Chapter 38
Goldie
Book signings were always nerve-racking. But they were even more so when she had a giant redheaded mafia man standing behind her, his eagle eyes taking in everything as the seemingly never-ending line of people streamed through the door.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe I finally get to meet you!” A woman with an explosion of brown curls bounced excitedly in front of Goldie’s table. “You were my mom’s favorite author and we used to read your books together and talk about them all the time. She would have been so excited to meet you.”
A familiar pang of grief settled in Goldie’s chest as she flipped open the book in front of her to scrawl her name on the inside. “That’s so sweet, thank you! Would you like a picture?”
The woman let out a happy squeal. “Could we please?”
“Of course!”
Popping up from her seat for the fiftieth time that morning, Goldie moved to the edge of her table to pose with the woman before settling back into her seat to greet the next reader.
Just as she was flipping open the next book, a bottle of water appeared at her elbow. “Drink.”
Yes, Daddy. Twisting the cap off the bottle, she took a tiny sip, then froze as Brody growled low in her ear. Praying her face wasn’t as red as it felt, she brought the bottle back to her lips and took a deep pull.
“Good girl,” Brody murmured, low enough for only her to hear. “I’m going to go tell the owners you need ten minutes.”
“Oh, that’s okay, I don’t—”
But he was already walking away, which was probably good for her ass in the long run. Ignoring the conflicting feelings of relief and annoyance tangling inside her, she turned her attention back to the person in front of her.
And then it was her turn to squeal. “Aria!”
Popping back out of her seat, she rushed around the table to throw her arms around her new bestie’s neck while Aria laughed. “You didn’t really think we’d miss this, did you?”
“Well, considering I completely forgot about it until two days ago, I didn’t know if anyone was coming.” Pulling out of Aria’s embrace, Goldie turned and hesitated a moment before throwing herself at Reagan. “But I’m really glad you guys are here.”
“We wouldn’t have missed it,” Reagan assured her. “Though getting Aria out of the house these days basically requires an act of Congress.”
Aria rolled her eyes, but Goldie didn’t miss the fact that her hand immediately moved to cup her growing belly. “Killian is being ridiculous and he knows he’s being ridiculous, but somehow that doesn’t stop him from being ridiculous.”
“Must run in the family,” Goldie muttered, glancing over at the spot where Brody had been standing before he’d gone off to get her the break she knew she needed even if she wasn’t ready to admit it.
Smirking, Reagan reached into the large bag on her shoulder and pulled out a white box. “It does, a fact you should both keep in mind. But for now, we have presents.”
Goldie blinked down at the box. “This is for me?”
It wasn’t like it was unusual for people to bring her gifts, she just hadn’t been expecting one from her possible cousins-in-law-to-be. Taking the white box from Reagan’s hand, she opened the lid.
And let out her second squeal of the day.
“You bought me a tiara?” Grabbing the glittering gold-and-pink crown from its nest of tissue paper, Goldie shoved the box toward Zoe who had materialized seemingly out of nowhere at the exact moment she needed her—as she often did—and placed the tiara on her head. “I need a mirror!”
Before the words even left Goldie’s mouth, Zoe had her phone up and flipped to selfie mode so Goldie could see her newest accessory. Tears welled in Goldie’s eyes as she turned her head side to side, admiring her “reflection”.
“It’s gorgeous. Thank you guys so much.”
But when she reached up to remove it, Reagan swatted lightly at her hands. “We bought it for you to wear, brat. Where are the pins for it?”
“Got them!” Aria held up a small baggie of Bobby pins in triumph.
“Oh, that’s so nice of you guys, but I can’t wear a tiara to a book signing.”
“Sure you can,” Zoe chirped, still holding her phone up but now it was facing the opposite direction and Goldie was pretty sure she was taking a video. “It’s all the rage on social media right now for authors. I’m actually shocked this is your first one.”
Reagan’s ever-present smirk somehow turned even more smug. “I like her.”
“Well that’s good because she’s the one I was telling your brother about. Zoe, meet Reagan O’Rourke. Reagan, this is my friend and the keeper of my sanity, Zoe.”
If Zoe was at all shocked by the last name, she did a damn good job of hiding it. Her smile only brightened as she looked over at Reagan. “Hi! You are fucking stunning. And I love this whole nineteen-twenties-mobster thing you have going on with the outfit.”
Before Reagan could do more than blink at Zoe, the husband half of the husband-and-wife team who owned the bookstore stepped in front of Goldie’s table and clapped his hands.
“All right, folks, we’re taking a ten-minute break to let Goldie here get something to eat and rest her hand a bit.
Alice will be around with some snacks for everyone, so if you could just sit tight, we’ll be right back. ”
Sounds of disappointment rose from the remaining readers, but she didn’t have any time to feel too guilty about it before a hand cupped her elbow, leading her toward a back room. A small table had been set up with a variety of snacks, along with a cold bottle of soda.
“Sit.”
Without giving her a chance to argue, Brody clamped a hand on her shoulder and pushed Goldie down into a chair. Again she was left with those warring feelings of gratitude and annoyance at his bossy ways, and she glared up at him from her seat. “I’ve been sitting all morning.”
Brody snorted. “The fuck you have. You’ve been up and down all morning like a goddamn Jack In The Box.”
“Because that’s my job.”
Leaning down, he placed one hand on the table and the other on the back of her chair, very neatly boxing her in, their noses practically touching.
“And it’s my job to make sure you don’t run yourself into the goddamn ground doing your job.
So you can either sit here and eat the very nice snacks the owners have laid out for you, or you can spend your ten-minute break being reminded what it means to be Daddy’s good girl. What’s it going to be, menace?”
There was a not insignificant part of her that was tempted to put his threat to the test. Would he spank her where so many people could potentially hear him? Or did he have something more devious in mind?
It was the unknown of it all that decided it for her. Huffing out her annoyance, she reached for a mini hot dog wrapped in some kind of pastry and popped it into her mouth. “Happy?” She asked around the food, earning her a shockingly wide smile from the man still hovering over her.
“I’m with you, menace. So yeah, I’m happy. But you’re still getting your ass spanked for talking with your mouth full.”
Worth it.
Smirking up at him, she reached for another little appetizer just as the door to the back room flew open and Zoe filled the space, her eyes snapping with excitement. “You.” She pointed at Brody, then jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “Out.”
“Excuse me?”
Anyone else, Goldie included, would have frozen at the ice coating Brody’s voice. But Zoe only planted a hand on her hip, cocked a brow, and stared him down. “You heard me. I need a moment with my client.”
“Anything you need to say to her, you can say in front of me.”
Eyebrows flying toward her hairline, Zoe turned to Goldie. “Is this guy for real?”
“Yes, and he’s a pain in my ass.” Rolling her eyes, Goldie waved toward the door, ignoring the dark look Brody was casting in her direction. “There’s only one way in and out of this room, Brody. Go guard the door while I talk to Zoe.”
“All right.” But he didn’t move toward the door.
Instead, he once more leaned down, putting his lips directly next to Goldie’s ear, and she nearly whimpered at the twin flashes of arousal and fear shooting through her veins.
“But when we get home, you’re going to find out just how much of a pain in your ass I can be, menace.
You aren’t going to sit right for a week by the time I’m done with you. ”
Okay, she might have pushed him a little too far. But with Zoe watching them with such keen interest, she couldn’t back down. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, O’Rourke.”
“One of us is certainly going to have a good time tonight, brat.”
With that cryptic shot, he gripped her chin, pressed a brutal kiss to her lips, and turned to leave the room. Leaving Goldie staring after him in dazed shock, her entire nervous system suddenly alight.
Closing the door sharply behind them, Zoe crossed her arms and pinned Goldie with a determined stare. “All right, bitch. Start talking.”
Desperately trying to settle her jumping nerves, Goldie shrugged and reached for her soda.
Clearly she’d dug herself into a hole, so there was no point in pissing Brody off even more by letting herself get dehydrated.
“Manatees don’t really swim, they just sort of move through the water by farting. ”
In all the years they’d known each other, Goldie had never once seen Zoe speechless. But for several long seconds, she only stared at Goldie before finding her voice again. “Okay, that’s really fucking weird and not at all what I meant and you know it. Did you pimp me out to the mob?”
“Not really.” At Zoe’s incredulous stare, Goldie sighed. “I mean, yes, technically I pimped you out to Killian O’Rourke. Which I did mean to tell you about, things have just been kind of crazy around here. But I promise it’s all above-board.”
“Above-board? They’re the mafia, Goldie! You are dating a guy in the mob. How has your dad not lost his fucking mind over this?”
Goldie winced at the mention of her father. “He did. We’re… on very shaky ground at the moment. I haven’t really talked to him.”
Because the few times she had after her kidnapping, he’d only made her feel worse about her choices.
And even though she knew he was just being protective, she didn’t have the energy to fight with him on top of everything else she had going on.
At some point it had simply become easier not to reach out, and clearly her father agreed because she hadn’t gotten a single text or call from him in days.
“Gee, I wonder why,” Zoe said dryly. “I can’t imagine why a police officer would have a problem with his daughter sleeping with a mobster.”
“It’s not like that, Zoe. They’re not like that.”
Lifting her hands to her face, Zoe closed her eyes, pressing her fingers to either side of her nose as if in prayer. “Goldie. You cannot be this gullible.”
Hurt and indignation welled in her chest, but she tamped them down, reminding herself that if the tables were turned she’d likely be having a very similar reaction. “I’m not, I promise. They’re good people who were dealt a really shitty fucking hand, Zoe. And they’re trying to go legit.”
Sighing, Zoe shook her head and crossed the room to drop down into a chair beside Goldie.
In yet another “first” of their long-time friendship, there was no playful glint in her eye when she laid a hand on Goldie’s knee and squeezed.
“Look me in the eye and swear to me you’re being careful and you know what you’re doing. ”
“I promise I’m being careful and I know what I’m doing.” Or at least as careful as she could be under the circumstances. “And you know I wouldn’t have offered your services if I didn’t trust them with my whole being. I would never risk you.”
“Just yourself,” Zoe shot back dryly.
“Well, yeah.” Goldie grinned. “Anything for the plot.”
As she’d hoped, the quip pulled a laugh from her friend. “Fair enough. But if you get yourself killed, I’m going to hunt down the best mad scientist I can find, dig up your body, and have them reanimate you so I can kill you myself. Got it?”
Love, different from what she felt for Brody but no less intense, filled her up as she held her pinky out for Zoe to hook onto. “Got it.”