Chapter 13 #2
“Rhys, the Water Lilies . A stolen Monet you have to find.” She touched his jaw and turned his head back toward the computer. “Look at the brushstrokes. The shading to give depth. The colors.”
His brow furrowed. “Makes you wonder what’s under the water.”
“Exactly.” She beamed at him. “Yes. And look at the lilies. You can almost feel the breeze on your skin. It’s like a hidden message.”
“A puzzle,” he murmured.
“Yes, but there’s no right or wrong answer. It invokes different things in different people.”
He made a humming sound. “What’s it invoke in you?”
“Emotion. Feeling. A sense of belonging to something bigger than myself.”
His gaze was on her like a laser. “You don’t feel like you belong?”
She felt a pain under her heart. She’d forgotten that he was a very good investigator. She shifted on her stool. “Rhys…”
“I’ve always had my family, my siblings,” he said. “Then I joined the Army, and I had another place to belong.”
“You’re lucky,” she whispered.
“But I do understand that feeling of wanting more. Of wanting something that clicks and feels right. That makes all the noise in your head stop and things just go still.” He reached out and took her hand, turned it over.
She swallowed. “In the Army, I know you were on some super-secret team.”
“It’s classified.”
“Right. But I still know that the work you did must have been dangerous.” She hesitated. “Hard and difficult.”
He gave her a small nod and she saw nightmares echoed in his eyes.
“That’s what causes the noise?” she asked quietly.
Another nod. “Keeping busy dulls it for a while.”
She smiled. “Fast cars, fast boats, and fast women.”
His fingers clenched on hers. “Yeah. But now I’ve found a woman who slows me down and quiets the noise just by looking at me. And who makes me look at brushstrokes.”
The air lodged in her chest. What was he saying?
Suddenly, Rhys’ cell phone rang. He glanced at her for another beat, then pulled the phone closer and put it on speaker. “Ace.”
“Hi, Rhys. I know it’s Saturday, but I might have something on the painting.”
“What?” Haven blurted.
“Hi, Haven.” There was amusement in Ace’s voice. “The warehouse you guys broke into, I dug through the shell companies that own it. It was a fucking tangle, but I found a link to a guy called Aleksandr Volkov. A big art collector.”
Haven frowned and tapped her nails against the counter. “The name’s vaguely familiar.”
“He has a private collection,” Ace continued. “Although not all of it is legitimately sourced.”
Anger flared in Haven’s gut. She hated thieves. “How do you know all this?”
“Babe,” Ace said. “I’m the best hacker in the Northern Hemisphere.”
And so modest too.
“Name sounds Russian,” Rhys noted.
“You are a crack investigator, Norcross,” Ace said.
“Fuck you,” Rhys replied good-naturedly.
“Volkov was high up in the Soviet government. After the fall of the Soviet Union, he ended up with lots of land. He sold it, made millions, and eventually ended up in San Francisco.”
“Any overt links to the Zakharov family, or Boris Petrov here in San Francisco?”
“Nope, but I’m guessing I won’t have to dig far to find them.”
“Okay, keep digging. Thanks, Ace.”
Haven swiveled on her chair. “This Aleksandr Volkov might have the painting. Maybe he’ll run the auction.”
“Maybe,” Rhys said. “But we don’t jump the gun. We need to gather more intel and check him out.”
Frustration gnawed at her.
Suddenly, Rhys’ phone rang again.
“Hey, Rhys,” A jovial male voice said.
“Jerome,” Rhys replied.
“There’s a party tonight on a friend’s yacht. You said you wanted to come. Guy owns a slew of boats. There’ll be free booze flowing, and no doubt willing models everywhere. That’s usually Kellerman’s style.”
Haven stiffened, her eggs turning to dust in her mouth.
“Something came up, Jerome,” Rhys said.
He’d planned to go to a party. Haven swallowed. “Go if you want,” she whispered. “I’ll go and stay with Easton.”
Rhys’ face darkened.
“Or Vander,” she said.
“Rhys, you got someone there?” his friend asked.
“Yeah. Look, I can’t make the party, Jerome. Have fun.”
“Sure thing, Rhys. Another time.”
“Yeah.” Rhys ended the call.
“Go,” she insisted. “You’ve made plans.” To party with models.
“You aren’t staying with my brothers,” he ground out.
“They can keep me safe. I know Easton has excellent security at his house.” She’d been to a couple of parties at Easton’s gorgeous house near Billionaire’s Row in Pacific Heights.
“I don’t know where Vander lives.” She dredged up a smile, even though her breakfast was sludge in her belly.
“But it’s probably a bunker built into a hill that can withstand a nuclear blast.”
Rhys shook his head. “Don’t try to be funny when I’m pissed.”
“Rhys.”
He dragged her off her stool and between his legs. She was surrounded by him, felt the heat pumping off him.
“I agreed to the party when I was pissed with you.”
She stared at him.
He fingered her hair, rubbing it between his fingers. “I don’t want to go to the party.”
But one day, he would.
“Did you hear me?” he asked.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I don’t think you’re hearing me, or getting it.” He kissed her—slow and sweet. She clung to him, and soon, he was all she could think about.
He nipped her bottom lip. “Vander lives above the Norcross office.”
“Really?” She hadn’t known that.
“He’s got an awesome rooftop terrace, but he rarely lets anyone up there. Vander’s a little paranoid about his privacy and security.”
“Vander, paranoid? No way.”
Rhys grinned and tugged on her hair again.
The doorbell rang and he frowned. “Stay here.”
She shifted back onto the stool, watching as he strode to the door.
He checked the peephole and his face hardened. He opened the door. “What the hell are you doing here, and how did you get up here?”
A woman strode in. She was tall, blonde, and fabulous. She wore a short, snug skirt, and a knit top that draped her lean torso. Her blonde hair was an artfully styled mass of curls.
“I haven’t seen you in a long time, lover.” She ran a long nail down the center of Rhys’ bare chest.
Haven wanted to leap up and scratch her eyes out.
“You never returned my calls,” the blonde continued.
“Guy doesn’t return your calls, Heidi, it usually isn’t a sign that he’d appreciate a visit.”
Haven sat frozen. Oh, God.
The woman spotted Haven and stilled. All the sexiness drained from her face. “Oh, someone new. Not one of your regular friends with benefits.”
“Heidi, leave,” Rhys bit out.
“And here I thought I was special.” A flicker of real emotion crossed Heidi’s face and it made Haven feel bad. “You brought me home. People told me that you never do that.”
So, she’d felt special. Haven’s belly tightened to a hard ball.
“Yes, and it didn’t mean anything except that you had an annoying roommate I wanted to avoid,” Rhys said. “I’m seriously regretting it now.”
Haven saw that he looked stiff and unhappy.
“She’s here.” Heidi waved a hand in Haven’s direction.
“She lives here.”
Heidi’s eyes widened so much Haven expected them to roll out of her head and plop on to the ground.
“Right, well, take it from me,” Heidi said. “It won’t last. Enjoy him while you can.”
Rhys growled. “Heidi, go. Forget my number and address. And I’ll be having words with whoever the fuck you charmed to let you in.”
The woman tossed her head.
Something in Haven shriveled. She knew all of this. She knew everything Heidi was saying was the truth. She turned to look at Rhys. He was blank faced, and that made her go still. He wasn’t mad, or making a joke.
He turned to look at her, his dark eyes empty. But Haven thought she could see a hint of… Panic? Pleading?
She remembered what he’d said earlier, about quieting the noise.
Dredging up her courage, she slipped off the stool. She strode over to him and when she got close, he quickly wrapped an arm around her pulling her back against his chest.
Heidi’s gaze sharpened on them.
“I get it,” Haven said. “You want him. You want more of him.”
The woman stayed silent.
“Well, you can’t have him, because he’s mine.”
Rhys’ arm convulsed on her.
Heidi sniffed. “I’m just doing you a favor. He’ll get rid of you. It won’t last.”
Rhys spun Haven around and pulled her up on her toes. “I don’t want to let you go. I want you right here. I’ve wanted you right here since I first looked into your eyes.”
“Rhys,” Haven breathed.
“Get out,” Rhys said, not even looking at the blonde.
“Oh, I’m gone.” Heidi spun, and stalked out like she was on the catwalk. She slammed the door closed behind her.
Haven blinked. “Do you think she practices how to walk like that?”
Rhys lowered his head, running his nose along Haven’s. “I know we didn’t finish breakfast, but I need to fuck you again.”
She felt a little spasm between her legs. “Okay.”
“Let’s check the shower off the list next.”
Another little spasm. “Okay.”