Twice the Temptation (45 page)

 
He’d been wondering whether moving the dinner party to Rawley Park during the first week of the gem exhibit might be a bad idea, but once Richard saw Samantha in one of the red dresses she bought just because he liked them, he stopped doubting. It was a very, very good idea.

 
And she’d worn her new diamond necklace, when
she rarely wore any jewelry. He’d learned that several months ago when she’d informed him that she tended not to put on anything that might fall off during a robbery. Other people probably thought she was just modest.

 
“What are you grinning at?” she asked, as they descended the staircase together.

 
“Just thinking about later,” he improvised. “Apparently I’m getting lucky.”

 
“Like that’s a surprise. I’m going to go check in on Harrington for a sec, and see if I can find a way to lock Larson in his room.”

 
He released her hand. “I, ah, invited him to dinner.”

 
Her eyes narrowed. “You what?”

 
“He’s staying here, Sam. I couldn’t exclude him.”

 
“Yes, you damn well could have. Forget about getting lucky, your lordship. That’s only for the guy who doesn’t invite the idiot cop to eat dinner with us.”

 
Frowning, he watched her glide across the foyer to the sound of her heels faintly clicking. High heels were something else she generally avoided while working, but she looked very tasty in them. That was his Samantha, petite, graceful, able to blend in perfectly to fit any occasion, and still standing out to someone who knew what to look for. And packing more punch than an angry rhino when she was mad.

 
“Hey, Rick,” Tom Donner’s low drawl came, and he turned around. The attorney appeared from the direction of the garden, a bag bearing the All That Glitters logo in his hand.

 
“Tom.” Rick shook his free hand. “You visited Samantha’s exhibit, I see.”

 
Donner glanced down at the bag. “Olivia asked me to bring her home one of the programs.”

 
“Samantha would have given you one.”

 
“Oh, no. Livia said specifically that I had to buy it in order to support the charities getting money for the exhibit.”

 
“Your daughter is a great philanthropist.”

 
“Yeah, for a ten-year-old.”

 
Grinning, Richard patted Tom on the shoulder. “Let me walk you back to your room.”

 
“I don’t know.” He looked from his polo shirt and jacket to Richard’s attire. “You kind of make me look bad right now.”

 
“Do you need a tux?”

 
“No, I brought mine. I just don’t like to fly in it.”

 
The two men headed up the main staircase and for the nearest rooms on the north wing. “Did you find anything out about Bryce Shepherd?” Richard asked once they were well out of Samantha’s earshot.

 
“His file looks a lot like Jellicoe’s,” Donner returned. “He practically doesn’t exist. A possible suspect in a couple of cat burglaries, mostly in Italy, Spain, and here, but that’s it.”

 
“Does he work alone?”

 
The attorney slowed. “Is there any reason in particular you’re asking me that question?”

 
At least Samantha’s name hadn’t been linked on paper to Shepherd’s, or Tom would have been all over the information. “I asked because I want to know if the bloke lurking about the exhibit works with a partner. Is there anything else you’d like to know before you give me the information I asked for?”

 
“Don’t get testy. My question was legit, and you know it. After all, Jellicoe’s dead dad showed up in New York a couple of months ago and wanted to work with her. This Shepherd’s still alive.”

 
“Tom, I’m not going to ask you ag—”

 
“A couple of the thefts in the U.K. that might have been his work might have been the work of more than one thief. That’s all the file said, and that’s all I know. Sheesh.”

 
“Was that so difficult?” Richard asked, not certain whether he was relieved or not.

 
“After a five-hour plane trip? Yeah. You could have threatened me over the phone.”

 
“You’re here for the dinner. The threats were just convenient. Go change. I’ll have some champagne out on the sitting room terrace while we wait for everyone.”

 
“And some bourbon, I hope.”

 
“For you, yes.”

 
“Good.”

 
Richard went into the sitting room as two members of his staff took glasses and champagne out to a linen-covered table on the terrace. “Some bourbon for Mr. Donner, too, if you please,” he said, taking a seat close to the stone balustrade while the two women lit the lanterns sitting at the center of each of the tables.

 
As the servers left the terrace, one of the mounted guards hired by Samantha rode by, saluted, and continued on in the direction of the stable. Richard blew out his breath. From the outside, his life looked like a bloody paradise. On the inside, the picture was a little different.

 
Yes, he’d never been happier. Life with Samantha had a way of altering his perspective on…well, on everything. He spent fewer hours working now, and more just enjoying himself. And he could certainly afford private helicopters and airplanes and long weekends in the Caribbean. But while before he’d taken certain things
for granted—that his cameras and alarms would keep his possessions safe, that his amusements would be tangled in with the flash of cameras and the hounding by reporters—it was all so much more complicated now.

 
Previous to Sam, he’d had no idea that a thief could do the things she did. And while he’d discovered and witnessed enough to know that very few others were as skilled as she was, there were a couple of them out there. A few thieves who could match her, catch her, hurt her. Thieves who knew more about her past than he probably ever would. Thieves like Bryce Shepherd.

 
He shook himself. Tonight was a celebration, not a retrospective on all his worries and nightmares. He checked his watch. His minions, as Samantha called them, would begin arriving within the next twenty minutes or so. Which gave him that time to do something he rarely ever did—nothing.

 
Sipping the glass of champagne he’d snagged, he looked out over the lake. The swans were close by, ready for their evening feed—though they looked perfectly plump and happy to him. A couple of traveling ducks had joined them, probably having gotten word of a free meal. Richard grinned to himself. Everybody could celebrate tonight.

 
“Good evening, Mr. Addison.”

 
So much for the relaxing moment of nothing. He steadied his expression before he turned his head. “Inspector. Or I suppose I should ask how you would like to be introduced tonight.”

 
“Henry Larson of the V & A will be fine,” the inspector returned. “I don’t wanteveryone knowing that I’ve staked out the exhibit.”

 
“Any leads or further information on who your potential burglar might be?” Richard asked, pasting on
his pleasant businessman expression and gesturing at a neighboring chair. This was for Samantha, he told himself. He could talk to an idiot for five minutes for her sake.

 
“Not a thing. I thought the cat toy might be a clue, but Miss Jellicoe seems convinced that it was some teenagers from the village.”

 
“She’s fairly good at figuring those things out.”

 
Larson cleared his throat. “That brings something to mind. May I speak candidly for a moment?”

 
“Of course.”

 
“I was somewhat surprised that the V & A would grant you the honor of holding the exhibit here. The—”

 
Richard straightened. “I beg your pardon?”

 
“No, no, I don’t mean to offend. I only meant because of the theft of some of your paintings late last year.”

 
“That was an inside job, as they call it,” Richard returned stiffly. “Someone who’d been in my employ for ten years got greedy. And it happened in Florida. Not here.”

 
“Yes, I see. And what about Miss Jellicoe?”

 
Anger began to creep through Richard’s muscles. “What about her?” he asked quietly.

 
“Well, she is the daughter of a renowned cat burglar. Trusting her with a multimillion-pound collection of gemstones seems somewhat…careless.”

 
Richard leaned forward, putting his palms flat on the table. “Where you come from, Mr. Larson, is it customary for a guest to insult his host and hostess?”

 
“No. I’m just saying, it makes one wonder what—”

 
“So, Inspector,” he interrupted, and took a drink of champagne, “have you been enjoying your stay here?”

 
“Yes. Yes, I have. You—”

 
“And do you believe that I could steer your law enforcement career in a direction you might not find entirely agreeable?”

 
Larson’s face reddened. “The—well, I have a job t—”

 
“With that in mind,” Richard continued, ignoring the attempts at an explanation he had no interest in hearing, anyway, “I suggest you exercise a bit more discretion when you speak of the lady of the house.”

 
“Well, you have to admit, she does have a—”

 
“Given that her father was a very successful thief, Samantha has made it a point to study various security measures and methods. She is an expert in that field, in fact. That is the beginning and the end of your contact with and interest in her. If I hear another word about the possibility of her guilt by association, I will see you ticketing parked cars in Piccadilly. Is that clear?”

 
“Very clear, sir.”

 
“Good. Why don’t you trot down to the security room and make certain that everything’s shipshape before my guests arrive?”

 
The inspector bolted to his feet, his face darkening further and his expression a mixture of mortification, fear, and fury. As soon as he was gone, Richard rose to find Samantha leaning against the sitting room doorframe and gazing out over the lake.

 
He handed her a glass of champagne and toasted it with his own. “Pleasant fellow, really—once you get to know him.”

 
She snorted. “Christ, Rick, you nearly made me wetmy pants. You are so cool.”

 
“And don’t you forget it.”

 
Chapter 12

 
Monday, 8:27 p.m.

 
Maybe Rick had been right about the NightshadeDiamond, after all.

 
He stood at the head of the huge dinner table, everyone rising to their feet in response, and lifted his glass. “To us,” he said with his warm smile. “May we have as much success in the next months as we’ve had in the previous ones.”