Triple Diamonds (Mystic Nights Book 2)
Book 2 of The Mystic Nights series
By
MJ Nightingale
Triple Diamonds Copyright © 2016 MJ Nightingale
Published by MJ Nightingale
Kindle Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.
This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Published: MJ Nightingale February, 2016
Editing: Keriann McKenna
Cover Design © Melissa Gill at MG BookCovers
Photography and Cover Image: CJC Photography
Cover Model: Lance Jones
Formatting by: Paul Salvette BB eBooks
This book is intended for a mature audience of eighteen and older.
The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.
‡
A
liya danced in
her fiancé’s arms. The smaller ballroom in Tower One had been decorated festively for the engagement party Tawny had planned.
“Are you sure you want to wait until September?” Jonathan asked as he effortlessly twirled Aliya around the dance floor.
She laughed. “I didn’t want to rush it. You?” she confessed. She’d been having those same thoughts all week.
“I didn’t want to rush
you
. When you said, let’s wait for the baby . . . I just thought that’s what you wanted.”
“Well, it’s all happened so fast, and then I thought to give your family time. . .”
Jonathan interrupted her. “What’s one more surprise?” he nuzzled her neck. “They’ve gotten to know you better these past two weeks, as have I with your family. Let’s just do it.”
“Really?” Her eyes flooded with emotion.
He pulled back to gaze into their depths. “Why not? I know this is forever. Plus, I really like the thought of us being married when this little one arrives. He reached down to her flat stomach which was just starting to expand with his child.
Aliya nodded through her tears. “When?” she asked. She had been regretting the decision and was thrilled when he suggested not waiting.
“Next week,” he stated bluntly. “We’ll keep it small, just our families.”
“Do you think your Mom will be okay with that?”
“Most assuredly.” He glanced at his mother across the room. Dawn and Eve were by her side. He waved at her and she waved back watching her son proudly. Joseph was approaching and took his mother’s hand, indicating the dance floor.
Tawny graciously accepted and they joined some of the other couples. Joseph smoothly maneuvered his mother so they danced near Jonathan and Aliya.
“Mom,” Jonathan craned his neck in his mother’s direction. “We decided not to wait. Small wedding. Next week. Just the two families.”
His mother shook her head and laughed. “Of course, Jonathan. Anything you say. Still full of surprises.” She had secretly hoped they would change their minds.
Tawny happily allowed Joseph to twirl her under his arm. He too was an excellent dancer. Both her sons were. Just like their father.
Joseph congratulated the couple, and when the song ended he brought his mother back to where she had been standing with his two sisters.
She thanked him for the dance. “I guess your next dance will be as mother of the groom,” he teased her. Both Dawn and Eve gave him questioning looks, and Tawny quickly filled them in on what the couple had decided.
Both girls were ecstatic, thrilled to have Aliya and their new niece or nephew as part of their family.
They headed to the dance floor together when the next song started. It was a fast one, by Levi Stryker. And they both loved his music.
Joseph stood beside his mother, watching his sisters join Jonathan and Aliya on the dance floor.
“You did an excellent job with the party. The food was fabulous tonight, wasn’t it? The new chef did a superior job.”
“Yes, he did. And that reminds me. I have not thanked him yet. Can you go do that for me, son? I want to stay a while longer. It makes my heart glad to see these two starting their life together.” Her eyes were fixated on the young couple whose lives were finally headed in the right direction. A life she’d never gotten the chance to live. She hoped her other children found their mates soon.
“Of course, Mom. I’ll be back in a bit,” Joseph stated as he bent to give her cheek a quick kiss.
He left the ballroom and headed through a door in the back that led to one of the many kitchens at
Mystic Nights
. The noise of the clean-up was well under way. He found the new head chef calling orders and directing some of the night staff as to what needed to be done to be ready for tomorrow. He was very imposing, but effective, too. The kitchen bustled with activity.
Joseph stopped to thank several of the workers until he reached Louis, the French chef they had hired three months ago.
“It was my pleasure to cook for the family tonight,” Louis bowed slightly and graciously accepted the compliments Joseph extended on behalf of his mother. “My new sous chef, well, she is quite talented. She helped make everything a smashing success.”
Ah yes, Joseph remembered that after only one week in their employ, Louis had requested the old sous chef be sent to one of the other kitchens. He couldn’t work with him. They feared they had hired a Prima Donna. But since there had been no further incidents in the kitchen, their worries had subsided. Louis wanted to hire someone of his own choosing to fill that position. Joseph hadn’t met the woman yet.
“Then I should thank her, too,” Joseph stated as he shook the older Frenchman’s hand in parting.
“She is near the back,” Louis stated, dismissing him as he turned to finish coordinating the cleaning of his kitchen. The man was exacting and precise. The hotel’s cuisine was getting even more rave reviews since he started, and he was drawing in food critics and new business.
Joseph made his way towards the refrigerators which were near the service entrance where the deliveries were made for all of their produce and food. He noticed the door ajar to the outside, but did not see the new sous chef anywhere. He didn’t even know what she looked like.
He peered outside into the night.
He saw movement by a small car, an old blue beat up Nova. The trunk was popped open, and a young woman with a fall of midnight black hair was lifting a crate into the back.
That was odd, he thought. Why was she taking food meant for
The Mystic
? He went out the door despite not having his jacket. He had removed it inside and not thought to put it back on. Although it was March, it seemed the winter was not done with them yet in Connecticut.
As he got closer, he was becoming more perplexed as the young woman bent over and lifted two more crates labelled with
The Mystic
insignia and placed them into the trunk of her car. Her backside was nice to look at was another of his initial thoughts. But then his suspicious nature was back in place.
If this was the sous chef that Louis had hired, what was she doing putting things into a car, instead of bringing them in?
He couldn’t make out what was in the crates, but they were clearly labelled.
He was about twenty feet away when she spotted him. She jumped and was clearly startled. It was made even more evident when her arm reached up to grasp the trunk and she banged it closed with a resounding clash that rent the night air.
“Excuse me,” he spoke first. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” He spoke the words softly. He tried to keep the suspicion out of his voice.
“Well, you did,” she snapped. Her dark brown eyes sparkled in fear, or bewilderment. “You really shouldn’t sneak up on a person like that. At night. A woman alone.” She was angry.
With him?
She glanced at her car briefly, lowering her eyelashes, the little black fans showcasing her classic beauty. But soon those snapping eyes gazed upon him once more. She was a tiny thing, but stood tall before him. She didn’t back down.
He stood across from her now. Just a few feet away. She recovered, and placed both of her hands on her generous hips. He couldn’t help but glance at that part of her body one more time. The girl had curves. All of the important ones. He liked what he saw. He could tell she was native, too. Her olive skin and her strong cheekbones identified her as Pequot.
“I’m sorry. I was looking for the new sous chef. My mother wanted me to thank the kitchen staff for the excellent work in preparing the food for my brother’s engagement party.”
Her eyes went round. She recognized the man before her now. She had been too startled before. “You’re Joseph Sassacus,” she stated the obvious, and reached her hand out to him. “Well, you’ve found me then, I’m the sous chef, Jewel Diamante.” His smirk at her name caused butterflies to swirl in her stomach. He was massive. A brick wall. But incredibly handsome.
Jonathan took her small hand in his. The woman was shorter than him by at least eight inches. He was six foot tall.
When her small hand slid into his, he looked down at it. Not because she was so slight, but because he felt a bolt of electricity pass through him. He knew he was attracted to her. That much was obvious. But the current that passed between them shocked him.
Before he could contemplate it further, she was quickly withdrawing her hand. He recovered. “Well then,” he glanced back to her face. It was heart shaped. Adorable, framed by long, thick dark hair that flowed past her shoulders, a few strands against her ample chest. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied shifting from one foot to the other. She looked nervous all of a sudden. And that reminded Joseph of what he had just witnessed. He scrutinized her more closely. He gave her time to explain what she was doing before he asked. She had been taking items from the kitchen and had placed them into her car. When she didn’t respond, he glanced pointedly once more at her car wondering what exactly she had been taking. One of the toughest things to control in a casino this large was theft. Both small, and large. Despite best efforts to control it, the casino had plenty of it going on. And most often it was the staff taking the stuff themselves.
She noticed his gaze and his questioning look.
Oh, my.
He thought she was stealing. She became angry and embarrassed all at the same time. Her words came out in a rush. “I was taking the expired items to the food pantry, Mr. Sassacus,” she quickly lied.
