Page 8 of The Perfect Deception

“You remembered!” Her excitement is palpable.

“I did and I’m having brunch with my lady, if you don’t mind.”

Her nostrils flare, but she pulls back gracefully with her hands on her hips and flashes a grimace that looks nothing like a smile. “Of course. My apologies.”

Damien doesn’t respond and eventually she gets the loud, ringing bells hint.

His action surprises me. I’m not lacking in confidence, but Taylor is just one of the many women who has flirted with Damien this morning.

I keep telling myself that he’s too good for me. I’m just a broke homicide detective. And the ladies I’ve seen flirting with him are stunningly beautiful.

And full-blown fucking bitches. I’d never openly flirt with a man who was with another woman. That’s just rude. But I am in total shock at how he’s handling things.

“Friend of yours?” I ask, not really wanting to know the answer.

“Not really. She was married to one of my investors about ten years ago. Are you okay?”

“Yep. Just thinking about you and all of this.” The fancy restaurant, the fancier hotel suite and the private jet. “It’s nice, but I have to admit that I didn’t see you coming, Damien.”

“Same.” He shakes his head. “I think you’re just fucking wonderful, Francesca.”

“I think you’re pretty fucking wonderful too.” In fact, I think he just might be the man of my dreams, which is alarming as hell since I’m not looking for Mr. Right.

I have a serial killer to catch first.

Our plates are nearly clean, and the martinis have me buzzing just enough to enjoy the fact that I’m not working right now.And I really should be.

“Come on,” Damien says, breaking into my thoughts. “Let’s walk off some of this food and get your mind off work.”

“Are you a mind reader or something?”

“Something like that. Or maybe I just know you better than you realize.”

“Possible,” I concede as he takes my hand in his. “Are we allowed to just walk around these vineyards?”

“Of course. It’s how they entice you to buy even more cases of wine.” His deep laugh wraps around me like a hug and I savor it.

We walk in a comfortable silence for a while, both of us simply enjoying being together as the warm breeze washes over us. The view is spectacular, as if someone put it here just for us. I can’t remember ever being this comfortable around anyone, definitely not my last relationship. Neither Nate nor I could tolerate long silences without feeling the urge to fill them, but here with Damien I don’t feel that urge.

“You said Jay is family?”

I nod, wondering where that question came from. “Yes. He was Uncle Jay long before my father died and after, well he stepped up for me in a big way.”

“It’s not weird, having your uncle as your partner?”

“Kind of,” I laugh. “But there’s nobody I’d rather learn from than him. And Jay doesn’t sugarcoat things which I appreciate.” It’s so refreshing, a man who listens when he asks a question. “Do you have any other family?”

“Just my sister. Olivia.”

“Are you two close?” I would think if they were some kind of close, he’d talk about her or have pictures or something of her at the penthouse.

“We’re as close as we can be considering she’s nonverbal. It’s not a permanent problem but it’s been,” he sighs heavily, as if the weight of the world is on his shoulders, “Persistent.”

I have a lot more questions, but I can sense that Damien doesn’t want to talk about it. It’s the first time since we’ve met that I’ve seen him look anything other than confident. He looks almost vulnerable. “I’m so sorry. Is it a problem with a solution?”

That perks him right up. “Yes. It absolutely is.”

I have a feeling there’s more to those four words than he’s saying, but I’m good at reading a room and I let the statement hang in the air between us for several moments. “Whenever you’re ready, I’d love to hear more.”

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