Nothing To Lose: A Grey Justice Novel (31 page)

Turning to the woman who’d just saved his ass, he gave her an admiring look. “Once again, you’ve managed to earn my admiration.”

“Maybe one day I’ll earn my freedom.”

Holding out his hand to her, he watched her glide elegantly toward him. When she placed her hand in his, he brought it to his mouth, savoring the soft, delicacy of her skin. Then, knowing she wouldn’t refuse, he pulled her back to the bedroom for another few hours of bliss in Irelyn’s arms.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Kennedy went about her day as if Nick’s cold rejection hadn’t crushed her. A chaotic childhood had created an adult who craved routine. Today, despite her bruised heart, was no exception. Saturdays were housecleaning days.

She and Thomas had made a game of it. Each of them had chores of their own, and the one who finished first got to pick the movie they would rent or go see that night. That had worked fine until the day she caught him stuffing clothes under the bed so he could win. The expression on his face had been priceless—like a little boy who’d been caught in a lie. Even now she could smile at the memory.

Thomas.
This morning she’d had her last conversation with him. Maybe it was silly, but she’d felt the need to say goodbye again. Last night had been a turning point for her. She would always love Thomas, and he would be forever in her heart as her first love. But she’d felt that her night with Nick had been closure in a way and a new beginning.
 

Too bad Nick hadn’t felt the same way.

Shaking her head at the mystery of the man she’d thought she knew, Kennedy put away the vacuum cleaner and turned back to take stock. There was really nothing left to do. This house was half the size of the one she and Thomas had shared, with probably less than a fourth of the belongings she’d once had.
 

When she had moved here, setting up a home had been for appearance’s sake only. It was the place she slept, ate and did her private research on the Slaters. Now, maybe because of Nick, she realized how incredibly barren her life had become.
 

She shook off the odd sense of emptiness. She still had a purpose, and until her goal was accomplished, this was her life.

A stomach rumble reminded her that coffee and juice were all she’d had since dinner last night. She headed to the kitchen, pulled open the pantry door and stared, undecided. She needed to eat, but the thought of making something just for one held no attraction. Her hand on a box of cereal, she heard the key in the front door and froze. Nick was home.

Refusing to run to greet him in the hopes that he’d lost his disagreeable mood, Kennedy stayed put. She told herself that standing and staring at the open pantry was a good, “normal” look for her. Nick didn’t need to know that she was looking at nothing.

“Hey.”

She turned and faced him, holding her breath. He did look less forbidding, but not by much.

“Hey yourself,” she said.

He held up a pizza box. “I brought lunch…if you’re interested.”

“Sounds delicious. I was just contemplating a bowl of cereal.”

In silence, as if they’d done this a thousand times, she went about setting the table with plates and forks while Nick poured each of them a glass of soda. They sat at the table and began to eat. She was halfway through her second slice when she took the time to note that her favorite toppings were on one side and what were apparently his favorites on the other.
 

“How did you know that mushrooms, black olives, and ham were my favorite toppings?”

His broad shoulder lifted in a shrug. “Have a good memory.”

She couldn’t name the number of times she and Thomas might have shared a pizza with Nick in the past. However, for him to remember something so insignificant was incredibly sweet.

“Thank you. It’s delicious.”

That earned her an acknowledging grunt but not much more. Subtle attempts at getting him to talk were apparently not going to work. Fine. Before her mind had been blown by his admission of love last night and the incredible events afterward, they had been discussing Grey Justice’s past. Their argument had yet to be settled.

“I’ve given a lot of thought to those articles you found, and I’m still not convinced there could be any connection between them and Grey.”

“That right?”

“Yes. He wouldn’t have been much more than a teenager. It’s ridiculous that—”

“I’ve already talked to him about it. He confirmed my suspicions.”

The thought that he might not have told her anything if she hadn’t brought it up was disturbing. Tabling that for later, she said, “How did he know them?”

Instead of answering her question, he shot her a quizzical look. “You’re not shocked…appalled that Justice is connected to two murder victims?”

“Not much shocks me anymore. And appalled? That would mean that I thought Grey ruthlessly murdered them. I don’t.”

“You don’t think the man is ruthless?”

“I have no doubt he’s ruthless. I don’t, however, believe he’s a ruthless murderer.”

“Why? Because he’s helping you?”

“I’ve told you before that I know he has his reasons for wanting to get Mathias and Adam. But he could do that on his own. He didn’t need to involve me.”

He considered her for several more seconds and then said, “I admire your faith in people, especially after what you’ve gone through.” Before she could respond, he went on, “But I’m not willing to gamble on your safety.”

“And what does that mean?”

“Simply that Justice knows you’re the only one I care about in this project. No matter what happens, you stay safe. End of story.”

How could he say that…look at her in that piercing, intense way of his, and act the way he had this morning? It made no sense.

“So Grey knew these people. How?”

“Apparently, they were Irelyn’s parents, who worked for an organization similar to the one Justice has now. They were killed, Justice and Irelyn came to the U.S.”

“How sad for Irelyn. I didn’t realize she and Grey had been together that long.”

“I told him we had agreed to their new plan.”

“I’m glad you said yes. If this will get me inside Adam’s place faster, then it’s what we need to do.”

Nick dropped a half-eaten slice of pizza on his plate and stood. “I’m going out for a while. Need anything?”

Apparently, their talk was over. Unable to stop herself, she asked a question for which she wasn’t sure she wanted an answer. “About last night. Can we talk about what happened?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. We had sex.”

“And that’s all it was to you? Sex?”

“Look. We got carried away. It was good…even great. But we need to keep our minds on the reason we’re here. This is for Thomas. Remember?”

“Don’t patronize me, Nick. I know damn well why we’re here.” She stood and said with as much dignity as possible, “You’re right. It was just sex. And people say things they don’t mean all the time. It meant nothing.”

She turned her back and began to wash out her plate in the sink. She knew he was still there…knew he was staring at her back. She willed him to say something…say anything that would indicate that last night had meant more to him than just sex.
 

“I’ll call you before I come home…see if you need anything.”

She closed her eyes against threatening tears. She shouldn’t have expected more.

“And you’re wrong, Kennedy. It wasn’t just sex. And everything I said last night, I meant.”

She whirled and faced an empty room. Seconds later, the roar of his motorcycle told her he was gone once more.

Chapter Twenty-eight

“What’s your problem, O’Connell?”

Kennedy jerked her attention back to the woman in front of her. She’d been less than attentive this afternoon and had tried Irelyn’s patience more than once.

“Sorry. Just have a lot on my mind.”

“Oh, really? Gee, sorry if finding justice for your husband’s murder is getting in the way of your other social obligations.”

The stinging barb went deep. Kennedy opened her mouth to defend herself and then stopped. Irelyn was right. Pining over a man who obviously didn’t know the meaning of love and commitment was a useless thing to do. This and only this should be her priority.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. Can we go over that one more time?”

She had to hand it to the woman. Irelyn wasn’t one to hold a grudge. She simply nodded and repeated what she had said earlier, “The evening will begin at seven with cocktails in the grand parlor.” She pointed to a large area on the diagram. “Dinner will be served at eight here in the formal dining room.” Again, she pointed to the dining room on the diagram.

The entire floor plan for Adam Slater’s twenty-six-room mansion lay before them. After almost two weeks of absolutely no progress, things were finally about to heat up. Two days after they’d made the decision to up the ante on enticing Adam, he and his wife, along with Mathias and Eleanor Slater, had left the country. Mathias and his wife took a trip each year at this time, but Eli had said this was the first time Adam and his wife had accompanied them. The news of their departure had put a considerable damper on their plans.

Not wanting the weeks to be a total waste, she and Eli had officially become “an item.” And even though the aim was only to establish themselves as a twosome, she discovered that she was enjoying herself. Pretend dating didn’t have the pressures of real dating. There was no need to worry about whether he would kiss her or expect something from her. Anything remotely romantic was done in front of as many people as possible to make an impression. So far, that had been only some handholding, and once he’d kissed her cheek in front of some Slater House employees. Eli said nothing got the rumor mill going faster than a little office romance.

One thing she hadn’t expected was how much she had come to genuinely like Eli Slater. Despite his wealth and evil relatives, he was a kind, considerate man with a surprisingly down to earth take on life. If she hadn’t been so hung up on Mr. Tall, Dark and Grimm, she might have wished for something deeper.
 

Things were about to get even grimmer. Adam was now home and had called Eli with an invitation to a formal dinner for some business associates from Italy. And not just any associates. From what Grey had said, these men were Mafia, through and through, and would have made Tony Soprano look like a choirboy.

“How long will the dinner last?”

“The main meal…at least two hours. The evening is designed to impress. My source says there are twelve courses. Adam is flying in a chef and his staff from a restaurant in New York to prepare the meal.”

Twelve courses. That kind of meal was beyond Kennedy’s knowledge. Fortunately, once they finished reviewing the house plans, Irelyn would go over what would occur during dinner. Heaven forbid she picked up the wrong fork.

“So the dinner will be over at ten or so. What’s after that?”

Irelyn pointed to another room. “This is the formal parlor, where after-dinner drinks will be served. Women will congregate in one part of the room, men in the other.”

“That seems very archaic. Even if these men are little more than thugs, are wives always pushed aside?”

“Probably. Machismo is alive and well in the Mafia. However, these women aren’t wives, they’re mistresses. The men rarely bring their spouses. The business trips are thinly veiled opportunities to travel with their insignificant others, while their wives and children stay oblivious and at home.”

Correctly interpreting Kennedy’s look of disapproval, Irelyn laughed softly. “You’ll soon learn that mistresses can be much more valuable when gathering information. A powerful man will say certain things to his lover that he would never tell his wife.”

Having the opportunity to be separated from the men was a good thing, then. While she was listening to the women chatter, hopefully she could pick up something useful. And Eli would be doing the same with the men.
 

The reason behind the dinner was unclear, as was Adam’s invitation to Eli. The brothers rarely saw each other socially. Everyone agreed on one thing—Adam was up to no good. Was he about to enter into something illegal with the Mafia? If so, could they discover something worthwhile that would finally put a stop to the bastard?

“And there are eighteen guests coming?”

“Yes. Not including you and Eli, along with Adam and his wife.”

“What about Nick? When will he arrive?”

“As soon as everyone is seated for dinner.”

According to Eli, any proof that Adam had ordered Thomas’s death or documentation of any other illegal activities he was involved in would be in his house. Eli hadn’t added, but had made it clear, that someone had already conducted a thorough search of his brother’s office and found nothing.
 

While she and Eli were listening to idle chatter with the hope of picking up something they could use, Nick would be breaking into the mansion and searching Adam’s office. If caught—she shivered at the thought—he would play Rachel Walker’s jealous ex-lover and demand to see her. When she protested that no one would believe such a lame excuse, she was told it was up to her and Nick to be convincing enough to make it plausible.