Nail on the Head (Detective Kate Rosetti Mystery Book 5)

by Gina LaManna

  “Isn’t it fast?” I blurted. “I mean, I’ve been dating Russo longer than you’ve been with Mindy.”

  “You’ve never thought of getting married to Russo?”

  “I won’t let him stay with me longer than a weekend.” I glanced down at my plate and immediately stiffened. It’d been the wrong thing to say. I looked up to catch an interested look in Gem’s eye. “That came out wrong. I don’t mean that I’ve never thought about it—of course I have. But it’s complicated.”

  “All relationships are.”

  “I’m a detective; he’s an FBI agent. We live across the country from one another, and we’re both already married to our jobs. Plus, I’m a huge commitment-phobe. It’s not Russo’s fault by any means. He’s great.”

  “I know.” Gem’s answer wasn’t what I’d expected. “Still, you said it yourself,” Gem pointed out, “that there are logical steps in a relationship. Dating, love, marriage, living together, kids—sometimes in that order.”

  “Is Mindy pregnant?”

  Gem just about swallowed his entire coffee mug. “What?”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. “I don’t know where that came from.”

  Gem’s eyes watered, and I couldn’t tell if it was because he was amused by my obvious discomfort, or if it was because he’d just scalded his mouth on the cup of coffee he’d been attempting to drink.

  “You think I’m marrying Mindy because she’s pregnant?”

  “No?” I raised my shoulders. “Look, you know me, Gem. I can’t lie to save my life, and I must admit the thought crossed my mind.”

  “No kidding.”

  “Can I be honest with you?”

  “Please. Although I do admit I’m enjoying seeing you so uncomfortable. It’s cute.”

  I gulped down some more chai. My own taste buds were pretty close to being burned off. “Your invitation did surprise me. I wasn’t mad about it, and I wouldn’t say I was upset to find out about it through the mail. Really, you don’t owe me any apologies. I hope you know that.”

  “Thanks for saying it. Though I disagree and that’s on me.”

  I heaved a huge breath. “I think it just caught me off guard. I’ve been struggling to figure out exactly what Russo and I are, and where we’re going. It’s just been on my mind a lot. Then, when I saw that you and Mindy are getting married, it just pushed my personal insecurities to the top of my mind.”

  “Because we’ve been dating less time than you and Russo.”

  “I think so. Yes. Mostly,” I said. “I haven’t totally dissected all of my feelings on it because I was whisked away to a dead body. I was given an intern. Jimmy’s on the verge of retirement. I was torn in a lot of different directions today, so you have to forgive me if I’m a little bit scatterbrained. I don’t mean to be blunt or rude. I am happy for you and Mindy, I really am. I’ll be able to say that more eloquently in a few days once I’ve had some time to process everything.”

  “I think you’re saying it just fine now,” Gem said softly. “Thank you, Kate. I think that’s the most honest you’ve ever been with me, and I genuinely appreciate it.”

  I nodded. “So she’s not, right?”

  “What, pregnant?” Gem grinned, bemused. “No, she’s not. Though I’m sure your mind’s not the only one that leapt to that conclusion.”

  “You don’t care what people think?”

  “I’m fairly certain the truth will emerge in, say, nine months? Not that I’d care either way. But it’s a pretty easy rumor to quash, even if it takes a while.”

  I expelled a breath. “I’m sorry I said that. It was insensitive.”

  “No. You were curious. Other people will think it but not say anything. I prefer your bluntness over polite niceties any day, believe it or not.”

  “Fortunately, or else we couldn’t be friends,” I said with a wry smile. “I’m not known for polite niceties.”

  Gem and I enjoyed a moment of comfortable silence. I managed a few more bites of my bagel. Surprisingly, I was feeling relieved at the outcome of our meeting. It was a relief to know we could be in the same room without any awkwardness. It was a relief to know that Gem accepted me for who I was—no filters and all. It was a relief to finally get a chance to eat my bagel so my stomach could stop twisting in knots that were definitely from hunger and not from the man sitting across from me.

  “Can I ask one more question?” I asked. “Not including that one.”

  “Of course.”

  “Let me preface it by saying it’s more for my own curiosity than any judgment on you. I genuinely want to know your answer.”

  “Okay.”

  “What is your reason for getting married?”

  Gem considered. “Do you mean in general or on this timeline?”

  “Both?”

  He ran his finger over the lip of his empty coffee mug. “I don’t know that I have a great answer for you. There are all the obvious reasons. Love, companionship, the rest of it. I’m not getting any younger.”

  “Okay, now the timeline piece.”

  “When you meet a person you love, you want to make them happy.” Gem stared down into his cup. “Mindy wanted to get married. She’s thirty-eight.”

  “Biological clock?”

  “Something like that.”

  “What about you?” I pressed. “Do you want to get married?”

  “I care a great deal about Mindy. I want her to be happy.”

  “Is that your final answer?”

  “I’ve dated a lot of women over the years,” Gem continued, now staring off into the distance. “None of them have ever been the right one. I’m confident in that.”

  “Is Mindy the right one?”

  “I’m not convinced she’s the wrong one.”

  “Huh.”

  “At some point, it makes sense to settle down,” Gem said. “As I already told you, I do love Mindy. She’s smart, beautiful, driven. She wants to be with me. She knows me, knows my lifestyle. I’m confident she’s not marrying me for my name or my status, and that alone means a lot to someone like me. I hate to say it, but it’s true.”

  “I can imagine your reputation would make dating incredibly hard,” I agreed. “I’ve never envied your fame.”

  “You might be the only person who has actually detested it,” Gem said with a light laugh. “Trust me, it’s an attractive quality.”

  I cleared my throat. Gem did too. I shoved a little more pimento cheese into my mouth, and Gem flagged down Elizabeth for a refill. When enough time had passed that we could pretend he hadn’t said anything, I dabbed at my lips with a napkin and gave Gem my best smile.

  “I really am happy for you. I hope you know I’m not trying to pry. I ask these questions only because I do care about your happiness as a friend. That, and I was genuinely curious.”

  “I appreciate that, Kate. More than you know.” Gem waited until Elizabeth had refilled his cup and returned to the counter before continuing. “Your turn. Do you think you could see yourself marrying Russo?”

  I looked back at Gem. “This good friend of mine said it best: I’m not convinced Jack is the wrong one.”

  Gem expelled a breath and nodded, wearing a ghost of a smile. “Then it seems we might be more alike than we give ourselves credit for.”

  “Whoa, boy,” I said. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. I’d say we’re still on pretty opposite ends of the spectrum.”

  Gem let out a real, genuine laugh. “I guess that’s why we get along so well. Now, I know you’ve got a dead body waiting for you, and I didn’t intend to steal your entire afternoon and evening. I just wanted to apologize.”

  “I’m glad you came. I’m glad we talked.”

  “Me too.”

  “Congratulations,” I said, standing. “I mean it. I’m happy you found what you’re looking for.”

  Gem stood along with me. He leaned in and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “I hope you find it too, Detective. Whatever that looks like.”

  Th
en he was gone, and my mother was wandering over with a washcloth and a curious smile.

  “What was that about?” she asked.

  “Just old friends catching up,” I said. “Nothing noteworthy in the slightest.”

  Chapter 8

  “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

  I held my phone to my cheek as Asha’s voice rang through the line on the other end. “I’m eating dinner. Why?”

  “Why are you eating?” Asha asked, sounding out of breath. “After the day you said you had, it sounds like you need margaritas, not whatever Lean Cuisine you’re microwaving today.”

  I looked sadly down at the bowl of cereal before me. I didn’t bother to correct Asha; it didn’t seem like I’d actually come out ahead.

  “Come on,” Asha prompted. “You promised. Plus, you know everyone’s going to be wanting to hear about it.”

  “About what?”

  “I don’t know. All of it,” Asha said. “See you at Bellini’s in fifteen minutes.”

  “I’ve got case stuff to review.”

  “I’m withholding information,” Asha said. “You’ll only receive my complete report if you take an hour out of your evening to join us for a drink.”

  I hid a smile. I knew she was kidding, but the sentiment was sweet. “I’ll see you soon.”

  Twenty minutes later, I was at the restaurant, parking my car, and letting myself into the familiar space. Bellini’s was a bar, restaurant, deli-type thing on the east side of St. Paul that’d been around for ages. It sort of ran in the family, seeing as the Bellinis were basically my cousins.

  I tried not to get involved with anything on the business side of things since I wasn’t entirely sure the Bellinis were clear of the mob. But they made a great margarita and the best paninis in town, so there was no way I could stay away completely.

  “Hey, girlfriend,” my cousin Angela said as I entered the cool air of the restaurant. “Table for you in the corner. They said you might need a straw with the pitcher tonight.”

  “That’s not necessary.”

  “Bad day?” Angela chomped her gum. “Me too. I got a manicure this morning, and my nail’s already splitting. Can you believe it? What a rip.”

  “Yes, totally,” I said. “I’m not sure my bad day can compare to that.”

  “Tell me about it,” Angela said, completely oblivious to my sarcasm. “I paid extra for the French tips too. I didn’t even wash the damn dishes. The nail just cracked when I was opening a can of Coke.”

  “On second thought, maybe I will take that margarita straw,” I said, giving Angela a sympathetic squeeze on the shoulder. “Seems like that sort of a day.”

  “You’re telling me. Curly straw coming right up, babe.”

  I was the last to arrive of our little quartet. Asha was sitting at the far end of the booth, her own blinged-out nails curled around a margarita glass that was already full. Melinda sat next to her looking prim and proper in what appeared to be some sort of trendy linen suit. She’d changed after work, and I had to wonder if this was her way of dressing casually. If so, she hadn’t exactly achieved her goal, not next to me.

  The third person at the table was Erin Lassiter, more commonly known as Lassie, a popular blogger in the lifestyle sector. She specialized in local Minnesota news and had an almost cultlike following. It probably helped that she had a lot of juicy connections to get insider info on current events. I supposed on some level I was one of those informants, but I was also her friend.

  “Hello,” I said, slipping into my seat with a grin. “I see you’ve started without me.”

  “Asha spilled the beans,” Lassie said, taking a sip of her margarita. “She said you totally forgot that you’d agreed to meet us for drinks.”

  “I didn’t know it was, like, a firm thing,” I argued. “We just sort of mentioned it.”

  “Shame, shame,” Asha teased. “You know better than that.”

  “Okay, now that we’ve got the small talk out of the way, I need the deets.” Lassie stared directly at me. “Go on. You must know I’ve been dying to talk to you.”

  I sucked in a breath. “About what, exactly?”

  “How many breaking-news things are there happening today?” Lassie asked. “And why am I finding out from third-party sources when I practically know the maid of honor in the ceremony?”

  “Huh?” I said on instinct. Then, “Oh, you mean Gem’s wedding.”

  “Oh, that,” Lassie drawled with an exaggerated roll of her blue eyes. “As if you haven’t been thinking about it all day.”

  “I’ve been reading reports about a dead body for the last hour,” I said. “You’ll have to excuse me while I switch to thinking about a love-infested ceremony.”

  “Never heard a wedding described like that before,” Asha said, shooting a skeptical glance at Melinda. “Interesting. I’m sensing some hostility.”

  “No hostility,” I said. “I’m happy for Gem.”

  “Do you think Mindy’s pregnant?” Lassie asked. “I mean, why else would a billionaire get married so quickly? He must have a prenup. Kate, does he have a prenup?”

  “How would I know?” I asked. “That’s his personal business.”

  “Yeah, but you were seen discussing personal business with none other than the groom just this afternoon,” Lassie said. “Don’t try to fool me. I have sources everywhere.”

  I sighed. “You’ve been talking to my mother again.”

  “I ran out of bagels,” Lassie admitted. “I can’t function in the morning without a bagel, and your mom sells the best ones.”

  “Fine, it’s true I talked to him,” I said. “I texted Gem congrats this morning and then ignored his follow-up messages because I was busy with the case. I guess he wanted to tell me about the wedding in person.”

  “Busy with the case,” Melinda muttered. “Right.”

  “I was,” I said defensively. Then Angela dropped a margarita in front of me. I took a sip and instantly felt my guard going down. Probably a placebo effect, but it worked for me. “Okay, that and I didn’t know what to tell him. But I can confirm it’s not a baby.”

  “Can I print that?” Lassie asked. “I know it would quell a lot of rumors. Gem wouldn’t be mad about that, would he?”

  “Don’t print it,” I said. “It’s their personal business. He doesn’t care what people think.”

  “Don’t tell me you asked straight up if they were having a shotgun wedding because of a pregnancy.” Melinda closed her eyes and kneaded her forehead.

  “I was curious!”

  “Oh, Kate.”

  “Hey, I’m with Kate on this one,” Lassie said, giving me a kind nudge with her elbow. “I’d have asked too.”

  “You’re a reporter,” Melinda pointed out. “Asking nosy questions is basically your job.”

  “I’m a homicide detective,” I said. “I’d argue that asking nosy questions is also my job.”

  “Sure—when you’re talking to suspects. Gem’s not a suspect.” Melinda coughed. “This time.”

  Asha chuckled into her margarita. I took another sip.

  “I apologized,” I added. “He didn’t seem to mind.”

  “That’s because Gem gets you,” Melinda said. “It’s sweet, really. I mean, he sought you out just to tell you about the wedding in person?”

  “I told him he didn’t have to apologize, but he did anyway,” I said. “He felt bad about me finding out about the engagement from a sheet of expensive paper.”

  Then I filled them in on little bits of the conversation. The bits I felt comfortable sharing. When I was done, there were sneaky glances being exchanged around the table by my friends.

  “What are you all thinking but not saying?” I finally prompted. “I can read y’all like a book. At least, up until the point where you’re all thinking something and not saying it.”

  “It’s nothing, honey,” Melinda said quickly. “Forget it.”

  Lassie nodded. “Agreed. How’s your case?”

&nb
sp; I squinted at her. “Okay, now I know something’s wrong. You wanted to talk about the wedding more than anyone, and now you’re just ready to drop it like yesterday’s news? I don’t think so.”

  “It’s just that the subject might be a little...” Melinda glanced around. “Sensitive. It just happened today.”

  “It’s not sensitive,” I said, then I practically growled at Lassie, “and I thought it was your job to ask nosy questions.”

  “Not to my friends,” Lassie said quietly. “When you have your detective hat on, I grill you harder than anyone else. In the rare moments you have your Kate hat on...”

  I took a bigger gulp of my margarita, enjoying the tanginess of salt along the rim. “You guys, I’m fine. I’m dating Russo.”

  “What does Russo say about all this?” Melinda asked. “I assume you’ll be taking him as your plus one.”

  “I actually haven’t called him yet.” More silence. “I was going to call him tonight, but I got wrapped up reading some case files, then I got dragged out to dinner by a bunch of hooligans. When was I supposed to call him?”

  “Are you really okay, Kate?” Lassie asked. “I know there was something between you and Gem. I don’t know what it was, but it was something.”

  “No, there wasn’t.”

  “There was,” Melinda agreed. “There’s no sense denying it. What’s more is that it was mutual. I mean, aside from the obvious fact that Gem has been following you around like a puppy dog for months, there’s the little detail of him feeling the need to apologize for you finding out in the mail.”

  “Yep,” Lassie agreed. “I’m sort of friends with Gem too, and it’s not like he called me to give me the details of his upcoming nuptials.”

  “Probably because you’d print them in the paper,” I retorted.

  “Kate,” Melinda said calmly. “You’re a smart cookie. Talk to us.”

  I sighed. “I admit it feels weird, but I can’t figure out why. I mean, we never dated. There was never anything physical between us.”

  “It doesn’t have to be physical,” Asha said. “You guys have a complicated but really sweet sort of friendship. In a way, you match up quite well.”