Grabbing the two glasses Bella had set on the counter earlier, he turned to the refrigerator, adding ice. He paused, glancing at the little girl he didn’t recognize on her freezer door. “Who’s the kid on your fridge?”
“That’s Emilia.”
He frowned. “The girl with the burns?”
“Yeah.”
He stared now. She’d been adorable with a pretty smile and dimples in her cheeks. “She was cute.”
“She still is.” Bella walked into the room with her hair pulled back with the tie he’d tugged from her soft, glossy locks while he’d fought his need for her and lost. “She gave that to me yesterday along with a drawing.”
“I thought you said she got burnt a couple of years ago.”
“She did. That was the last school picture taken before her father hurt her. She’s not ready to take or share photos of herself the way she is now. The psychologist is working with her on that.”
He pulled the three-by-five photo free of the magnet as a wave of sympathy flooded him. “It’s a damn shame.”
She smiled at him, her eyes full of understanding. “She’s doing well. She’s strong.”
“You do good things, Bella. Helping her. I’m glad she has you.”
“Me too.” She took his hand, giving it a squeeze. “They’re doing amazing things with reconstructive surgery. Her doctors still have so much they can do to help her. They have to take it slow, though.”
“Is she going to come back to the house again?”
Bella nodded.
He wanted to be a part of something, to make a difference the way Bella was determined to—and not because of the investigation. “Can I hang out with you guys?”
Holding his gaze, she exhaled a quiet breath.
He frowned. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No. You definitely didn’t say anything wrong.”
“So, I can come hang out?”
She smiled. “Yes.” She took the glasses and poured them water, then put Emilia’s picture back on the fridge. “Let’s order in some Chinese.”
“What do you like?”
“There are these insanely delicious mixed vegetables and brown rice.”
He grimaced. “I was thinking more like kung pao chicken and eggrolls or beef teriyaki—stuff like that.”
“We can order that too. But I’d like wonton soup and my veggies. I’ll share.”
“You don’t have to,” he said, sending her a grin.
She grinned back. “Yes, I do. You’ll be amazed at how good they taste. And I’m eating some of that teriyaki.”
“All right. I’ll take a few pieces of broccoli on the side.”
“And carrots and bamboo shoots and mushrooms. Come on.” She gestured with her head. “We’ll order in and start another episode.” She turned her back as she opened a drawer and pulled out a folder with alphabetized takeout options.
Everything in the drawer was set in its very own space. “Let’s do it.” He studied her tidy house and need for organization, then let his eyes trail up her excellent body, pausing on her firm ass. There was a huge part of him that was hungrier for her than he was Chinese, but that wasn’t what this was all about. Today they were pals chilling on a Sunday afternoon, but he was always going to be a detective. No matter what, the job came first.
Chapter Thirteen
Bella grinned as she spooned the pumpkin puree she’d blended onto the doughy disks Reed was making with the circular cookie cutter. She breathed deep, catching hints of the garlic and chili powder they’d added to the mixture, loving everything about their very first cooking class. For the last hour and a half, she and Reed had been working side by side, laughing and having fun while they created the first course of their three-course meal. “This is going to taste amazing. I can already tell.”
“I can’t wait to try it.” He folded one of the circles into a half-moon shape, covering the small glob of pumpkin. “I’ll have to let you know how they were.”
She grinned, relieved that everything seemed completely normal between them. They hadn’t seen each other since he left Sunday evening after Chinese food and another episode of The Office. When he’d knocked on her door to pick her up for tonight’s class, she’d been afraid something might be different, but so far so good. If the apron tied around his snug black T-shirt accentuated his delicious build and made him look like some tough, sexy chef, she hardly noticed…sort of. “I’m willing to fight you for my share.”
He chuckled.
“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this. Just think, we’re forever going to know how to make pumpkin raviolis.”
“That’s a big thing for you.”
“It is.” She folded a piece over the pumpkin, being careful to line up the edges. “I love trying new things—learning.”
“That’s a big thing too.”
“What?”
“Perfection.” He gestured to her exacting movements as she worked.
“I like things to be right—orderly.”
“I never give it a whole lot of thought.”
“I guess I’ve always been this way.” She shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe it’s some coping method to compensate for a traumatic childhood.”
“Did you have a traumatic childhood?” he asked, looking at her as he folded another piece of dough over the orange blob in the middle.
She dropped her gaze to the table, focusing on the task at hand, not quite sure how she wanted to answer. Her childhood wasn’t something she talked about. Ever. Life with Kelly Colby hadn’t been a storybook by any means. Campouts in strip club dressing rooms when she’d been a little girl and lonely nights spent by herself during her teenage years often came to mind when she thought of where she came from. Her mother’s profession had afforded her everything she could have ever wanted except a responsible parent. “No more than anyone else, I guess.”
“You guess?”
She jerked her shoulders. “I imagine we all have things we wish could have been different.”
“My eleven o’clock curfew was a pretty big bone of contention between me and my mom. It’s hard to be cool when you have to be home before midnight.”
She let out a scoffing laugh. “I bet.”
He flopped another disk end to end.
Wincing, she struggled not to reach over and fix the misshapen piece.
“You can hardly help yourself, huh?”
She smiled as he did. “It’s a little messy.”
“And it’s going to taste just as good whether the ends line up perfectly or if it’s a little lopsided.”
“All right. Fine. I can fly by the seat of my pants.” She tossed one of the disks end to end and moved on to the next, but kept staring at the one she’d just made.
“Tick, tick, tick,” Reed whispered next to her ear as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “She’s gonna blow.”
She laughed, turning in his embrace and swatting at his shoulder. “Don’t tease me about my neuroses.”
Chuckling, he tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. “I happen to like your neuroses.”
She brushed away some flour on his apron, thrilled that Reed was so relaxed and playful tonight. She’d worried their kiss would ultimately erode their precious new friendship, but somehow she’d never felt closer to him. Reed’s guard had come down and she adored this sweet, funny man who had finally let her into his world. “Then you won’t mind if I fix those a little bit.”
“You can do whatever you want. I’m just messing with you.” He let her go with a wink.
She turned to face the less-than-perfect raviolis on their workspace and puffed out a breath as she rolled her eyes. “I’m leaving them like that, even if it’s going to drive me crazy. Just to prove you wrong.”
He grinned. “I dare you to try.”
“I never walk away from a dare.”
“Sounds serious.”
“You better believe it.” She smiled again and moved on to the next ravioli as Reed did. “So, now that we’ve gotten the jokes out of the way, tell me about your day. How was it?”
“Not bad. I’m being reassigned to a family-type deal, so I’ll have fairly regular hours for a while.”
“Why is Ethan reassigning you?”
“Because one of the newbies can do what I’m doing.”
“What are you going to be doing now?”
“There’s a kid who’s been receiving some threats—stalker-type stuff.”
“Oh. How old?”
“Sadie’s sixteen.”
She shook her head. “That must be so scary.”
“Yeah. The threats seem valid. They’re pretty disturbing, so Tyson and I are going to be keeping our eye on things while the police try to sort stuff out.”
“Are you going to help them with the investigation?”
He shook his head. “That’s not really my thing anymore. If something pops out at me, I’ll mention it, but for now, I’ll be keeping my eyes and ears open for anything I don’t like.”
“Like what?”
He shrugged. “People loitering around the house or school. A tail when she’s in the car. Stuff like that.”
“You’ll, uh, you’ll be staying with the family?”
“Nah. I lucked out and got the day shift. I’ll be going to school with her and softball practices. Tyson has the overnights.”
She expelled the quiet breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Now that she had Reed in her life, she hated the idea of him being assigned to a position that would take him away for long periods. Whom would she cook or watch The Office with if he left? “When do you start?”
“Tomorrow.” He gave her arm a couple of gentle bumps with his elbow. “No more five a.m. flights. I’ll meet her at the house at eight and go back to high school until we get this situation figured out.”
“Is the person threatening her another student?”
He shook his head. “They’re not certain at this point, but I am. This is much more sophisticated than kid stuff. A couple of PIs Ethan works with are on this too.”
“Jed?”
He looked at her. “Yeah. You know Jed?”
She shrugged. “We’ve talked a few times.”
He folded the last of the dough over. “He’s a good guy.”
“Yes, he is.”
“So how was your day?”
“Good. Busy. I’m going out of town next Thursday, so I’m trying to squeeze in a bunch of my clients before I leave.”
“Where you going?”
“To New York.”
He stopped making the small fork indentations along the sides of the dough. “Yeah? How come?”
“Some business stuff I have to do.”
“Okay, class,” their instructor interrupted. “It looks like everyone’s finishing up. We’re going to get our water boiling and start on the brown butter.”
“Do you want the water or the butter?” Bella asked.
“I’ll get the water. You’ll have to tell me more about your trip while we eat.”
“Sure.” She focused on the instructor and got to work with the butter and sage.
~~~~
Reed put four raviolis on Bella’s plate, then did the same to his own as he impatiently waited for her to spoon the brown sage butter over their dishes. She wiped at each plate with exacting motions, clearing away any drops, when all he wanted to do was sit down, talk to her, and eat as a bonus.
“That looks great, Bella,” Paul, their instructor, said as he stopped by their station. “Fantastic presentation.”
She beamed. “Thank you. But Reed placed the raviolis, so I can’t take all of the credit.”
“Nicely done, Reed.”
Reed tossed a friendly enough smile at the man who looked more like a clichéd California beach boy than a chef. He couldn’t help but notice that the guy kept checking Bella out. “Thanks.”
Bella added a few pine nuts and fresh shavings of Parmesan to the mix as Paul walked away. “There.” She set down the block of cheese. “I think that takes care of it.”
He crossed his arms and uncrossed them again, forever mindful of his body language. “Should we eat before they get cold?”
“Definitely.” She grabbed their plates and walked over to the tiny table set for two.
He followed, taking his seat as Bella did.
“I can’t wait to try this. It looks so good.”
He smiled as her eyes sparkled. There was nothing quite as beautiful as Bella when she was excited. “It does.”
“Ready?”
“Sure.” He cut one in half, blew on the steaming bite, and put it in his mouth, surprised by how amazing the flavors played together. “Wow.” He nodded his approval. “Wow.”
“Mmm.” She closed her eyes as she chewed slowly. “Oh, my gosh, Reed.” She moaned and opened her eyes, smiling. “We made this. We made something that tastes like heaven.”
He ate more, trying to forget that she’d made the very same sound while his tongue tangled with hers when he pinned her down on the couch. “This is great.”
She grinned. “Do you feel accomplished?”
He would after he got the details of her trip to New York. So far, his new approach to things was working well. Bella was happy; he was relaxed. They were having a great time. “Cooking is a skill I can always use.”
“I can’t wait until next week’s class. Soup, steak, crème brûlée.” She glanced over her shoulder toward Beach Boy Paul. “He already knows how to make all of this stuff. I wonder if he’s married?”
Reed paused as he cut into his next ravioli, then kept going, unable to tell if Bella was kidding. Either way, it annoyed him that he felt a quick flash of jealousy. “You could go ask him for his number, but then our couple’s discount might be in jeopardy.”
She wrinkled her nose. “That’s an unfortunate little detail.”
He swallowed, finding that this bite didn’t go down quite as easily. “If you’re interested, we can just confess.”
“He’s cute, but I would be using him only for his culinary skills.” She grinned.
He made himself smile back, realizing he was more worried about Bella and the damn chef than he was the objective of the cooking classes in the first place. “So, you were telling me about New York.”
“Yes.” Her eyes lit up again. “My friend Luisa is opening a medical spa—a bigger one, I should say. It’s a pretty big move. I’m excited for her.”
“What part of New York?”
“The city. Brooklyn.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “I can’t wait. We took a class in Arizona for our laser certification. We hit it off from the first day and ended up rooming together. We talk all the time—share marketing ideas. And she’s needed a shoulder with all of the stresses of moving to the new location.”
“Sounds nice that you two have each other.”
She nodded. “She’s one of my best friends.”
“You met in Arizona?”
“Yeah, about three years ago.” She cut another bite.
“When did you say you leave?”
“Next Thursday. I’ll be back on Sunday.”
“Short trip.”
“I don’t want to miss too many days at work. Two days away from the office is plenty.”
“I imagine you’ll have a good time. Two single girls on the town.”
She smiled, shaking her head. “Luisa’s married and has a little boy. I’m not anticipating anything particularly wild going on while I’m there.”
He ate more of his ravioli as Bella sipped her water. Why did he believe her? Why did this make more sense to him than Bella making calls to Luisa Asante for some sort of mafia dealings? She was meeting up with a friend to wish her well in her business. Could it really be that simple? “Sounds like fun either way.”
“I’m so excited.”
“I’m looking forward to hearing all of the deta
ils when you get back.”
“I’m looking forward to telling you all about it.”
“Can’t wait.” He winked and sat back, watching Bella dive into her next pumpkin-filled ravioli.
~~~~
Reed sat with his ankles crossed on his desk, glancing at the notes he’d typed up as he spoke to Joey and fiddled with a pen. “It could be a coincidence,” he said after letting Joey in on Bella’s explanation for her calls to Bensonhurst and her upcoming trip.
“I don’t know, boss. It seems like a cover to me.”
“I checked out Luisa’s website. She’s opening another spa, so it’s not complete horseshit.”
“I don’t know,” Joey repeated.
“What don’t you know, Joe?”
“None of this makes any sense. Beautiful Bella’s father is Nicoli Caparelli and she just randomly meets the daughter of Dino Asante in Arizona for some class? It’s too neat—a little too perfect, if you ask me.”
“You’re absolutely right. I couldn’t agree more, but there’s one thing we can’t overlook: women aren’t welcome in the life.”
“They might be if their Godfather uncle is in prison and their father is one of the last ties to the most powerful mafia family ever to walk the streets of Brooklyn.”
“She wasn’t nervous or evasive about anything she said tonight.” He’d detected something when he poked and prodded about her childhood, but not about New York. “I can tell when she’s trying to be. This seems aboveboard.”
“Seems is the key word. The fuckin’ mafia’s all about pretenses. A restaurant that holds illegal gaming in the back. Nightclubs where they do their business in plain sight.”
Reed dropped his feet to the floor and sat up straight, becoming more annoyed. “Those days are over. They don’t do that shit anymore. That’s how they all got busted the first time around.”
“You’re right. They don’t. They’ve gotten smarter—sneakier. Maybe they’re moving some of the business through the women now. We can’t put anything past them.”
Deceiving Bella: Book Eleven In The Bodyguards Of L.A. County Series Page 14
