"Well, can we see it anyway?" I asked with a gentle tone. I was taking the diplomatic approach for once. "There might be a clue you overlooked."
"Of course." Andre smiled down at me. "I hope you do find something. It would make my life a lot easier if we get this whole matter taken care of today." Pulling a key ring out of his pocket, he flipped through them before unhooking one. "Here, this goes to the security room up at the front of the building. It should say 'Security' on the door. If Ray asks, just say I sent you."
"Thanks. We'll try and be quick." I took the key from him and placed a hand on Lucifer's chest. "Let's go, so Andre can get back to work."
Lucifer and I left Andre to his work and headed toward the front of the center. As we assed by the other booths, we quickly noticed people were whispering and looking in our direction. It seemed that word had spread fast about my guys and me. That was bad. If someone found out I was there for something other than to audit the fashion business, Andre's hope to keep the trophy's theft out of the press was slim to none.
"I wish you had the ability to make people forget," I muttered, turning my head to Lucifer. "This is one of those instances where not being noticed is a good thing."
"I wouldn't know, love." Lucifer grinned. He placed a hand on my lower back as we stopped before the security door. "I've always been the center of attention, whether I was visible or not."
I pulled the key out and stuck it in the door, turning it as I said over my shoulder, "You revel in it. Don't pretend you don't."
"Oh, I'm not. I am a firm believer in the idea that no press is bad press."
The door pushed open to reveal a large man in his late fifties sitting at a control panel and eating a donut. When we approached, he barely glanced up from the screens. This was someone who would not be running down any bad guys any time soon.
"Uh, Ray?" I asked as I stopped next to the large uniformed man. The guy didn't so much as blink at us. "Andre said we could look at the security footage from this weekend?"
When Ray didn't move, I shot Lucifer a look and shrugged. An impatient frown pressed upon Lucifer's mouth as he was clearly getting tired of the whole ordeal. Sighing, I leaned on the counter next to Ray's donut plate, ready to give him a piece of my mind.
However, before I could utter a word, the screens in front of us changed. The time stamp on the videos was for last weekend. Either Ray was freaky fast or magic. Nevertheless, we got what we came for.
"Let's see what we have." I waved Lucifer closer, my eyes locked on the screen.
As we poured over the hours of footage from the weekend the trophy was supposedly stolen, I was becoming more and more reluctant to admit that Andre was right. There was nothing there. No one save Andre had come into the office to open the safe. He opened it, glanced inside where you could clearly see the golden trophy, and then moved in front of the safe as he closed it again before walking out of the office.
The rest of the weekend... nothing. Not so much as a janitor.
"Thanks, Ray," I told the man, not that he gave any indication that he heard me. I sighed and followed Lucifer out of the office. "There's nothing there. How is that possible? The trophy is clearly not there now even though it shows that Andre put it in there."
"But did he?" Lucifer arched a brow. "Perhaps our dear old client might not be telling the whole truth. Perhaps he isn't so well off as he claims, and he nicked the item to get himself out of a bind?"
I gaped at him for a moment then clipped my mouth shut. "No way,” I said with a shake of my head. “That's not possible. He has a limo, and he already paid our retainer. Clearly, he's not hurting for money."
"He might just be trying to make it look like he covered all his bases,” Lucifer pointed out. “The trophy is worth a considerable sum. Your retainer is pennies in the couch cushions in comparison, love."
As much as I wanted to tell Lucifer he was wrong, the evidence was piling up against Andre which was bad in so many ways.
Chapter 11
AS WE MARCHED THROUGH the center, I searched for Andre once more. However, after looking everywhere I couldn't find him. I did find Noah, though.
"Hey, you!" I pointed a finger at the short, balding man. When Noah saw me, his eyes widened, and his face began to splotch. His eyes darted from side to side like he was ready to bolt at any moment.
"What are you doing here?" he croaked out as he wrung his hands in front of him. "I thought you were going to leave me alone."
I narrowed my eyes at him and gave him a real menacing scowl. He shrank into himself, almost until his head was in his shirt like a turtle. Unable to hold it back any longer, I clapped a hand on his shoulder and laughed as I dropped the tough facade.
"I'm not here to out you. I just want to know where Andre went. Help a girl out?"
Noah visibly relaxed, letting out a fast breath. "You had me going there for a second."
"I know right?" I giggled and shrugged. "Sorry about that. I couldn't help myself." I smirked at Lucifer who returned my gleeful look before turning back to Noah. "So, Andre? Where is he?"
Noah pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face and head. "I haven't seen him in a while. You could check the office."
"Good idea." I nodded firmly and then clapped him on the shoulder, again making him flinch. "Sorry, thanks."
As Lucifer and I headed to the office, the Devil leaned in and whispered, "You're almost as bad as I am. Are you sure there isn't a bit of wickedness in you?"
I gave him a sideways glance. "Not right now, I don't, but that could change if you play your cards right." I offered him a wink and enjoyed the surprise on his face. It wasn't every day you shock the Devil.
As I opened the office, I found Andre exactly where Noah had said. I stomped over to his desk and slapped a hand on top of it, making him glance up from the papers he was scribbling on. "Answer me this, did you or did you not hire me to cover up that you stole your own trophy?"
Andre's eyes widened marginally, and then his eyes narrowed into slits, his lips pressed into a thin line. "Who do you think you are talking to?"
"Aha! So, you don't deny it!" I pointed a finger at him, getting more and more irritated by the second. "I am appalled by your gall, sir. To think that you would hire me in an attempt to cover your crime makes you not only a criminal but an asshole. I am not someone that takes being made fun of lightly."
Lucifer scoffed. "But you can tease everyone else." I forced myself not to look at him while I was staring down Andre. Thankfully, the billionaire didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.
"I do not know what brought you to these assumptions, but I can assure you I am not trying to play games.” Andre's jaw tightened. “The very fact that you would insinuate that I might be guilty of such a crime makes me wonder about your credibility and whether or not I should have hired you in the first place." He stood abruptly from the desk and circled around to face me. "I was under the impression that you were a professional and while a bit unorthodox with your methods and choice of associates, I had high hopes you would live up to your reputation. I can see, I was wrong."
I didn't let him intimidate me as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Maybe you did. Maybe I'm not what you wanted me to be, because I can assure you, I am not a crock. I have real abilities that my 'associates' as you put it," I waved my hand back towards Lucifer with a nasty bite to my tone, "are more valuable to me than any employee you have here. So, when they say you might be the very criminal I'm being paid to find, then I take it with merit. They haven't proved me wrong yet."
With a firm nod of my chin, I waited for Andre to counter. The businessman seemed to be thinking, his brows scrunched together between his eyes. Lucifer, ever the helpful tension breaker, slow-clapped and chuckled. I shot him a glare then noticed Andre didn't pay him any mind.
"I do believe my time was up before we entered the office, love." Lucifer chuckled once more and moved toward Andre. He leaned in slightly and sniffed the air around hi
m. "Sadly, I hate to say anything to the contrary especially after that moving speech, but I might be wrong. He doesn't seem to be lying."
"He doesn't?" I said out loud before I could catch myself. I fumbled for an explanation for my out-of-the-blue question. "Uh, I mean... I'm sorry if we have made some kind of mistake, but the evidence points to you for every instance."
Andre's expression changed from confusion to suspicion and perhaps a bit tired. Rubbing a hand over his jaw, he sighed. "I can't say I'm surprised."
"You aren't?"
"No. There are plenty of past and current contestants that would love nothing more than to stick it to me. Stealing the trophy would do just that." Andre let out a bitter laugh as he shook his head he sat on the edge of his desk. "You'd think after everything I've done for this industry that they might actually appreciate me."
"Humans are spiteful little creatures." Lucifer frowned, his eyes menacing. "You give them the world and they will do their very best to shit all over it."
I snort-laughed and then covered it with a cough as I wiped my hand over my face. "That sucks. Who do you think could have done it?"
Lifting a shoulder and then dropping it, Andre had such a look of utter defeat in his posture that I had the urge to go to him, like, pat him on the back or something. Maybe I could find some cookies. Those always made me feel better. That and booze.
"Man, I feel like such a dick now." I scratched the back of my head and offered him a weak smile. "Here I am jumping to conclusions when I should have just asked you about it."
Andre shifted on the desk's edge and angled his body toward me. "What is it that you found? Where are they by the way?"
I stared at him for a moment. "Who?"
"Your assistants or boyfriends, whatever you're calling them." He waved a hand around the room. "Not that I am complaining, but you are pleasantly uncharacteristically chaperoned."
"Tell him we're off fighting off those would take advantage of your delicious... attributes." Lucifer smirked as he slid his heated gaze up and down my form.
I flushed and tucked a hair behind my ear before clearing my throat. "Uh, they're around. They have other jobs too. They can't be with me all the time." I looked pointedly at Lucifer with a smirk of my own. "Or they get tiresome."
"I could see that."
Lucifer scoffed at Andre's comment. "He only says that because he wants what's in your butt-hugging pants. We're competition. Not that there is any." Lucifer adjusted his jacket and gave Andre an indignant look. "Can't compete with an angel, mate."
I wanted to remind him that Andre couldn't hear him, but I didn't know how to do it without looking like a crazy person. Instead, I turned my attention away from the big-headed angel and back to the flesh and blood man before me.
"Well, they keep me on my toes that's for sure. In any case, I'm going to head home for the day, but tomorrow, we can focus on the contestants. I have a good feeling we're going to find the culprit there."
I moved toward the door without waiting for Andre to tell me I could go. I was my own person. He might pay me, but that didn't mean I was at his back and call and right now I was tired and hungry. I needed a nap, food, and an orgasm. Not in that particular order.
"Hold on a moment, Jane. If you would."
I paused at the door, turning back to Andre. Lucifer stood off to the side, not at all happy that I waited. "Yes?"
Andre shifted onto his feet and walked toward me. I'd be lying if I didn't say the sight of him, the gorgeous man that he was, didn't cause some kind of visceral reaction in me. However...
"I don't usually do this... mix business with pleasure, especially after being insulted." He offered me a dimpled smile. "But would you like to have dinner with me?"
"Dinner? With you?" I arched a brow. "You realize I have three boyfriends."
Andre only grinned broader as he moved in just a step closer. "I like a challenge."
Lucifer snorted. "Like he even stands a chance."
I found myself smiling despite myself... or maybe to spite Lucifer for his blatant remark. I'd been telling myself this wouldn't last after all. At some point, Uriel will get his way, and I'll be dead, or they will leave me. Either way, I ended up alone. I shouldn't turn down a prospective backup plan though I felt like a dick for the second time in a span of the last half hour for considering Andre my back up. I didn't know him more than what he has told me so far. He could be a great guy, a ‘wonderful best thing I will ever have’ kind of guy. And if it doesn't work out well at least, I could say I vetted him for Mandy before she took a whack at him.
"Sure," I heard myself saying, and seeing Lucifer clamp his mouth shut out of the corner of my eye only made me bolder. "I'd love to have dinner with you."
Chapter 12
ANDRE AND I WALKED out of the Civic Center together with the eyes of many of the workers on us. None of them were as intense as the feel of the Devil's gaze boring into my back.
I'd had expected him to put up a fight. To throw a fit. Maybe even just leave, but in his usual fashion, Lucifer surprised me. Silently trailing after us, Lucifer didn't make a single sideways glance or snide comment. I'd have been worried had he been corporeal, but as he was, he couldn't be much more than a nuisance.
"Where would you like to go?" Andre asked as he offered me his arm once we were out of the building. The limo we had rode in before appeared before us as if by magic. What would it be like to have someone know your needs before you? I'd have a lot less late-night taco runs, that was for sure.
Putting a hand to my rumbling stomach, I shrugged. "Well, my stomach is only worried about getting fed, so I guess it's gentleman's choice." I grinned up at him while he helped me into the limo.
"If that's the way you want to play it then, I will do my best to impress." Andre chuckled, and then murmured something to the driver before sliding in next to me. Lucifer appeared on the other side, placing me firmly between the two of them. Andre's warm thigh pressed against mine while Lucifer's caused the usual zinging tingles.
I contemplated moving or maybe even asking Lucifer to move, but then Andre was talking again.
"So, Jane." He said my name like it was a fine wine, not something my mother randomly picked out of the baby book. "Tell me about yourself."
"Was that a request or a demand?" I quipped, only partially serious. I might be letting him take care of me for dinner, but I ain't no pushover. The only commands I took were in the bedroom, and those were only when they came from angelic beings. Thinking about the latest session with Michael made my core pulsate with desire.
Lucifer tensed next to me. I shot him a look and shook my head. I hoped I got across the fact that the arousal he sensed wasn't for Andre but for them.
"A request, of course." Andre threw his arm over the back of the couch so that it pressed against my shoulders. "I'll start. I'm an only child born of privilege. A literal silver spoon in my mouth, if you will." He offered me a sardonic smile. "My family was, are, about looks and what other people think. They raised me to care for others, do charity, etc., even if it was only for the press. As you could guess, they weren't pleased when I branched out into fashion instead of becoming a business mongrel like my father and grandfather before me."
"You still deal with business," I pointed out, happy for the focus off me for a moment.
What the hell was I going to tell him? I hadn't had to tell someone about myself for a long time. Mandy and my parents already knew all my quirkiness, seeing things and all. And the guys, well, they were something else altogether. I was more worried about keeping out of the looney bin than impressing them. Then they became corporeal, and I couldn't think of anything other than getting laid... a lot. It wasn't until recently that I started to think of the future. Like seriously, actually think about it.
"True." Andre nodded and turned so he could place his hand on my knee. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, but I wasn't sure we were to the touching place yet.
I shifted one leg over the other s
o I had an excuse to get his hand off me.
"Have you always lived in Blessed Falls?" Andre asked.
"Me?" I pointed to myself, taken off guard.
Andre laughed, a rumbling full-throated laugh. "I don't see anyone else here."
If only he knew.
The silence followed after that with no comment from Lucifer worried me. What? No, smart ass remark? I wanted to ask him but couldn't with the current company.
To Andre, I flipped my hair and offered a smile to hide my discomfort. "Except a small stint in college, yes."
"College?" Andre's eyebrows shot up to his brows. "You went to college?"
I scoffed, mock offended. "You think that because I'm psychic, I can't have a formal education?"
"Now, I didn't say that." Andre quickly backed up his words, holding his hands up in front of him. "Don't curse me. I promise. I just didn't think you were the type."
"One, I'm not a witch, I'm a psychic. I wouldn't know my broom handle from my cauldron. Two, what do you mean, I'm don't look the type?" I gaped as the limo came to a stop. "I could have a Ph.D. and you wouldn't even know it."
"Do you?"
"Well, no," I shifted in my seat and then added, "but I could. What makes you think I wouldn't want to go to college? My father is a doctor, I'll have you know. He wanted me to be one too."
"Then why didn't you?"
"Because having my work rule my life, wasn't for me." I winked at him before darting out of the limo once the driver opened the door to leave a laughing Andre behind me.
Once out on the sidewalk, I stared up at the restaurant before us. Large window panels lined the walls, tinted over so we couldn't see in, but the patrons could see out. Andre appeared next to me and offered me his arm once more. With a glancing toward Lucifer who wasn't watching us but looking around instead, I took Andre's arm and let him lead me into the low murmur of the restaurant.
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