by Diane Capri
“I am.”
“I’m grateful for that … because you are as good as Nick promised.”
I felt a happy blush spread across my cheeks. I was speechless.
“I’d like to have you come out to New York and speak with some of our people. I’m interested in doing what I can to help you launch a career.”
“Seriously?” I could barely contain my smile.
He nodded. “As a heart attack.”
“This is amazing! Yes! I’m in!” I resisted the sudden urge to launch myself across the table and hug him. I was that excited.
He grinned and clapped his hands together. “Great! Let me get your contact information and I will be in touch. I’m heading off on vacation for a couple of weeks, but when I return, let’s look at our schedules and see how we can make this work.”
We both stood at the same time and he shook my hand. His grasp was firm and warm. But that’s not all. Instantly, I received a vision of Kane and the blonde man from my bad dream. The man was threatening him in some way. I had no idea what it meant, but I removed my hand as if it were on fire.
Kane Richards looked at me with an odd expression. “Okay. We will be talking soon.”
“Yes,” I uttered, not sure if I had even said the word out loud.
He left the bar soon after and Joshua waltzed out from the kitchen as if on cue.
He put an arm around me and pulled me into a half hug. “Thanks for introducing me to Simone. I’m going to have an amazing restaurant and bar, and … Who knows? Your dreams could be next.”
Yes, they could. But at what price?
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
AFTER MAKING FAST WORK of closing up the bar, I made it home earlier than usual and Cass greeted me at the door with a wagging tail. I sighed. After a long, complicated night, there was nothing quite like a happy dog to ease tension. Mac padded up behind Cass and began meowing pitifully.
“My goodness, you guys act like you haven’t been fed in weeks!”
I went to the cupboard and took out their food, emptying it into their respective bowls. Mac looked down at his bowl and then up at me with a you gotta be kidding me look.
“Sorry, big man, I have to put you back on a diet.” I swear he rolled his eyes at me. “Okay. Fine. You can have a little cream on top.”
I got the cream out of the fridge along with some lunch meat to top off Cass’s meal. I started to grab a Coke, but decided the caffeine probably wasn’t a great idea considering how late it was. I eyed the bottle of Chardonnay I kept in the fridge in case Simone dropped in. Frankly, I’d spent too much on that bottle of wine, but I knew if Simone did show up unexpectedly and I had cheap wine or, God forbid, no wine at all, I’d be screwed. I debated for a minute, weighing the pros and cons of opening the bottle now, and finally decided to live a little.
I was twisting the corkscrew down into the cork when one of the kitchen lights flickered. At first I got excited because I thought it meant Lucas might show up. He didn’t, and the light went out. I popped out the cork, poured a glass of wine, and set it down, heading into the hallway to get a new bulb.
The house had originally been built in the thirties, which meant it was filled with several interesting nooks and crannies, like the row of four cupboards lining one side of the hall. Instead of opening from the side like most cabinet doors, these opened from the top by pulling the knobs down. I think at one time they were meant to hold kitchen and bath linens. They were about four-feet wide, a foot high, and a foot or so deep. Now they held items like light bulbs, extra candles, and a bunch of random stuff like a deck of cards, some jacks, and old, empty picture frames. There were also a handful of photos.
I grabbed a stack and idly flipped through them. The one common denominator they had was a handsome guy with grey-blue eyes and a healthy tan. He was between thirty-five and forty-five and could easily have been featured in one of those “Visit California!” ads I kept seeing everywhere. In the photos, he was always with one or several women, or what appeared to be a group of friends.
Strangely, I felt like I knew him. I began looking closer at the group photos and I gasped when I recognized Lucas’s face. The picture had been shot in this very house in what appeared to be the kitchen (I could see the pool sparkling in the background). I studied the blonde guy again. Could this be Blake, the owner of the house? It seemed likely. This was his home, and he was in all of these photos. I wished I could ask Lucas. I really don’t know why it mattered, other than the very strong sense I’d seen Blake before. I placed the stack of photos back into the cupboard and continued my search for a light bulb.
Finally, after a good five minutes, I located a box of bulbs and went back into the kitchen to fix the light. That finished, I decided to take my wine glass and head up to bed. Mac, who had finished his dinner in record time, jumped up on the bed and immediately curled up on my pillow. Cass, my little guard dog, was doing her post-dinner rounds. She’d come upstairs eventually.
I changed into a nightshirt and sat down in front of the vanity where I kept Hannah’s feathers. I closed my eyes, thinking about her, wishing she would come through the portal to visit me. Or, even better, wishing she would come through the door—alive.
I could sense the light dim in the room. I opened my eyes and saw the candles on my desk were lit again and the flames fluttered gently.
Lucas!
He stood next to me, very close. I wanted to talk to him. Ask questions. Get answers.
But what he was doing made me forget about talking completely.
His hand grazed the back of my neck as he lifted the thick ponytail off my back and slowly loosened the tie. I closed my eyes at the wonderful feeling of his long fingers combing gently through my hair. A surge went through my body, moving like a wave from the middle of my spine up into my chest and out through my head. I could feel him bend close to my ear.
His fingers moved over my scalp and around to my collarbone while his other hand grazed my cheeks. He turned my chair around to face him. We stared at each other for a long, breathless moment.
“Lucas,” I whispered. There was so much I wanted to say.
He picked me up, and my legs wrapped around him. I felt lightheaded with excitement, lust, need. He set me gently on the bed and raised both his arms straight up, whispering something. As before, the tips of his fingers began to emit a pale, pinkish glow. He waved his hands around us, creating the luster.
His dark hair shone brightly in the glow. Lucas moved in towards me, positioning his body over mine. He placed his hands over mine, clasping them tightly, pushing them into the mattress. I could feel his desire as much as my own. My back lifted into an arch and a soft moan escaped my lips. I desperately wanted him closer, wanted his body on mine.
He pulled one hand away and, agonizingly slowly, traced the outline of my lower lip with his finger, gazing into my eyes. The purple in his eyes deepened.
“I never needed anyone when I was alive. Not like this. But here I am. And I’m not supposed to feel this way,” he said, shaking his head slightly, not taking his eyes from mine. “But you’ve done something to me, and I can’t stop it. I don’t know how.”
I felt my pulse speed up. “You don’t have to. Do you?”
He groaned. “There are rules. Rules I have to follow.”
“But don’t you ever get to have a day off from the rules?” I reached out and caressed his chest. It was like moving my hands through tropical water—warm, still, and peaceful, yet behind that calm was something bigger, something more powerful than I could comprehend. “Please break the rules again, Lucas. Just one more time. I need to feel you.”
He bowed his head, lowering himself onto me. He dropped a slow kiss on my forehead. Then my cheeks, my eyelids, the tip of my nose, my chin … so softly, so sweetly. His warm, smooth hands began to explore my body and I thought I would go out of my mind between the tender kisses and the feathery touches. Every brush against my skin fueled my ache, making me want more from him.<
br />
When he reached my toes, his lips kissing each one separately as his fingers grazed my legs, he rolled me onto my stomach where he worked his way back up, again kissing every inch of my skin and massaging every part of my body until he reached the top of my head, his fingers now intertwined in my hair, gently tugging on the strands. He gently removed my shirt and panties and his body moved closer to mine, his hands spreading my legs apart as his chest pressed against my back.
He kissed the nape of my neck, and I felt an intense rush of pleasure as he entered me. Together we moved like an ocean wave, ever so slowly at first. When I thought I couldn’t take anymore, when I might scream with frustration, he picked up speed, taking us both further into a dizzying spiral of intensity. I felt his hands over mine again as he moved smoothly in and out. He was making it hard for me to think clearly. To think at all, really. My body responded instinctively to his as I gave myself completely to him.
Lucas—dead or alive—had captured every piece of me. Body, mind, heart, and soul.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
“LUCAS, WHAT WERE YOU like when you were alive?” I asked.
He leaned back against the pillow, closing his eyes. “You know, I was an unhappy person in life. I had a lot of … issues.” He turned his head slightly and smiled. “Hence the tie vote.”
I nodded. When he mentioned the tie vote from his own review, I couldn’t help wondering if he’d heard what had happened with Bob and me. If he knew I’d been at Jackson’s review, he never brought it up so I figured the less said, the better. I didn’t want to keep things from him, but I also didn’t want to ruin the moment.
“But you were so young. You didn’t even have a chance to turn things around.”
He smiled. “Leave it to you to try and find the good in my former wastrel existence. Truth is, I lied to people to get what I wanted. Especially to women. I manipulated friends and family. I even stole if I thought it would benefit me. I was a very selfish man.”
“Really?” I tried hard to picture the man with me in the way he described his former self. I couldn’t do it.
“Really. And you know what?”
I shook my head.
“I realize now how absolutely worthless I was. I mean, I wasn’t just hurting others … I was hurting myself. I was so consumed by my ego, by my need to fill in the perceived emptiness, that I missed the wonder and beauty of what I had. My musical gift, my friends, my family, my life.” He ran his hands through his hair. “It’s true what they say—you have no idea what you’ve got until it’s gone.”
He paused for a moment and turned his deep gaze to me. The moment of silence stretched out until I began to wonder if it was my turn to speak.
“You know what else?” His voice was hushed and slightly husky. A frisson of heat ran down my spine and those damn butterflies began doing cartwheels again.
“Uh, what?” My voice sounded squeaky and Cass peered over at me from her perch next to Lucas. Real smooth, Evie, she seemed to be saying.
“I know why they want you so bad. The Black.” I stared into his eyes, mesmerized. I seriously felt like I might be on the verge of a heart attack … it was pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it loud and clear. He reached towards me again but this time, his fingers grazed my collarbone, stopping just above my heart. “They want you for the same reason I do.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. “But you’ve already had me,” I joked.
He smiled. “They want to consume you, and I have to be careful not to want that as well. It would only extinguish the gift you have. Truth is, we are not supposed to be doing what we’re doing, and I’m finding it harder and harder not to want to be with you in this way.”
“Is there any way around it? Is there any possible way of us being together, like this? I mean besides, besides…”
“You being dead?”
“Yes.” I gulped.
“No. I don’t think so.” He kissed the top of my head. “And I don’t want that. There are too many lives for you to touch and help. This is why there are a few things for me to do. It’s why I’ve been gone. I’ve been trying to find who in the Black Tier has ordered that you be under attack.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Attack?”
Lucas hugged me to him and sighed. “You are under attack, and they want you bad. But for the Black Tier to go after you so aggressively means there was a direct order from a vibration in the Asat.”
He fell silent for a moment. “You should know … I’ve also been trying to see if I can discover what happened to Hannah.”
I didn’t respond but felt my body tighten.
“Is there anything of hers you can give me that I can take? It may help. The eagle feathers are for you, really. They are a conduit for your gift. I need something personal of your sister’s. I promise I’ll bring it back.”
“I do have something.” I rolled onto my side and opened the drawer to my nightstand. Taking out a box, I opened it. Inside was a silver bracelet with Hannah’s name written on it. I had one with my name on it as well. My parents had them made when we were born and they gave them to us on our respective tenth birthdays. I took it out and handed it to Lucas. “Will this work? She wore it to church on Sundays and for special occasions. I have one, too.”
He held it up and smiled. “This is perfect.” Lucas set it on the stand next to him. “You know, beautiful girl, I think the Black Tier is taking a risk with you, one that could result in a huge payoff for them. This is why putting all of these pieces together is so important. The stronger you become with the White vibration, the more power you receive, especially when you cross over. If, by the time you make the crossing, the Black has connected your vibration to their energy, then they win, and trust me, it is all about winning for them.”
I snuggled deeper into his chest. “I don’t want to talk about any of this right now. I only want to be here with you in this moment.”
He gently rolled me onto my back and leaned over me. His eyes darkened, staring at my mouth. My pulse accelerated suddenly and all thoughts of the Black Tier, Nick, and my sister flew out of my head.
“Me too. Although we can’t stay here forever, we do have now…” He paused, tilting his head down to place a long kiss between my breasts.
“I wish we had forever,” I whispered, feeling his hands roam down past my hips to the sensitive spot between my thighs. I gasped and then moaned appreciatively.
“Shh. As I said we have now,” he whispered in my ear.
I closed my eyes, not really caring who or what was after me … just so long as Lucas didn’t stop.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
LUCAS’S WORDS HAUNTED me the next day. He’d mentioned consequences for our relationship—if that is what you could call it. I’d never really had a true boyfriend, so I wasn’t sure what I had with Lucas. We talked and shared. We laughed together. We made love. But there was that one issue: He was dead, and I was not.
When I woke, he was gone along with Hannah’s bracelet. I could only hope it helped Lucas shed light on what had happened to her.
In an effort to distract myself, I began reviewing my ever- dwindling list of suspects in Nick’s murder. Dwight was clearly no longer on the list, even though there was still something … odd about him, something I couldn’t quite put a finger on.
As for Pietro and George, I’d pretty much crossed them off as well. In any case, they were locked away, so if they had done it, they were exactly where they needed to be. But it seemed unlikely.
And then there was Candace, who was downright pissed off at me, and Becky, who made it pretty clear she wanted me gone, and Joshua, who I was convinced hadn’t done a thing. Mumbles was Candace’s sidekick and, as far as I could tell, he had zero motive, so I placed him on the back burner.
There was still one last person I needed to talk to: Bradley Verne.
I knew I would have to handle him differently than I had Candace and Becky—obviously. I scrolled through my phone list
and pulled up his number. I was surprised when he answered my call on the first ring.
“This is Bradley Verne,” he said.
“Oh hi, Bradley! This is Evie, from Nick’s?” “Hey! How are you? My wife and I have been meaning to stop in for a visit, but I’ve been trying to get this new project off the ground and, well, that and the daily visits to my dad are really cutting into any free time I might have had.”
“I understand. How is your father doing?”
He grew silent for a minute. “He’s still in a coma. Truth be told, we don’t expect him to be around much longer.” His voice was thick with emotion.
“I am so sorry. I wish there was some way I could help.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
I clicked over to speakerphone and set the iPhone on the counter. “Hey, I know you’re busy, but I was wondering if you’d like to have lunch with me. Maybe today?”
“I would love to,” he said, sounding genuinely disappointed. “But I have a full day today. I’m about to head over to see my dad, and I usually eat lunch there at the home.” He paused for a moment. “But if you like, you could maybe meet me there and we could visit. I know it’s not the ideal place for catching up, but you’d have a captive audience.”
It wasn’t exactly what I’d planned, but I sensed Bradley could use some support. I agreed to meet him at noon. But…
“Will Raquela be joining you as well?” As nice as she seemed, I didn’t really think I’d get very far with the whole Q&A thing if Bradley’s wife was along for the ride.
“No. Not today. Usually she comes, but she’s got a hair appointment this afternoon so it’ll just be me and my dad.”
“I’m sorry I won’t get to see her, but I look forward to catching up with you!” We said our goodbyes and I hung up.
It was sheer luck Bradley had some time to meet with me today. Simone took another day off to visit the spa, and although she invited me to join her, I declined saying I needed some downtime at home. Actually, I did. But hopefully the meeting with Bradley would only take a few hours at most, and then I’d be back for a swim and dinner.
