No Happily Every After (Mia and Roman Psychic Suspense #4)

Chapter One

Roman walked across his office and studied the thermostat on the wall before adjusting the air conditioner setting. A tall man, his sun-kissed skin and dark hair and eyes gave a nod to his Italian heritage.

“I’m not sure this baby is up to the challenge of a summer in Tennessee. That’s the trouble with being on the top floor. Heat rises.”

“Yeah. So I’ve heard.” Mia took a sip of her iced chai latte and sighed. “I still don’t understand why I’m here.”

“Because this new client ...” he glanced down at the file on his desk, “Mrs. Jennifer Lamb, specifically requested your presence. You can blame it on all the media attention from our earlier cases together. Like it or not, babes, public perception has us linked at the hip when it comes to doing PI work.”

Mia gathered her long, auburn hair into a high ponytail and with quick, practiced moves fixed on an elastic tie to hold it in place. Her hazel eyes shone with impatience.

“I know. I get it. But I’m not actually a PI. I think we need to make it clear to her right from the jump. And I still haven’t decided if I should even be doing this job. I have my own business to run and the dogs to take care of. Not to mention, we’re just over two months out from our wedding. There’s a lot going on.”

“But it doesn’t hurt to sit through this initial consult, right? It’ll only be thirty minutes or so. You might get a flash. Something to point me in the right direction. I can take it from there and you’ll be free and clear.”

“But then I’m out, okay?”

“Sure. Absolutely.” He paused and studied her face. “You know you have a natural calling for this work? With your psychic abilities, you’re basically a secret weapon against evil. Yet you always shy away from doing the job. I still can’t get my head around why.”

She pressed her lips together and nodded. “It’s just … I don’t want ….” She blew out a breath and shifted her gaze to meet his. “Okay. Here’s the thing. I’ve already spent so much of my early life in the darkness. Being on the wrong side of the law and … I’d guess you’d call it the wrong side of morality. This job you do—digging into crimes and all the crappy things people get up to—it’s so dark, right?”

He lifted one shoulder in a half shrug and his liquid brown eyes stayed intent on her face. “It can be, I guess. It’s all how you look at it, though. Whether we involve ourselves or not, people are going to do crappy things. That’s a given. I like being the guy who stops them or—if it’s after the fact—makes them pay for their crimes.”

“And God knows society needs people like you. I honestly applaud your effort. But I don’t want to live in that world anymore. I love making my jewelry. People are happy when they get their necklace or earrings or whatever. It gives them a lift. And I’m totally not kidding myself that what I do is important, but I like to think I bring a tiny bit of joy to the life of each of my customers. Plus, I get an awesome financial reward, so it’s a total win-win for me.”

“I know, babes. Your stuff is beautiful. Seriously, you’ve got a major talent.” He leaned back in his chair and swiveled side to side. “And I understand what you’re saying about the PI job being dark. I feel it too. I guess for me, the upside outweighs that part. And now, wouldn’t you know, I have this amazing new tool. It’s the biggest, baddest demolition hammer ever made. There’s probably only a couple of them in the world. And when I start tearing down a building, it doesn’t make sense to stick with my older and crappier tools.”

She smirked. “In this scenario am I supposed to be the biggest, baddest hammer?” She lifted her arm and flexed her bicep. “Yeah. I totally am.”

“Which makes me the crappy old tool. But there it is. If that’s all I’ve got to work with, I’ll still do the job. But, man, I want the new hammer.”

“Okay. I get it. I just don’t know if I can be there for you.” She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.

“And I don’t want to spend the rest of our lives together forcing you into things that make you unhappy, so I’ll have to learn to live with it, right?”

She stared at him. “But that means you’ll eventually start resenting me, which totally blows.”

“Not necessarily true.” He frowned. “At least I don’t think so. Anyway, no point in borrowing trouble. I’m sure we’ll figure it out as we go. The main thing is I appreciate you being here today and sitting through this consult. Maybe that could be our compromise of sorts. Maybe you’d be willing to spend one or two hours a week sitting in on appointments with new clients? Not too much, right?”

She ran a finger back and forth across her bottom lip. “That doesn’t sound so bad. And sometimes I could do a little extra. Especially on the tough cases. But I’m not going on stakeouts to catch cheating spouses or whatever. It’s just so gross. If that’s what this Jennifer person wants, I’m out.”

“I hear you.” When a knock sounded, his eyes flicked to the door. “Looks like our client is here, and right on time, too.”

Roman pushed to his feet and walked across the small room.

“Hi, Jennifer. Welcome. Come on in. I’m Roman and this is Mia. Can I get you coffee or a cold drink?”

“Oh, no. Thanks. I’m fine. I appreciate you agreeing to see me.”

“Of course. Please, have a seat and tell me how we can help.”

Mia studied the woman who slid onto the chair beside her. From Roman’s quick briefing, she knew Jennifer to be in her mid-forties, but she appeared much younger and was stunningly attractive. Long blonde hair had been styled in beachy curls and framed an alluring face. Her soft blue eyes were clear and bright, her lips lush, and her skin absolutely flawless with nothing more than a suggestion of laugh lines at the corners of her generous mouth.

She wore thin, layered gold chains around her neck while diamond studs sparkled from her earlobes and a large emerald-cut ruby graced the ring finger of her left hand. Her nails were long and gleamed the same red as the stone of the ring.

Her clothes weren’t showy—tan chinos and a navy blouse—but Mia knew high-end fabrics when she saw them. Jennifer wore Golden Goose sneakers, and she’d tied a navy and tan Hermes scarf around the handle of her Birkin bag which she cradled in her lap like a baby.

Jennifer Lamb was precisely the type of woman Mia would have targeted back in her early days of thieving and scamming. Though not overly showy, she still managed to exude extreme wealth all the way down to the subtle but pleasing Dolce and Gabbana perfume that lingered in the air around her.

“So.” Roman cleared his throat. “How can we help you today?”

Please don’t say cheating husband , Mia thought.

The tip of Jennifer’s tongue flashed out to moisten her lips, then she exhaled and half turned in her chair to include Mia in her gaze.

“I married Thomas Lamb almost twenty-two years ago. I’m his second wife. He already had a son, Scott, who was four years old. In fact, Scott is how I met Thomas. I was hired to be his nanny after his mom left. It was a great job, and I was very happy there. Then things sort of … happened, I guess you could say. Thomas and I fell in love.”

Jennifer carefully set her purse on the floor beside her chair and squared her shoulders as if bracing for battle.

“He’s twenty years older than me and even back then was very rich. He and another guy founded Best Bag, the luggage company. I’m sure you heard of it? Anyway, when we got married, everyone—and I mean everyone—called me a gold-digging whore.” She paused and shook her head. “But I wasn’t. It’s important you understand that.”

Her eyes flicked back and forth between Mia and Roman.

“Of course we understand,” Roman said.

“I did love Thomas. I still do. But if I’m being absolutely honest, I maybe loved Scott just a little bit more. He was the best boy. So smart and sweet. I wasn’t one of those ambitious, take-on-the-world kind of women. From a young age, all I’d ever wanted was to be a wife and mother. Have a family. Live a normal, happy life. When I found out it was unlikely I’d be able to bear a child of my own, it brought me to my knees. But then I met Scott and Thomas, and it seemed my dream could still be realized. Just in a slightly different way. And it has been. I’m a very happy woman.” She exhaled and looked down at her hands. “Or I was until recently.”

Roman and Mia waited. They both knew the value of silence and how it, more than anything, encouraged the other person to keep talking. Sure enough, Jennifer shifted again, plucked at her blouse, then worried her fingers back and forth along one of the gold chains around her neck before finally continuing.

“Scott is so smart. Smarter even than Thomas. He may have grown up in the lap of luxury and will inherit more money than anyone could ever possibly need, but he’s already making his own way in the world. He took accelerated courses all through high school and started college early. He was only sixteen when he went to MIT. He has a mind for computers. All this AI stuff that’s coming out now? He’s been working in that field for almost ten years. He founded a company with two other guys that first year at college, and it’s already valued at twenty-seven million dollars.”

Mia’s heart gave a little lurch and her stomach turned uneasily.

“He sounds like a real go-getter. You must be very proud,” Roman said.

Jennifer’s smile was swift and dazzling. She leaned forward in her chair. “I can’t tell you how happy I am. And smarts aside, he’s a nice person. I know in the movies and on TV, people like him are often portrayed as lacking basic social skills, but that’s not Scott. He’s sweet and caring. Sure, he’s also completely obsessed with his work, but that’s a given for any successful person no matter their field. Still, he calls me every single week and sends flowers for special occasions. You know, birthdays, Mother’s Day, Easter, like that. And sometimes for no reason whatsoever, which always makes me cry a little.”

Jennifer’s eyes sheened with moisture, and she blinked and shook her head.

“Has something happened to Scott?” Mia asked, working to keep her voice smooth.

“You could say that.” Jennifer closed her eyes and exhaled heavily. “He’s fallen in love with a gold-digging whore.”