Queen of Hearts: (Family Stone #6 Shelley) (Family Stone Romantic Suspense) (12 page)

“Private room. Don’t have to leave the hotel.” Jack gave the details. “I’m placing people, actually two, in the kitchen.”

Ric nodded. “Okay. Then you can go.”

Shelley bristled beside him. But there was no way in hell he was letting her out of his sight. “We’ll hang here until the dinner.”

“But—”

“No arguing.” Ric was adamant. “Your safety is the most important issue.”

Besides, she needed to rest.

“I’m out,” Jack said.

After Jack left there was an uncomfortable silence in the room. He’d just insisted that he and Shelley spend the next few hours here and not leave.

She plopped down on the sectional sofa that overlooked the Vegas skyline. “Can you tell me why Jack is having you do my security?”

He tried not to let her lack of confidence in his skills bother him. “It’s not my secret to share.”

Shelley sighed and her shoulders slumped. The neckline of her robe gaped open just enough to show the alabaster curve of her breast. Ric swallowed and turned his focus to the scenery rather than Shelley’s hot body. The smoking attraction that arced between them all day shot from low simmer to white hot electric.

“However I can absolutely guarantee that it is the exact opposite of him having second thoughts.” His pal was one hundred and fifty percent hung up on his fiancee.

So much so that Ric envied his pal’s commitment.

“Good.” She smiled softly. “That’s good. Jack deserves to be happy.”

There she went again with other people deserving things. But that wasn’t a conversation they needed to have right now. Shelley rubbed her palm over her abdomen.

“You doing okay?”

“Besides the fact that someone tried to poison me?” Shelley quipped.

Ric’s stomach turned at the reality that someone had succeeded. They hadn’t wanted her dead. Otherwise….

Damn, the thought that she could be hurt, burned like acid on his skin.

Ric needed to touch her. To reassure himself that for now she was okay. He sat on the sofa and curled his arm around her shoulders somewhat tentatively, but then she turned and practically threw herself into his embrace. Her head butted his collarbone and she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

“How did you order your lunch?” Ric turned over details in his brain, searching for the right fact. The one that would cause all the other elements to fall in place and create an actionable picture. For now all they had were random acts and random threats, but nothing that tied it all together.

“We pre-ordered ahead of time,” Shelley replied.

“So they targeted you.” But again they didn’t give her enough to kill her. Just enough to get her out of the way. “Before you got to Vegas did you have any other overt threats?”

Shelley snorted. “Nope.”

A shiver worked its way over her body and she curled into his heat. “What about tonight? No one else got sick today but what if they try again tonight and hurt one of the kids?”

Ric hated to see her so upset. He rested his chin on her head.

“I couldn’t stand it if someone got hurt because of me.”

“Hey.” Ric inhaled the sweet floral scent of her shampoo, the fragrance invading his senses. “We’re on top of it. Besides there wasn’t enough to actually kill you. It was just supposed to incapacitate you.”

Which again was sort of weird. Almost as if they just wanted to scare her away. Ric rubbed his palm over her back and tried not to notice her warm naked skin pressed against his chest.

“Did you have any attempts while you were still in Monterey?”

Shelley shook her head, her damp hair rubbed his chin. “No.”

So perhaps they were just trying to scare her away from Las Vegas. “Why would someone want you away from Vegas?”

Ric shifted so that his legs stretched out on the sectional sofa and Shelley twined her bare legs with his. The hem of the white cotton robe rode up until the back of her knees were exposed. Hardly an erotic sight, but Ric was remembering last night. Shelley laid out on the rumpled sheets, those gorgeous toned thighs bracketing his face as he devoured her pussy.

The sounds she’d made as she was coming were indelibly imprinted on his brain.

Just thinking about those damn noises had his cock rising. He couldn’t have sex with his principal. It wasn’t a safe move. But damn he wanted to bury his face in her sex and lick and suck until she was writhing beneath him, begging him to make her come.

Shelley shifted then went motionless as she felt his erection.

Ric held back a groan when instead of shifting away she stroked her belly against his straining hardness.

They were both panting. Shelley had burrowed her hands beneath his cotton Polo and smoothed her palms over his abs and chest. She was burning him up.

He rolled her so that she was sandwiched between the back of the sofa and his body. With a deep groan, he buried his face in the curve of her neck and breathed her in. He couldn’t take this any further, but he needed a moment to get a grip.

Shelley twined her legs with his and stroked his cock through his jeans.

“We can’t.” He protested.

A loud knock at the door startled them both.

Shelley jumped off the sofa so fast she swayed, perilously close to falling over.

“Lock yourself in the bathroom. If you hear anything suspicious, climb in the tub and use the phone to call security.” He shot instructions at her like bullets. Ric eased his weapon from the holster and headed to the door, covering his bases, even though he doubted her perpetrator would just knock on the door.

The banging got louder. “Shelley!”

Connor. Cockblocked by her stepson. Ric still peered through the peephole to verify it was indeed Connor Stone. The guy had impeccable timing.

Connor’s grim face stared back at him. Ric unlocked the door and let him in.

“What took so long?” Connor growled.

“Con?” Shelley came out of the bathroom, still in the short robe, her hair mussed and her lips reddened. “Is everything okay?”

Connor’s attention shifted between Shelley’s attire and Ric. He scowled at Ric who fought the urge to smooth his hand over his hair. Shelley was a grown woman, dammit.

“You took forever to answer the door,” Connor finally replied.

Shelley flushed. “Ric was just being extra cautious.”

“I’ll bet he was.”

“Was there a reason you stopped by?” Ric tried to divert Shelley’s focus away from Connor’s sarcasm.

Connor blinked. “Oh, uh, yeah. I found four email addresses that I want you to take a look at.”

They sat on the sectional sofa. Shelley intuitively returned to the spot she’d just vacated. Ric had a primitive compulsion to be close to her. He forced himself to sit at an angle so that Connor could show her the addresses. “By analyzing several variables, language, tone, and type of message, I was able to distill all the possible matches down to these four as potential matches.”

He had printouts of each address along with the emails sent. Ric leaned closer so he could read the contents. “Can you look at these and see if you know the senders?”

Shelley studied the four sheets.

“Are any based in Las Vegas?” Ric asked.

Shelley was so close that he could see the small mole at the corner of her mouth. She must cover it up with makeup most of the time because he hadn’t noticed it before.

Her scent rose from her skin and he lost himself in the bottomless pools of her eyes.

Connor cleared his throat, and they broke apart. “Why Vegas?”

“I’ve been thinking about it.” Ric concluded, “Prior to coming to Vegas all the love letters and threats had been verbal or written. No physical contact. But since Shelley arrived here, there’s been an escalation.”

Both acts against her seemed perpetrated with the aim of getting her to leave Las Vegas. “Why would someone want you gone from here?”

“I don’t know.”

Connor said, “You recognize any of the screen names associated with these email addresses, maybe from another form of social media or as a nickname for someone you know?”

“No.” Her heart was beating so hard that her breastbone shook her entire chest.

“Hey, it’s just a line of investigation.” Ric covered her hand, squeezed her fingers, amazed all over again at how delicate she was once you got past the force of her personality.

“Good point.” Con nodded. “Two of the addresses are from Vegas but both have decent security.”

Shelley shivered.

“Shel, you know we would never let anything happen to you.” Connor consoled her.

“Oh, sweetie.” Shelley’s smile was bittersweet. “I’m more worried about all you kids.”

“We’re hardly children.” Connor hesitated for a second, then patted her hand. “Don’t worry, I will figure this out.”

“Everyone is working to make sure you’re safe.” Ric couldn’t help but add. But if anything that seemed to make Shelley more uncomfortable. And he understood. She didn’t like being the center of attention. He got that. He preferred to travel under the radar too.

“It’s almost as if we’re dealing with two different perpetrators.” Connor frowned.

Ric rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. So far his relaxing vacation was turning out to be higher stress than he’d anticipated. “I’ll keep her physically safe. Think you can handle the cyber aspect?”

“I’m going to run a different analysis program and see if I can get a legal name and location for all four of these addresses.”

“Sounds good.” Ric shook Connor’s hand.

It may have been his imagination but it seemed as if Connor squeezed a little too long during the shake. Another warning. What Connor hadn’t seemed to figure out was that Ric would do anything to keep Shelley safe.

Eleven

She didn’t have a good feeling about this.

Shelley and Ric entered the private dining room at the steakhouse. They walked in to the dimly lit, atmospheric restaurant.

Ric had placed a possessive hand at the small of her back, his fingertips burned through the thin material of the sexy black dress. Desire sizzled in a direct line from his fingertips to her clit. She’d spent extra time on her makeup and slathered a shimmery lotion over her bare arms and legs hoping to distract herself from the real worry that she was putting everyone in danger.

Shelley recalled the last time she was here. She was wearing the same LBD and heels that she’d worn just last night.

It seemed almost impossible that she’d only been here twenty-four hours ago with Ric. The sexy stranger. Now he was Ric, her sexy bodyguard, and they had barely been out of each other’s sight. With that thought her muscles twisted into a bunched mass of frustration and fear.

She’d coiled her hair up into a complicated twist leaving her neck bare.

“It’s going to be fine,” Ric murmured in her ear. His breath puffed over her neck and goose bumps skittered across her arms. The hum of spirited conversations greeted their arrival as Ric had Shelley precede him into the private dining room.

“Shel.” Jack pushed back from the head of the table. Her protector was all grown up and in charge. She really hoped Jack and Bliss had worked out whatever was wrong. Bliss rose from the table, stunning in a little black silk dress with a Mandarin collar and red silk accents, silk buttons down the front, and black patent Louboutins with the signature red sole. Shelley noted that the strain around her dark exotic eyes, high cheekbones, and tight smile hadn’t gone away.

Shelley impulsively hugged Bliss. “It will be okay.”

“I think that’s supposed to be my line,” Bliss said ruefully.

Jack slapped Ric on the back in a man hug, and they spoke quietly. So quietly, Shelley couldn’t hear a word.

“Looking good, mom.” Jess hugged her tightly. “How are you doing?”

“Better.”

Colin kissed her left cheek, then her right. “Always here if you need another bodyguard, love.”

Shelley squeezed him in an appreciative hug. “Thank you.”

Jess held Colin’s hand loosely in hers. Shelley was thankful her daughter seemed happy, settled. Although she worried a little about Jess working for Jack, she also knew that Jess could take care of herself.

Shelley glanced around the room. “Where’s John?”

“He’s working an angle on finding Fernandez’s contact in Vegas,” Jack explained. “For right now, we aren’t advertising that he is part of the family. He’s staying in a condo with Maria and Marissa who works with Bliss at Adams Larsen.”

Bottles of corked wine sat at even intervals on the table. Platters of seafood, calamari, oysters, and tuna were scattered at each end.

“Did someone vet the food?” Ric was in full protection mode. Though they were in a private room with just family, he hadn’t moved far from her side.

“Shane and Keisha volunteered to observe in the kitchen.”

“So, no break in the chain of custody.”

Shelley snorted. “Did you really just call serving appetizers—”

“I take your safety very seriously,” he whispered in her ear. The tingle skittered over her spine. “And I won’t let anyone hurt you. Or your family.”

The conviction in his voice was like a balm to her rattled nerves.

Before she could say thank you, Connor and Ava walked into the room. Together they were striking. Ava with her thick black hair and darker skin and Con with his blond hair and unusual golden brown eyes. Shelley’s heart melted at the soft look on Con’s face as he gazed at Ava.

Greetings were exchanged. The atmosphere in the room was downright festive. They sat at the large rectangular table and started passing the appetizers. Ric was on her right at one end of the table, his body like an inferno, and his thigh seemed awfully close to hers. His presence was distracting. Connor was on her left with Ava next to him. Jack sat at the head of the table with Bliss on his left. Jess and Colin sat across from Con and Shelley.

Shelley observed Jack. He appeared to still be carrying a lot of stress. She hoped that whatever was going on between him and Bliss worked itself out. Jack deserved to be happy.

Con reached over and clasped her hand in a quick squeeze. “How are you?”

His gaze slipped to the proximity of Ric’s body to hers. Shelley tried unobtrusively to ease away, but Ric tugged on her chair until she was closer to him. “Sorry to be causing so much trouble,” she started.