by Lisa Childs
“What happened?” he asked.
Taylor patted her hair down. “Nothing. We’re fine. Do you know what’s going on?”
Dominic turned slightly and Taylor noticed the man standing behind him. And she held in a gasp of recognition. Detective Sam Butler held out his hand and introduced himself.
“Detective?” Taylor asked as if she didn’t already know who and what he was. She turned back toward Dominic. “Why are you with a detective?”
Had he been brought down to the department for questioning?
“You weren’t even at the bachelor party.”
“Were you?” he asked, his brow furrowed with confusion.
Taylor shook her head. “No. But I went to the groom’s suite with Courtney just as they were taking someone away in a body bag...” Her voice cracked as the enormity of that sank in; someone had died tonight. And maybe not just one somebody...
Dominic reached for her now and pulled her into his arms. He held her closely and uttered a ragged sigh of relief. “The detective brought me down to the morgue to see if I could identify her...”
And Taylor realized why he’d gone. He thought it might have been her.
“Did you hire her?” Courtney asked. “Was she from that FANTASY ENTERTAINMENT?”
The detective’s head snapped toward Courtney’s. “What did you say?”
Before she could answer the detective, Dominic answered her, “I didn’t hire anyone from anywhere. Roderick’s manager must have hired the exotic dancers.”
“Strippers,” Courtney said. Then she glared at Taylor and added, “Whores...”
Taylor wanted to slug her again, but she resisted, figuring the detective might arrest her for assault. At least he couldn’t get her for solicitation, though.
“What do you know about FANTASY ENTERTAINMENT?” the detective asked Courtney.
“She found a card for them in her fiancé’s wallet,” Taylor answered for her.
Courtney opened her mouth as if to correct her, but then she looked at Dominic and closed it again.
He turned toward the detective and said, “We’d like to help you with your investigation, but first I need to know how my brother is doing.”
The detective nodded. “Of course...”
And as if he’d summoned them, a nurse and doctor stepped into the waiting room right then. Obviously noticing the resemblance to their patient, they immediately approached Dominic.
“How is my brother?” he anxiously asked.
Taylor slid her arm around him, holding him like he’d held her. She hoped there would not be another casualty.
“We pumped his stomach and are pushing IV fluids,” the doctor replied. “We think he will be fine.”
“I will need the contents of his stomach for evidence,” the detective told them as he flashed his badge.
The nurse nodded. “We bagged it for you.”
“Thank you,” he said. Then he focused on the doctor. “What do you suspect happened?”
Taylor had assumed drug overdose. But she saw the look that passed between the doctor and the detective and realized something far more sinister had happened.
The doctor confirmed it when he replied, “Poison.”
Dominic didn’t look surprised. He must have already been told as much. Courtney didn’t look as surprised as she should have been either – as surprised as Taylor was.
She had never imagined the story she would get from going undercover this weekend.
“You all need to keep that information to yourselves,” the detective told the staff and the three of them. “We can’t have that leaking to the paparazzi.”
Taylor was the paparazzi.
“There’s no way I would talk to them,” Dominic said with a shudder of revulsion.
“No,” Courtney agreed. Then she turned to the doctor. “Can I see him now?”
He looked at Dominic. But it was the detective who answered. “I need to interrogate him first.”
“I don’t think you’ll learn much,” the doctor warned him. “He’s still really out of it.”
Butler’s phone vibrated and he glanced down at the screen. “I need to take this,” he murmured.
For a moment Taylor wondered if Michelle was calling him. She knew that they talked – more than was safe for the make-believe madam to risk. Would Michelle call him tonight to find out what was going on?
Probably.
But he held the screen so that Taylor couldn’t see it. He didn’t immediately accept the call, though. Instead he told the doctor, “No visitors until I speak to him. Let me know as soon as he’s conscious and aware.” Then without another word, he left them – the waiting room doors swooshing closed behind him.
“Why won’t he let us see him?” Courtney asked, her voice sharp with whiney indignation.
“Because you’re suspects,” Taylor said.
“Suspects?” Courtney asked.
“Someone poisoned Roderick,” she said. “Someone tried to kill him...” But who and why?
***
Dominic felt as though he’d run a gauntlet. First he’d had to fight his way through the crowd of paparazzi gathered outside the hospital. Then he’d had to fight another crowd of them to get back inside St. Bart’s Inn.
“Damn leeches,” he murmured as he closed the door to Room #601 and leaned against it.
“Leeches?” Taylor repeated.
“Blood suckers,” he said. “That’s what all reporters are – feeding off the misfortune of others...”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured.
And he cursed as he expelled a ragged breath. “No, I am. A woman died last night.” He hadn’t known her, but he felt badly that her life was over. She’d been so young – like his twin. “My brother nearly died. I should be focusing on that instead of some damn pushy reporters.”
He had nearly lost his brother. The realization staggered him, and his knees threatened to give out. Fortunately he had the door at his back. Then he had Taylor in front of him, wrapping her arms around him.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He nodded. He was now – with her in his arms.
“The doctor said Roderick will be all right,” she reminded him.
That was good news. But not good enough to counteract the bad. “Someone tried to kill him...” He shook his head. “The detective has to be wrong about that...”
“The doctor confirmed it,” Taylor said.
“But why would someone try to kill Roderick?” Dominic asked.
Taylor pulled back and stared up at him, her blue eyes wide with surprise.
“I know he’s an ass,” Dominic said. “But he’s harmless...”
Taylor shook her head. “He’s not. He’s hurt people...”
And Dominic was forced to admit, “Yes, I guess he has...” Several ex-girlfriends and his ex-wife had probably gotten their hearts broken.
“He hurt you,” Taylor added.
And Dominic gasped. “Do you think I did this...?”
“Of course not,” she quickly replied.
Too quickly?
“But I don’t think Detective Butler is as convinced of your innocence,” she said. “Does he know about Courtney?”
“I don’t know what the guy knows,” Dominic admitted. But it appeared to be more than he was willing to reveal. “He seems to know about FANTASY ENTERTAINMENT. He certainly reacted when Courtney mentioned it.”
“He knows about it,” Taylor confirmed. “He’s even spoken to Michelle.”
Dominic gasped. “Has he arrested her?”
Taylor shook her head. “No, but I’m sure he’d like to – if he could ever convince her to meet up with him. He has no idea who she is. He’s only spoken to her on the phone. He got a hold of one of her cards before...”
“How did Courtney get a hold of one?” Dominic asked. “Did Roderick really have one?” And had he hired Taylor before? The thought made him feel like he’d been poisoned as well – with jealousy.
&n
bsp; Taylor shook her head again. “Do you think Michelle would have him as a client?”
“Hell, no.”
“Courtney got the card from your wallet when you left it in the duffel bag while we were playing tennis.”
He cursed himself now. He shouldn’t have been so careless.
“She’s a bitch,” Taylor said. “I’m glad I hit her.”
He touched his fingertips to the scratch on her cheek. “Looks like she got you, too. That must have been some bachelorette party.”
“It was still safer than the bachelor party,” she said. “I’m glad you didn’t go to it.”
“I tried,” he said. “But it was already crazy when I came to the door. I had no desire to be part of that.”
“But you are,” she said. “I’m sure you will soon be Detective Butler’s prime suspect.”
She was probably right because people were certain to talk. And Roderick had betrayed Dominic so many times that he had every motive to have wanted him dead. Except that he didn’t. “Roderick is my brother,” he said. “I would never hurt him.”
“I know that,” she said. “But we need to prove it to Detective Butler, and the only way we’re going to be able to do that is to find out who really poisoned him and killed the stripper. My money’s on Courtney...”
Dominic shook his head. “No, that’s not possible.”
“Why not?” Taylor asked. Jealousy flashed through her now. She’d hated the way Courtney had thrown herself at him in the waiting room.
“Why would she?” Dominic asked. “She’s about to marry him.”
“Maybe she realized she’d picked the wrong brother.”
“So cancel the wedding,” Dominic said. “Don’t kill him.”
“But you wouldn’t take her from your brother,” Taylor said. Dominic Rowe was a much better man than his twin. There was no way he would ever betray his brother like he had been betrayed.
Dominic shook his head. “No. It doesn’t make sense. None of it makes sense...”
Taylor couldn’t argue with that – especially with the way he was suddenly staring at her, his green eyes intense.
“Least of all this,” he murmured as he lowered his head to hers. He kissed her deeply before pulling back slightly to add, “I missed you tonight...”
She’d missed him, too – too much. “I wish I’d been with you,” she said. She wouldn’t have gotten the photos and recordings she had, but she didn’t care as much about her story as she did about him.
But she knew that once he learned the truth, her career would be all she had. He hated reporters even more than she’d thought. And for a little while, as she’d fought her way through them tonight, she’d hated them, too.
Was it really what she wanted to do?
She’d always admired her aunt and had wanted to be like her. And she could be...
She could tell the story the right way. But she suspected that Dominic wouldn’t care how it was told – just that it was. He wouldn’t appreciate that she stuck to the truth over salacious speculation. But in order to do that, she would have to find the truth.
And not just for the story but also for him. For if he wasn’t already, he was certain to become Detective Sam Butler’s number one suspect. She’d rather lose him because he was mad at her than lose him to prison.
Thinking of losing him had her clinging to him. “I missed you too,” she murmured before kissing him back. Passion overwhelmed her as it always did when they touched. She undid the buttons of his shirt and pushed it from his broad shoulders. Then she stepped back to pull her dress over her head and drop it onto the floor.
He gasped, as if he hadn’t already seen her bra and panties earlier when she’d dressed for the party. The pale pink lace left little to the imagination. And as an artist, he must have had a wonderful imagination.
He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed. She wrapped her legs around his waist and felt his erection straining against his fly. He must have been as exhausted as she’d been, but he still wanted her.
And she wanted him so much that she was invigorated now. Reaching between them, she fumbled with his belt and zipper. But before she could free his cock, he was laying her onto the bed and following her down. His body pressed against hers and he made love to her mouth. He kissed her deeply, his tongue sliding in and out of her lips.
She gasped for breath as her heart hammered and pulse pounded. Then she gasped for more.
Finally he eased back and shucked off his pants and boxers. As frantic as she was, he donned a condom and then he joined their bodies, sliding deeply into her. She arched up and took him deeper, so that he completely filled her. He filled the emptiness she’d had for so long.
Tears stung her eyes as she realized when she lost him that emptiness would be bigger than it had ever been. Even though she’d known him only a short time, he would leave a hole in her life and in her heart.
But she pushed aside the pain that was sure to come and focused instead on the pleasure. She matched his movements until their dance had them both crying out in ecstasy and in unison. They were perfectly matched – sexually. In every other way, they were horribly mismatched. There was no way they could be together.
After cleaning up, he rejoined her in the bed and pulled her close. She curled against his side and laid her head on his chest. She had so much to do – so much to investigate, so much to prove...
But for now she just wanted to be with Dominic – because she knew this closeness between them would not last. He would either leave her when he learned the truth. Or he’d leave her if Detective Sam Butler arrested him.
She couldn’t let either of those things happen, but she had a horrible feeling that it was beyond her control. Hell, beyond even Michelle’s control...
Chapter Ten
May 17
Morning
I have never felt so out of control. I have no idea what’s going on or what has happened to my brother or my friend. I felt so out of control that I actually called Sam...
He didn’t pick up. Or maybe he did just as I was giving up because he called back. I didn’t pick up then...
I am afraid to talk to him. To learn what might have happened...
Hopefully FANTASY ENTERTAINMENT has not caused any trouble. And hopefully Taylor and Dominic are fine.
Her cell rang again, and this time Michelle picked it up. She knew it was him. Something about how it vibrated had her pulse quickening, her breath shortening...
She answered it breathlessly, “FANTASY ENTERTAINMENT. We will make your every fantasy a reality...”
“If only that were true,” his deep voice murmured.
“You sound tired, Detective,” she said. He must have lost as much sleep as she had.
“I am,” he admitted. “I’m tired of not knowing what the hell is going on in my own damn town.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. But at the moment, she could commiserate. She had no idea what was going on either. “Can I do anything to help?”
“Are you missing a girl?” he asked.
Her breath caught in her lungs. The casualty at the hotel must have been female. Taylor?
No. It wasn’t possible.
“Valerie Cruz,” he continued. “Did she work for you?”
“I’ve never heard the name before,” she answered honestly.
He sighed. “I wish I could be certain you’re telling me the truth.”
“I am.”
“I want to believe you,” he admitted. “But the bride found your card in her almost dead groom’s wallet, and this all feels so damn familiar...”
Michelle gasped. Was it like last time?
“Almost dead? Roderick Rowe – is that the groom you’re talking about?” Had someone tried to kill rotten Roddy? Had Courtney? And how the hell had he gotten a hold of a FANTASY ENTERTAINMENT business card?
“Is he a client of yours?” the detective asked.
“Hell, no,” she replied shortly and succinctl
y. “Absolutely not.”
“You don’t sound like a fan.”
“I’m not.” But she hadn’t wished him dead. “Will he be all right, though?”
The detective sighed. “I’ve already told you too much.”
