Page 68 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
Chapter Ten
Genieve was dreaming about the markers she’d collected from Darien and how she was going to make him pay up when a shrill sound ripped her out of sleep. She jerked awake and was momentarily disoriented. When Brody sat up beside her, she remembered they were in his bed. After her friends had left, he’d helped her move out of the guestroom. It was the first time a client hadn’t jumped on her immediately after signing an exclusive contract, and it had given her a warm feeling inside.
The harsh trill came again, and the warm feeling chilled. It was a phone. Brody got up quickly. Genieve sat up and pushed her hair out of her eyes.
‘It’s not mine,’ he said, ‘it’s yours.’
She still didn’t recognise that ringtone. He moved to the dresser and brought it to her. She juggled it in her haste to answer. It was late…too late for someone to be calling. Her breath caught when she saw the caller’s name. ‘Nina? What’s wrong?’ she said in a rush.
‘Don’t panic, sweetie. Nobody’s hurt. Everybody is fine.’
‘OK.’ Genieve’s chest still felt tight. Brody turned on the light and sat down beside her. Her hand fell on his thigh and she squeezed. Nobody called at this hour unless it was something that couldn’t wait.
‘I’m sorry to call in the middle of the night, but I have bad news,’ Nina said calmly. ‘Honey, your house was broken into.’
For a moment, Genieve didn’t understand. Her house? She’d become so immersed in playing house with Brody, she almost listened for intruders. But then it all came back. Her real life. Her home.
‘My rowhouse?’ She pulled her feet underneath her and got up on her knees. ‘Oh, God. What did they take? How bad is the damage?’
The thought of strangers walking around her home and poking into her things made her queasy. Her house was her space. Her private oasis. Her stomach contracted, and the Chinese food didn’t sit well. She remembered Brody taking her there to get her things. Everything had been fine then.
He took the phone from her hand and rubbed her back. ‘Nina? We’re on our way over there now.’
‘No, don’t do that,’ Nina said quickly.
Genieve swiped her phone back. ‘Why? Is it that bad?’
‘There are reporters there, but we got lucky. Josh caught the case.’ Her boss’s voice was sympathetic, but steady and in control. ‘He said he’ll meet you at the Apple Tree Grille and take you over himself.’
Genieve rubbed her forehead. She was tired of being hunted like a fugitive. Had reporters broken into her home now? This was not OK. ‘Who’s Josh?’
Nina let out a sigh. ‘Detective Morgan. He called me, because he needed to get in contact with you. He knew I’d know how.’
Genieve turned to Brody sharply. ‘Detective Morgan wants to meet me?’
He shook his head no and leaned in so he could talk, too. ‘No, Nina. That’s a no-go.’
‘He needs to know what was taken,’ Nina insisted. ‘You need to talk to him.’
‘But Nina…’ Genieve bit her lip. She remembered how persistent and intimidating Morgan had been at the hotel. ‘Your detective is scary.’
‘He’s not my—’ Nina broke off with a frustrated sound. ‘Genieve, this might be connected to the break-in at the Emissary. We need to find out who is doing this.’
And her experience at the Emissary with the detective was precisely why she didn’t want to go.
‘I know, but when he asks me questions, I have a hard time not answering them,’ she confessed. He undid her with those piercing onyx eyes and bulldog mentality. It didn’t help that he was hung up on Nina, either. She’d developed a skill at manipulating men, but he was oblivious to all the distractions she put out.
Brody bent his head next to hers. ‘Nina, I know you’ve been tangling with this guy while we’ve been holed up here. Is he pressuring you to do this? Is he trying to smoke Genieve out of her foxhole?’
‘Pressuring me?’ Nina snapped. ‘He’s offering to take her over there himself so the cameras don’t catch her showing up withyou!’
A political operative known to have ties with Senator Gunderson…the man she’d just publicly broken up with…
Genieve heard the click of Nina’s nails against the phone, and she winced.
‘Would it help if I was there?’ the Luxxor CEO asked more calmly.
Genieve glanced at Brody, and he nodded. A buffer sounded like a good idea, especially when it was someone who’d gone up against the detective before andwon. ‘Yes, should we meet you at the restaurant?’
