was a pause, then the colonel continued, “Eight it is. Howabout meeting me midtown at the bar in the Algonquin?”
The cigar tapped in a faster rhythm. “All right, Patty’s Pub it is—right across from your store. Eight o’clock.”
When he hung up the phone, McGuire sank into his chair and sent Dino an exasperated look. “Ninety percent of the people I negotiate with are easier to manage than she is. I swear she lives and breathes that store.”
“The Cheshire Cat.”
“Yes. Alice in Wonderland was her favorite book when she was little.” Setting down his unlit and unsmoked cigar, he narrowed his eyes on Dino. “Did my friend Maxwell fill you in on the name of the store?”
“No. I looked it up myself.” He’d been curious about it, as well as its owner, so he’d paid it a visit early that morning. Merely as a little reconnaissance mission, he’d told himself. The more you knew before you took on a job, the better.
The Cheshire Cat hadn’t opened yet, but he’d checked out the display windows and found himself charmed by the thematic way the toys were arranged in each one. One told a story of pirates, and the other featured a battle between a dragon and a valiant knight.
Then beyond the artfully arranged toys his attention had been caught by Cat McGuire hurrying down a wrought iron spiral staircase in the center of the store. Once she reached the bottom, she’d flown to the door and pulled it open.
Dino had experienced an even greater heightening of his senses than he’d felt when he’d looked at her photo. And no wonder. She’d been pretty enough in the picture, but in person, she was stunning. And tall. In the boots she was wearing, she had to be nearly five ten.
Though Dino had known he was staring, he couldn’t seem to stop. She’d fastened her hair back from her face with some feminine bit of magic, and red-gold curls had tumbled to her shoulders. He’d wondered if they would feel warm to the touch. Silver hoops had hung from her ears, and the dark blue sweater she’d worn belted over a long flowing skirt had him thinking fancifully of gypsies dancing in the firelight.
As customers filed into the Cheshire Cat, her gaze had met his—for just an instant. He’d felt the impact like a swift, hard punch in the gut. Then his mind had emptied and all he’d been aware of was her eyes. He’d read the same startled response in them that he was feeling—a reckless, nearly overpowering desire. Then the green had darkened to the color of the Mediterranean Sea at twilight, completely alluring. What color would those eyes turn when a man made love to her? When he was inside of her?
Before he could get a handle on his thoughts, an image had flashed into his mind—he and Cat standing against a wall. Except for a few wispy pieces of lace she was naked, her bare legs wrapped around him. And he was thrusting into her, pulling out, thrusting in again.
Recalling it now, his whole body hardened, his blood heated.
“I checked you out, too,” McGuire was saying.
Dino ruthlessly reined in his thoughts. But he had less luck controlling his body’s reaction to the image fading from his mind.
“I don’t mind telling you that I specifically asked Bobby to find me an army man.”
Dino met McGuire’s eyes steadily. “Admiral Maxwell told me to tell you that with a navy man you’re trading up.”
McGuire grinned, then broke into a full belly laugh. The sound filled the room, and Dino felt the corners of his mouth curve.
“That sounds like Bobby,” McGuire said. Then his expression sobered. “I trust Bobby to have chosen the right man, and that means I trust you with my daughter’s safety.”
Dino once more felt that heightening of his senses. Hadn’t he known from the beginning that the job would be about the daughter? Wasn’t that precisely why he’d gone to the store to check her out? And considering his intense reaction to Cat as a woman, he was going to have to be very careful.
“Why don’t you tell me exactly what it is that you want me to do?”
The colonel met Dino’s eyes directly. “You already know that my daughter Cat owns and runs a toy store in Tribeca. She’s been doing it for a year and a half now. Before that, she was in the toy department at Macy’s and worked her way up to head buyer.”
McGuire picked up his cigar yet again, but still made no move to light it. “The fact that Cat’s in retail is a problem for my wife’s family, especially for my mother-in-law, Lucia Merceri.”
McGuire gestured to the portrait that Dino had studied earlier. “That woman is a true matriarch. She runs her family with the verve and determination of a five-star general. When Cat met her at Gianna’s and my wedding, she likened her to the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland.”
Dinowas beginning towonder where McGuirewas headed.
“Ever since we married, Lucia has been pressuring my wife, Gianna, to find a suitable husband for Cat so that she can take her rightful place in New York City society. Lucia believes that women have a duty to produce a family, to contribute to the community, and that they should leave the business world to men. Unfortunately, she’s influenced my wife’s thinking in that direction, too.”
“I take it Cat disagrees.”
“That’s putting it mildly. But between us, we can usually handle Gianna.”
Dino frowned. “Does this job have something to do with running interference between your wife and your daughter? Because if—”
“No.” McGuire raised a hand, palm outward. “I can handle that part myself. I’m getting to be quite good at it although at times it’s a little like moving through a minefield. The trouble my daughter is in has to do with that shop of hers.”
Dino merely raised his brows.
“The Cheshire Cat imports and sells unique toys. There’s nothing in the place that you would find in one of the big chain stores or even in the more upscale department stores. Almost everything is one of a kind. About a year ago when Cat was still doing a lot of traveling, she discovered a town in Mexico, Paxco, where doll- and toy-making are highly revered and a local cottage industry. She signed a contract with the craftsmen, and in the past year, has imported a number of products from Paxco.
Dino said nothing. For the first time since he’d walked into the office, he heard worry in the colonel’s voice.
McGuire picked up his cigar and jabbed it at the air again. “That’s where the trouble is. Someone has taken advantage of my little girl.”
“How?” Dino asked.
“Some bastard is smuggling drugs into the country in those toys. Cocaine.”
Dino thought for a minute. How much cocaine could be smuggled in toys? “It must be a rather small-scale operation.”
McGuire’s expression turned very grim. “Small, but very profitable. My contacts at the CIA tell me that the cocaine is premium quality and the person running the operation targets a select group of clients who are willing to pay very generously for high quality and the guaranteed discretion of the distributor.”
Dino
