A Santini Christmas (15 page)

Another beat of silence. “You only mess with your hair color when you’re depressed.”

She held the phone out from her ear and looked at it, then put it back. “This is Conner Dillon, right? Or has Jillian been giving you inside information?”

“
Jillian hasn’t and I know you better than you think I do.”

That was probably true. Conner was devious that way. He seemed like the ultimate Alpha in any group, but one thing that had made him an excellent FBI agent was his observation skills. It was the bane of her existence when she was growing up—especially when he was left to raise her on his own. Nothing like having a criminal profiler watching your every move. Not that her teenage years had been that exciting.

“
How do you know about the hair color thing, then?” she asked.

Maura recognized the aggravated sigh. She had first heard it when she was fifteen and asked her brother about lubricant. “The first boyfriend breakup you dyed it that disturbing bright red shade.”

Of course he would bring up her breakup with Tommy Foster—otherwise known as the Scumbag from Boca Raton. “There was nothing disturbing about it.”

“
It glowed in the dark.”

She remembered the look on Conner’s face when she stepped out of the bathroom and chuckled. “Okay, I will give you that. It was pretty bad.”

“
If you aren’t going to tell me, talk to Jillian when you get over here.”

“
I can talk to Jillian some other time, but there’s nothing to talk about.” Then she realized what he had just said. “Get over there? What are you talking about?”

“
I want you to come over to Hawaii for a week.”

Stranger and stranger.
It was never a good idea to underestimate Conner, especially when he was scheming. And she definitely defined this as scheming. He was devious and most people wouldn’t pick up on it. They would see him as being efficient. She knew better. Conner was born creating plots.

She cleared her throat and readied herself for battle. “I wasn’t planning on coming over anytime soon. I was just there six weeks ago for your wedding.”

No matter how much she wanted to run away from the office and her personal infatuation with Rory and Zeke, she would not use a trip to Hawaii to get away. Which, even as she thought it, made her crazy. Insane. Bonkers. Any sane woman would do it without much thought. She had gone over the edge.

And that is what those two had done to her. They had pushed her to the point that she was turning down vacations from her brother.

“
I need someone who is good at being a nerd and it comes to you naturally.”

Most people would be upset with that comment, but not Maura. She was a nerd and proud of it. It was one of the many things Conner had taught her. On top of it, she knew he was lying.

“
First, you’re lying. Big lying, but I love you for it so okay, I’ll come see you and Jillian.”

“
And I want Rory and Zeke with you.”

That made her to pause. Going to Hawaii would be a great escape. She could forget her problems; spend some time recharging her brain. Bringing the source of her problem with her wouldn’t give her a break. Her concentration was already shot and now she had to deal with them dressed in trunks and all oiled up? She shivered.

“
But who will run the office?” she asked.

“
Jennifer is well trained and former FBI. I’m sending a few of the new hires from here to be trained in the office with her.”

Which made sense, but it didn’t explain why she needed to be in Hawaii. Maura knew she could definitely help with that and keeping the office running while Jennifer was training. Maura could also help with part of the training.

“
The Petersen case is going to trial next week. Don’t you think one of us should be here?”

“
No. The federal prosecutor said he didn’t need you. Which is for the best.”

She frowned. She didn’t think so. They did all the legwork and found out that Petersen had been funneling millions of dollars through the company he was CFO for. The owner had thought there was something hinky, so he brought Dillon Securities in to look it over.

They just didn’t know Petersen had been working for the Columbians.

“
Are you trying to get me out of the country?”

“
Hawaii is part of the country. And when you get here, you would be smart to remember that.”

She rolled her eyes. Conner had become more Kama’aina than Jillian who had lived there for a several years. Heck, he even took off early every Friday to celebrate Aloha Fridays. That was so not like Conner—and she was glad for it. Jillian had definitely loosened her brother up. Before falling for her best friend, Conner had been uptight—and he still was to a point. But now he had someone to tell him to take a break when he got too intense.

“
Sure, sure. But, why do Rory and Zeke need to come with me?” she asked and then cringed at the whiny tone in her voice. It was worse that she didn’t know what her brother’s motives were. There were times she knew him better than she knew herself, but lately, he’d been acting very un-Conner like. If he wanted to talk about feelings, there was something very wrong. The idea that she had to spend a week with them in Hawaii didn’t appeal. Okay, that was a lie. It did. But in the wrong way.

“
Because they are associated with the case too. It would be best if you three are unreachable.”

“
So, Hawaii isn’t connected to the rest of the world? I think the Hawaiians would be more pissed about your comments than some stupid haole tourist made.” she asked.

He ignored her question. “And, there’s that house I rented for us during the wedding crap—”

“
Oh, how I love to hear my husband say our wedding was crap,” Jillian said in the background. The amusement in her voice had Maura smiling.

“
Now you did it, Conner. And I’m not helping you with Jillian.”

He grunted and Maura imagined that Jillian had plopped down on his lap. It was something that she did on a regular basis.

“
I don’t need help with Jillian. I can handle her all on my own.”

The tone in his voice left little to figure out just what he was talking about.

“
Ugh, ew. I am going to bleach my brain after that image suggestion.”

He chuckled. “It’s your fault. You sent me over here.”

“
Okay, moving onto other things, you said you had the house that you rented?”

“
Yes. I found out someone backed out of the week’s rent for it, and I jumped on it. Use the jet.”

She wanted to argue with him, just for the fact that she didn’t want to be with the two men while they were together. Zeke and she had mutually decided he could not give her what she needed, so they had split. It was hard enough working together, but seeing him with his old lover Rory, knowing the two of them were living together now, was a little too much to take. Worse, she was attracted to both of the men. Having them in the same house, day in and day out, might just be the death of any sanity she had left.

Before she could talk to Conner about not inviting the guys, Zeke walked through her office door, and of course, Rory followed behind him.

“
Has Conner talked to you about this trip?” she asked.

“
No I haven’t,” Conner said on the phone.

“
Trip?” Zeke asked, his brow furrowing.

“
Let me talk to him,” Conner said.

“
No. I’ll tell him.”

She didn’t need her brother sniffing out her mood with Zeke. Both men were relentless and they would badger her. At least in Hawaii, she could ignore them and enjoy the sunshine. Not to mention, a trip to Rough ‘n Ready would help.

“
Maura—”

“
Love you,” she said and hung up.

She took a second to gather her composure. Maura had found it best when confronted by the dual assault of having both Rory and Zeke in the room to be prepared. If she didn’t, her tongue stuck to the top of her mouth. When she felt she was ready to address them and not drool on herself, she looked at them.

“
He wants us to be in Hawaii when the trial starts.”

The men shared a glance. It irritated her on some level she didn’t completely understand. What was she thinking? Of course she understood. It made her feel small and petty but she seemed unable to move past it. She hated they knew each other so well a glance was all they needed to communicate. Worse, she hated being jealous of it. She was envious of their intimacy and their secrets. It would be bad enough if she was just hot for one of them, but both of them had her hot.

Both of them—and that was the problem.

She was definitely mental. What sane woman would be envious of two men who obviously have the hots for each other?

What made it even crappier were the dreams she had started having about both of them. It was disturbing her sleep and now disrupting her work. That was not good. Going to Hawaii was going to make it worse—unless she could find herself a Dom to play with while she was there. It might help her work out the demons that seemed to be chasing her for the last few months.

She glanced at Zeke and tried to keep her mind on the conversation. It was hard to do because the man was beyond gorgeous. What made him even more tempting was the fact that he didn’t see himself as attractive. His mother was Haitian and his father had been Irish, and both of them were easy to see in his character and his looks—not to mention his voice. His skin was dark brown, his eyes the color of milk chocolate and he had the body of a tough Irish fighter. All sculpted muscles and that stiff upper lip. Now that he had shaved his head and grown a goatee, he was even sexier. He was often times too serious, but maybe that is what appealed to her. He was hot and smart, two things that weren’t always easy to find.

“
Maura?” he asked, those dangerous lips turning down.

She pushed those thoughts aside. Thinking about his lips wasn’t something she should do. Especially since Rory was now in the picture.

“
As I said, he wants us there. It is kind of odd, but then, I can work on computer stuff there with no problem.”

“
And you agree with it?” Zeke asked.

She didn’t really pay attention to the question. He had a baritone voice with that Irish lilt to it that just made her melt. She could remember hearing it first thing in the morning after their first night together.

“
Uh, no. I would rather stay here because I have a load of work to do, but he wants us there. I will adjust. He’s using the lame excuse that he needs us there and he’s sending new hires for the upcoming Honolulu office here to be trained.”

“
That’s actually a good idea,” Rory said.

She forced herself to look away from Zeke to Rory. An Irishman himself, Rory was what most people would call black Irish. Dark hair, blue eyes, and a lanky muscular build made him a treat for the eyes, and she had been dying for a bite. He was unconventional in every way. He had dyed some of his hair blond, probably just because he wanted to. The tats made him stand out even today when everyone seemed to be getting one. She had only seen glimpses of them because apparently, Rory liked to have his tats in naughty places.

He had a quick temper and she had often wondered if that is why he got into BDSM. Zeke had said when they were younger that Rory had learned to control it.

They were opposites in a lot of ways. Zeke thought through everything. And, that is one of the reasons she had been sure he was a Dom. When she had found out he wasn’t, even after he tried to play a bit, she had been disappointed. But, apparently, that was Rory in some capacity—from the rumors she heard.

Zeke was good at looking at the positive things and making the best. Rory had a jaundiced view of life that she truly appreciated. The few times he had been around her without Zeke, his sarcastic comments had gotten a chuckle from her.

And sadly, she wanted them both. But they were apparently interested only in each other.