“Connor,” she said his name softly.
Close as she stood, when he glanced up she saw his eyes widen and his breath catch in his chest.
Then he rose slowly to his feet, the emotion hidden behind the striking bones of his face.
“You’ve come about Dr. Potts’s opinion?”
In the loaded silence, Venus’s heart beat so loudly she heard it in her ears. She shook her head. “Has it come?”
“This morning.” With two fingers, he slid the paper across the desk toward her.
As she read, the words blurred together but then divided out to make yet another statement of guilt against her father.
Her stomach a huge knot, she looked up into Connor’s steady gaze. “Those two documents are forgeries. Done, I believe innocently, by Maxie Robinson. There is a strong possibility that Ed was the instigator of the famous heist when the mermaid brooch was stolen.”
“Ed Mahoney as a jewel thief and his sweet girlfriend a forger? Hell, who are you going to blame next in your need to vindicate your dad? Me?” The blaze in Connor’s brilliant eyes and his harsh laughter, a slight cover for the underlying anger, should have crushed her spirit.
Strange how desperation made her feel brave.
“I know this is hard to believe, but I just left Maxie. She told me Ed is in debt to the mob. He’s desperate to pay off before he gets his legs broken or whatever they do. He’s sold all her best jewelry. Including a ring that I glimpsed once, and it bore a striking resemblance to one I later saw on your desk in a description of the jewelry taken during that famous heist. And Ed worked here then and…”
“And you don’t have a shred of evidence to prove any of this,” Connor interrupted.
Refusing to be stopped, despite his cool, emotionless words, she plunged on.
“And Maxie can reproduce any painting you can imagine. Their house is full of masterpieces that could fool some experts.”
“From being able to copy artwork you naturally make the leap to her being able to copy signatures. Notably your father’s.”
Venus swallowed a tight, hot lump in her throat. “She could probably do your signature too. Mine. Anyone’s. You must believe me.”
Connor narrowed his eyes, studying her with a coldness that broke through her armor of desperation to pierce her heart with fear.
“Venus, you need to accept the truth about your father once and for all. For everyone’s sake. Especially your own.”
Unable to stop her raging need for him to believe her, she moved around the desk and flung herself against his chest.
Perhaps surprise caused him to catch her close.
“Please, Connor, you must accept I’m telling the truth. For us.” She got out the words in a tear-choked whisper.
Abruptly he released her and, shivering, she looked up into his face.
He turned away, tension visible in his back, as if he held something powerful inside that he fought to control.
Tears of frustration and pain dried up in her burning eyes as she watched him stride from the room.
He paused for only a second in the doorway, where his aunt stood, and then pushed past her.
Bridget stared at Venus, with eyes very like Connor’s, but hers were full of kindness. “I heard everything. Come with me to my office.”
Bridget fed her a cup of tea, placed a box of Kleenex on the black leather love seat where Venus sat and then stared down at her.
“You do know how far-fetched your theory sounds?”
Miserable with pain and worry, Venus nodded. “I know, but I believe with all my heart it’s true. I always suspected the truth could be right in front of us. Now I’m terrified if I don’t move quickly Ed will make a run for it.”
“Because he’s in debt to the wise guys?”
Encouraged, Venus blinked up at her.
“I’ve known Ed for thirty years. Always liked craps and a good poker game, but that doesn’t make him an inveterate gambler in over his head. Yes, he worked at Clayworth’s with his dad at the time of the heist, but that doesn’t make him a jewel thief or a forger,” Bridget said with kindness in her voice.
“I’m sure he’s using Maxie’s amazing talent for his own gain and it’s up to us to stop him by trapping him into showing his hand. Pardon the pun.”
Venus couldn’t miss the indulgent humor in the curling smile of Clayworth’s head of security. “How would you be doin’ that, Venus?”
“By letting him steal back the brooch he’s attempted to retrieve twice.”
She saw by the subtle change in Bridget’s smile, she was listening with more attention.
Too tense to sit still, Venus sprang up and began to pace the room. “How do you catch shoplifters at Clayworth’s?”
“On camera. Leavin’ the store with the merchandise.”
“Why couldn’t we do the same thing with Ed?” Realizing she’d used we, she glanced at Bridget.
She nodded. “Yes, we could catch him on camera, say putting the brooch in his pocket. But he’d need to leave the store with it to be finite proof. Clayworth’s is a big store. Risky to try this in anythin’ but a controllable environment.”
Remember lying breathless with sensual satisfaction on Connor’s hard, warm chest, his hand stroking her back until he mentioned no cameras in here, thank God, she knew what they needed to do.
“Does Ed know there are no cameras in Connor’s office?”
“Everyone knows there are no cameras in any of the offices up here, except mine, for obvious reasons.”
“Then what if we secretly install some in Connor’s office. I’d have no reason to go into any of the other offices but I would his. I leave the brooch there and we tape Ed taking it. Then we catch him and convince him to confess all.”
A bit of the amused smile back, Bridget shook her head. “You’ve been watchin’ too many detective shows on television. It’s not that easy.”
“But it would prove Ed was the original thief or he wouldn’t be trying to steal the brooch in the hopes it’s the one he lost in the poker game. And from there anything is possible.”
Her need to vindicate her father had long been the most powerful and immediate force in her life. Her love for Connor was rapidly keeping pace. She needed to do this for all the right reasons for both the men in her life.
She halted in front of Bridget. “Will you help me?”
Trying to still the pulse ramming blood through her veins, Venus waited while Bridget studied her.
“I understand your passion. There’s nothin’ I wouldn’t do for Connor, and you wouldn’t know it by my wallowin’ in self-pity lately, but the same goes for Tony. Besides, you put yourself in possible harm’s way to help me and Tony.”
“I think that’s a yes, right?” Venus asked with a little catch in her voice. “If I’m wrong, which I know I’m not, Ed will simply find the mermaid brooch and return it to me.”
“If he’s guilty, in a court of law this borders on entrapment, you know.”
“This is why we absolutely can’t involve Connor, even if he was willing.” Remembering how he’d left, the ache started again low, spreading to every part of her body.
“I agree. And we mustn’t involve anyone else either. Not even Diana. The fewer who know about this the better. But there is someone we need to help us.” Taking a deep breath, color flowed into Bridget’s pale cheeks. “Meet me at my brownstone. We need to convince Tony to help us.”
Chapter 22
Bridget stood waiting for her on the porch of her brownstone on Astor Street as Venus hurried up the brick walkway to join her.
Then, to Venus’s utter surprise, Bridget pressed the bell instead of using her key.
A few heartbeats later, Tony opened the door. His glowing gaze swung quickly from Venus to Bridget. After a long pause while he appeared to be studying her face, he smiled.
“Cara, why didn’t you use your key?”
“Because I didn’t know if I’d be welcome, Tony.” Bridget’s voice sounded strong,
but the haunted look in her eyes broke apart something powerful in Venus’s chest.
“You are and will always be welcome, Cara.” Inclining his head, Tony pulled the door wide for them to enter.
The living room seemed familiar from the horrible night she’d revealed the secret of the mermaid brooch.
She could feel the tension in the air as Bridget took a stance in front of the fireplace where a roaring fire warmed even Venus’s shivering skin.
Tony stood a few feet away, watching Bridget with a quiet longing that only recently had Venus come to understand from her own broken heart.
“Venus, please tell Tony your story so he’ll understand why we’re here,” Bridget commanded in her no-nonsense voice.
Obeying without question, Venus stumblingly at first but then more strongly laid out her story, which presented endless possibilities for all of them. And in the telling, she became even more convinced it all had to be true.
At the end, Tony stared at her, his eyes bright, his shoulders square and still powerful.
“Venus, I will never forget the gift of your belief in me when I needed it most. What can I do to help you?”
“How long will it take you to secretly install cameras in Connor’s office?” Bridget said matter-of-factly, although the firelight revealed gleams of high emotion in her emerald eyes.
“With the new technology? Without an assistant?” Tony shrugged. “A few hours at most.”
“That works.” Bridget nodded. “Connor always goes to his Golden Gloves Gym to work with the kids on Wednesday around noon. And Ed is always in his office at Clayworth’s on that day. Tony, come midmornin’ and hide out in my office until Connor leaves. As soon as he’s safely gone, you move in and do what needs to be done to settle this mystery once and for all. Then maybe we can all get back our lives.”
“It is my fondest wish, Cara.”
The powerful bond beating between Tony and Bridget vibrated in the air. Watching their unhappiness, Venus wanted to cry.
“Venus, you bring the mermaid brooch and we’ll lay the trap.” With a deep, shuddering sigh, Bridget nodded. “That’s it then. If this madness works then the real thief will be brought to justice and part of this nightmare will be over at last.”
“I promise I shall do my part on Wednesday, Cara. Will you stay here tonight to talk for a while?” Tony asked.
Bridget shook her head. “Not yet. Perhaps soon.”
The helplessness on Tony’s face as Bridget abruptly walked out the door broke off another piece of Venus’s heart.
Although he didn’t look as dejected as he had on the first night, dropping his head into his hands, Tony sank down onto the tweed sofa.
As she had done once before, Venus slid noiselessly beside him.
“Can’t you tell her the truth someday?” Venus asked softly, her throat aching for him and her tear ducts ready to spring forth endlessly at his noble sacrifice.
He straightened his wide shoulders with a strength and quickness belying his age. “I am not sure what you mean, Venus.”
Overcome with emotion for him, she blurted out the truth. “About the Saint of Taylor Street.” Then she clamped her mouth shut.
The long look Tony cast her cut through her last inhibition. Having recently discovered the power of a deep and forever kind of love and the fathomless ache of losing its warmth and tenderness, she felt bold.
“I mean, surely there comes a day when one noble fabulous person gives up a certain responsibility and passes it on to another who might be eager and willing to accept it.”
Tony eyed her with a lifted eyebrow and utter silence, but still she struggled on.
“I mean, the noble fabulous person would of course choose someone strong but yet infinitely tender. Someone with an uncanny ability to hide his deepest emotions from those who love him best so he could easily keep a secret. And someone whose honor is totally unassailable. Why hasn’t it been done before now? For the sake of the noble fabulous person, of course.”
“Perhaps because one party did not believe the other younger party was ready. He hasn’t yet been asked,” Tony admitted with the deepest of sighs. “Like everything in life, the timing must be correct.”
For the first time in weeks Tony’s smile looked rich and deep and soothed the rough edges of Venus’s wounded heart.
“My beautiful Venus, perhaps because of your stubbornness…” He stopped, his smile deepening. “Pardon me, your tenacity, we will all soon possess our heart’s desire.”
When a man makes a decision to alter the course of his life he should be sitting in the office that had belonged to his father, in the place he’d always felt at home and spent the most time. The trappings of normalcy, sane thought, might force him to reconsider throwing away the values of a lifetime.
It wasn’t working for Connor.
Now on this gray November Wednesday with the feel of snow in the air, and Lake Michigan churning with strong winds, Connor realized Chicago, Clayworth’s, this room, he would never be the same again.
Because of Venus.
When he closed his eyes he saw her standing before him in this room, seductively removing her clothes, piece by piece, with a joyous acceptance of her beautiful body.
A hope he had helped her understand her power turned his temperature up a notch.
He stared at the space where she’d flung herself onto his chest, pleading with him to believe her far-fetched story of thievery and forgery, which even in his desperate desire to give her what she wanted, he couldn’t accept.
Tony’s words came back to him.
How does a man choose between love and his honor?
Connor had made his choice.
He rose slowly to his feet to make his way to his aunt’s office.
She stood reading a report in the hallway outside her half-closed door.
The oddity of her not being vigilant behind her security screens came and went in his mind, swept aside by his driving need to end this struggle for all of them.
She glanced up. “Off to your gym to work with the boys?”
“No. There’s someone I need to talk to and it’s long overdue.”
Venus watched Connor through the crack in the door and her heart did the funny thing it did in her chest whenever she glimpsed the intent, passionate gleam in his eyes.
Who is it directed at today?
She remembered being innocently curious about what Connor would be like if he’d let go of the rigid control he kept over himself. Her discovery of the truth had changed her life. Now she knew she’d do anything to bask in his passionate tenderness again.
This lurking with Tony behind Bridget’s office door was the first step in her road back to him.
Once again wearing the mermaid brooch, even though she’d promised Connor she wouldn’t, was another necessary step. When it proved what she knew to be true and swept away all that stood between them, Connor would surely forgive her the broken promise.
Her newfound confidence as a woman because of him fed her certainty she could end any of his lingering doubts about her feelings for him.
“Connor is gone,” Bridget whispered through the half-closed door.
Without hesitation, Tony hurried to Connor’s office with Venus running after him. While he set up the cameras with quick efficiency, Venus guarded the door.
She could hear Bridget going about her usual business as head of security. Once Diana came up to the executive offices to talk to Bridget and Venus felt a sharp sting of guilt for not telling her sister the plan.
They had two hours before Ed arrived, and she must give the performance of her life.
One nagging thought kept haunting her, getting in the way of her guard duties and interrupting the rehearsal in her mind of the words she needed to say and the actions she needed to take once Ed appeared.
Finally she gave in to the hot, tight tension quivering through her. She wasn’t afraid to trap a thief, the person who had heartlessly masterminded her father�
�s disgrace. But she was frightened to her very soul by the passionate, determined glint in Connor’s eyes. Who had provoked it and why?
Connor arrived at Alistair Smith’s home in Lincoln Park and stood for what seemed like hours on the front porch, taking in the last moments of his old life. Flexing his shoulders, he finally rang the bell. He heard it echo through the large, high rooms of the old house.
The shock in Alistair’s eyes at finding Connor at the door reminded him of Venus when she looked confused and at her most lovable. He needed nothing more to remind himself why he’d decided to separate himself from his sense of right and wrong.
Nothing is more important than being together, he had once said. Now he knew how true the words were for him.
Behind Alistair in the wide foyer with its wood floor covered by muted Oriental rugs, Kate stood with her coat on and a thick manuscript in her gloved hands.
“May I come in?” Connor asked quietly.
Alistair hesitated for a heartbeat before stepping back to swing the door wider.
“Hello, Kate.” Connor gave her a quick kiss on her cheek.
“Nice to see you, Connor,” Kate said briskly. “I’m on my way out.” She looked up at Alistair. “Tomorrow morning at the same time?”
“I look forward to it, Kate.” Alistair leaned over to kiss her cheek, much as Connor had done.
But this time Kate’s skin flushed and her mouth curled into a smile.
As finely attuned as he’d become to his emotions recently, he felt the chemistry between these two. Venus would be pleased.
Alone at last, Alistair motioned him into the living room, where burning logs crackled in the stone fireplace.
Connor took his stance there, legs apart, and watched the man he’d once considered a trusted friend.
“I’ll get right to the point about why I’ve come here, Alistair. I love Venus and I’ve come for the two of us to concoct a false story that will vindicate you and make everyone believe you are innocent of embezzling.”
Venus and Bridget were deliberately talking too loudly in the hall outside her office when Ed, with a harassed look in his eyes, arrived on the executive floor. He gave them a brief nod before hurrying into his own office.
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