by Nancy Martin
“Or to invest in cell phone towers in China. Maybe I should buy some stock in that company. It’ll help pay Nooch’s legal bill for a couple more years.”
“Sorry his probation hearing didn’t go well.”
“He didn’t seem to mind. He’ll keep working for me.”
The door to the nursing home’s party room opened, and Flynn came out into the sunlight. On a Sunday afternoon, he had the day off and looked relaxed. Even a little attractive in an old-high-school-flame kinda way. He sauntered across the patio, balancing two plates of coconut cake in one hand, and Roxy wondered if it was the cake that was so appealing or maybe the way Flynn’s jeans clung to his hips.
He passed a piece of cake to Sage and kept the second.
He glanced down at Dorothy Hyde. “Think the old lady might wake up and want some cake?”
“Give it to me instead,” Roxy said.
But at that moment Rooney burst out from under some shrubbery and ran across the garden, intent on a rabbit that skipped ahead of him. The bunny seemed to be teasing rather than running for its life. Sage must have thought the dog might catch the rabbit, though, because she handed her cake to Roxy and took off running after the dog.
Roxy watched her run—a perfect girl with a bright future ahead of her. Without a bun in the oven.
Roxy said, “I’ve made some mistakes in my life, but one of the best things that’s ever happened to me is Sage. I’ve never thanked you for that, have I? For giving her to me?”
“I don’t remember any thanking, no.” Flynn sat down on the bench beside her. “A lot of screaming and cursing, but no thanks. Not even for letting you be on top now and then.”
“Admit it. You thought me on top meant I wouldn’t get pregnant.”
“Lesson learned.” Darkly, Flynn added, “I hope Zack knows better.”
“Thanks for pitching in on her school fees, too. I appreciate it.”
“No problem.”
It felt a little odd to be sitting there, talking calmly to Patrick Flynn after so many years. Oddly comfortable, yet with a tingle of uncertainty, too. He wasn’t like her father, Roxy reminded herself. Or Uncle Carmine. No, Flynn had almost become the kind of man a sensible woman might be glad to have around.
Too bad Roxy wasn’t sensible.
She said, “I appreciate the other thing you did, to help get Sage safe.”
“It’s the kind of thing I do best—mayhem with guns.”
“It’s not the only thing you do well.”
He glanced down at her, brows raised. “What are you saying?”
“You can cook. You make a decent cup of coffee. You’ve grown up into somebody I don’t mind associating with my daughter.”
“What about associating with you?”
“Forget it. You’ve got a girlfriend. And I keep myself busy.”
“Yeah, I know. Too busy. You’re working for Carmine, I hear. And God knows what else you’re up to. Probably stealing more statues.”
Sage returned with Rooney in tow, her face flushed and happy. She grabbed her plate and began to eat cake. “What are you talking about? Stealing this statue all over again?”
Flynn laughed. “I think that’s exactly what she’s thinking about!”
Beside them on her bed, Dorothy Hyde popped one eye open. In a clear voice, she said, “Over my dead body.”
ALSO BY NANCY MARTIN
Murder Melts in Your Mouth
Crazy Little Thing Called Death
Have Your Cake and Kill Him Too
Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die
Some Like It Lethal
Dead Girls Don’t Wear Diamonds
How to Murder a Millionaire
This is a work of fiction.
All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
FOXY ROXY. Copyright © 2010 by Nancy Martin. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE HARDCOVER EDITION AS FOLLOWS:
Martin, Nancy, 1953–
Our lady of immaculate deception / Nancy Martin.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-312-57372-0
1. Single mothers—Fiction. 2. Mafia—Fiction. 3. Salvage (waste, etc.)—Fiction. 4. Billionaires—Crimes against—Fiction. 5. Rich people—Fiction. 6. Art thefts—Fiction. 7. Pittsburgh (Pa.)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3563.A7267O87 2010
813'.54—dc22
2009041127
ISBN 978-0-312-67318-5 (trade paperback)
Previously published under the title Our Lady of Immaculate Deception
First Minotaur Books Paperback Edition: January 2011
eISBN 978-1-4299-6843-0
First Minotaur Books eBook Edition: January 2011
