Quay leaned back in his chair not bothering to hide his grim expression. A pretense. Yeah, he knew all about pretenses.
“I’m dedicated to you and Johnelle,” Mick told him, inching closer still to rest her hand on his forearm. “The truth is out there and I’m like a dog with a bone.”
Quay grinned, his right dimple flashing adorably. “Wake better watch it.”
“Damn right,” Mick confirmed, “especially once Johnelle finds that diary.”
Quay blinked. “What diary?”
“That’s right,” she sighed realizing she’d never told him. “In reading Sera’s other diary which was quite short because of her murder, there was no mention of the man she was interested in by name, Johnelle is under the impression that the diary was just a continuation and that there’s an earlier one out there somewhere.”
Quay scanned the spacious second corner office his twin had constructed onto his home. “You think it could shed more light.”
Mick shrugged, her amber gaze as pensive as Quay’s. “Did Wake ever say he liked Sera or wanted to get to know her?”
Quay knocked his fist against his knee and reminisced. “If he did, he didn’t tell me ad he told me everything or so I thought.”
Mick massaged his shoulder, a knowing smile tugging at her mouth. She understood his unease. “Honey do you think he could’ve been responsible for the situations with the other girls?” she asked in the tiniest voice.
Quay shook his head, but he was one hundred percent sure of it. “It’d make perfect sense. You know, after this all came out I started recalling things I never paid any attention to before. Ways he behaved, he’d disappear for days and no one heard from him. I knew he and his mom had it rough but he never wanted any help. Then he up and disappears when he realizes you’re onto him.” Quay looked at Mick and shrugged again. “What other explanation could there be?”
“Well I’m determined to find out,” Mick declared leaning in to tap her finger to the end of Quay’s nose. “We gotta do something to bring the dazzle back to this handsome face,” she teased, hoping to make him smile. It didn’t work. “Hey, why don’t you come out and have dinner with me and Quest tonight. How does Marone’s sound?”
Quay rolled his eyes and grimaced. “I don’t know Mick,” he tried to decline.
“Aw come on, it’ll be fun. The three of us haven’t been out in a long time. Please?” She cooed, pouring the begging on extra thick. “Please?” she blinked her long lashes in rapid succession that time.
“Enough,” Quay ordered with a wave of his hand. “I may be late for dinner, but I’ll definitely be there for dessert.”
“Yaay!” Mick sounded every bit the little girl given the green light to play in her mother’s make-up. She threw her arms around Quay’s neck and kissed his cheek. “Eight o’clock, Marone’s,” she told him.
“Mmm hmm,” Quay tousled Mick’s curls before he stood and left the room.
***
Tykira laughed when she stepped off the elevator and into Quest Ramsey’s waiting embrace. When he pulled away, he uttered a light whistle.
“You know if I weren’t a married man, I’d-”
“Still treat me like I’m your little sister,” Ty finished for him, joining Quest in laughter as they hugged again.
Another whistle sounded in the gorgeous penthouse office, this time from Ty. “Wow,” she blurted, her doe-shaped eyes growing impossibly wide as she studied the exquisite décor and overtly masculine aura of the dwelling. “Mommie always told me this place was somethin’ to see,” she shared while easing her hands into the side pockets of her wine-colored pleated hem skirt. “I see business is treating you very well,” she complimented with a saucy glance across her shoulder.
Quest threw his hands in the air. “We do alright,” he intentionally tried to downplay his pride.
Ty caught on. “I’ll say. Mister Fortune Five-Hundred.”
“And you’re right there beside me. Miss- Only Been In Business Five Years,” he challenged.
“Thanks. We do alright,” Ty repeated his earlier words with a graceful tip of her head.
Quest waved his hands in the direction of the inner office. “That’s why I called you out here,” he told her.
Ty folded her arms across the chic, short-waist blazer she sported. “Ah yes, the proposal,” she sighed, taking a seat in one of the deep arm chairs before the desk. The easy expression that lightened her lovely features, faded slowly as she cast several nervous glances around the soft-lit room. “Are we alone?” she asked.
“Quay isn’t here,” Quest assured.
“But he is still with the company?”
“He is.”
“And I assume your proposal is business related.”
“It is.”
“And how does he feel about that?”
Quest lowered his gray stare to the pine desk. “I believe you can guess.”
Ty fiddled with the lone curl that dangled outside the high chignon she wore. “Unfortunately I can,” she replied.
“Honey even my foolish brother can’t deny you’d be perfect for this.”
“And what exactly is this?” Ty crossed her long legs as she became wholly focused on her reason for being there.
“Ramsey was commissioned by a group out of Canada for a ski resort in Banff. A state of the art castle sitting on a mountain was what they wanted,” Quest explained.
Ty’s dark face brightened with humor. “And I thought I had some outrageous requests.”
“It gets more outrageous,” Quest promised, tugging on the cuff of his gray checked shirt, “they want a private rail service to shuttle guests from Calgary to the resort.”
Tykira uttered the third whistle of the morning.
“Yeah,” Quest acknowledged.
“People work for decades and never get a chance to work on something like this,” she testified. “It is impressive Quest.”
“But?” he sensed her hesitation.
“But, the last thing I want to do is bring tension here,” she fiddled with the sleeves of her blazer as she stood. “Quay is a very important part of this business and if he isn’t on board-”
“Hold it,” Quest commanded, raising his hand as though he were about to ask a question. “Follow me,” he stood behind his desk and lead the way into the display room on the other side of the office.
Inside the room of maps and boxed models of Ramsey projects, the Banff creation sat in the midst. It was indeed a breathtaking creation and was complete with a replica of the desired rail chugging its way around the mountainside.
“Damn you,” Ty muttered to Quest. She was thoroughly mesmerized by the sight. Without a doubt, the real thing would be an even more magnificent accomplishment. The opportunity to take on this assignment was one in a million. Seeing the project this way had truly sealed her fate.
“Is that a yes?” Quest asked when he heard her groan.
“When do we start?” she turned to shake hands before they shared another hug.
~~~
Tykira trailed her fingers along the upturned collar of her blazer as the elevator from the penthouse office made its descent. She was already at work envisioning possible designs in her mind. True, Tyke Designs had undertaken some major projects. Still, she knew they were all preparations for this one. Of course, this particular undertaking would catapult her business to a level of which she hadn’t even dreamed of. Life was good, she thought. Business was great. Now, her only question was what to do about the dark cloud that looked above it all?
As if on cue, the elevator doors slid open and said ‘dark cloud’ stood before her eyes.
“Quay,” she breathed, silently cursing herself for the sultry needy overtone clinging to her voice.
Uttering not a word, Quay stepped forward; smoothly urging her back into the car. “Did you accept Q’s proposal?” he asked, once the doors had closed behind him.
“I did,” she winced when she noticed a smirk tilt the corner of
his mouth. A sensuous pleasure providing mouth- Ty… she warned herself and cleared her throat as though that would help her to gather her wits. “It’s a great opportunity,” she managed to say but found it impossible to maintain eye contact when he stood so close.
“Are you sure you can handle it?” he pretended to be concerned with something on the lapel of his hand-tailored black corduroy sport coat.
Ty’s lashes fluttered, she was so peeved. “Would you be asking me that if I were a man?”
Suddenly, Quay brought his sinful onyx stare to her face. “If you were a man who’d never done anything like this before-yes.”
“Bull.”
Quay’s smirk deepened.
Tykira took a step closer, dismissing the way his deep set eyes appraised the scooped neckline of her blazer. “I’ll admit my team has never designed a train to go up a Canadian mountainside before, but we’ve taken on some pretty major assignments. I’m sure you know that.”
Quay was solely focused on Ty, but he didn’t hear a word she said. He was, however, focused on how good she smelled, how beautiful her face and body were… he could scarcely take his mind off what it’d feel like to have her long legs locked around his back as he pressed her against the elevator car and-
“Quay?” Ty called, her heart doing fanatical somersaults inside her chest. The intensity of his look was too intoxicating and she would’ve given anything to know what he was thinking.
Breaking his stare, Quay ground his teeth and fixed on the short carpeting covering the floor of the car. “Good luck,” he whispered and then moved to press a button which re-opened the doors.
Ty tried to utter a response, but the potency of the moment had robbed her of her voice. Taking great care not to brush against any, hard, powerful part of his body, she gingerly eased out of the elevator.
She was in her car before she realized she’d been holding her breath.
CHAPTER THREE
Tykira, Quest and Michaela had just completed a fantastic Italian meal at Marone’s and were waiting on coffee and Biscotti for dessert. Tykira and Michaela had become instant friends the moment Quest had introduced them years prior at the wedding reception. He’d been unable to get barely a word into the conversation as the acquaintances talked non-stop. Of course, Mick was quite intrigued in Tykira’s strong interest in what she’d always deemed a male-dominated profession. Likewise, Ty was just as interested in meeting the author whose family saga biographies graced both her living room coffee table and her office bookshelves.
“You’ve got to tell me what it was like growing up around Quest,” Mick urged, knowing Ty must’ve had some fascinating stories about her husband as a kid.
“Let’s see,” Ty sighed, leaning back in the cream and leather arm chair she occupied. “if you’d like me to put it in one word, that word would have to be ‘crazy’,” she joined in when Mick burst into laughter.
“Hey,” a wounded Quest called from his spot at the table.
“Shh,” Mick retorted. “Go on, Ty.”
“Well, I say that in the most loving way, Quest.”
“Mmm,” was the low reply.
Ty shook her head. “Anyway, I didn’t have any brothers or sisters, so any child that was near was a welcome and needed playmate. My mom lucked out on snagging not only a job at Ramsey Enterprises, but she also snagged the ‘guest house’ they owned just a ways from where Quest and Quay lived with their parents.”
Mick’s light eyes narrowed. “You say guest house like it holds special meaning?”
“Honey guest house is not an accurate description of the place. It was incredible and believe me when I tell you at least fifty guests could’ve lived comfortably in that place.”
“My family believes in treating their employees well. But Ty and her mom were more than that- they were family.” Quest explained.
Ty smiled. “Thanks Q. I always felt that way even before my mom actually went to work for Ramsey. My grandparents both worked for Quest’s grandparents, then my mom worked for his dad and now I’m working for Quest… it’s somethin’ to wrap your head around,” she brushed a tendril of hair behind her ear before propping her chin to her fist. “We’ve grown up together for generations.”
Mick was nodding. “So when the Ramseys moved to Seattle…”
“Oh Mr. D asked my mom to relocate and she didn’t hesitate,” Ty referred to Damon Ramsey, “It was easy for her to do it since I was on my way to college in the fall. They even constructed a house close to the estate. Aside from us being in Seattle instead of Savannah, not much else changed,” she said, although a bit of the light had dimmed in her eyes.
Mick noticed. “Sounds like you had a pretty wonderful childhood,” she hoped to improve the mood.
Ty’s expression turned mischievous. “Let’s just say I’m glad I didn’t have to suffer Quest’s pranks around the clock. I could escape and go home at the end of the day.”
Laughter erupted once more, but quickly silenced when Quest caught sight of his brother across the dining room.
“What the hell…?” he breathed, drawing both Ty and Mick’s attention.
Mick shook her head when she saw what caused her husband’s outburst. Obviously Quay had decided to join them for dinner. Unfortunately, he didn’t come alone.
Ty noticed Quay and his date as well and prayed she’d pull off a convincing job of looking cool and unfazed. Though they were quite a distance from one another, Tykira knew the black, unsettling stare was focused right on her.
“Dammit,” Quest muttered, standing when Quay and his companion headed toward the table.
“What’s she doing here?” Quay’s first words were snarled in his brother’s ear once the distance closed between them.
“We invited her to dinner,” Quest shared, his usually low voice sounded harsher.
Silence settled then and it was quite uncomfortable. To break the ever thickening ice, Mick stood and extended her hand in a gesture of welcome to the woman at Quay’s side.
“I’m Michaela Ramsey, Quay’s sister-in-law,” she said.
The small voluptuous beauty was completely oblivious to the disconcerting silence at the table. Clearly she was in awe of the devastating dark twins she stood between.
“Oh!” she gave a start before giggling at herself. “Lisa-Lisa Melvin.”
“Lisa, so nice to meet you and this is Tykira Lowery,” Mick smiled as the women shook hands.
“Have a seat Lisa,” Quest urged already pulling out the one vacant chair at the table. “We need to talk,” he grated to Quay once Lisa was comfortable.
“What’s she doin’ here, Q?” Quay demanded to know as the two of them bounded across the golden lit dining room.
Laughter lilted somewhere in the distance and they both glanced back to find that it was Tykira, Mick and Lisa.
“Obviously they hit it off,” Quest remarked sourly.
Quay rolled his eyes. “Goody,” he remarked in an equally sour manner.
Quest stopped in an area just off from the lobby and folded his hand across the sleeve of his brother’s medium-blue wool blazer. “What the hell are you doin’ here with a date, Quay? After two years of actin’ like a goddamn hermit you pick tonight to go out with a woman?”
“Nobody told me she’d be here!” Quay snapped, wrenching his arm from Quest’s grip. “I’ll be damned if I play third wheel for the fiftieth time and watch you and Mick play touchy feely all night.
Quest uttered a short, humorless laugh. “Right Quay if we’d have told you Ty would be here, you’d have probably shown up with two women instead of one,” he predicted.
“That hurts, Q,” Quay pressed one hand to the front of his white open-collar shirt.
“Truth always does, Quay.”
Quay stopped Quest from turning away by catching the cuff of the tan sport coat he wore. “Q, man do you really think I’d do that to her?”
Quest grinned. “This is a trick question, right?”
Quay released h
is brother. The spitefully humorous remark sent his infamous temper to simmer. He knew he was merely a few seconds from crashing a fist into his twin’s gut. Instead, he shoved that fist deep into his trouser pocket and pressed the other hand to his chest. “Q, I swear I’d never do that to her.”
“You did it before.”
“I was a stupid kid,” Quay excused, his midnight gaze filled with disbelief. “I thought I was protecting her. You know that. Tonight…I just wouldn’t have come at all.”
Quest looked away, his left dimple flashing as he gnawed the inside of his jaw. Of course he knew that. He could look at Quay and almost feel the honesty radiating from his words and eyes. He could see that his brother was genuinely distressed over what had happened.
“Hey guys,” Tykira said when she breezed over.
Their conversation was effectively stifled. Quay was speechless, enjoying the scent of Ty’s perfume wafting beneath his nostrils.
“I just wanted to say goodnight. I’m on my way back to the hotel,” she told them.
“What about dessert?” Quest hated that his plan to bring his brother and Ty together that evening had unraveled.
Ty lifted the foil duck she carried. “I asked them for a doggie bag. I can’t eat another bite,” she sighed. “Anyway,” she leaned close to hug Quest. “Good night. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” She spoke a hushed goodnight to Quay and was about to ease by.
“Tyke wait,” Quay urged softly, catching the overlong cuff of her emerald green off shoulder sweater. “I’m sorry for what happened back there,” he apologized once Quest had walked away.
“Sorry?” Ty parroted, appearing confused.
Quay blinked. “Walking in here with a date,” he clarified, tilting his head as though he didn’t quite believe she’d misunderstood him.
Ty shrugged. “She seems very nice.”
“But I shouldn’t have come up in here with her on my arm. I’m sorry,” he went on.
“You don’t owe me any apologies, Quay,” she was barely able to hear herself over the ringing in her ears. Clearing her throat, she flashed a pointed look toward his hand smothering her wrist.
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