He’d needed three stitches for the gash in his forehead, had to have his shoulder wound redressed, and was given instructions to watch for infection. Even though he was probably more exhausted than Lisa, he hadn’t left her side. For that, she was thankful.
Satisfied she’d answered enough for the time being, the detective finally let Lisa leave the station and promised to track her down at Lauren’s estate if he thought of anything else. Back at the house, she went up to Rafe’s room, slipped out of her clothes and slid between the silky sheets to wait for him to come home. Sleep pulled at her within minutes of her head hitting the pillow, and in the morning when she woke, she sat up, surprised to find she was still alone.
As she was twenty-four hours later.
Rafe had left several messages on her cell, but every time she’d tried to call him back, he’d been out of range or unavailable. And she wasn’t sure just what that meant. So when Pete called that morning and asked her to come in to Odyssey, worry gnawed at her reserves.
A little voice in the back of her head said Rafe had left because their partnership was over. He didn’t need her anymore, not in the same way she needed him.
***
Shane pulled the rental to the curb and killed the engine. He glanced across the seat toward the massive double front doors. Palm trees lined the ritzy street with its quaint cafés and trendy shops. It didn’t surprise Lisa this was where Odyssey was located, in the heart of glamorous Miami Beach.
“Want me to stay in the car or go in with you?”
“Go in with me.” But she didn’t move. For some reason, she was almost too afraid to find out what was going on.
Feeling like a wuss, she pushed the door open and stepped from the sedan. She’d dressed in lightweight slacks and a silk sleeveless top, and though the Florida heat was already intense at ten in the morning, it didn’t bother her.
Lisa pulled the glass door open and was immediately surrounded by a cool breeze that sent a shiver down her back. Ceiling fans turned slowly in the massive outer gallery. Paintings lined the walls, statuary and pottery occupied every inch of space.
A brunette appeared from a door to their left. “Dr. Maxwell, Detective. Mr. Kauffman is waiting for you.”
Fighting back a little jolt of panic, Lisa followed the woman up to the third floor. The brunette knocked on the door at the end of the hall, and when a voice said, “Come in,” she gestured for them to go ahead.
Pete rose from the desk and smiled as they stepped into the office, looking every bit the consummate professional in slacks, a white dress shirt and red silk tie. Not for the first time, Lisa wondered just what it was that made Peter Kauffman tick. He was gorgeous and single and loaded. But in the few short days she’d known him, she’d sensed something was off.
Yeah, he was smart, and driven, and easy to be around. But lurking behind his stone gray eyes, there were a host of secrets. Secrets and regrets that made Lisa wonder just what had happened in his life. Or whom he’d lost. She recognized the pain he hid, because for fifteen years, the same things had haunted her. But not anymore.
Pete shook Shane’s hand and greeted Lisa with a hug. “Thanks for coming by.”
She eased out of Pete’s arms and glanced around the empty room, refocusing on why she was here. “Where is he?”
Pete’s smile faded. “He wanted to be here, but Teresa’s not doing so well. Rafe and Billy took her home to Puerto Rico.”
That explained his sudden disappearance. Lisa closed her eyes and steeled herself against the quick stab of pain in her heart. She would have gone with him. Didn’t he know that?
“I heard they pulled Swanson’s body from the bay early this morning.”
Pete’s voice brought Lisa’s eyes open.
Shane nodded, perched the hand of his good arm on his hip. “They’re still looking for Winters. Won’t be long before they find him.”
Pete nodded and gestured toward the table. “I have something to show you both.”
Lisa looked toward the long conference table to her left where a black drape was laid out across the surface. As much as her heart was hurting, her pulse beat just a little quicker at the thought of seeing Alecto again.
She and Shane stepped toward the table.
“You know,” Pete said with a smile in his voice, “this has got to be my favorite part. When a client finally has what they’ve been looking for.” He pulled the fabric back, revealing not just Alecto, but Tisiphone and Magaera as well.
Shane drew in a sharp breath at her side. “Wow.”
Lisa’s mouth fell open. All three pieces were joined together, the small notches in the sides uniting them as had originally been intended. She recognized Alecto in the middle with her arms crossed over her chest, wings jutting out of her back and her weight perched on one foot. Tisiphone floated in the air to her right, wings spread wide, eyes looking toward the heavens. Magaera, seated to Alecto’s left, had her legs angled away from her body, weight supported on one hand as she looked up at her sisters. Snakes encircled each of their heads, and while they might have looked tame at first glance, there was no mistaking the seriousness of their quest: eyes hard, cold and dangerous.
Daughters of darkness. Tormentors of evildoers.
They’d taunted Lisa for nearly fifteen years, but not anymore.
“They’re amazing, aren’t they?” Pete asked.
She forced thoughts of Doug from her mind for good and refocused on Magaera. “How did you—”
Pete smiled. “Teresa’s maiden name was Los Cruz.”
“What?” Lisa looked up sharply.
“Her grandmother gave it to her when she moved to the States with Rafe’s father. It’d hung in their family dining room for years. Teresa had always liked it. And Rafe, well, he’s always had a thing for art history. She passed it down the family line to him.”
Stunned, Lisa looked back down. “He had it all this time, and he never said anything?”
He’d kept so much from her. There were moments she thought she hadn’t known him at all.
A paper slid next to her hand, drawing her attention. “What’s this?”
Pete set a pen on the table. “Acceptance of terms. All you have to do is sign, and they’re yours.”
“Mine?” Lisa’s gaze shot up. “But…that’s not what we agreed on.”
“The deal changed.”
“He needs to sell them for—”
“He doesn’t need the money anymore,” Pete cut in. “He sold the boat, got Billy to agree to sell the property in Key West. He paid back what he owed me for financing the search and has enough left over to get Teresa set up until it’s over.”
Until it’s over. Lisa’s chest tightened.
“But what will he do after? That’s not what we—”
Pete shook his head, a wry smile curling his mouth. “Rafe’s resilient. He’ll figure something out. Trust me, I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t listen.” His voice softened. “He wants you to have them, Lisa. You earned them. All you have to do is sign.”
She lifted the pen when Pete pushed it toward her, stared back down at the paper. She’d never expected Rafe to go back on his word. She’d never once anticipated he’d give up the one thing he wanted most in the world. All for her.
You earned them.
She hadn’t. Not on her own. They’d earned them together. Without him, she never would have found the Furies. She never would have uncovered the part of herself she thought she’d lost. She never would have discovered a heart she’d buried long ago.
She had known him, the best parts of him. He’d made her think about a future that wasn’t bleak and lonely. He’d made her dream of things that weren’t centered around her career. He’d made her believe in love again.
She blinked back the tears threatening to fall, dropped the pen and looked across the table at Pete. “You’re a businessman, right?”
He eyed her with curiosity but didn’t answer.
“Lisa,” Shane
warned.
She held up a hand to stop Shane from meddling and focused on Pete. “How would you like to make a deal?”
***
Rafe figured three weeks was long enough for Lisa to come to her senses.
He’d expected to hear from her after she found out he’d given her the Furies, but twenty-one days had passed without a single word. He knew because he was counting.
Pete had told her where he’d gone. Rafe had left messages for her she’d never returned, and he’d talked to Pete a handful of times since he’d met with Lisa. But every time he asked, his friend had said only that when he’d seen her, Lisa had been speechless.
That didn’t sit well with Rafe. Lisa was never speechless. Unless she was with him. Since she was more than three thousand miles away now, he figured that wasn’t a good sign.
His mother had perked up as soon as he’d brought her to San Juan. Just being home seemed to boost her spirits. He knew it wouldn’t last, but for the moment she was in peace, and that was the best thing he could give her. Billy had really stepped up, helping out, taking care of Mamá when Rafe was busy fixing up the three-bedroom bungalow he’d bought for her. His brother was even pitching in and pulling his weight with the remodel, which shocked the hell out of Rafe.
It seemed three ancient pieces of stone had bridged the gap between the two of them. He had hope that things might just turn out okay for his family, that he and Billy would get through whatever happened.
The only problem was, one important person was missing. One he hadn’t been able to get off his mind since he’d seduced Alecto out from under her in Italy.
“Mamá,” he hollered as he tossed his shaving kit into his bag. “Have you seen my keys?”
Muffled voices resonated from downstairs, but he couldn’t make out the words. He didn’t have time to seek out and search. He was already running late and didn’t want to miss his flight. He retrieved a pair of socks from the dresser drawer, tossed them in the bag sitting on top of the whitewashed piece of furniture and turned to grab his shoes. Patting his thighs with his hands, he tried to remember what the heck he’d done with his keys.
Jingling echoed from the doorway. He looked up, expecting to see Billy’s ugly mug, but instead his heart nearly stopped at the sight in front of him.
Lisa leaned against the doorjamb with her arms crossed over her chest and his keys dangling from her fingers.
She was here.
“Looking for these?”
No, he was looking for her.
Words clogged in his throat. She wore those sinful denim short shorts he’d been fantasizing about for weeks and a navy spaghetti-strap tank top that showcased her luscious cleavage. “What are you doing here?”
She tipped her head in a casual move. “I was in the neighborhood. Business. Thought I’d drop by.” She glanced around the sparsely furnished second-floor room. “Nice place.”
He hadn’t spent a lot of time in here and hadn’t bothered to decorate. The furniture was white. The walls were barren. The room boasted a queen-sized bed, a dresser topped with a round mirror and a small side chair where he’d tossed some clothes. Natural light flowed in through the windows, making it look bright and cheery. A fan turned lazy circles above, and a door led to a small porch. But the room wasn’t anything like his place back in the Keys. Didn’t even compare to his old boat.
“I…” He ran a hand over his hair, feeling oddly nervous and completely out of his element. “I wasn’t expecting anyone.”
“Looks like it.” She pushed away from the wall and set his keys on the dresser. “I saw Teresa downstairs. She looks good.”
“Yeah. She’s doing better.” And why the hell were they talking about his mother, when the woman he loved was finally standing in front of him as gorgeous as she’d been the day he’d met her?
Business.
“What do you mean you’re here on business?” he quickly asked.
She shrugged. “Turns out the Furies are worth a pretty penny.”
She’d sold them? He’d given them to her because she deserved them after everything she’d been through. Because they meant something to her they’d never mean to him or anyone else. Not so she could sell them.
He opened his mouth to say that very thing, then closed it quickly. They weren’t his to worry about anymore. He’d given them to her free and clear. What she did with them was up to her.
“Pete’s a smart guy,” she went on. “We decided to strike a deal. A business partnership, if you will.”
His eyes narrowed, and he watched her closely for a sign she was joking. If she was, he couldn’t see it. She’d made a deal with his womanizing ex-partner? Unease roiled through him. Rafe knew all about her deals. Suddenly, he wasn’t so sure he wanted to know about their “business partnership.”
When he didn’t respond, she lifted an eyebrow and smiled. “Interested at all?”
He wasn’t sure what to say.
“Hmm,” she said. “Pete didn’t think you would be, but I told him it was worth a try.”
He was having trouble following her. All he knew for sure was he didn’t like where this was going. “What are you doing here, Lisa?”
She faced him. “Well, as it turns out, I really don’t have a place in my tiny apartment for the Furies. And it seems like a waste to let them sit in an attic collecting dust, so Pete and I made a deal. He wants to open another branch of Odyssey where Annalise’s ancestors can view all three Furies together. Apparently there’s some heavy tourism on this island, big bucks coming in, which translates to money in his pocket. None of that really matters to me, so I pushed for a museum. In the end, we compromised. An eclectic combination of archaeologically significant pieces displayed for the public to view, along with unique antiquities in certain special collections available for purchase.”
He could hardly believe what he was hearing. “You sold the Furies to Pete, and now you’re opening a gallery together, here in San Juan?”
She smiled. “I didn’t sell him all the Furies. Just a small percentage, to get the project up and running. And San Juan seemed like the perfect place. There’s a lot of rich culture here. I think it’ll be a hit.”
Now he was the one who was speechless. When he’d seen her standing in his doorway, he’d been sure she was here because she’d realized she couldn’t live without him. Not because she was embarking on a business endeavor with his ex-best friend.
“Thing is,” she said, “I don’t know a whole lot about running a gallery, and I travel a lot with my job. I don’t want to give that up. I don’t think I’ll be teaching so much anymore, but I still want to work in the field. And Pete can’t really handle the day-to-day operations because he’s needed back in Miami. So…”
Holy hell. Now it made sense. “Are you offering me a job?”
“Well,” she said, “yeah. What do you think?”
He thought she was insane. No way he was going to work for her so she could run off with Pete and play Indiana Jones, because he knew that’s exactly what Pete would want to do. He let out a smug laugh and turned away before he said something he’d regret later. “I think you made a trip down here for nothing.”
His chest hurt. All those plans he’d been making over the last few weeks lay shattered at his feet.
“What if I sweeten the deal?” she asked.
She’d have to sweeten it a helluva lot to make him even turn around. Right now, he’d settle for her leaving. He grabbed a shirt lying on the bed and stepped to the closet to find a hanger to keep his hands busy. Carajo. He was gonna kill Pete.
“Okay,” she said. “I can see being stuck in the gallery isn’t your first choice. You like being out and about. I guess I could let you tag along on a few of my trips.”
“You guess?” He could hardly believe what he was hearing. “I don’t think so.”
“What if I throw in a few perks?”
It was all he could do not to turn around and tell her what she could do with her littl
e perks.
“What if…” She hesitated. “What if I’m part of the deal?”
His hand paused in the act of hanging up his shirt. A tingling slid down his chest. When he finally forced his body to turn, there was tenderness in her eyes, and warmth, and…love.
“You made me a deal back in Key West,” she said softly. “The Furies belong to both of us. The way I see it, as long as they do, you’re not getting rid of me quite so fast. I figure a year is a good start at seeing how well this partnership works out.”
That pressure eased around his heart. “Was that your lame-ass attempt at a declaration of love?”
Her mouth dropped open, then closed. “It wasn’t that lame.”
He tried not to smile. “Pretty lame if you ask me.”
She perched her hands on her hips in annoyance. “I suppose you think you could do better?”
“I know I could. If it were me, I’d just come right out and say it. No beating around the bush. You came all the way down here, Querida. Don’t cave now. Tell me the real reason you’re here.”
She didn’t answer, only stared at him with the same damn fear he’d been fighting the past three weeks.
“It’s a gamble, isn’t it?” he asked quietly.
Still silent.
“Kinda like taking a chance on a thief.”
When her eyes softened, he knew he had her.
“There’s only one thief I want to take a chance on. I…” She closed her eyes. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this.” She blew out a long breath. “Oh, hell. I love you, Rafe.”
His heart swelled, and he smiled. He knew she was waiting for him to say it back, but he couldn’t. Not until she opened her eyes and looked at him.
Those shimmering emeralds finally popped open, and he didn’t miss the quick flash of anger at his silence. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
Before she could step away, he wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her off the floor and dropped her on the bed.