Black And Blue (Quentin Black Mystery #5)
Page 34
This is better, Black joked softly. I saw the other one when he had it on the rack, and I’m pretty sure I’d spend the whole interview with a hard-on if you wore that.
When I started, glancing up, Black scowled, his expression losing its humor.
Guy’s a fucking pervert... his mind muttered.
Black continued to hover over me, but Farraday barely seemed to notice. His eyes remained on mine when I turned back to face the shorter man, and it touched me to see that they were almost bright.
It hit me suddenly, that I hadn’t seen him in the flesh since the airport in Bangkok.
Once the thought sank in, I hugged him too. Maybe harder than I should have.
Farraday grinned wider when I released his back.
Then he turned, sliding to my right and hooking my arm in his.
“They have trays of desserts in the back,” he confided in my ear, as he led me across the red patterned carpet. “Some of them are surprisingly decent.”
Remembering our shared breakfast in Bangkok, I laughed.
“I see you’ve had little success in reigning in this one’s excesses?” he said next, rolling his eyes furtively towards Black and smiling as he brought us toward a side door that led under the staircases. “I tell him to keep a low profile, and this is how he repays me? Two weeks here and he’s booking his own press gigs and has the damned paparazzi following him everywhere? I thought you were going to teach him how to act normal?”
I laughed. “Seriously? You’re going to pin this on me?”
“No.” Farraday sighed. “Sadly, I suspect ‘normal’ will never be in Quentin’s repertoire.”
I laughed again and Farraday smiled at me.
Squeezing my arm, he leaned closer so Black wouldn’t hear him.
“I see he’s still pretending you’re not his girlfriend, too,” he murmured. “I wouldn’t pay it any mind, Miriam. I really wouldn’t. He dotes on you, you know. Honestly, if I didn’t know you, and I didn’t know you could handle him, I’d be worried about just how much he dotes on you. It’s a bit terrifying at times. The way he talks about you, you’re practically his wife, like he skipped the ‘girlfriend’ stage altogether. Knowing him, he’s probably in denial... or hoping you won’t notice as he slowly takes over your life.”
I smiled, fighting to keep my real reaction off my face.
Jesus.
How could Farraday not know?
Black’s whole team knew, I thought, especially after Louisiana.
Did Black order them not to say anything to Farraday for some reason? Did he use a different lawyer for that end of things? I knew Farraday handled criminal issues, as well as some of Black’s business dealings. Did Black have a whole other set of people who worked on the personal finance side of things?
Farraday grunted, apparently not noticing anything strange in my reaction.
“Consider yourself lucky, my dear.” Smiling, he led me through another door as the security guard opened it for us. “God help the poor woman he does claim publicly,” he added, winking. “Can you imagine? Especially now that he’s decided to subject the rest of the world to his insanity.”
Chuckling a little when I managed a smile, he gave me a more serious look.
“Truthfully, the rest of us are a lot more worried he might scare you away. You may not realize this, but he’s a different person since you came into his life, Miriam. A much better one on balance, if you don’t mind my saying.”
Ruefully, I glanced over my shoulder, watching Black as he walked a few paces back with Cowboy, the two of them muttering back and forth as Black gestured smoothly with one hand.
I wondered what that was about.
I wondered if Black would tell me the truth if I asked.
From his face and the more guarded feel of his light, it was something serious.
Even as I thought it, he was grinning at one of the studio executives, clasping his hand warmly and leaning closer to say something in his ear. The man laughed, his expression briefly surprised before he broke out in a broader grin, pumping Black’s hand in return.
My husband, the celebrity.
“Indeed,” I murmured belated to Farraday. “God help us all.”
I hadn’t really meant to say it aloud.
Farraday burst out in a laugh, throwing his head back and squeezing my arm against the side of his body. Still grinning, he patted me on the hand.
“Indeed, my dear. Indeed,” he said, chuckling.
Shoving thoughts of Black from my mind, at least as best as I could, I clasped Farraday’s hand in return, smiling back as we entered the studio’s backstage.
* * *
Read More here:
BLACK OF MOOD (Quentin Black Mystery #6)
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WANT TO READ A NOVELLA THAT TAKES PLACE DIRECTLY AFTER THIS BOOK?
Check out the Quentin & Miri story:
BLACK BLOOD
After Black spent weeks imprisoned and tortured by the evil vampire, “Brick,” Miriam is still dealing with the fallout of her husband’s nightmares and strange silences. When Black asks her to accompany him to New York for an extended business trip, Miri quickly agrees, but before they can leave, Brick ambushes them yet again.
* * *
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QUENTIN BLACK MYSTERY WORLD encompasses a number of dark, gritty paranormal mystery arcs with science fiction elements, starring brilliant and mysterious Quentin Black and forensic psychologist Miriam Fox. For fans of realistic paranormal mysteries with romantic elements, the series spans continents and dimensions as Black solves crimes, takes on other races and tries to keep his and Miri’s true identities secret to keep them both alive.
THE BRIDGE & SWORD WORLD is a dark, unique and gritty apocalyptic world and alternate history of Earth. It features a young woman grappling with her role in bringing about the end of one world and the start of a new one. Follow Allie Taylor and her antihero partner in crime, Dehgoies Revik, as they fight terrifying enemies and one another in a passionate story spanning centuries, and filled with unpredictable twists, turns and betrayals.
THE GATE SHIFTER SERIES is an unusual science fiction series, centering on shifters from another world altogether, called morph. Earth humans remained blissfully ignorant of the existence of alternate dimensions until Nihkil Jamri tries to save private detective, Dakota Reyes, while he is surveying Earth.
THE ALIEN APOCALYPSE SERIES is a dystopian new adult series about tough girl, Jet Tetsuo, who grew up on Earth following an alien invasion. Forced into living among her conquerors, she has to navigate a treacherous world full of enemies who pose as friends, even as she becomes their most famous fighter in the Rings, a modern day version of the coliseum.
Read More from JC Andrijeski
http://jcandrijeski.com
“Seeking Truth in Made-Up Worlds”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JC Andrijeski is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who writes paranormal mystery, apocalyptic and cyberpunk-y science fiction, and fantasy, often with a metaphysical bent.
JC has a background in journalism, history and politics, and currently occupies herself by traipsing around the globe and reading whatever she can get her hands on. She grew up in the Bay Area of California, but has lived abroad in Europe, Australia a
nd Asia, and from coast to coast in the continental United States.
She currently lives and writes full time in Bangkok, Thailand.
To learn more about me and my writing, please visit jcandrijeski.com.
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BLACK AND BLUE
Quentin Black Mystery #5
Copyright © 2016 by JC Andrijeski
Link with me at: http://jcandrijeski.com
Cover Art & Design by Damonza
http://damonza.com
2016
Published by White Sun Press
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Table of Contents
SYNOPSIS
PROLOGUE: History Repeats
ONE: 24 Hours Earlier
TWO: The Other City of Angels
THREE: Wined and Dined
FOUR: Dinner Guests
FIVE: Mapping the Ground
SIX: Something’s Wrong
SEVEN: Condition Black
EIGHT: The Mirror Crack’d
NINE: Of the People
TEN: New Guy
ELEVEN: Fire Alarm
TWELVE: Not Who But What
THIRTEEN: There’s Always a Reason
FOURTEEN: You Already Know What They Are
FIFTEEN: Cowboy
SIXTEEN: Break-In
SEVENTEEN: Scout’s Honor
EIGHTEEN: Machine Shop
NINETEEN: The White Coats
TWENTY: Puzzle
TWENTY-ONE: We All Suffer Here
TWENTY-TWO: Kill Them All
TWENTY-THREE: Pay the Piper
TWENTY-FOUR: End of the Road
TWENTY-FIVE: The Long Journey Home
SAMPLE of BLACK OF MOOD (Quentin Black Mystery #6)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CREDITS