Chapter 2
brADY
The heaviness in my arms all but guarantees I’m going to regret that last round in about an hour, but it feels damn good.
Fantastic actually.
I yank the strap wrapped tightly around my hand and wrist loose with my teeth. “Is there a reason you were trying to take my head off?” I ask James, grinning as I flex my fingers.
He shakes out his arms, skin slick with sweat. “You drop your right every damn time. I don’t know why I even bother sparring with you.”
I roll my eyes because he’s full of shit, and we both know it. It’s a rare occasion that he can best me in the ring.
“Probably because I give you the friends and family discount.” I toss him a towel, and he catches it with a twitch at the corner of his mouth. “And because you know I won’t hit you too hard in the face because I’m terrified of your wife.”
“You’re an ass.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
He snorts, peeling off his own gloves. Leaning against the wall, I roll my neck, letting the familiar early morning hum of the gym settle in—gloves hitting bags, the rhythmic slap of jump ropes against the floor.
The boxing gym may not be my primary business, but it’s an outlet I can’t live without.
I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t try to beat the shit out of people in a regulated way.
It’s the only way I’ve ever found to safely excise the anger inside me.
The only decent thing my father ever did for me was introduce me to the sport.
Fitting, since he’s also the reason I’ve got so much rage to burn off.
My phone buzzes on the bench next to me.
“James, why is your brother calling me at the ass crack of dawn?”
My best friend frowns, dropping the used towel in a bin. “He’s already at the office? I thought he was taking a few days off while Dahlia was in town.”
Luke’s wife is a famous actor, and with her shooting schedule, she and Luke are rarely in the same city. Usually when she is in town, Luke is off the radar, their time together sacrosanct.
“Apparently.” I head for the hallway, intending to duck into the office for privacy.
“Fantastic.” James grunts, heading for the showers. “Bet you fifty grand whatever early morning emergency this is, he tries to dump it on me.”
I wave him off with a grin. I’ve been listening to the Bloom twins bicker since college. The air is cooler in the office, the air conditioning working overtime to filter out the humidity of the gym. Dropping into the chair, I prop my bare feet up on the desk corner before calling Luke back.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of the early morning summoning?”
The sound of Luke’s typing comes through before he answers. “A new case popped up last night.” He hesitates before continuing. “I have a feeling it’s going to be complicated.”
I grab the water bottle sitting beside my laptop and take a deep pull, my brain sparking at the promise of something new. Lately, new and exciting have become few and far between. “Complicated how?”
There is a pause.
“My client says she’s being framed. Normally, I wouldn’t believe a client on just their word, but… I know her… sort of.”
He heaves out a sigh. “Not enough to know if she’s lying though, and something about the whole scenario is seriously off.”
“Off like you think she did it?”
“No, that’s the problem. Everything about the scene feels wrong. Too precise in some ways, sloppy in others.”
“You want me to dig into the evidence?”
“I want you in the room with her this morning. I want your read.”
The tension in his voice gets my attention. “There’s more you’re not telling me.”
Luke sighs. “She found her ex-husband dead in her house. No forced entry. Security didn’t alert. And the murder weapon was found in her bushes.”
I sit up straighter. “Alibi?”
“Not airtight. She called it in herself. But Brady… There’s something about this… and she…”
If I didn’t know how obsessed Luke was with his wife, I’d think he was interested in her.
“Criminals aren’t always intelligent.” I point out.
“I know that better than you,” Luke snaps. “I want you to sit in on a meeting with her this morning. Give me your impression of the case and of her. Whoever killed him left a note.”
That is interesting.
“What did it say?”
“I’ll fill you in when you get here.”
Asshole. He knows exactly how to keep my interest.
The spark is back, roaring into a flame. “What time?”
“Nine o’clock.”
“Bit last minute, Counselor,” I say, but I’m already pushing off the chair, heading for the locker rooms to shower and change. “It might cost you, but I think I can fit you into my busy schedule.” I’m only half-joking.
“Of course, it will.”
The truth is, I don’t do much fieldwork these days.
A couple of years ago, I paired up with the former head of security for one of the most powerful men in the world.
Combining our skills, we restructured my already successful investigative firm into Elite Security Services, providing both investigative and personal protection.
Unfortunately, taking on so much personnel means I spend more time behind desks and screens than doing anything to inspire a dose of adrenaline.
This could be fun.
“Who’s the client?” I ask, already thinking about digging into her records.
“Elizabeth Gowan.”
I stop, my hand frozen on the doorknob. An image of the stunning brunette flashes in front of me. Ice-blue eyes and full, red lips that I still dream about. My gut tightens at the memory of the throaty sounds she made when my lips closed over—
“You met her once… She’s Dahlia’s entertainment lawyer.” Luke’s voice rips me out of the memory.
“Right,” I mutter.
That hadn’t been the first time I’d met her, but Luke didn’t need to know that. I’d only glimpsed her in the parking lot the day I’d swept Dahlia’s condo for covert surveillance, and though Elizabeth pretended she didn’t recognize me… I know she did.
I’d taken off my mask that night, giving her a full view of my face. Her golden mask might have stayed in place, but every moment of that night is seared into my memory.
The one thing I hadn’t known was her name. Of course, after the universe dropped her in my path again, I’d looked into her. She’d mentioned her divorce that night but not how messy my research revealed it to be.
I had every intention of tracking her down, but a week later everything happened with Sera, and she became the sole recipient of my focus.
“Are you still there?”
This is probably going to be a huge mistake. Mixing business with personal was a recipe for disaster.
“I’ll be there.”
I hang up before he can say more.
Or I can change my mind.
After a quick shower, I throw on a pair of black jeans and a button-down, shoving my damp hair back with my fingers. It’s as dressed up as I’m going to get, coming straight from the gym.
I arrive at the Bloom twins’ building early and head for the elevator. The entire place is glass and steel. A sleek design that screams expensive. For two men who claim they are nothing like their billionaire father, or the lifestyle they were raised in, the Blooms certainly enjoy the luxury.
I flash a grin at the receptionist and prop a hip on her desk. “Morning, gorgeous.”
She doesn’t blink. “Save it for someone who doesn’t know you, Brady. He’s expecting you.”
Luke is at his desk, frowning at the files in front of him, when I rap my knuckles on the open door before stepping in.
“Thanks for coming. I know this isn’t your thing anymore.” Luke purses his lips. “Or maybe it is.”
His concerned tone has my charm offensive evaporating. “Care to elaborate?”
Luke scrubs a hand over his face. “I wish I could. I’ve been up all night, going over everything.” He gestures at the items in front of him. “I can’t get any clarity.”
A pit forms in my stomach. “You think she’s guilty.”
Luke frowns. “No. That’s the one thing I’m confident about.” He casts me a rueful smile and gestures for me to sit. “I mean as much as I can be without having witnessed the murder myself.”
“Okay. So, what’s the problem?” Dropping into the chair, I cross my ankle over my knee and lean back slightly. My posture might be casual, but my brain is hyper-focused. I arch a brow, waiting.
“The note.” Luke glances at his watch. “She’s going to be here any minute. It might be best to wait so we don’t go over it twice.” I shoot him a look, and he gives in. “It said, ‘Give it back,’ written in blood.”
For a moment, I’m silent.
“Give what back?”
Frustration is written all over Luke’s face. “She says she has no idea. Hasn’t even seen her ex in four years.”
“She’s lying.” I shrug even as my body coils tight.
“I don’t think so. She was adamant, and I believe her.
” My friend’s gaze is serious when it meets mine.
“I keep coming back to the fact that whoever killed Keith Gowan was sophisticated enough to figure out how to cut the power to her block, in order to avoid all security cameras, while they left the body—presumably to set her up since they also left the murder weapon. They also knew enough about her schedule to time it so that her housekeeper, who was there late that afternoon, didn’t discover him. ”
He shakes his head frowning deeply. “The note was clearly intended for her, and it was patently evident that her house wasn’t the original crime scene—zero blood spatter. It was so obvious that the police didn’t even bring her in last night. They questioned her at her house and let her go.”
The muscles in my neck lock up. “You think she’s in danger?”
“Yes…”
“But?”
“She won’t want to see it that way.” He grimaces. “I don’t have any proof she is, and Elizabeth likes facts.”
“I’d think the fact a body was left in her house with a mysterious message would be a pretty compelling reason to take precautions,” I say dryly.
“You’d think so. But Elizabeth is stubborn and likes to be in control. She isn’t going to like anything about this situation, and she’s going to fight against it.”
“Sounds fun.” I smirk.
Luke arches an eyebrow. “She’d eat you for breakfast.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“I’m serious, Brady. She’s a client, and by me hiring you, it makes her your client, too.”
I can’t resist goading him. “That feels a teensy bit hypocritical considering how you met your wife.”
“Don’t be stupid. I need your head in this, not your dick.”
“Why not both?” I have to stifle the urge to laugh as his face turns red, but if I’m honest, nothing about this is funny.
The thought of the beauty in the golden mask being in danger makes me unexpectedly furious.