe said, choking out a laugh.
A knock came at the open door to the anteroom. Her father, Albert Romano, poked his head inside. “Hey, honey, do you have a minute?”
Chloe placed a hand over the receiver. “Can it wait until tonight? I’m sort of in the middle of wedding stuff.”
Her father gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry, its pretty urgent.”
Chloe spoke into the phone again. “Mercedes, I’ll draft a list of tasks and we’ll go over it in a couple of hours. The only reason I’m doing any of this is because you’re family. And sometimes I love you.”
She hung up and swiveled the desk chair around to face her father. “What’s up?”
“Was that Mercedes?” he asked.
“Yep. Wedding bells are ringing.”
Albert Romano let out a low whistle. “That’s coming up fast. I almost forgot.”
“Got your security ready to surround Uncle Max’s castle, Dad?” Chloe teased.
“Are you doing something with your bridesmaid thing for her?” he went on, not answering her question.
Chloe gave her father a sweet smile. She was still trying to get her family to take her new profession seriously. “Yes, I’m doing a bridesmaid ‘thing’ with her. I am now her official bridesmaid. The cousin I was always jealous of as a kid because she was so poised and beautiful.”
Maybe that’s why Chloe had joined the FBI, she thought with sudden clarity. Her career was the polar opposite of her cousin’s estate sale management company.
“Oh, honey,” her mother said, rising from her desk. “You are just as beautiful and smart as Mercedes.”
Chloe grimaced, wishing her mother wouldn’t patronize her. “I forgot to ask Mercedes what her colors are. I hope they’re not something hideous like lime green. I look best in red or deep blue.”
“Oh, goodness, Chloe,” Diana Romano said with a small laugh. “Mercedes has very good taste. I’m sure her wedding will be the talk of Washington this fall. How lovely that you’re going to be her bridesmaid! I just hope I’ll get to see you in white one day, before I’m too old to enjoy grandchildren.”
Chloe chomped down on her lip to keep from saying something she’d regret. The fact that she was twenty-nine and not married was a sore point with her mother. “Mother, you’re barely fifty-nine. There’s plenty of time for grandchildren.”
“Only if you have a serious relationship that might be crowned with an engagement party and a ring in the near future. The clock is ticking.”
“Not many eligible bachelors in my line of work. Mostly married couples or drooling old uncles.”
“Chloe,” her mother chided. “You need to give men a chance.”
“I vowed I would never go on another blind date. Or a date set up by Match.com.”
“That severely limits your options—”
Her father raised his hands. “Okay, my beautiful girls. I have to get downtown soon, and Chloe and I have an important meeting at the moment.”
An older gentleman stepped into the doorway. Mr. Smith, her father’s secretary—and the man who ran everything on schedule for the governor’s mansion. “Mr. Romano, sir, your guest has arrived.”
“That’s our cue, Chloe,” her father said, holding out his hand.
Chloe glanced at his palm with skepticism, attempting to brush her sticky fingers on a napkin. “Um, Dad, I don’t have any guests scheduled.”
“I’m afraid you do now, sweetheart.”
“What’s this about, Albert?” her mother asked, looking cool and crisp in her green and white pantsuit, despite the fact that they were having a heat wave these last days of September.
Most of the time, Chloe wasn’t actually at the governor’s house where her parents lived.
Usually, she worked from her own apartment, lying backwards on her mattress with her laptop, the television running old movies on the Turner Classic station or A&E.
So far, Chloe had never met a man who liked old movies, and that was a must for whomever she said yes to. Instead, they wanted to go to all the action flicks with actors like Jason Statham or Vin Diesel.
Those macho guys were very nice, but car chases all looked alike to Chloe, and how many times in a single movie could the bad guys blow up a building? Although she could appreciate
Chris Pratt or Evans or Hemsworth. So many hunky Chris’s to choose from these days.
But today’s remakes were nothing like the witty banter between Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn.
While daydreaming about movies and nonexistent boyfriends, Chloe had lost the gist of the conversation. She glanced up to see her mother striding out of the office, clicking her heels on the parquet floor. “Is Mom okay?” she asked her father.
“I told her she couldn’t be a part of our upcoming meeting.” Dad lifted Chloe to her feet. “Its time to stop stalling. I need to leave for the capitol, and I’m taking precious time away for this.”
Chloe hurried after him. “You’re being so mysterious.”
“We have thirty minutes before tourists descend,” the governor said briefly.
Mr. Smith opened a door that led to the carpeted library filled with antique furniture and shelves of ancient tomes.
“Hello, Agent Esposito,” she heard her father say to a male figure standing at the window with his back to the room.
Chloe staggered against the doorjamb. Her stomach dropped clear to the basement with a queasy sensation. “No,” she whispered, staring at the tall, well-built man who was gazing down at the mansion gardens below.
When the FBI agent turned toward them, the morning sun slanted across his face so that Chloe was blinded for a moment. But she was not blinded by who he was. Memories rushed at her so fast she felt as though she was being attacked by the past she had desperately tried to bury over a year ago.
A thousand emotions streamed through her body while she pressed a hand to her head. The room whirled so badly Chloe thought she might get sick.
Fight or flight were two options she’d been trained for as a rookie FBI agent at Quantico when confronted by a threatening situation. Assess, evaluate, calculate, and then employ the appropriate action or maneuvers.
Most of the time it meant the first option—confrontation, which often included fighting.
Chloe chose the second. She was so out of here.
Chapter 3
Spinning on her wobbly heels, Chloe tried to walk back through the door to escape, but unfortunately, Mr. Smith had already closed the door and the doorknob didn’t seem to be working no matter how much she twisted the thing.
Yanking at the library door again, she let out a cry of frustration and her face burned with embarrassment.
Agent Esposito took a step away from the window. “Chloe, I’m not here to cause any trouble. I just—I’ve been given orders to talk to you about a case that has to do with your family.”
“That makes zero sense.” Her voice was hard and brittle while she fought the conflicting emotions that threatened to overwhelm her at seeing this man—her old team leader—after all this time.
“Chloe,” her father said soothingly. “Sweetheart.”
“Please, Daddy,” she said, keeping her eyes focused on her father instead of Liam Esposito. “What is he doing here?”
“There’s something important we need to discuss.”
“There is nothing I will discuss with him.”
“It’s about Mercedes,” her father added.
That took Chloe off guard. “I was just talking to Mercedes five minutes ago. What could he—” She pointed, but wouldn’t speak his name out loud. “Have to do with my cousin?”
“I think we’d better sit down,” Governor Romano said. “Please, Agent Esposito.” He gestured toward the grouping of sofas on the opposite side of the room.
Chloe remained standing by the bookcase, her arms folded across her chest. Agent Esposito was the one person she had never wanted to see again in her life.
Even now, watching him cross the room, his stride was confident and smooth, his slacks pressed to perfection, that dark, wavy hair perfectly cut. A pair of sunglasses dangled from his jacket pocket. If he was auditioning for the role of an FBI agent, he had the look perfected.
This encounter was all too convenient. But even if it had been a different agent, Chloe was done with slick FBI Agents. A year ago done.
“Thank you, sir, for allowing me to intrude on your busy day,” Liam Esposito said politely to Governor Romano, glancing sideways at Chloe. “How are you, Chloe?” he asked tentatively. “I’d shake your hand properly, but it’s a little chilly on your side of the room.”
“Oh, please,” Chloe snapped. “Don’t pretend you have no idea how I feel about seeing you here in my parents’ home—out of the blue after all this time.”
Her father lifted a hand helplessly. “The agent can request an appointment any time he’d like. The governor’s mansion is a public building after all,” he added with a small smile.
Chloe knew her father was trying to lighten the tension, but she wanted to run out the door, yelling all the way to her own apartment where she’d be alone and safe in her private cocoon.
A lump of emotion filled her throat. “You know how I feel about—” She stopped.
“I’m afraid I’m the elephant in the room,” the agent interjected. “I tried to get the assignment changed, Chloe, but they wanted someone who knew your family. To make it more real.”
“What on earth are you talking about?” she demanded, speaking directly to him for the first time. “Make what more real—the moment I throw you out on your ear?”
Governor Romano said, “I think we all need to sit down and discuss the matter you came here to tell us, Agent.”
Chloe grudgingly crossed the carpet, duly noting that her father’s words were directed at her to act like a mature adult and hear the agent out.
She took a seat on the edge of a wing chair opposite the man she’d hated for the last year, and tried to swallow her emotions. “Okay. I’m listening. Spill it.”
“What would the FBI want with Mercedes?” Governor Romano said. “Is she in danger?”
“Mercedes is getting married in a week. Your appearance makes no sense. Agent,” Chloe added, enunciating his title as she gave Liam Esposito a glare.
Instantly, his dark brown eyes connected with hers. As if he’d been waiting a lifetime to sit across from her, just so he could gaze at her. Shivers ran down Chloe’s neck and arms. Her hair stood on end as though she’d been jolted by a lightning bolt. She turned hot all over. Darn him anyway.
Chloe’s eyes smoldered back at his so he’d know she wasn’t going to be taken in by him ever again.
Liam had the grace to blush, but he was a professional detective, so Chloe might have just imagined that tint of red. She wanted to see him get on his knees and beg her forgiveness and weep all the same tears that she had suffered over the last year.
“The bureau is tracking a jewel thief,” Agent Esposito said. “We’ve been honing in on a professional group after two years of trying to get a lead on them.”
“What do they do?” Albert Romano asked.
“It’s very simple. They switch out real diamonds with fake ones.”
“How do they gain access?” Chloe asked, hoping to move things along. “Do they break into millionaires’ homes in the dead of night? Or rob jewelry stores at gunpoint?”
“None of the above.”
Chloe’s eyes darted away from Liam while she sat uncomfortably on her two-inch edge of chair. It was harder than she’d expected to be sitting in the same room with him. The man she had been falling in love with more than a year ago—and then banished from her life the night he left Jenna to die.
She hated herself for the magnetic pull that still came over her when she was in his presence, or smelled his distinctive cologne. The close proximity was both intoxicating and infuriating.
Chloe wanted to jump into her car and drive home where she could pound the pillows and hate Liam Esposito again. But she sat and gritted her teeth, because of her cousin. She suddenly felt like a protective mother bear to Mercedes.
“What happens when they get the forged piece created?” she finally asked in a tight voice.
“The thief steals the genuine piece of diamond jew
elry and leaves the counterfeit in its place. They’re so good at it that a jeweler might not know the difference without close examination.”
“But how do they manage that if they’re not cracking safes or holding jewel owners at gunpoint? Pull it off a princess’s neck and then run?” Chloe lifted her lips in a sardonic smile.
“You’re closer than you think,” Liam said with a quick grin, catching her eye, which Chloe quickly cut off by crossing her legs and glancing at her father. “They manage to acquire invitations to a public affair where they know the jewels will be locked away in a safe and do the switch when the owner is unaware.”
“Can they crack a high-security safe, too?”
Agent Esposito nodded. “These diamond thieves have often worked in the security or high-tech safe industry. Or they’ve run gemstone businesses. Either the retail or wholesale markets. They know the buyers and sellers. Sometimes they intercept during a shipment from overseas.”
“I guess that’s why it’s difficult to catch them,” Governor Romano said, shaking his head.
“The problem is that the owner of the jewels might be completely unaware that their diamonds or rubies have been swapped with fakes. Not until months or years later when they get the jewelry cleaned or repaired. By then it’s too late to figure out when it happened or who stole them.”
“Ingenious.” Chloe resisted the urge to lick the sticky spot on her thumb from the donut that was driving her crazy.
Liam leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. When he glanced up at Chloe, they were now only a foot apart. She slid deeper into the armchair so she didn’t get burned by his gaze.
“It can take months or longer to set up the sting,” he said. “Time to get the jewelry made, to make the connections at an event. A gala, a ball, a presidential inauguration, a political fundraiser, the Oscars. You name it.”
A lightbulb went on in Chloe’s mind. “Or a wedding.”
Liam gave her an admiring smile. “Bingo, Agent Romano. Your instincts are still there.”
“Don’t call me that. My time with the bureau is over. For good.” Even so, Chloe tried not to smile at the compliment, forcing her expression to remain impassive. “I take it Mercedes is having some jewelry delivered.”
The Undercover Bridesmaid (The Undercover Bridesmaid Romance Series Book 1) Page 2
