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  “It seems you know her family extremely well,” Maggie sniffed.

  “I do,” Eliot agreed. “I’ve spent almost every Friday for a year with them. That’s on top of the random visits from Lexie … and Mario … and her grandfather, who likes to swim naked in our pool because he thinks it keeps us on our toes. That’s also on top of the nonstop arguments Avery and her cousin Derrick get into simply because they grew up close and enjoy poking each other with sharp sticks when the mood strikes.”

  “That sounds dirty the way you phrased it,” I muttered.

  “You’ll get over it.” Eliot kept his eyes on his mother. “As for building a business near you, that’s simply not how things worked out. I needed some space after returning from my tour overseas. I landed here. It wasn’t exactly a plan, but it’s done now.”

  “You could still come home,” Maggie wheedled. “You don’t need to stay here.”

  “Actually, I do,” Eliot countered. “My business is here.”

  “You could build a new business.”

  “Avery is here.”

  “Yes, well, she could come with you,” Maggie pressed. “It sounds as if she has a large family. They don’t need her here. You’re all I have.”

  Huh. That was an interesting way of looking at things. “We should totally run away from my family,” I enthused. “We’ll take on fake names and join the circus.”

  Eliot snorted. “Your mother would still find us.”

  “Yeah. She’s good that way. Darn it.”

  Maggie shot me a look that warned retribution if I didn’t stop making jokes, especially ones that she didn’t find funny. “I’m speaking with Eliot.”

  “And Avery is part of my life,” Eliot challenged. “She’s the biggest part of my life. She can say whatever she wants to say.”

  “Fine. Will we get to hear about strippers being top heavy a second time?”

  Yeah, I knew that joke was weak when I’d uttered it. I should’ve thought of something much better.

  “I don’t care what she says,” Eliot shot back, his eyes firing for the first time as his temper threatened to make an appearance. “She’s not the one being a pain … and I rarely get to say that, so you should think hard about what you’re doing here.”

  “All I’m doing is trying to understand why you don’t want to come home,” Maggie persisted. “I miss you.”

  “Well, I’m sorry for that.” Eliot didn’t sound sorry, but he remained firm. “This is my home now. Avery and I bought a house, which you’ll be staying at. Her family is close. If you’re really so determined to be close to me, you could always move here.”

  Alarm bells went off in my head as I tried to maintain control of my expression. Somehow I managed to keep my mouth shut, but it was a feat I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to repeat.

  “I don’t want to move here,” Maggie complained. “This is … Michigan. It’s not the same.”

  “Yes, well, it’s my home,” Eliot argued. “I’m not leaving. There’s nothing in this world that could get me to leave this place. You’re fighting a losing battle. If you’re really bothered by all of this, then you can move here. Otherwise, let it go.”

  “I don’t want to move here,” Maggie persisted.

  I finally found my voice. Unfortunately, it returned just in time for me to say something stupid. “Michigan isn’t bad. We have Daughters of Detroit Gangsters here. I’m sure they’ll be fun to gossip with.”

  Eliot compressed his lips as Maggie scowled. The sidelong look he cast me was full of warmth and amusement. “You weren’t lying about being bad with mothers, were you?”

  “I’m terrible.”

  “I think you’re kind of cute.”

  “You probably won’t feel that way in a few days.”

  Eliot shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see. If it gets too bad, we always have a pool house to hide in.”

  Hmm, I hadn’t even considered that. Things were looking up.

  9 Nine

  The rest of dinner went pretty much like the first twenty minutes, although Maggie stopped pressuring Eliot to move right around the time the salads were delivered. I was grateful we had separate cars so I could drive myself home, and I opted to take a detour back to the apartment complex even though it was dark.

  I parked in the same spot I’d occupied earlier in the day and exited my vehicle long enough to give the high-rise a long look. The front door was boarded up, caution tape warning residents from trying to get inside, and every window was dark. That wasn’t surprising because electricity to the building had been killed, but the empty parking lot had an eerie feeling as I scuffed my sandals against the pavement and walked the entire perimeter.

  It wasn’t that I was looking for something specific. It was more that I was hoping something would occur to me, a clue I’d somehow magically forgotten.

  By the time I returned to my car I was ready to leave. There was nothing for me to see, no gossip to glean or neighbors to talk to. I had my keys in my hand and the door open when a hint of movement in the adjacent parking lot caught my attention.

  A man stood there. He was tall, wide shoulders offsetting a thick neck. I couldn’t make out any facial features, but I recognized he was staring at me.

  I considered heading in that direction, perhaps asking a few questions before leaving. Something about the set of the man’s shoulders warned me against that, however, and I wisely slid into my car. I pressed the locking mechanisms just to be on the safe side, but the man never left his spot.

  My headlights briefly bounced off him as I turned to leave, his features taking on a ghastly quality in the low beams. I thought for a second I recognized him as the man who carried Serafina out of the building and I removed my foot from the accelerator, intent on speaking with him even though the conditions were less than optimal. I regained my senses quickly and kept going. Even if he was our unlikely hero, that didn’t make stopping to talk to him after dark a good idea.

  I was much safer going home, where the only enemy waiting for me was five-foot-three and determined to make her son move.

  I could deal with that enemy. Well, at least I hoped I could. She seemed a formidable opponent. Thankfully those were my favorite types of folks to joust with. If they were too passive, it took all the fun out of the game.

  “WHERE DID YOU GO?”

  Eliot met me by the garage door when I let myself into the house. He had a wild look in his eyes and if I didn’t know better I would think he was about to drag me into the bedroom to let off some steam.

  “I thought you and your mom might like some time alone to look over the house,” I lied, tossing my keys on the counter and fixing him with a challenging look. “I took my time coming home.”

  “You took your sweet time so you could stick me with her for the tour,” Eliot shot back, leaning closer so he could sniff me. “You don’t smell like smoke.”

  I balked. “Why would I smell like smoke?”

  “Because when we met you admitted to being a stress smoker.”

  Huh. He was right, but I hadn’t bought a pack of cigarettes in a long time. “I guess I’m not anymore. I just drove around a bit, took Gratiot instead of the freeway, and enjoyed a beautiful Michigan evening. Is that so wrong?”

  Eliot made a face. “Oh, don’t play with me. I know you were trying to avoid my mother.”

  “Is that so wrong?”

  “Not if you had taken me with you.”

  I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “How would your mother have found the house if you didn’t drive her?”

  “That is not my concern.”

  “Oh, poor Eliot.” I opened my arms and gave him a hard hug. “It’s so good to see that you’re not as together as you always pretend to be. I love that you’re as terrified of your mother as I am of mine.”

  “I’m not terrified.” Despite his words to the contrary, Eliot leaned into the hug and buried his face in my hair. “This is going to be the longest week ever.”


  I had no doubt he was telling the truth. “We’ll survive. We’ve been through worse.”

  “I guess.” Eliot pulled back far enough to meet my gaze. “If you abandon me with my mother again, we’re going to have a big fight.”

  “Good.” I patted his chest and grinned. “That means we’ll be able to make up when we’re done. You know how I love making up.”

  “You’re a pain.” Eliot gave me a quick kiss, briefly shutting his eyes when he heard his mother call for him from the second floor. “Give me strength.”

  I chuckled. “What is she doing?”

  “Complaining about the sheets you bought. She doesn’t like the color.”

  “Well, she can suck it up.” Strangely enough, now that the initial meeting was behind us, I wasn’t as keen to ensure that Eliot’s mother liked me. I felt more like my old self, and I was happy because of it. “She’s sleeping in there, not moving in.”

  “Good point.” Eliot linked his fingers with mine as we strolled out of the kitchen, pulling up short when we found his mother eyeing us from the bottom of the stairs. “We were just coming to join you, Mom. Is there something wrong with the guest room?”

  “Of course not.” Maggie smiled warmly at me, although the sentiment didn’t make it all the way to her eyes. “I thought we could have some tea and spend some time getting to know one another.”

  “You already know me,” Eliot reminded her.

  “I was talking about Avery.”

  Oh, well, good. That sounded like an absolutely awesome way to spend an evening. “That would be great,” I supplied. “There’s nothing I like better than talking about myself.”

  Eliot snickered. “That’s true.”

  IT TOOK ME FIVE minutes to find the tea I’d bought and another ten to brew it. By the time we’d settled in the living room, Maggie was seated in one of the overstuffed chairs at the side of the living room pit. That left the couch for Eliot and me.

  “So, how did you two meet?” Maggie barely sipped her tea before she launched into the interrogation.

  “I already told you this story, Mom,” Eliot complained.

  “No, you didn’t. You merely told me you were dating a woman and you liked her a great deal. You didn’t go into specifics.”

  “Well, I guess that’s true.” Eliot dragged a restless hand through his hair. “We met when Avery came into my shop to make a purchase.”

  “And what were you buying, dear?”

  The question was clearly directed at me, so I answered it. “A gun. I was getting threatening messages and I wanted to shoot whoever was doing it.”

  Eliot choked back a strangled cry as he shook his head. “She’s exaggerating a bit.”

  “Not by much,” I countered. “Someone was angry over the articles I was writing and wanted me to focus in a different direction.”

  “Did you?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I liked the direction I was already focused on and it led to a big story,” I replied.

  “It also almost led to you being killed,” Eliot pointed out. “You were lucky to get away that night.”

  “True, although I maintain I had that guy right where I wanted him.”

  “Armed and threatening to kill you?”

  “Close to tears and ready to beg for mercy,” I corrected.

  Maggie’s eyes widened as she glanced between us. “Wait … are you telling the truth? Were you really almost killed?”

  “I’ve been threatened so many times I’ve lost count,” I admitted.

  Maggie shifted her gaze to Eliot. “Doesn’t that worry you? I mean … she has a dangerous job.”

  “So do I,” Eliot argued. “Avery’s job should be a safe one. It’s the way that she approaches it that makes it unsafe.”

  “Why doesn’t she quit?”

  I found the question irritating. “I’m sitting right here.”

  “No one could miss you.” Eliot squeezed my knee and smirked. “As for quitting, I don’t see that in her future.”

  “Surely she will when you marry,” Maggie pressed. “She won’t want to keep a dangerous job once she knows that you’re serious about being with her. I can see why she might not want to leave a place where she has steady employment given the fact that you could up and leave her at any moment, but after that … well, things will be different once you’re married, right?”

  I swallowed hard at the suggestion. Marriage was one of those things that freaked me out. Eliot knew that, and he kept a firm hand on my knee to keep me from bolting. It was a big house. I was certain I could find a place to hide.

  “First off, Avery doesn’t have to worry about me leaving,” Eliot supplied. “She’s stuck with me for the long haul.”

  “Then why aren’t you married?”

  “Because it’s not necessary at this point and we chose to move in together first,” Eliot replied, his eyes flashing. I could tell he was at the end of his patience rope. “We’re happy together and I happen to believe that things happen when they’re supposed to happen.”

  “But what about children?” Maggie clearly wasn’t in the mood to let it go. “Avery will have to quit her job once she gets pregnant. Someone needs to be home with the kids.”

  I shifted on the sofa, uncomfortable. I would’ve preferred being anywhere – and that included back in the parking lot with the shifty guy standing in the dark and staring – rather than here.

  “We’re not having kids,” Eliot replied, his tone promising an argument if his mother pushed him too far. “We’ve already talked about it and don’t think kids are in our future. If we do get married, then very little will change. As for Avery’s job, she happens to love it. She’s not going to quit.”

  “No kids?” Maggie was horrified. “How can you plan a future that doesn’t involve kids?”

  “It’s actually easier when you don’t have to plan around kids,” I offered. “Kids are a headache, and I hate headaches.”

  “But … that’s not right.”

  “Well, I’m so glad we have you here to tell us what’s wrong with our lives,” I drawled, my temper flaring.

  “Avery, how about you go find something to do someplace else?” Eliot suggested, taking me by surprise.

  “I thought you wanted me here for this?”

  “Yes, well, I’ve changed my mind. Go to your office or something, huh? I’d like to talk to my mother alone.”

  I thought about arguing, but Eliot was giving me an easy out, so I decided to jump on it. I recognized what Eliot’s mother was doing. She was trying to exert control over a situation that made her feel helpless. She hadn’t seen Eliot in years and now she finally had a chance to study his life.

  My guess was she believed he was living a rootless existence, which would allow her to hope that he would eventually return home. The opposite was true, so she was thrown for a loop and wanted to put up a fight. I understood the inclination even if I thought she was fighting a losing battle.

  Still, this was Eliot’s fight. If he asked me to serve as backup I would be all over the situation. Until then, I had to allow him to fight his own battles.

  “I’ll be upstairs.” I hopped to my feet. “Um … try not to be so loud that the neighbors call the cops. I would hate to have to explain ourselves to the sheriff’s department twice this week.”

  Eliot waved me off. “I’m on it.”

  “What did she mean by that?” Maggie asked. “Why would the cops stop here?”

  “Because our neighbors think we’re loud when we swim naked in the pool at night,” Eliot replied, unruffled. “That’s not important. We need to have a talk.”

  I SPENT THE NEXT TWO hours in my upstairs office researching Jay Truman. Others would’ve said it was a waste of time, but I knew better. Whatever was going on downstairs – and I shut my door so I wouldn’t have to hear the raised voices – was much more stressful than what I was doing.

  My grandfather’s initial assess
ment of Jay Truman seemed to be right on. Allegedly he did have ties to organized crime, although he was never convicted of anything. He was brought up on charges five times – on charges ranging from racketeering to money laundering and witness intimidation – but he was never once convicted.

  He had married thirty-five years earlier, but his wife died in a suspicious car accident. He had no children that I could find a record of, and he seemed to fall off the map in the nineties when Sandusky Sanitation changed ownership. There wasn’t much mention of him after that, but I had my doubts about him giving up the lifestyle so easily.

  I was so lost in thought I didn’t hear the door open and nearly jumped out of my skin when Eliot leaned over the back of my chair and pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

  “I’m guessing you heard all that, huh?”

  “What?” I glanced over my shoulder and found him staring with a worried expression on his face. “Actually, I didn’t listen.” As much as I loved to eavesdrop I didn’t see the point in this particular case. Maggie was going to make her feelings known no matter what. “I decided to leave her to you to handle.”

  Eliot heaved out a sigh as he lowered himself to the floor. My office only had a desk chair to sit on, so it was not a comfortable place to have a deep conversation. “You really weren’t listening?”

  “No. I was looking at stuff on the internet.”

  “What?”

  “Porn.”

  Eliot snorted. “Right. I should’ve seen that coming.” He rolled his neck as he leaned back on his elbows. “I’m sorry about the way she went after you. I told her it was unacceptable and she would be out on her ass if she tried it again.”

  “You know, you’re probably not going to want to hear this, but I understand where she’s coming from.”

  Eliot was incredulous. “Excuse me? Are you taking her side?”

  “No. I’m always on your side no matter what, even if you’re being a tool.” I moved from the chair to the floor and slipped between his legs so I could get comfortable. “I think you’re looking at this the wrong way. She’s not upset because of me, although she’ll convince herself of that for a bit. She’s upset because you’re not living the life she thought you were living.”