An Eye For Illusion: A Private Investigator Romantic Suspense: (Dunn Security Group Book 2)

Chapter 7

Iunderestimated how much it would get under my skin to sit here and watch Jade have dinner with a man. A man she’s engaged to be married to.

Hell if I know why it bothers me so much, but I can’t seem to take my eyes off of her. She’s stunning in a sleek black cocktail dress. Its high slit shows off her long, lean legs, and those fucking heels she’s wearing drive me insane every time I see them.

I watch her throw her head back, laughing at something stupid Moore said. My eyebrows furrow. For someone who wants out of her little engagement as much as she seems to, she sure is playing up the lovesick, doting fiancé bit. Her hand reaches out to stroke Moore’s arm as he smiles back at her.

The scene churns something deep in my stomach. It’s an uncomfortable, foreign feeling. I don’t like it one fucking bit. I turn away, sipping lightly on the coke I ordered when I got here.

Luckily for me, the restaurant they picked isn’t so upscale that getting a seat at the bar was an issue. I timed my entry for just a few minutes before they were set to arrive and paid the hostess off so they would be seated at a table I chose. For myself, I picked a seat off to the side of the bar, where I have a clear view of their table as well as the exit and bathrooms.

I forwent alcohol tonight, but from how clenched my jaw is while I watch and listen to the two of them together, I may need something strong.

I discreetly placed a listening device in a plant by their table. I have the receiver in my right ear. It’s an invasion of privacy and all that jazz, but there is no privacy when I’m on a case. That’s what makes me so damn good at my job. If Jade has a problem with that, she shouldn’t have hired us. It’s all in our contracts. We do what it takes to get the answers the client seeks.

I’m close enough for the receiver to work, but not close enough that Moore could make me. It took Jade a few minutes to spot me, but when she did, her body stiffened slightly, and the fake smile on her face slipped. Moore didn’t seem to notice the change at all.

Shocker.

Let’s just hope Jade is as good of an actor as she appears to be. Moore is distracted with the server taking their drink order, and Jade uses the distraction to make eye contact with me.

Her gaze is sharp as it locks on me, and all I see is that now familiar fire she has every time we’re around each other. I smirk and raise my glass in her direction. Her eyes narrow in response, and her lips thin into an irritated line before her attention goes back to Moore and the server.

Boy, do I love riling her up.

Once they place their drink order, Moore tells her about his day at work. Boring shit, really. It’s all fluff, and he speaks to her like she isn’t one of the most powerful women in the city. To my surprise, however, Jade hmms and ahhhs in all the right places in his story.

I groan at how fake it all feels, how underwhelming the whole damn conversation is. What in the hell did this woman get herself into? Why is she pretending when she could simply call the whole damn thing off?

It isn’t my job to answer those questions. It’s my job to find the answers the client seeks, and I need to remember that with her. It doesn’t matter how damn pretty she is or how much she makes my cock jump.

She’s a client.

An annoying one at that.

I’m sure it seems odd for me to follow Moore when he’s scheduled to have dinner with the client who hired me. I mean, why should I? It’s unlikely he’ll do anything to clue Jade into whatever he’s been up to. Then again, sometimes, that’s when you find the biggest clue.

On nights like tonight, Moore will be off guard, relaxed, and confident because Jade is playing the clueless, loving fiancé perfectly. All he sees is love and trust reflecting back at him. Weakness. That’s when they make the biggest mistakes, and I need to be here for it. Moore could say something that Jade wouldn’t realize is a clue.

But that’s what I’m trained for, to pick up on those small inconsistencies that add up to a full puzzle piece.

Plus, if he doesn’t go home with Jade, I need to be here to follow him. My stomach churns at the thought of the two of them going home together. It’s a feeling that I quickly push to the side.

I’ve never had such a vehement reaction to a client before—such anger, passion, and/or aggravation—but something about Jade evokes all those emotions tenfold.

Moore’s phone buzzes on the table. He lifts it, checks the screen, then lays it back down on the table, face down. He barely takes his hand off it before it buzzes again. If Jade weren’t sitting there with him right now, I’d assume it’s her since she likes to call incessantly to the point of instigating rage like she does with me.

Or did, I suppose. At least until I pissed her off earlier today.

He doesn’t pick it up this time. He presses the side button and sends the call to voicemail. Jade seems to take notice of the change in his demeanor.

She places her hand over his. “Is everything alright, honey?” Her words make me wrinkle my nose.

Yuck. She may have him fooled, but I know she wants to get out of their relationship.

I can hear the fake smile in his voice when he answers. “Of course! Everything is just—”

The phone starts to buzz again, silencing him mid-sentence. This time, Moore excuses himself from the table to take the call.

“I’m so sorry,” he lies. “It’s work, and I don’t think they’ll stop calling until I answer. I’ll be right back.” He stands and kisses the top of her head as he passes her. For some reason, it makes me want to throat punch him.

I shift in my seat as Moore walks in my direction with the phone pressed to his ear. I keep my back to him, taking my phone out to fake being on a call, too. He’s less likely to think anyone will hear him if the surrounding people are focused on what they’re doing.

He speaks in a hushed tone, but I catch a rushed sentence here and there. “Yeah, I can handle it,” and, “She doesn’t know anything.” He ends the call and blows out a heavy sigh.

When I hear his footsteps pass behind me, I turn slightly so I can see his interaction with Jade when he gets back to the table.

She plasters a fake smile across her ridiculously perfect face. His expression is stressed. Whoever that call was from has him on edge. His body is rigid now.

If I had to wager a guess, my bet would be that was Vinny on the phone. My curiosity is piqued. What exactly is Moore going to handle? And why does “she,”—who I assume is likely Jade—not need to know? Maybe this is the something Jade hopes I’ll find.

She reaches up and gives his shoulder a squeeze. “What was that about? You’re so tense now.”

She deserves an award for this performance.

“Just work stuff, darling. Nothing for you to worry about.” He makes no effort to return her touch. Which is just fine by me.

My opinions about their interaction make me uncomfortable. I have no reason to care who touches Jade, especially when it’s her own fiancé.

She’s a client, Colin. Get it together.

My phone buzzes. It’s a text message from Donovan. I open the message to see a video. I reach into my pocket and pull out my wireless earbuds, putting one in my ear furthest from their table. I still need to be able to hear them, too.

I press play, but all I see is Donovan’s chin and chest. What the fuck am I supposed to do with this? I let the video play, but I don’t immediately see any significance.

I go back to my messages with Donovan and see that he texted VOLUME UP after sending the video. I increase the volume and press play again. It’s loud in my ear. I cut my eyes to the people around me to make sure they can’t hear it, too.

I close my eyes and concentrate on the voice in the video.

“There’s a shipment… This is your chance… This is between us… Don’t fuck it up.”

It’s a one-sided conversation; this must be the call Moore just took. A shipment for what?

ME: Thanks, D. If you hear what the shipment is of or where it’s going, let me know.

He responds immediately.

DONOVAN: Sure thing.

I turn my attention back to the happy couple. Their meal has arrived. They chat quietly as they eat. Moore’s posture is still stiff. Jade either doesn’t notice, or she’s doing a hell of a job pretending she doesn’t.

It seems things just got interesting.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Jade hisses in my ear as she stands beside me at the bar.

Moore just went to the bathroom, and I was about to get up and follow him when she stopped me. I’ve had too many people slip out the back door or make important phone calls while taking a piss. I always follow.

I look down the long hallway beside the bar where the bathrooms are and watch Moore go into the men’s restroom without a backwards glance.

I blow out a frustrated breath and turn to Jade. The action puts our faces too close for comfort, but I also don’t back away. I never do with this one.

My eyes take in her pretty green ones. There are gold flecks in her irises that turn molten as her angry gaze continues to eat me up. I can’t pretend I don’t like it just a tad too much.

“I’m trying to do my job, Ms. Foster, but you are about to blow my cover.” My breath whispers over her cheek with every word.

She doesn’t back down either as she takes me in. Her eyes rake over my collared white shirt and down to my dress pants before coming back up. The top two buttons on the shirt are undone, and I’ve rolled the sleeves up my forearms. I hate collared shirts, but I dressed a little nicer tonight because of the restaurant they chose.

Her eyes linger on my forearms for a split second before shooting back up to my face. “You won’t find what we need sitting here watching him with me,” she says with venom in her tone.

I raise an eyebrow at how much her demeanor has changed from only moments ago with Moore. Then she was carefree and seemingly happy. Right now? She looks almost desperate and a little unhinged.

“You’d be surprised how much I can find out on a night like this.” My caveman brain wants me to throw it in her face that I just overheard his phone call. However, doing so will only have her asking questions, and it might change how she acts with him, tipping him off she knows something. Instead, I hold off. “Trust me, Jade. I’ve been doing this for a very long time. Are you two going home together?”

That same churning in my gut from earlier in the night makes another appearance as I wait on pins and needles for her answer.

She scoffs. “No. He says he still has work to do.”

“Good. I’ll be ready to follow him then. Go back to the table before he comes out here and finds you talking to a sinfully handsome man,” I say with a wink to ease the command.

She rolls her eyes at my antics. “Fine. Not because you told me to, but because I want to.”

Surely, she knows how childish that sounds given the fact that, if she didn’t “want to” and instead stayed to be a defiant ass, her fiancé would see us talking and want to know who I am.

She turns with a petulant huff as she makes her way back to their table. Her long legs and toned calves eat up the distance. I watch her perky ass sway just a little more as she walks back, torturing me before she sits.

Moore comes out of the bathroom moments later and hastily walks to their table. Instead of sitting, he stops next to Jade’s chair and leans down. He places a kiss on her cheek and whispers something in her ear that I can’t make out.

Her face stays in a perfect mask of indifference as he stands up and apologizes. “I hate to leave you like this, snookums, but work just called again. It’s an emergency.”

Her responding smile is as fake as they come.

Snookums? What in the hell kind of nickname is that?

“Call me later?” she asks.

“Of course. Love you,” he replies curtly.

It doesn’t go unnoticed that she never tells him she loves him before he leaves, nor does he ever look back at her as he walks to the front of the restaurant.

Well, that’s interesting…

I quickly pull out some bills to pay for my drink. Jade watches me as I head toward her table first. I’m sure she’s confused as to why I approach her instead of following Moore. She’ll know soon enough, and I’m sure she’ll be pissed. Something about that thought excites me more than anything else.

“What are you doi—”

I cut her off when I lean toward her. Her eyes widen comically before narrowing into slits. My face is just inches from hers. I can smell her intoxicating vanilla scent and hear her faint breathing. Before I lean in any closer and do something stupid like kiss her, I reach into the potted plant behind her.

Her head whips around to see what I’m doing. I quickly grab the listening device, closing my fingers around it carefully. She sputters, and a pretty pink color spreads across her cheeks.

“Were you… Were you listening to us?” she hisses.

Now isn’t the time to hash this out. I take a calculated risk that Moore won’t turn back as I lean down, my mouth brushing the shell of her ear.

A shiver races through her body, and for a reason I couldn’t identify if I tried, I let loose the words that I’ve been dying to say all night.

“You look gorgeous tonight, Jade.”

Her quick intake of breath is the only noise she makes as I rise to my full height and discreetly make my way after Moore.

Before I reach the exit, I look back to find Jade watching me intently with a look of pure and unbridled hope brimming in her eyes, not anger like I expected.

Whatever is going on here is bigger than I originally thought, and I plan to get to the fucking bottom of it.