Chapter 26
Grace
Ineeded to speak with Zephyr alone so I could explain to him what the hell was going on. It was all happening too fast, and I didn”t have time to prepare him. But Zephyr would have to wait because the time had come for me to put my cards on the table. I decided to start with Rome.
Nick had told me when Gaia had a class, so I went to their home.”Grace, come in.” Rome was in gym shorts and a T-shirt. He was sweating as he held a bottle of water in one hand.
Holy mother of God! No wonder Gaia looked so happy all the time. The man was deliciously built. I was no homewrecker, but I had eyes, and they were enjoying this delectable piece of man candy.
”Grace?” Rome urged, and I realized that I was staring at him.
”You”re a very good-looking man,” I blurted out.
Rome laughed, a husky, sexy laugh. He didn”t do anything for my lady bits the way Zephyr did, but when you saw a work of art, you had to appreciate it.
”Thank you. I just finished working out. Can you give me ten minutes to take a shower?”
”Oh yeah.” He”d look good naked in a shower, I thought, and I wanted to smack myself for that illicit thought.
He chuckled as if he knew where my head was at. He led me into an open-plan living, dining, and kitchen area that appeared to be where the couple lived. ”Get yourself something to drink. I”ll be right back.”
I opened the fridge and saw an open bottle of Sancerre. It was six in the evening, so I poured myself a glass. I went outside to the courtyard, which looked into all the rooms of the house, and sat at the inviting outdoor seating area by the fountain.
My house seemed vulgar in its contemporariness next to this home”s old-school coziness. I had thought about living in the Quarter but had worried that it would be too noisy, and I wanted my privacy. Zephyr also had a place close by, and according to him, it had been a labor of love to make it his own. He”d been heartbroken when a firebomb had destroyed a part of it. He intended to rebuild and recreate.
”Hey.” Rome was now in a pair of linen pants and a linen button-down. It seemed to be his casual uniform. He sat down across from me. He held a glass of amber liquid. Scotch, I suspected.
”Sante.” He clinked his glass with mine. ”You like the wine?”
”Yes, very crisp.”
”The vineyard in Napa is owned by one of my partners” family,” he told me. ”Caleb Sloane.”
”Sloane Wines.” I nodded. We were making small talk. But I knew I had to get to the point. ”I wanted to talk to you about Henri Allard.”
Rome didn”t seem surprised, but then this man was a top executive; he didn”t show emotion unless he wanted to. ”Let”s talk.”
”I think he”s involved in whatever is going on at BBH. In fact, I believe he”s the mastermind.” I spoke quickly and waited for Rome to lose his shit.
”I agree.”
If my eyes could bug out like in a cartoon, they would.
”What?”
He grinned. ”My wife and her brothers will have my ass for thinking this way, but there is no way all this was going on without Henri”s knowledge.”
”But you always defend him,” I pointed out.
He shrugged. ”I”ve got to keep up appearances. You know who else is on your side?”
I shook my head.
”Imran. He”s been investigating Henri.”
”So have we.”
”You show me yours; I”ll show you mine.” Rome toasted his drink.
”We know he”s living beyond his means. We know he has only one paying client, and that is BBH. We think he”s sleeping with Camille. We believe he gave her Pierre”s bank information so she could hire the hitmen to kill you and Gaia.”
Rome”s eyes darkened, and I wasn”t surprised. It must be a terrible feeling to know someone tried to kill your wife and that to survive, Gaia had to commit murder. The scar that left could not be small, and for someone like Gaia, who”d already lived through so much trauma, I was certain that she was incurring some big therapy bills. Or at least I hoped she was.
”We don”t have proof, but we think Henri has been siphoning money out of BBH. I can”t use anyone at BBH; they”re all loyal to Henri. Miss Matty will pull out her Glock and shoot my ass if she thinks I suspect Henri. My new CFO, Elaine Fox, will play ball, but I don”t want her involved.”
”Why?”
”Because people are dyin”, Grace, getting murdered. I don”t need a target on an innocent woman”s back.”
”What do we do?” I asked.
”We continue to investigate.”
”And the Doucets?”
He sighed. ”Merdé! I hate lying to my wife, but Henri is like a father to the three of them. And we have no concrete proof. Blaze will fuckin” disown my ass before he believes Henri wants to hurt them.”
I drank some of my wine and contemplated. ”Zephyr? How dedicated is he?”
”Same as Gaia and Blaze.”
”Shit.”
Rome nodded. ”I think Henri had hoped that Lucien would make him CEO of BBH, leaving a chunk of the company to him. It must”ve been a shock to him that he wanted to leave it to me.”
”Why did Lucien do that, you think?”
He laughed without humor. ”Because he knew I”d protect his fucking legacy for Gaia. He knew that I”d figure out what was going on.”
I told him then about the ME report. He hadn”t heard, and I saw grief in his eyes. ”Lucien would have wanted to die with dignity.”
”Who would he trust? Henri?”
Rome shook his head. ”Not with this. Henri wouldn”t do it. He”d know that. Henri wouldn”t risk his life and freedom.”
Rome seemed to think about it for a long moment and then groaned as if in pain. ”Miss Matty.”
”Matty Benedict? Really?”
”Yeah. She was not just his EA. She was his confidante. Probably his lover. They were close. She stayed on to take care of me because he”d made her promise to help me.”
I was about to send a text message to Nick and Ash to pick up Miss Matty when Rome held up his hand.
”No, Grace. You don”t put her in a box.”
”The law is the law, Rome.”
”I won”t help you with Henri if you do,” he said blandly.
”Excuse me? You understand I”m an officer of the court and—”
”Miss Matty will not be touched, Grace.” I felt a shiver run through me hearing the iron in his voice. ”If she helped him die, she did it because she loved him. And you will get nothing from her. I will hire a barrage of lawyers to protect her.”
”Is that a threat?”
Rome drank some scotch. ”A promise. If you want to talk to her, we can do it in my office where she”s comfortable and safe. She will have lawyers with her. She will not confess. And I can guarantee you there is absolutely no fucking evidence.”
”How are you so sure?”
”Because Miss Matty is meticulous. She wouldn”t leave herself exposed. Lucien wouldn”t let her.”
I considered what Rome had said and agreed with him. There would be no proof, and if I went down this path, I”d lose the only ally I had against Henri Allard.
”Okay.”
”Thank you,” he said sincerely.
I laughed. ”You threatened me, Rome.”
”Yeah, and I”ll do it again to protect me and mine.” His demeanor softened. ”Though my feeling is that you”re probably also mine since you”re Zephyr”s.”
I drummed my nails on the table next to my wine glass. ”Zephyr is angry with me. I…don”t know what we”re doing.”
”What do you want, Grace?”
I shrugged. ”The impossible.”
”It”s probably not helping y”all that you can”t meet in private,” Rome crooned. ”I know how that can be, not being able to talk, to reach out. I missed Gaia like a throbbing open wound, and then when I found her, instead of hugging her close, I decided to hurt her.”
”You both seem like a very tight unit.”
”Yeah,” he said with pride and joy. ”I”m a lucky fils de putain.”
I wish I had someone who talked about me the way Rome did about Gaia. Someone who loved me like that, like death wouldn”t be able to part us. But that happened in romance novels…and apparently to Rome and Gaia.
”You know we have a guest house.” Rome waved a hand to the back of the house. ”It has its own private entrance.”
I raised an eyebrow.
”Why don”t I ask Zephyr to come over?”
I licked my lips, suddenly nervous. ”I don”t think he likes me, Rome.”
”Grace, I can”t tell you what I know, what he”s told me, but I can tell you one thing: he definitely likes you, though like maybe too mild a word,” Rome said forcefully. ”Zephyr has always lived his life without letting emotions touch him; that”s how he dealt with being an orphan. Sure, his mother was alive, but you”ve met Camille. Gaia had her attention in all the wrong ways. Camille chased after Blaze”s approval for some reason. She ignored Z. Everyone pretty much ignored him, and he decided that he wasn”t worthy.”
”You”ve got to be kidding me,” I exclaimed. ”Zephyr is one of the most self-confident people I know.”
”There”s a difference between self-confidence and self-esteem. Why do you think he fucks around? He doesn”t think he”s worthy of a relationship.”
I paused then. Zephyr got angry with me when I”d indicated that he wasn”t worthy of a relationship and could get his dick wet in any anonymous hole. I”d made him feel just like Liam had made me feel and like his mother had made Zephyr feel.
Rome was Zephyr”s closest friend; if anyone knew him, it was this man. I was so busy dealing with my insecurities that I never imagined Zephyr had them as well. That beneath that cocky exterior was a vulnerable man who wanted to be loved.
I looked at my watch. ”Isn”t he at Jazz Sessions tonight?”
Rome grinned. ”His band can cover for him.”
”Will he even come?” I asked, afraid that Zephyr would reject me. Isn”t that what I was most fearful of? That he”d just discard me like everyone else.
”Don”t worry about that.” Rome rose and pointed me toward the guest house.
It was a cute little cottage at the backend of the property. Just one bedroom, a small open-plan living, dining, and kitchen space and a bathroom. It was adorable and decorated in a bold modern, yet warm style with lots of colors.
Rome opened the fridge and looked satisfied. ”There”s a champagne bucket somewhere, and I see that someone has stocked the fridge with bubbly.”
I blushed at his insinuation. He noticed and smiled. He came to me and kissed me on my forehead.
”He”s one of the best people I know. Don”t go breakin” his heart, ma chérie.”
Break his heart? Mine was the one at risk.
”I”ve fallen in love with him,” I confessed.
He kissed my forehead again. ”I know.”