Chosen by Desire (33 page)

“You promised, though,” Gabe said. “We all heard.”

“No kidding. I’m not going to go back on my word.” She just had to figure out who it was without putting her loved ones in danger. “Not that I’m ungrateful or anything, but would it be okay if I head out now? I need to see how much was damaged and what can be salvaged.”

Gabe snapped her fingers. “I’ll help.”

“You—”

“Don’t even think of protesting, babe. I’m going to help, and you’ll thank me for it.”

“And you’re eating breakfast before you go.” Brian’s body language was like a challenge.

“Okay. You guys win.” She sat down on a counter stool. “You’re a tough crowd.”

“Only because we love you,” Rhys said, tugging on her ponytail again.

She rolled her eyes, but underneath she glowed with warmth. Which, under the circumstances, was pretty amazing.

H
er apartment was uninhabitable.

Carrie’s heart sank the moment she walked in. Her kitchen was a husk, and her bathroom only slightly better off. Most of her possessions were reduced to ashes. Her books and papers—incinerated. The only thing intact was her new door, and even that had streaks of black on it.

She kicked up some soot on her way to the closet. The few pieces of salvageable clothing reeked of smoke so badly that no amount of washing would ever remove the smell.

“Demoralizing,” she mumbled, dropping a singed sweater she’d loved on the floor with the rest of the debris.

“It’s not so bad.” As Gabe swung open a cabinet door in the kitchen, it broke off in her hand. Shrugging, she propped it on the floor. “This place needed a remodel anyway. It was a dump.”

“Thanks,” Carrie said dryly, turning around.

Her friend joined her in the middle of the studio, bending to pick up what was left of a book spine. “
The Rise and Fall of Imperial China.
Sounds riveting. Not.”

“Thank God I had my laptop and most of my notes with me.” Carrie bit her lip, overwhelmed by the damage. In the light of day, it looked devastating. “What am I going to do? It’ll take weeks to get the apartment habitable. Not that it makes any difference, because I doubt Ross will let me continue to live here with everything that’s happened.”

“Just because of the fire?”

And the break-in. She was a liability, even for a rundown apartment complex in the Tenderloin. Except Gabe didn’t know about the previous incidents, and she wanted to keep it that way.

Someone knocked on the door, saving her from replying.

Gabe’s brow furrowed. “You expecting someone?”

“Maybe it’s Rhys?”

“He had a meeting this afternoon.”

“Maybe he sent Brian.” Carrie brushed her hands on her jeans and went to open the door.

Max filled the doorway, his face as stern and beautiful as ever. “Hello, Carrie.”

Shock froze her vocal cords.

Something crackled in the air, and Gabe gasped. Her friend blinked once, and then her nose twitched like she scented something bad. Then she hissed, “You bastard.”

Carrie knew if she wasn’t blocking the doorway her friend would have launched herself at Max. She sighed, dreading this encounter. “Gabe, I don’t think you’ve actually met Maximillian Prescott. Max, this is Gabrielle Sansouci.”

Max’s expression chilled dangerously. Carrie groaned, but before she could tell them to knock it off, Max stepped into her apartment, brushing Gabe’s arm.

“Bastard,” Gabe spat again.

Oh, God. If she didn’t do something, Carrie had a feeling they were going to have a showdown. And she didn’t much look forward to picking up their broken pieces when they were done.

Stepping between them, she pushed them apart. “Stop it, guys.”

Max frowned at her. “What’s wrong with your voice?”

“As if you don’t know.” Gabe glared at him. “And if you came to finish where you left off, I can tell you, this”—she waved at the blackened mess—“is the last bit of havoc you wreak in Carrie’s life.”

Carrie watched him look around them. His face became stonier as he took in the charred remains of the apartment. She put a hand on his arm, hoping to stem the impending eruption. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

“No, it was worse.” Gabe’s gaze shot daggers at him. “She arrived here in the middle of a burning inferno.”

Carrie sighed. “That’s not helping, Gabe.”

“You came home to a fire?” He turned his icy attention back to Gabe. “Who’s to say Rhys didn’t do this?”

Gabe swelled with anger. “You
bastard.
He’d
never
hurt her. Unlike some people I’ve heard of.”

“Stop,” Carrie commanded. “Really. The culprit here is a gas leak.”

“A gas leak someone manufactured.” Gabe glared at him. “Carrie wants to believe this was random, but none of the rest of us buy it. Not even the police.”

“Neither do I.” The way he looked at Carrie, she could tell he was remembering the pier. Surprisingly, Max directed his next question at Gabe. “The police were here?”

“As luck would have it, a homicide inspector was with Carrie when she arrived home.”

Max turned his flinty gaze on Carrie. She read the jealously there but didn’t bother to justify herself. If he really did trust her, he’d have to prove it. “A fire was bound to happen here. This building is rundown even by Tenderloin standards. I doubt it’s up to code in anything.”

“I beg to disagree,” a gravelly voice sounded from behind Max.

Carrie groaned.
Rick.
Just the sort of help she didn’t need. She dropped her head in her hands.

“This should be interesting,” Gabe murmured.

She lifted her head and looked at her friend incredulously.

Gabe shrugged, her mouth quirking in amusement for the first time since Max arrived. “It’s the simple things that make life fun.”

“This is not going to be fun,” Carrie whispered, watching the way Max and Rick checked each other out.

“I don’t believe we’ve met.” Max’s cool voice was everything but polite as he held his hand out. “Maximillian Prescott. A
friend
of Carrie’s.”

She groaned again, feeling her cheeks flame at the way he said it. Like they had some kind of lurid thing going on. Which was hardly the case.

Rick took Max’s hand, studying him in his intense way. Finally, he nodded. “Inspector Ramirez, homicide detail. Also a friend of Carrie’s.”

“Okay, back off, guys.” She stepped between them and pushed them apart, a hand on each of their chests.

Max pressed his hand over hers and stepped back so she couldn’t reach Rick. She glanced at Rick, whose expression was tinged with amusement. She frowned at him, annoyed that he was feeding into Max’s territorial jealousy.

Max turned her to face him. “Tell me what happened.”

She looked into his eyes, surprised at the depth of concern there. She’d expected to see the usual slate wall, impenetrable and veiled. Before, he’d shown true emotion only while they made love—blazing hot and seething emotion.

Don’t think about that,
she commanded herself, feeling her face burn.

He cocked his eyebrow, which made her flush even more.

Gabe cleared her throat. “Seems crowded suddenly. Think I’ll wait outside.”

“You don’t have to wait.” Carrie smiled reassuringly. “Really.”

“Okay, but call me if you need anything.” Gabe stepped up to her and awkwardly patted her shoulder. “Brian gave you a key to the house, right?”

“Yeah.” Carrie hugged her with her free arm. “Thanks for everything.”

“This made it all worthwhile.” She flashed a cocky grin and turned to Max. “One false move and I’ll pull your gonads out through your mouth.”

His eyes narrowed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good.” She turned to Rick, her expression going cautious. “Any word, Ramirez?”

“I was about to ask you the same.”

“If you’re waiting for my brother to contact me, you’re never going to catch him. I’m outta here.” Gabe pushed past the inspector and strode down the hall.

Carrie watched the way Rick stared after her friend, with two parts suspicion and one interest. Not that she could blame him—Gabe was stunning.

Max must have noticed where Rick’s curiosity lay, because his grip on her became slightly less possessive. Ever so slightly.

Rick turned back to them. “I just came to see how you’re doing, Carrie. It doesn’t look as bad as I thought it’d be.”

“How bad was it?” The chill anger in Max’s voice made her shudder.

“Just smoky.” She patted his arm reassuringly.

Rick’s lips twitched with humor. “I talked to the arson task force and they have no leads. I’m glad you’ll be staying with Ms. Sansouci. It’ll be safer for you there until we figure out if this was a random act or targeted.”

“I haven’t figured out where I’ll be yet. I don’t want to impose on them.”

Max stepped forward. “I’ll make sure she’s taken care of. Thank you for your concern, Inspector.”

Rick obviously reappraised Max. He must have decided Max was okay, because he nodded and handed over a card. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“Of course.” Max pocketed the card. “I’m sure we’ll be in touch.”

Rick nodded again and left, too.

Leaving her alone with Max.

C
arrie looked up at Max, and her heart suddenly began to beat triple time.

Without a word, he closed the door and walked her backward so her spine pressed against it while all of him pressed against her.

“Why didn’t you call me last night?” he asked softly, holding her hips.

“I didn’t—” She swallowed a moan as he began to nibble his way up her neck.

“You didn’t what?” he whispered against her skin. “You didn’t think of me?”

“You’re kidding, right?” She laughed shakily. “I think of you all the time.”

His hands skimmed up her sides to rest just below her breasts. “Didn’t it occur to you I’d be angry that someone did this to you? Someone tried to hurt you again. I need to help you, if only for my own sake.”

It hadn’t occurred to her, actually. She closed her eyes, trying to find that still pond of calmness, but it was impossible with him right there.

His mouth hovered over hers so when he spoke, she not only heard the words but felt them, too. “Carrie, why didn’t you call me?”

“The truth?” she asked, opening her eyes.

“No more deceptions between us.”

She mentally grimaced. He didn’t know she still had a scroll with her. “I wasn’t sure.”

“About?”

“You don’t figure into my plans.” She put her hand on his shoulder, to hold him back. Or to steady herself—she wasn’t entirely sure which. “I wasn’t looking for you.”

“I wasn’t looking for you, either.” Freeing her hair from her ponytail, he speared his fingers into her hair and tipped her head back.

She curled her hand around his shoulder, to that broadsword-shaped birthmark on his back. Like before, it gave her a zap that she felt straight to her heart. “Then why are you here?”