Finding Grace (27 page)

Farley had just come back with Trent’s tea. “Wait,
did I hear that right? Is that why you let that sniveling little
prick beat you? Damn, Thorne, I’m glad you’re on our side.”

Paul smiled. How many times had he thought that
before?

Luke looked over at Thorne. “And you know he’s the
killer—how?”

“How I know things, Luke. Now that you’ve got this
stuff, I’m sure you can nail him, right? Now that you know where to
look?”

Trent took a sip of his tea and coughed. Paul got a
whiff and wished he had some.

“William’s murder…” Trent’s voice softened with what
was obviously an unpleasant memory. “Officer Griggs wasn’t
interested in hearing that it was a hate crime. He made some very
personal and inappropriate comments about our relationship, then
dismissed me rather summarily.”

Luke said, “I’ll oversee the research and tests
myself. I sure as hell don’t want somebody like that running around
my city.” To Trent, he said, “I’m sorry that my officer was less
than sensitive to your relationship with the deceased and rejected
your information. If it’s any consolation to you, he’s no longer on
the force. His prejudices and actions do not reflect department
policy. Personally, I kind of wish I’d let Dagger have him.”

Thorne’s mouth quirked. Then she turned to Trent.
“I’m so sorry that you had to hear about it like this, and that I
haven’t been to the studio, and that I made you worry about
me.”

“No apology needed, dear. Actually, I…I don’t know
how to thank you…for…” He sniffed and pulled out a spotless hanky.
When he finished his tea, he smiled gratefully—if a little too
widely—at Farley. “You’re as thoughtful as you are handsome.” Then
he looked around the room and back to Farley. “Say, you wouldn’t
happen to know, would you, if there are any normal-sized men in
this part of town?”

When Katherine’s voice wafted through the hall, Paul
thought it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

* * * *

As everyone cleared out of the office, Dagger held
back, wanting to talk to Grace alone. Then his cell rang and she
slipped by before he could grab her.

Distracted by her avoidance and absorbed in the
morning’s events, he forgot to check the caller ID.

“Oh, Joe. Hi.” He bit his lip and swore in his
thoughts loud enough that he was afraid his big brother might have
heard him all the way in New York.

Chapter Eighteen

“…
A visit? Joe, nobody comes to Seattle in
winter…Well, uh, things are kind of crazy right now…No, I won’t
book you a hotel. You can stay at my place…Yup, still in an
apartment, Joe. Same place you sent the Christmas card. And uh,
thanks. Sorry I didn’t call. Like I said, it’s been kind of…Flight
two-sixty-four at two-thirty on Wednesday? I’ll be there…Yup, next
week then.” Dagger hung up and swore out loud this time.

* * * *

From the sounds in the hall, Thorne gathered that
Katherine and Trent knew each other. She tried to duck out before
Trent told Katherine—and, much worse, everyone else in the room—how
he knew her. But it was already too late.

Just as she came into the big office, Trent was
saying, “Why Katherine, Thorne is a captivating dancer with a truly
unique style. Terribly shy, though. I’ve been trying to get her to
perform publicly for years.”

“No fu—” Thorne cut herself off. “Sorry, Katherine.
Never gonna happen, Trent.”

“Oh, I see. For her you watch your language. Me, I
get the face of an angel and the mouth of a—”

“Trent, have you met my husband, Paul?” Katherine
made the introduction and turned back to Thorne, who gave her a
grateful smile.

“Oh, Grace? May I call you Grace now?”

“Sure, Katherine. If you have to.” She sighed and
struggled to maintain the smile. Just another sign that things
weren’t going to be the same. But it was hardly Katherine’s fault
and she did like the woman. “What can I do for you?”

“Grace is such a lovely name. And before I forget,
thank you
so
much for the lovely scarf. It’s simply perfect.
I’d much rather talk about commissioning some of your
knitting—perhaps we can arrange some time soon to do that?—but my
father mentioned that he’d spoken with a very impatient General
Ross and that he’d said something about negotiating patent rights,
as soon as you were up to it. For some reason, he wanted me to
mention it to you instead of Paul, so I promised I would. You
should know he feels terrible about what happened. We all do.”

“Oh yeah, the patents. I’d forgotten all about
that.” Thorne smiled.
Feels terrible, does he?
“Money’s
boring, but negotiating’s fun. I’ll take care of it this afternoon.
Thanks, Katherine. And I, ah, don’t know about the ‘commission’
part, but I never turn down an offer to talk about knitting, so
yeah, let’s do that. Bye Trent. I’ll be back in the studio in a few
days.” She made her good-byes to the rest of the team. “Good luck
with that investigation, Luke…Later, Farley…Enjoy your lunch,
Katherine, Paul.”

Poor Paul. Thorne thought he looked kind of
overwhelmed, but she figured that probably happened to him a lot,
being married to a sophisticated, social woman. She wondered what
it would be like to have someone look at her the way Paul looked at
Katherine. She headed back to her office to finish organizing and
hopefully get a start on that new comm prototype she’d been working
on before Jack made her leave.

Thorne was stopped cold by the look on Jack’s face
when she arrived at her office.

“What happened? They find your caddy in a wreck or
something?”

“Caddy?” Jack looked confused. “No, that was
Joe.”

“Your brother? That Joe? It can’t be that bad, can
it? I mean, it was just a phone call.” She looked at his face
again. “I’m sorry, Jack. Did someone die?”

“No. It’s just…he’s coming for a visit. Next
week.”

“For how long?” She didn’t know why Jack looked so
bummed; it would be the perfect way to avoid her, if he didn’t just
dump her before Joe got here. Great, now she was bummed, too.

“He didn’t say. Probably not long. He’s never
visited me before. I wonder what’s up.”

“Maybe he needs money or is getting married and
wants you to be the best man.”

Jack laughed like she’d suggested Trent and Mills
would make a cute couple.

“Joe? Not likely. He’s a successful lawyer, has lots
of money. Always was a smooth talker. Got the looks in the family,
too. Women fall all over him as bad as Farley. He’ll never settle
down, too worried about losing some of his money or missing out on
a richer woman. He always wants the one he can’t get. ‘Trading up,’
he calls it.”

“I guess I’m safe then.” Thorne grinned, trying to
chase the frown from Jack’s face.

But it only deepened. Shit, she’d been right. He was
trying to work out a way to dump her before Joe got here.

* * * *

Dagger felt another shiver of worry work its way
into his gut. Those big dark glasses Grace used to wear had kept
her hidden from the world. She’d been his beautiful secret. Not
anymore. He hadn’t missed the way that bastard Farley had been
ogling her, or that even Luke and Paul treated her differently.
Shit, now every man could see how beautiful she was.

The thought scared the hell out of him. He wished he
knew what
she
was afraid of. After last night, he knew it
wasn’t sex. He’d used every ounce of self-control and borrowed
against a future need in an effort to be slow and gentle. It had
damned near killed him. Saint-fucking-Whoever couldn’t have gone
slow with that woman. No, sex wasn’t the problem. But she was
definitely edgy about something.

* * * *

Her behavior over the next couple of days only
confused him more. Their lovemaking was great. She was just how he
liked her—hungry, insatiable, even. He didn’t push the light issue.
Now that he understood she felt safer that way, it didn’t bother
him any more. But the rest of the time, she acted kind of
distant.

He could have sworn he heard her whisper that she
loved him last night, but this morning, she was chillier than ever.
When she insisted on going to the studio for a workout, he gave up
trying to talk her out of it.

* * * *

Dagger winced. That had to have hurt. Grace had
slipped and landed hard on her knee. “Goddamn it, Trent, I told her
it was too soon. Why the fuck won’t she listen to me?”

They both watched her pull off her blindfold and
wrap her knee. She tried the move three more times successfully
before moving on with her routine. She spent more time than usual
at the punching bag.

Trent tapped his index finger on his lip and said,
“Uh, Jack, have you ever told Thorne how you feel about her? Or do
you just try to boss her around all the time? She’s terribly
fragile, you know, and obviously goes to great lengths to protect
herself. If she’s got it in her head that you’re just friends—how
do they say it these days?—uh, with benefits…well, it won’t be easy
to convince her otherwise.”

Dagger looked back at Grace just in time to see one
of the large clubs coming right toward her face. He let out a yell
and her hand reached out at the last moment to catch it before
tossing it high again, only to catch another as she came up from
the roll. She was going to give him a heart attack.

In the meantime, though, what if Trent was right and
that’s why she’d been so twitchy? He could lose her. And that was
just not an option. Shit. It was time he put up or shut up before
someone else did. He was damn close to blinding Farley as it was.
There was no help for it. He’d have to go on that mission Grace had
got him to thinking about the morning Joe called. He’d do it this
afternoon.

* * * *

“Nah, this is a company vehicle. The caddy got
stolen before Christmas. That’s what I get for driving it in winter
and leaving it out overnight in a lousy neighborhood.”

“Why the hell would you do that, Jack? I thought you
loved that car. Didn’t you just get it restored? Cost a bundle, if
I recall.”

“I never told you how much it cost, Joe. Knew you’d
just give me shit.” He wanted to tell his brother about Grace, but
he didn’t think this part of the conversation would be very good
timing. He might not be smooth like Joe, but he’d like to think he
wasn’t stupid, either.

Dagger pulled up in front of his apartment building
and parked. They took the elevator, walked down the hall, and he
unlocked the door and let Joe in first. The place looked great,
thanks to Grace.

She’d offered to help him clean and air it out
yesterday and then seemed surprised when he’d taken her up on it.
She took everything the wrong way lately. It was getting so he was
afraid to say anything. Joe’s timing sucked. He could only hope
that it didn’t screw things up with her.

“It’s nothing like your place, I’m sure, Joe. But I
call it home. You’ll be in the first room on the left. I’ll go put
your bags up.”
While I remind myself, again, that it’s only for
a few days
.

He heard Joe’s voice through the hall. “Home?
Really? This place looks about as personal as a hotel room, Jack.
Nice stereo and TV, though. Actually, the whole place is a lot
nicer than I was expecting.”

Back in the living room, Dagger said, “What do you
mean by that, Joe? Did you think I lived in a dump? I’m a full
partner at Blackridge, you know.” Christ,
already
Joe was
starting with the shit.

“Hey, no need to go on the defensive, bro’. You said
the caddy got stolen out of a bad neighborhood, so what was I
supposed to expect? There’s just not a lot here that says anything
about you, other than questionable taste in music and great taste
in electronics. I’m going to grab a beer. Can I get you one?”

“Sounds good.” Dagger thanked God for beer and Grace
for reminding him to stock more.

She was probably still clothes shopping. When he’d
told her this afternoon that he wanted her to meet his brother,
she’d acted surprised again. Hell, she’d almost flipped her office
chair when he suggested dinner and then a club for some music
after. Something about nothing to wear. They were going to pick her
up at her apartment. He couldn’t wait to hear what Joe would have
to say about that place.

They sipped their beers in silence for a few minutes
before Dagger said, “Say Joe, I was thinking we’d go out tonight.
There’s someone I want you to meet.” He couldn’t help smiling.
“We’ll be leaving to pick her up in a half hour. Maybe stop in at
the office after that, show you around. Reservations aren’t till
seven.”
Keep moving, less time for personal conversation and
dire judgments from Joe.

“A girlfriend? Wow, Jack. I didn’t think you did
relationships.”

“Girlfriend?” Dagger frowned. He’d never liked that
word and it didn’t fit here, either. “She’s special, Joe, really
special.”

* * * *

Thorne was torn between wishing she had a mirror and
being thankful she didn’t. The women at the stores she’d shopped at
had been kind and helpful, but she’d never put an outfit together
before. She’d never had to get ready for something like this.

The scars the hot pink, full-body leotard didn’t
hide, the leather choker with matching cuffs took care of nicely.
But the little black lace t-shirt she was wearing over it was kind
of tight and the black leather skirt was awfully short. She’d even
bought some lipstick after trying on about a hundred shades. And
she’d practiced walking in the high-heeled ankle boots until she
thought she could manage it. They might even be fun to dance in.
Jack had mentioned a club.

She should be prepared for any kind of place Jack
was likely to take her. She wasn’t at all prepared to meet his
brother, and she didn’t like considering what it meant that Jack
wanted her to. There was no point in getting her hopes up. It was
entirely possible and more than likely that he just intended to use
her to make Joe uncomfortable. He obviously wasn’t looking forward
to seeing his brother, so why else would he want him to meet
her?