Books of a Feather (18 page)

“Let me introduce you to Brooklyn, my fiancée.”

It was the first time he'd introduced me in public as his fiancée, and I had to admit, I loved the sound of it.

Lark, on the other hand, looked about as thrilled as if she had just swallowed a live frog. I couldn't be happier.

“Oh, uh,” she said, gulping as she shook my hand. “How do you do?”

“Nice to meet you, Lark.” I shot Derek a sympathetic smirk as he made a swift retreat. “Did you just start working here recently?”

“Yes, just last week. I'm so lucky. It's a wonderful company.”

“I agree. It's a fabulous place to work.”

“You used to work here?”

“No. I've just met a lot of the people and of course I know
Derek. Everyone seems very happy here, so I know it must be a good work environment.”

She seemed puzzled and I wasn't sure why. Was it because I was giving my opinion of the company without having any actual experience working there? Did that disqualify me from expressing my feelings?

I was glad I wore heels, because even though Lark was tall, I was now an inch taller. Was I imagining it, or did it really seem to bother her that she had to look up at me?

“What do you do?” she asked politely.

“I'm a bookbinder.”

A look of confusion flashed in her eyes. “A what?”

I knew she didn't care about any of this, but she had to be nice to the boss's fiancée. And now I'd confused her with my occupation, so that was another point against me on her imaginary scorecard. “I'm a bookbinder. I restore rare books and I also work as a book artist.”

“So you . . . paint books?”

I bit my tongue but managed to smile. “No, not exactly.”

She glanced around as though there might be someone more important for her to talk to. But of course there wasn't. “So, how did you and Derek meet?” she asked.

I searched my brain for an innocuous way to answer her, because she seemed to be taking my words a little too literally. “We met through our mutual love of books.”

“Oh.” She seemed completely flustered by that explanation.

It was true. Sort of. Derek and I had met when I took a rare and important book from my dying mentor's hands and slipped it inside my jacket. Derek pulled a gun and accused me of stealing the book and killing the man. So yes, there were books involved in our first meeting. Lark didn't need to know all the details.

“What do you do, Lark?” I asked, changing the subject.

“I'm an analyst,” she said robotically. “I work with numbers and determine risk versus return.”

Now it made sense. She dealt with numbers and had no clue how to deal with people. Except men. She seemed to deal with men just fine.

“Sounds fascinating,” I said. “Do you specialize in any particular area of risk analysis?”

“Um, specialize?” She frowned. I was pretty sure she thought I was too dumb to comprehend what she'd just said. “I specialize in risk analysis.” She said it slowly and even raised her voice slightly, as if I were a particularly dimwitted second grader.

I wanted to laugh at this completely nonsensical conversation, but I was sure she would have misunderstood my amusement. She seemed to lack the ability to recognize irony.

“It was nice meeting you, Lark,” I said, giving her an out. She took it and dashed away. Within seconds she was swallowed up by another group over by the bar.

I watched her interact with the others for a minute or two and detected an edgy streak to her mannerisms. That, and her mini seduction scene with Derek, made me vow to steer clear of her for the rest of the night.

I was about to turn away when I noticed her entire attitude changed. She extricated herself from the group and moved in a direct line across the room to meet Crane. They shook hands and I watched him say a few words to her. Her response was sultry and flirtatious. Some men would have been bowled over, but Crane didn't seem particularly impressed or interested. I had to wonder why. She was one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen, but he looked almost . . . bored.

Was it horrible of me to say that Crane's reaction made me like him even more?

It suddenly occurred to me to wonder if Crane was married or not. I didn't think so, given his reaction to Inspector Lee—not that that would necessarily mean anything. But Derek hadn't mentioned anything about him having a spouse back in China, either. So I had to assume he was unmarried and simply not attracted to the provocative Lark.

A few minutes later, I was chatting with Corinne and Wallace when we all noticed a slight rise in the noise level over by the entranceway. I turned and saw Crane's brother, Bai, walk into the room.

I quietly explained to Corinne who the man was.

“Oh, isn't that nice that his brother was able to make it?”

“It is,” I said. At least, I hoped so. I hadn't enjoyed our brief introduction at the Slanted Door the other night, so I was wondering what this meeting would bring. I tried to relax and think good thoughts. If nothing else, the man was definitely attractive. He was your classic bad boy, a type that usually appealed to women.

He saw me and grinned and waved, but didn't stop to talk. Instead he headed straight for his brother. I watched Crane's reaction to seeing his brother and saw him frown for the briefest moment, then smile broadly as though this was a happy surprise. Maybe it was, despite that frown I'd seen. Maybe he was hopeful and happy that Bai had made an appearance at his party with all these influential people. Maybe he dreamed of his brother turning into a good friend and a loyal family member. Or maybe he'd been burned too many times before and was just hoping Bai would behave himself in front of these important businesspeople. It was hard to tell, but
hopeful
was a heck of a lot better than
hopeless
.

They spoke in whispers for a moment and Crane shook his
head. His lips were pressed together in a frown. Was he disappointed in something Bai said? I couldn't tell. But almost immediately after that, Crane grinned and grabbed his brother's arm as he turned to the assembled group. In a loud, clear voice, he announced, “My brother, Bai, has done me the honor of crashing your lovely party.”

Bai laughed and many in the crowd joined him, including me.

“I hope you will welcome him as you have welcomed me,” Crane continued. “Thank you all so much for your generosity.”

There was cheerful applause and Bai bowed once. “Thank you, brother. I'm honored as well. Thank you, everyone.” He waved, then turned and whispered one more thing in Crane's ear. Crane gritted his teeth and tried to smile. Bai chuckled, then wandered off to get himself a drink and mingle.

I was talking to one of Derek's partners and his wife when Bai approached our small group. I introduced him and we all talked for a few minutes. When the partner and his wife walked away, Bai leaned closer. “I'm glad to see a friendly face tonight among all these uptight suits.”

I was momentarily speechless but quickly found my tongue. “Everyone here is really nice and very supportive of your brother. Not only that, but they represent important business opportunities for Crane and for your country.”

He shrugged. “That's got nothing to do with me.”

“No, I guess not.” I had to grip my hands together to keep from smacking him. I searched my mind to change topics. “So, are you living in San Francisco now?”

“Temporarily. I'm working on a project that could wrap up any day now, but I'm enjoying myself so much that I hope it lasts awhile longer.”

“It's a fun city, isn't it?”

“I love it.”

I nodded. “San Franciscans love anyone who loves their city.” Whether they deserved it or not, I thought.

“There's a lot of energy here,” he said. “But it's kind of dirty.”

Really? He was going to criticize my city? I was itching to grab him by the lapels and shake him, but I refrained, barely. I noticed his glass was empty. “Looks like you need another drink.”

He held up his glass. “Are you offering to get me one?”

“No, I'm sorry,” I said with a tight smile. “I'll let you do that while I track down Derek.”

“Nice talking to you,” he called as I walked away. I ignored him, taking deep calming breaths all the way across the room. When I reached the wall of windows at the far end of the space, I turned and watched him walk to the bar to order another drink. Before I could see how it happened, he came face-to-face with Lark. He smiled and introduced himself, and she appeared to answer politely but didn't say more than a few words to him. I had a feeling she had sort of planted herself in his path, and yet now she seemed to be disinterested. And so did he. It was mystifying to me because they were both so gorgeous and toxic, you'd think there would be an automatic attraction. Who could figure out these things?

Bai mingled for another twenty minutes and seemed to cause sparks with everyone he spoke with. Then he reconnected with Crane, chuckled about something, patted his big brother on the back, and took off.

“Your reaction?”

I turned to find Derek standing inches away. “Honestly?” I said. “I feel awful to say it, but he's horrible. Did Crane invite him?”

“Yes. He asked me if I minded and of course I couldn't refuse
him. He truly thinks Bai has mended his ways. I was surprised he stayed as long as he did. This really isn't his kind of crowd.”

“Not at all,” I muttered. “He thinks we're all uptight.”

“Some of us are,” Derek admitted with a shrug, “but that doesn't mean he's allowed to insult my people.”

“I was watching him, and judging from the reactions of some people, I think he just went from group to group spreading turmoil.”

“I'm sure I'll hear stories on Monday.”

“I'm sure you will.”

He gazed across the room to where Crane was chatting and laughing with several of Derek's partners. “For now, I just hope Crane was happy to see him.”

“He seemed to be.”

Derek glanced around, then whispered, “Are you ready to go home?”

“I'll stay as long as you want to.”

He took hold of my hand. “I want to go home.”

“What about Crane?”

“Will and his wife are going to take him out to dinner, wine and dine him, as you Yanks say.” Will was one of Derek's most valued partners. He had moved here from London last year and we had spent a few fun evenings with him and his wife.

“Then he's in good hands,” I said. “But you know as soon as you leave, the party will break up.”

“Darling, I'm the boss. As soon as I leave, the party will finally get started.”

I chuckled. “Then I guess we should leave so people can start having fun.”

He squeezed my hand. “Let's get out of here.”

•   •   •

The next afternoon, Derek and I walked across the hall to Vinnie and Suzie's apartment for baby Lily's party. There were already about thirty people mingling in the wide-open space they'd turned into a combination workshop and gallery for their sculptures. Their work was always revelatory, but their newest sculpture was phenomenal. It was a ten-foot-tall woman made entirely of thin pieces of wood curled and shaped into this stunning human form. I admit I ignored everyone in the room to stare and study it for a good fifteen minutes.

“So, what do you think?” Suzie said.

I blinked a few times and turned to look at her. “Are you kidding me? It's sensational. You guys are geniuses.”

“It's a remarkable work, Suzie,” Derek added.

“How do you do it?” I wondered.

She gave each of us a tight hug. “That's all I wanted to hear. Thanks, Brooklyn. Derek. Come and have one of our signature cocktails.”

“You have a signature cocktail? That's pretty fancy.”

She grinned, grabbed hold of both my and Derek's arms, and led us past the long buffet table covered with delicious-looking goodies and over to the open kitchen, where a cocktail bar had been set up, complete with bartender. “We call it Lily Vanilli and it's delicious. Very sweet, in case you didn't catch the drift.”

“I caught it,” I said, laughing. “I'll try one, but I might have to switch to something else afterward.”

“That's probably the safest thing to do.”

The creamy concoction was made with vanilla ice cream, of course, along with vodka, cream of coconut, almond liqueur, and a cherry on top.

The party was a lavish affair and the guest of honor—adorable in a fluffy pink dress with matching shoes and a bow in her hair—was thrilled with all the attention. Especially when Gabriel walked in, crossed the room, and picked her up. She just stared at him and made an adorable cooing sound. What girl wouldn't when Gabriel was holding her in his arms? The two of them had bonded early on, the first time we ever met Lily. It was a dark and stormy night, naturally, but Lily warmed our hearts immediately.

We all mingled and chatted about everything under the sun. Vinnie cornered me to ask about the murder. Just as I had suspected, everyone in the building knew about the attempted break-in and the subsequent death of Goose.

“You poor thing,” she said, and hugged me.

“It was pretty awful. I feel so bad for that man.”

“Your parents actually thought they knew him?”

“Yes. They were mortified and guilt-ridden when they found out the truth.”

“Your parents have such generous souls. They should not take the blame for bringing this man into a warm home if only for one night.”

“That's what I told Mom.”

“Good.” She glanced around, caught Suzie's gaze, and nodded. “Will you help me, Brooklyn? I want to gather everyone into the living room to open presents and have cake.”

“Sure.” I moved around the room, telling each cluster of friends that it was time for presents and dessert.