The back door into the kitchen was about as sturdy as a playhouse with flimsy locks he bypassed in record time even for him. He wiped his shoes on the mat before stepping inside. The marble counters were clear aside from the toast crumbs and peanut butter laden knife beside the sink. An empty juice glass sat nearby as did a pile of mail he sorted through before dismissing it all. He could smell vanilla along with the faintest hint of Jasmine. His lips quirked as he recalled Nissa’s perfume and the way her eyes had darkened from clover green to an intense emerald when she’d met his gaze.
He’d tried to ignore the shadows under her eyes and the caution in her stance. He’d spooked her, but she’d been determined not to show it. Interesting. Surprising.
She was pretty, prettier than the picture he’d been provided. Her honey blonde hair tumbled in thick waves around her shoulders. His fingers tingled at the thought of diving into that softness, of inhaling whatever floral fragrance drifted off her skin. She was the kind of woman who could keep a man off balance while causing little regret. Beneath the surface of controlled calm, he sensed anticipation bubbling inside of her, like a whistling teakettle needing to be pulled off the stove.
He’d caught himself watching her longer than he’d planned; lurking in the bushes like some stalker. She’d seemed a bit lost when she’d first sat on the bench in the park, as if she was caught in a daze. As she’d lifted her chin and bathed her face in the warm sun of the afternoon, he’d almost forgotten why he was there. He hadn’t wanted to disturb her.
There was something vulnerable about her despite the inherent strength he picked up on. He’d set her on edge, something he would normally use to his advantage, but any practiced pretense he might have considered vanished from his mind as he found himself…what was the word? Entranced. When she spoke to him her words landed like a punch to his solar plexus, and he’d had to remind himself to breathe.
Unfamiliar doubt niggled along the back of his mind as he’d found himself wondering what had made her so sad. And what it would take to make her smile.
He would have bet his next paycheck she had an amazing smile and sure enough, he’d been right. The sight had hit him straight in the…heart. But there was also more hovering behind the green eyes. Something that unsettled him; something he’d seen all too many times over the years.
Fear.
However he’d been planning to “meet” her had been blown to hell when his fingers twitched on the camera and set it to clicking away before he could stop it.
Proving to him yet again that sometimes the best laid plans revealed themselves in the moment. The camera, just as the thought, had given him the perfect opening to meet her.
He headed upstairs, noting the stacks of boxes. Boy, she had her work cut out for her. No wonder she’d taken a break in the park.
He’d found the listing for the house still online and memorized the floor plan. As expected, the second door on the right revealed a sturdy, simple wooden desk and rickety office chair. He noted the crude sketch of the plans she had to turn the small bathroom into a dark room; for whatever pictures she didn’t edit on the computer.
Nature photographer Nissa Drummond was known for her old-school film techniques, her talent with natural light and exposition of color. Or so her online bio claimed. She still preferred film to digital, but was gaining more of an appreciation as time went on. Not that she’d sold much work in the last few years. Not that he’d been able to find in the few hours he’d been able to dedicate to researching her. With two previous cases still shaking out, he hadn’t been able to prepare as much as he normally would for a job.
But that could work to his advantage. He stood in the center of the room, rested his hands on his hips and sighed. She hadn’t unpacked a single item. She hadn’t even hooked up her computer, which meant the odds of Dante finding what he’d been hired to retrieve had just nosedived. So much for a quick in and out job. This was going to take some…finesse.
“Crap.” His cell phone vibrated in Dante’s pocket and as he headed into the hall, he answered. “Yeah, Thanos.”
“Tell me you’ve found the pictures.”
Dante set his jaw. “You only put me on this case forty-eight hours ago, Jack.” He headed downstairs, noting the crisp white walls and arched doorways. The wide hallway needed a rug and as he headed into the family room in the back of the house, found one still tied up from the move. Odd. This was an awfully big house for a single woman. Then again, she did have her parents nearby and two of her three siblings. She probably enjoyed entertaining. “It’s going to take me some time.”
“We don’t have time. Our client wants those photos retrieved. He’s already checked in with me twice.”
Never a good sign, Dante thought. Jack Anderson had been both a blessing and a curse in the years Dante had worked for him. A blessing because Jack gave him his highest paying jobs; a curse because there were times Dante wasn’t entirely convinced Jack didn’t see beyond his own interests and bottom line. “They must be something pretty incriminating if you’re getting heat already.” The discomfort Dante managed to dismiss three days ago returned. He should have known the pay for this job was too good to be true, but he’d shoved the unease aside at the promise of the hefty payout. He needed that money—and more—if he was going to keep the promise he’d made to his mother all those years ago. A promise that haunted him every damned day of his life.
“Let’s just say there’s a time issue,” Jack said. “You want the details?”
“No.” Dante never wanted the details. The less he knew, the easier it was to do his job. Insert himself into someone’s life, get what he needed, and get out. Easy as that. “I’ve got some ideas on how to get close to her. Give me a couple more days to find them unless…” His foot crunched on something by the fireplace and, as he lifted his foot, his blood ran cold. He stepped back and bent down to pick up the mutant action figure. Rage bubbled low in his belly as he stood up and set the figure on the mantle. He took a long breath in.
“Unless what?” Jack asked.
“Is there something you neglected to tell me, Jack? And before you answer please know I’m standing in her house right now.” Dante turned in a slow circle. There. On the side table behind the worn leather sofa, the framed photographs stared back at him. “You told me she was recently divorced.” He yanked up the frame and stared down as nausea rolled in his stomach. “You didn’t say anything about kids.” Cute kids. Happy kids. Stable kids. Kids that made their mother smile in a way that wrapped around his heart and squeezed.
“Ah, yeah. Now that I’m reading the file—” Jack made too much of a show of rifling through papers. “Looks like she does. Wyatt and Caley, ages five and seven respectively.”
Nausea rolled through him. “We have an agreement, Jack. No single mothers. No kids. Ever.” He might skirt the law and lie for a living, but there were lines Dante didn’t cross. And deceiving single mothers and their children was out of bounds. “I’m out.”
Heading out the way he came in, Dante’s finger hovered over the disconnect button.
“Dante, wait! Don’t hang up!”
The unusual panic in his boss’s voice stopped Dante in his tracks. “What?”
“Okay, I lied to you about her situation. She got divorced eighteen months ago and yes, she has two kids. But that doesn’t change the fact that we have to get those pictures, Dante. You’re the best guy I have and, well,” Jack’s voice dropped in a way Dante had never heard before. Jack Anderson, a former military officer—dishonorably discharged—a man who was considered one of the go-to problem solvers in affluent circles, sounded worried. “I need someone I can trust on this. This guy’s unstable. I don’t know what he’s going to do if we don’t find those photos.”
“He’s threatened you?” Dante found that hard to believe. Jack wasn’t a lightweight despite his propensity towards thievery and salesmanship. In Dante’s experience, very little rattled him. “Did you show him the arsenal you keep behind
that secret panel in your office?”
“This guy’s got ten times the firepower I do. He’s, well, he’s connected. In about every way possible. I’m not worried for myself.”
“What? You’re worried about me?” Dante snorted. “I’m touched.” He was also pissed. The relationship he had with Jack, despite its shadowy undertones, was based on honesty. They trusted each other and while Dante sometimes wondered if he’d ever test the boundaries of that trust, he hadn’t expected to slam face first into it in St. Helena.
“Please,” Jack scoffed. “You can take care of yourself. But you might want to think about what might happen to Nissa Drummond should we fail to find the pictures she has.”
“Lafferty,” Dante mumbled.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Dante wasn’t a man used to walking shaky ground but right now, he’d feel more secure walking a tightrope. Dante walked over to the refrigerator, pressed a finger lightly against another family photo, this one taken at an amusement park. Nissa looked a tad green, probably due to the roller coaster behind her, but her kids couldn’t have had wider smiles if they had hangers in their mouths. “Are you telling me if I don’t find those photos whoever hired us is going to come after Nissa and her kids?”
“I’m telling you my client is as unpredictable as they come, and I really, really don’t want to test him.”
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
Dante squeezed his eyes shut. If he walked away he could be putting Nissa’s life in danger. But if he stayed, he’d be breaking the one rule he’d ever had. Lying to her, okay, yeah, he could pull that off. But deceiving a family? Her kids? He knew first hand the damage an interloper could do to a single mother and her children. An old ache settled in the center of his chest. One he’d spent most of his life pushing into the past. He couldn’t do this. The second he compromised the few principles he had, his reputation would be worthless. That said, he was probably going to have to stick around St. Helena for an extra few days, just in case something—or someone—bad turned up. “Can’t do it, Jack. Sor—”
“I’ll double your fee.”
Dante’s refusal died on his lips. “What? Seriously?”
“Does this seem like something I should be joking about? Yes, I’m serious. You’re already there. Hell, you’re standing in her house. And I want this client taken care of so I can get him off the books. So yeah, double the pay.”
“Throw in one of those black Amex expense account cards and we’ll have a deal.” Dante had meant it as a joke, but the seconds of silence that followed told him Jack was considering the offer. Please say no. Please say no…
“Deal.”
Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Jack scrubbed his fingers across his forehead. He couldn’t do this. Shouldn’t do this. And yet…he didn’t really have a choice, did he? The money aside, if Jack was pushing this hard, whatever Nissa Drummond had in her possession, it was something big. “I’ll also want six months off once this job is over.”
“Six—”
“Deal with it,” Dante ordered. With double the pay his promise could be kept in full and with a modicum of effort on his part. There. Finally. A silver lining. “Deposit half the money now and we have a deal.” Silence. “Jack?”
“Yeah, all right. I’ll transfer the funds.”
“Great. Wait to hear from me. I’ll be in touch.” Before Jack could start to argue, Dante headed back out to his car.
Chapter Two
“Hey, Nissa, I think the guy at table ten is trying to get your attention.”
Nissa dumped an armful of dirty dishes into the dishpan behind the bar and knelt before a fry that had tumbled to the ground. “Huh? Who?”
Sabrina Lafferty, the most recent—and most welcome—addition to the Lafferty family spun around on her stool, then back, a knowing and wide-eyed smile on her round, doll-like face. “Taking into consideration your very accurate description this afternoon, I’d have to guess it’s Dante Thanos.”
“Please say you’re joking.” Nissa couldn’t move. The man from the park was here? She glanced down at herself. And she looked like this?
Why was she worried about her appearance? Even if a guy like that was interested in a single mom, she was in no frame of mind to play the dating game.
Sabrina leaned over the bar, her long black curly hair brushing the edges of the polished wood. “I honestly thought you were exaggerating. You. Were. Not.”
“This isn’t funny.” She was hiding. The pressure tried to build in her lungs. Her unsteady pulse tried to make her run. And yet…a part of the old Nissa, the woman enjoyed the attention of a man as much as the next heterosexual girl struggled to surface in one blurting panicked whisper. “There has to be a trap door here somewhere. Honestly, I’m a mess! I’ve got Guinness stew covering half my shirt.”
“It goes great with the red wine on your apron.” Sabrina waggled her brows. “Even if you don’t go over you should at least—”
“Need some help back there?”
Nissa looked up. There, right beside Sabrina’s shocked face, stood Dante. “Um. Hi. Um, nope. I’m good. Just, uh, looking for my earring.” She pinched two fingers against her earlobe and out of the corner of her eye saw Sabrina shake her head. Right. She didn’t wear earrings. But wow. There was a flash of relief bubbling inside of her, because she’d been discovered by Dante, not some psychotic criminal with a knife. “Ha. Guess maybe I should travel back to the nineteen nineties to find it. You want a drink?”
“Beer would be great. Whatever you recommend.” He was wearing that grin of his again, as if he was well aware of the effect he had on a woman’s equilibrium. How could he not? “How’s the stew?” He inclined his head toward her shirt. “Looks good.”
Sabrina sat back on her stool and, after glancing at Dante mouthed a very large “wow” behind his back as her gaze drifted downward and she gave an appreciative nod.
“It’s not every special I’ll wear for the customers.” Nissa dragged herself to her feet and reached for a glass. “Didn’t think I’d see you again so soon.” Or ever again.
“I ran into some more issues taking those pictures for my dad.” He sat next to Sabrina, but instead of ignoring her, faced her and offered his hand. “I’m Dante Thanos. Passing through town.”
“Sabrina Lafferty.” She returned the greeting with almost an identical pink tint to her face. “Welcome to St. Helena. You here on business or pleasure?”
“It’s definitely pleasure now,” Dante said. “Nissa raved about Beatha earlier and since I’m always up for a good meal—”
“You’ve come to the right place. Oh, you know, I forgot to tell Flynn about…something important.” Sabrina dropped off her stool and backed away toward the short hallway near the kitchen. “You know, business stuff. About the books.”
“You don’t do the books.” Nissa narrowed her eyes.
“No, but I do the bookkeeper, so.” She shrugged and with a flurry of her bright colored skirt and matching top, she disappeared.
“She’s fun.” Dante shifted his attention back to Nissa. “So you recommend the stew?”
“I recommend anything on the menu, actually. But if you want a real treat, my brother works magic with the fish and chips.”
“Sounds perfect. Do you get a break anytime soon?”
“Ah.” Nissa ran her damp palms down her apron. “Whenever I want, actually. Perks of nepotism.”
“Great. I’ll meet you back at the table.” He grabbed his glass before he walked away.
“This isn’t happening. This can’t be—”
“Talking to yourself again, Nissa?” Eileen Lafferty, mother of four, grandmother of two, co-owner of Beatha, and recent adventure seeker, came out of the kitchen with a basket of soda bread in one hand and an overflowing plate of fried clams in the other. “Told you you were spending too much time alone. Next thing you know, you’ll be answering.” Her mother stopped at what Nissa could only assume was a dazed expression on her only daughter�
��s face. “What’s this about?”
“Um, nothing.” Why did she suddenly regret not taking advantage of that coupon she’d received for Get Bent Yoga? “Just, well, this guy I met in the park—”
“You met a man in the park?” Eileen’s brows knitted. “Didn’t I see an episode like this last week on Criminal—”
“Ma.” Nissa found herself longing for the days not so long ago when her mother had been holed up in the hospital with a broken leg thanks to her dalliance with skydiving. She caught sight of Faith Fiore’s empty wine glass and happily welcomed the distraction.“Yes, you probably did,” she had to admit. “But he’s here. Now. And I’d like to take my break if that’s all right.”
“Here, now?” Eileen scanned the restaurant. “Hold on. Do not move. I’ll be right back.” She darted over to a table in the corner to drop off the order then scampered back to the bar. “Where is he? Which one….oh. Oh, Nissa. Now he’s a picture, isn’t he?”
“Uh-huh.” Nissa couldn’t decide whether to breathe or swallow. The moment in the park had been nice, but she honestly hadn’t expected to see him again. What on earth did a man like Dante Thanos want with her? “He’s not my type though.”
“Honey, I know it’s been a while, but I can assure you, a man like that is most any woman’s type. I’d even consider throwing your father over for—”
“Ma!” Nissa nearly ducked and covered again.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake girl, I’m just joking. Mostly. And he’s almost done with his drink. Go on. Get yourself over there with another before he flies the coop.” She reached around and untied the apron, ripped it free and tossed it on the back counter. “Oh, Nissa. Again?” She turned Nissa around and tugged the hem of her stew-doused t-shirt. “Honestly, I think you wear more food than you serve. Wyatt is less clumsy than you are.”
“That’s because Wyatt has me to clean up after him.” Lord but she missed her kids so much she ached. Sending them to their father for a month while she moved them into the new house and dealt with…well, herself, had seemed the right thing to do. Three weeks ago. “And it’ll be fine. It’s a unique look,” she added at her mother’s skepticism. Or was that mortification? She couldn’t tell the difference any more.
Love In Focus Page 2
