let her think the rest was all her decision and whatever the final outcome, it was on her. The simple truth was he just didn’t want to see her reaction when he owned up to her dead-on perception that he really was set on them being done if she left. How was he supposed to tell her a thing like that?
Furthermore, how were they supposed to make a relationship work if she’d gone along? Every day she’d regret the choice—the sacrifice—she’d made for their relationship.
Groaning, Rook left the SUV and faintly celebrated the fact that his eyes were still weighted by sleep. He made it to the quiet, understated elegance of the lobby. His condominium complex was an impressive layout of four separate skyscrapers interconnected by a series of moving walkways all joining at the lobby. The walkways were basically for aesthetic purposes—the lobby also housed an elevator bay to accommodate those who opted out of taking the scenic route to their respective towers.
Rook selected an elevator, smiling as the warmth and familiarity of home settled into his bones. Work kept him from arriving during the evening rush; his day job wasn’t a normal nine to five after all. He didn’t mind as the schedule usually allowed him to arrive once things had settled down.
The place had a way of enveloping him in a solitude he’d felt in few other places that he’d lived. Perhaps that was because it was the place he and Viva had settled in when they’d moved in together all those years ago.
Plush, yet functional carpeting offset by the warm, golden lighting, glowed from mahogany-based sconces against mocha-painted walls. The allure of the place had been Viva’s doing. Her presence had lent it the truest sense of warmth and home. Only to himself could he admit he’d do anything to feel that again. His current residence, void of her, was a poor substitute, but better than nothing.
The elevator dinged and sent him on a nonstop ascent to his floor which held only one additional unit aside from his own. He and Viva had happily worked like dogs to maintain the utilities and other incidental expenses associated with such a place. As they’d both come from affluent families, snagging digs at one of the most enviable addresses in the city had raised few brows.
Rook’s parents, Kendall and Elise Lourdess, had handled payments on the property. They had fallen as in love with Viva as her parents, Gerald and Veronica Hail, had fallen for Rook.
There was little comment made about them living together unmarried. Assumptions ran high on both sides that nuptials would be forthcoming. Then Viva went to waitress for Jazzy B’s Gentlemen’s Club and had caught the eye of several men. One introduced her to the camera. Offers for commercials began to flood and their relationship, as Rook saw it, began a slow and terrible transformation that had signaled its end.
“Guess I work better on low fuel.”
Burt Larkin chuckled over his boss’s insight. “I’ll take that to mean the call went well.”
“Guess so.” Rook held the phone away as he yawned. “We spent the last twenty minutes of the call discussing my trip over there.”
“Have I told you how lucky you are?”
Rook laughed. “Only about a million times.”
“So will you grace us with your presence today? It’s not every day me and the guys see someone as lucky as you.”
“How long am I gonna have to put up with these jokes?” Rook said following another few moments of robust laughter.
“Please,” Burt sighed. “We haven’t even started yet.”
Rook countered with a playful groan. “Well, I’ll be in as soon as I leave the cop shop,” he told his second in command.
Burt reciprocated the groan. “Should we have bail money handy just in case?”
“Hmph, not this time. I’m only goin’ in for a quick talk with the new chief of Ds.”
“Ah...this about what went down last night?”
“Not sure. Sophia was kind of vague when she asked for the meeting, but that’s probably because Viva was standing right there.”
“Well, well.” Surprise registered in Burt’s twangy voice. “What was that like?”
“I’ll give you a hint—it’s why I didn’t sleep worth a damn last night.”
“Right.” Burt let the conversation end there, no doubt knowing how touchy the subject was for his boss. “So...at this point, our report is complete and we’ll await your input.”
“I think from here on out the chief’s got her security well in hand. I’ll review and sign the report when I get there.”
Lourdess Securities, known as L Sec by the clients it handled in the private, public and entertainment sectors, had been hired to provide its coveted brand of protection to Sophia Hail following her recent promotion. The detective’s investigation into an ever-increasingly sensational money-laundering scheme had taken root. Threats had also taken root to encourage the insightful detective to back off her inquiries. As a result, Philadelphia DA Paula Starker had sought out Rook and his team to shadow her colleague and friend.
“The rest of the team is in agreement that Chief Hail’s normal security detail will be enough, but we’re good with maintaining our posts until a certain person of interest is apprehended.”
Rook knew what Burt was saying. The team had been on hand the previous evening when several arrests were made in the case. The team knew that Sophia’s investigation had led her to Murray Dean.
“According to what I heard last night, our old friend Dean has a role to play in all this.” Burt told him.
“Yeah...” Rook’s tone was light, but his agreement on Murray’s involvement was firm.
“Will this be a new problem for you and Viva, man?”
Rook laughed. “We’ve had no problems for at least six years, B,” he reminded his friend and business associate.
“True, and it’d be a shame to have new upsets weighing in when you’re about to pull up stakes for Italy.”
“Yeah...” Rook voiced his light agreement once more, but offered no further opinion.
“So I’ll see you later?” Burt seemed to take the cue that his boss was all chatted out.
“Yeah, B, thanks.” Rook added a goodbye and ended the call.
Setting aside his mobile, he rubbed tired eyes and yawned for what had to be the fiftieth time since he’d awakened that morning. Smirking, he turned the word over in his head... Awakened. More like arisen from a troubled bout with his bedsheets.
Dreams had been shoved aside for a night of tossing, turning and images of Viva Hail attacking his subconscious. The sleep he’d hoped to indulge in had flitted away without so much as a toodle-loo when he’d strolled through the quiet, broad space of the condo to the bedroom.
The bed conjured the first of
