Page 43 of Be Very Quiet

But nothing could come of a relationship. Her life was in south Florida. He lived in the Midwest. Even if she was willing to relocate for him, there was no guarantee he’d want her to. Maybe he was just enjoying sex with her but wasn’t thinking long term. Why was she?

Because he’s the love of your life, a voice whispered in her head. The man she’d loved when she’d been young and the one she wanted now that she was older. He represented everything that mattered to her. Honesty. Integrity. Compassion. Kindness. Sense of humor. He was the total package, and she was ridiculously happy that some other woman hadn’t snatched him up.

Liliana turned on the taps and waited for it to heat up before she stepped inside the shower. The hot water felt good on sore muscles. She was about to reach for the shampoo to lather her hair when a light rap sounded on the door, and it opened. Luca stood there looking like every fantasy she’d ever had.

“Thought we’d conserve water,” he rumbled.

Liliana opened her arms, and he came to her. She plastered herself against his rock-hard body. “Excellent idea.”

#

Luca knew he was making a mistake by joining Liliana in the shower. Last night should’ve been a one-off. He needed to step back and return their relationship to a professional one. He couldn’t afford for feelings to become involved. His concentration had to be on finding a killer.

But it was easier said than done. He’d been half in love with her for years. Last night had only intensified those feelings. She was amazing.

Once again, he’d been unable to go slowly, and the encounter had been hard and fast against the tiled wall. Now, as he lathered her sleek, beautiful body, he wondered how he’d walk away once Rader was caught. In a very short amount of time, he’d become addicted to her.

Once they dressed, Luca left first so that Audria wouldn’t know what had occurred—three separate times. Although, he had a feeling he wasn’t fooling them one bit. He’d been around coworkers when they thought they were keeping their liaisons secret, and he’d always known.

Audria was drinking a cup of coffee at the kitchen bar. He greeted her, and she didn’t act as if she knew they’d been burning up the sheets and steaming up the glass shower walls. Good. A knock on the door sounded, and he headed over to let Christian in. He’d made a trip to a bakery down the street for fresh bagels, pastries, and assorted fruit. Luca thanked him and grabbed a blueberry muffin.

“Good morning, everyone.”

Liliana appeared, and a chunk of pastry caught in his throat. God, she was so beautiful. She’d dried her silky black hair, and it glistened like a raven’s wing. He’d like to think he had something to do with the dewy glow on her face. Her bright green eyes landed on him, and he completely forgot that he currently couldn’t breathe.

“You okay, Luca?”

He forced the flour, egg, and blueberry mixture down his throat, sucked in much needed oxygen, and nodded at Audria. “I’m good.”

Damn, he wasn’t fooling his coworkers at all.

Chapter Fifteen

“We need to question Rex Raines and Douglas Speke about their visit,” Luca announced as they headed to Liliana’s studio. He was sitting in the back with her while Audria drove and Christian rode shotgun. “Audria, you talk to Raines. I’ll interrogate Speke.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Liliana inquired, remembering his reaction to hearing Douglas had frightened her. “I don’t think you can be impartial.”

Luca studied her and finally nodded. “You’re probably right. I want to tear his head off and punt it into the Atlantic. Okay, Christian, you speak to Speke.”

“Roger, Roger. You want me to get the vector, Victor? Clearance Clarence?”

Liliana laughed at his movie reference, and he turned to grin at her. Luca simply shook his head, but a smile teased his lips. Audria glanced over at him like he’d grown a horn out of his forehead.

“What? Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of a little movie calledAirplane!Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Peter Graves. Classic scene.”

“Heard of it? Yes. Watched it? No.”

Christian shook his head and tsked sadly. “You’re missing out.”

Liliana’s smile morphed into a frown. “How will they question Rex and Douglas when I’ve told everyone that Audria and Christian are a married couple looking to start their own fitness studio? Won’t that seem strange?” She didn’t want her staff to know she’d outright lied to them.

“We’ll stay in character,” Audria promised.

“There are ways to get information without being obvious,” Christian added.

Traffic wasn’t as brutal as it could’ve been, so they made good time. “Douglas teaches a class at ten this morning,” Liliana told them. “He usually arrives early, so you should be able to talk to him before his session.”

Audria pulled into the parking lot. Liliana directed her to her designated spot right as Rex Raines was stepping out of his Alfa Romeo. “There’s Rex. I’ll introduce you, Audria, or should I say, Audrey?” Audrey Grant was the alias they’d come up with while sticking close to Audria’s name. Christian would be shortened to Chris.

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