Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
~CARMINE~
“ F or a doctor, your husband sure kept a lot of files at home,” Nadia says to Annika. We’re in Annika’s home, in various areas of Rich’s old office, poring over paperwork. He had tons of files, and every piece of paper has to be looked at.
“He wasn’t a fucking doctor,” Annika snaps back. She’s sitting cross-legged on the couch, her dead husband’s laptop in front of her as she tries to break the passcode. She sighs and leans her head back on the sofa. “Sorry. I don’t mean to sound like a bitch. I wish I could figure out this password.”
“For not a doctor, there sure are a lot of patient notes here,” I muse as I open another file and frown down at medical information on someone named Samantha Briggs. “I would think it’s illegal to have patient information at home.”
“It is,” Annika assures me. “It’s also illegal to pose as a doctor when you aren’t. I’m so fucking mad at him.” She stands and paces the office. “I wish he was alive so I could punch him in that smug face and then kill him myself.”
“While I understand—and agree with—the sentiment,” Nadia says, “that won’t help us today.”
“I don’t even know what we’re looking for,” I reply and toss a file on the growing stack.
“Sorry I’m late,” Ivie says as she hurries into the office, then promptly stubs her toe on the doorjamb. “Ouch! Son of a bitch.”
“I swear, you need to wear Bubble Wrap,” Nadia says, shaking her head. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. That hurt.” Ivie sits and rubs her toes. “I tried to get here sooner, but traffic was a bitch. So, how can I help? What can I do? Annika filled me in on the whole mystery at hand.”
I turn to Annika and raise a brow, but the woman only shrugs. “She’s my best friend, Carmine.”
“I’m totally trustworthy,” Ivie assures me. “I can help you look through the house or something, but I likely won’t know what I’m looking for.”
“That makes four of us,” Nadia says. “None of us knows what we’re looking for, but we’ll know it when we see it.”
“Something out of the ordinary,” I reply. “Names, numbers, notes that are vague or even incriminating. That would be convenient.”
“I’m trying to get into his computer, but the fucker locked it down pretty solid,” Annika adds.
“How about this?” Ivie says. “I’ll make you all a late lunch and help out wherever I can.”
“I need a break from this,” Annika says and tosses the computer onto the cushion beside her. “I’ll help you, Ivie. We’ll be back in a few with sustenance. Maybe I’ll be more productive if I’m not hangry.”
The two women leave the room, arm in arm, and Nadia sighs across from me.
“I guess it’s a good sign that she’s hungry,” she says, still staring at the doorway. “She looks a little better than she did when we left here a few weeks ago.”
I want to disagree. I think Annika looks horrible. The anger and hatred are festering inside of her. She has dark circles under her eyes, and she’s lost a lot of weight in a very short time.
But I don’t say any of that because Nadia is worried enough, and we have plenty on our plates.
“Carmine.”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“We’re not going to find anything in these medical records. I don’t even know why he has them here or what he used them for. But this isn’t the answer.”
“I agree.” I rub my hand down my face. “I’ve been trying to reach my brother to see if he’s had time to tinker some more. I’d like to have Rich’s phone here so I can do some digging, but I can’t reach Shane. He won’t answer his damn phone.”
“Maybe he’s still out of the country,” she suggests.
“It would help if he’d answer and tell me that.”
Annika and Ivie return with a tray full of sandwiches and chips, soda, and water.
“I’m starving,” Annika says, taking a sandwich and some chips for herself. “Eat up. There’s more in the kitchen if you’re still hungry.”
“This is enough for an army,” Nadia says and bites into a sandwich.
I try to call my brother again, but it goes straight to his voicemail.
“Son of a bitch,” I mutter and then pin Ivie with a stare. She blinks and looks behind her.
“What?”
“I know you talk to my brother. Have you heard from him?”
“Shane?”
“Yes, Shane. Where the fuck is he?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugs and then says it again. “Honest, Carmine, I don’t know. I haven’t heard from him in a few days. He said he had some work to do and that he’d be in touch. Not to worry.”
“Yeah. That sounds like him.”
I bite into a turkey on rye and look around the room.
Nadia and I have been back in Denver for three days, and we haven’t learned anything that we didn’t already know when we arrived.
It’s damn frustrating.
“If you hear from him, tell him to call me.”
“I can do that.”
“So, um, Annika,” Nadia begins and smiles at her cousin, “Rafe asked about you the other day.”
Annika doesn’t even pause in the fast consumption of her chips. “Okay?”
“I told him to ask you, but he said you don’t reply to his texts or calls.”
“No.” She slips another chip into her mouth. “I don’t.”
Nadia sighs and watches her cousin in exasperation. “Are you ever going to?”
Annika chews her bite, swallows, then looks at Nadia and says, “No.”
“Why not?” Ivie asks. “He’s a good guy, A.”
“This is nobody’s business,” Annika replies and reaches for another bag of chips. “I’m just not going to, okay? I’m sorry, Carmine. I don’t mean to insult you or anything.”
“Rafe’s an idiot,” I reply happily. “I wouldn’t reply, either.”
“He’s not an idiot,” she says softly. “He’s brilliant and kind and all of the good things that Rich wasn’t.”
She sets the unopened bag down.
“Then I’ll ask again.” Nadia’s voice is gentle. “Why won’t you answer him?”
I figure this must be what it’s like to be a fly on the wall during a girls’ night. I don’t think I want to repeat the experience.
“Because I’m broken, and Rafe is way too good for me.”
“That’s a pile of bullshit,” Nadia says simply. “You’re not broken, and no one is too good for you, Annika Tarenkov. You’re hurting, and you need time to heal. You’ll get there.”
Annika shrugs a shoulder and reaches for the laptop.
“Let’s just get back to work and get this over with.”
Time drags. Several hours and two sandwiches later, we’re still at square one.
“I officially hate paper,” I announce as I push the last folder aside. “And I know too much about all of these people’s medical histories.”
“Let’s call it a day,” Nadia suggests. “We can start again tomorrow with fresh eyes. Maybe we’ll go to Rich’s office.”
“It’s empty,” Annika replies. “I went there to clean it out shortly after you left for Europe, but someone beat me to it. The only thing left was the desk.”
“What?” I stare at her, dumbfounded. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because you were in France, on vacation. And, frankly, I didn’t care. It was one less thing I had to deal with. Somebody did me a favor.”
“He wouldn’t have kept something incriminating there,” Ivie says, shaking her head. “It wasn’t secure, and he wasn’t there all the time. If there’s something that can help point to who’s behind all of this, I think it’ll be here. Rich was cocky. Arrogant. He felt safe here. Knew that no one would mess with him here.”
“You’re right,” Annika agrees. “And I was not allowed to be in here. Especially when he was gone. If there’s something to find, it’s here.”
“We need to stop for today,” Nadia announces. “We’re all moody and tired. We’ve been at it since sunrise. We need to get some rest and start again tomorrow, like I said.”
I watch Nadia. She looks exhausted. We haven’t stopped moving since France. There’s been little time to rest and get over the jet lag.
She’s not wrong. We do need to rest.
“You’re right. We’re probably missing something because we don’t have our wits about us. Let’s pick it up in the morning.”
“Thank God.” Annika closes the laptop. “I’ve tried every combination of words and numbers I can think of.”
“If Shane would answer his phone, he could get into it without breaking a sweat. I’ll keep trying him.”
“I will, too,” Ivie adds and reaches for her cell.
“It’s settled then,” Nadia says and stands to stretch. “We’ll come back tomorrow.”
“I needed to get out of there,” Nadia confesses when we pull into the driveway of our rental. “I love my cousin, you know I do, but she was irritating the shit out of me today.”
“She’s angry.”
“She’s being a brat,” she counters. “And that’s not like her. She won’t talk to me. All she wants to do is brood and sulk, and it’s irritating as fuck.”
“Not everyone knows how to handle their emotions after a powerful loss like that.”
“I know. And I’m sympathetic. She lost who she thought was her husband, the life she imagined they’d build together before he even died. And then he was just…gone. She couldn’t confront him. She must have so many emotions going on, and I feel for her. But her attitude is shitty, and I needed a break.”
“Fair enough.” I park and lock my car, and we walk inside the house. It’s the same one we used when we were here a few weeks ago. It’s starting to feel like a home away from home.
I wonder if the owners would consider selling it? It would be convenient to have a piece of property here in the neutral city of Denver.
I’ll have to make some inquiries.
“I’m taking a shower,” Nadia announces, and already has her shirt over her head as she saunters down the hall to the master, her ass swaying in that way that never fails to kick me in the stomach with lust.
I want her.
I always want her.
I’ve fallen in love with her.
I follow after her and hear the water turn on in the shower. Deciding to leave her alone to wash off the frustration of the day, I light a few candles and then go to the kitchen to arrange some fruit, cheese, and crackers on a tray. It’s not fancy, but it’ll be a nice snack.
I set the platter next to the bed and turn to find Nadia standing in the doorway, towel-drying her hair.
She’s naked and still damp from the shower. I can’t wait to get my hands on her.
“Is that for me?”
“It seems that most of what I do these days is for you,” I reply as I cross to her and cup her face in my hands. “Better?”
“Yeah, that felt good.”
I kiss her lips tenderly. “Come, relax. Have a snack.”
“I can think of something I’d like to snack on.” Her lips curl up into a flirty smile, and she drops her hair towel to the floor, then reaches for my jeans.
“And what would that be?” The question is playful. “A card game, perhaps?”
“I’d kill you at poker.”
“I’ve seen you play poker,” I remind her.
“That was an act. I could have cleaned up on that table.”
“Darling, you’re just full of surprises.”
She yanks my shirt over my head and tosses it to the floor, and then she’s on me, raw need pouring from every pore of her body. We stumble to the bed, fall in a clumsy heap, and then it’s all groping hands and laughter as we fumble our way to each other.
She’s out of breath when I pin her beneath me, but her blue eyes are wild and locked on mine as I nudge her thighs apart with mine and drive home.
I gasp as she moans.
I need her the way I need air. I can’t be gentle as pure desire fuels me, pushing and pulling, driving us both to the ultimate destination of eruption.
“Christ Jesus,” she moans. Her back arches, and she clenches around me, then lets go.
I can’t keep my hands off her breasts, my mouth away from her neck, and move up to her lips as I press on, still chasing the all-encompassing need to claim her. To show her how much I need her.
Finally, with my jaw clenched and my eyes shut, I fall over the edge and collapse on top of her, heaving and tingling.
I feel fingertips roaming over my spine and shift my face from the pillow to her neck.
“You’re the best part of my life. Don’t ever forget that.”
Those fingertips still for just a moment but then begin moving again.
“I won’t forget,” she promises. “But you’re going to have to move because I can’t breathe.”
I find the strength to roll to the side and smile over at her. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m mostly numb anyway.” She giggles and reaches for a strawberry. “And I’m so hungry. Why am I so hungry?”
“You’ve been eating like a mouse since France.”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Yes. You have.”
She watches me and reaches for some cheese, then sits up to eat. “I’ve just had a lot on my mind, you know?”
“I do. And so do I. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on you and make sure you eat.”
“It’s handy having you around.”
“I’m glad you think so. Because I’d like to stick around for a long while. When all of this is done, I want you to move in with me.”
She frowns. “Aren’t I basically already moved in?”
“I want to make it official. I want to move all of your things to Seattle.”
She swallows her cheese and watches me with those stunning eyes of hers. “To your house?”
“Yes. To my house. If you hate it, I’ll sell it, and we’ll buy something else.”
She stands and reaches for her robe, wraps it around her, and turns back to me. “You’d sell your house for me if I didn’t like it?”
Why do I feel like that’s a trick question? “Of course, I would. I want to make a life with you, Nadia. I want you to live where you’re comfortable and happy.”
“In Seattle.”
I see where this is going.
I tug on a pair of shorts and stand across the bed from her, my hands in my pockets.
“Yes, I’d like to live in Seattle. Is that a problem for you?”
“I don’t know.” She moves a piece of wet hair off her cheek. “It’s not something I’ve considered before. Seattle is off-limits because our families?—”
“Our families are fine. If you don’t like Seattle, don’t want to make a home there?—”
“I didn’t say that.” She hurries around the bed and takes my hand in hers, then kisses my chin. “I’m overthinking it. I like Seattle, Carmine. And I like your house. I mean, it could use a woman’s touch here and there…”
Hope spreads through my belly.
“It could. You’re right. Do you know of a woman who might want to add her touch?”
She smiles and tips her face to mine. “I just might. I’ll put out some feelers.”
“You’re a sassy one.”
“And you get to live with me. Lucky man.”
Yes. Yes, I am a lucky man.