Loe raamatut: «Provocative Attraction»

Chapter 1

Philadelphia, PA

Six years later

Rook Lourdess knew his rich laughter had the tendency to carry whether he was in the midst of absolute silence or chaos. Both environments proved to be appropriate descriptors that night. His laughter carried out from the party still going strong indoors to the terrace that somehow maintained its serene quiet.

“Sounds good,” he was saying to whomever he spoke to through the mobile he held to his ear. “Sure you don’t need me there?” Rook nodded, listening to the caller’s response.

“I guess that’ll work, seeing as how I’ve got that five a.m. conference call...Italy,” he added, following a few more seconds of silence.

“Yeah, they sound serious. I keep waiting on them to call and tell me they made a mistake...Ha! I appreciate that,” he said once more silence had passed from his end.

“Forget it!” Rook’s laughter clung to the words. “I don’t care how much you lay on the flattery, you’re not goin’...Nah, B, I need you to stay here and hold it all down at the firm, but don’t worry, we’ll be having that talk soon enough...Yeah...” A somber element crept into Rook’s voice then. “Yeah, I’m not looking forward to it either. Listen, man, I better get goin’. Just be ready with that report by tomorrow afternoon. I want to get this all put to bed before I leave... All right, talk to you then.” Following another brief stint of silence and more laughter, Rook was easing the phone into a back trouser pocket. He didn’t head back to the party, but stood on the terrace and looked out into the night. Moving closer to the stone railing, he inhaled deeply and smiled.

Robust cheer sounded indoors, but Rook resisted the tug of the partygoers and reminded himself that he needed to hit the sack.

His Italian contacts would be speaking with him at 11:00 a.m. their time. He had to be sharp as possible by 5:00 a.m. That wouldn’t happen unless he headed for his car and home right then.

Rook was turning to make his exit down the terrace’s wide steps when he heard her.

“Italy, huh?”

So much for getting to sleep anytime soon, Rook thought when he saw Viva Hail seated and looking coolly lovely from her spot on one of the cushioned chaises dotting the terrace.

Seeing her never failed to seriously screw with his sleep. Whether it was on the big screen or small didn’t matter. Seeing her in person...well, he shuddered to think of what his Italian business associates would think of him when they spoke in eight hours. He wouldn’t be getting that full night of sleep he’d hoped for.

“V.” His voice was soft, unlike the sound of the blood rushing in his ears.

“Sorry for eavesdropping.” Viva lifted a manicured hand a few centimeters from her lap and let it fall back to the beige silk pants she wore. “I was out here when you came to the terrace. I didn’t mean to listen in.”

“It wasn’t anything top secret.” He moved closer to where she sat.

“Was it business or pleasure?” Viva didn’t close her eyes in mortification when she heard the question trip off her tongue, but mortification rolled in hot and heavy waves all the same. Pleasure was always a given when it involved Rook Lourdess. She knew that well enough, didn’t she? Again, she waved. “Sorry to pry.”

Rook grinned. “You’re not.”

“So, um, what part of Italy are you visiting?”

“Belluno.”

“Ah...” Viva smiled and closed her eyes as she nodded. “That’s not far from Cortina. It’s really beautiful this time of year.”

“So I hear.” Hands hidden in the deep pockets of his dark trousers, Rook strolled closer. “Has your work taken you there?” He somehow resisted asking if her knowledge of the place was on a personal level.

Viva was already nodding. “I did a movie there two years ago while the show was on hiatus. An ensemble-cast thing. It was fun.”

“Ensemble cast, like the show. How’s that going?”

“Very well. We’ve been a truly blessed bunch.”

“So no talk of finales anytime soon?”

“If only.” Viva threw back her head and sighed. “I was sure we’d be done after season four with everyone so busy with other successful projects, but...” She flexed her fingers over the pants that matched a shimmering blazer. “The audience still loves us, the ratings are dynamite... I’d say we’ll be a bunch of kick-ass secret agents well into our nineties.”

Laughter hummed around the terrace then.

“So, um, are you visiting Italy on new business for the firm?” Viva figured additional prying couldn’t hurt at that point.

“Remains to be seen,” was all he could share before the party volume grew to a maddening pitch and tipped over to deafening.

Rook and Viva realized the French doors had opened as chief of detectives Sophia Hail exited with congratulatory cheers behind her.

“There she is!” Rook’s voice carried across the terrace as he closed the distance to Sophia and enveloped her in a bear hug. “The news is in the air. Congratulations. It’s a good night for the Philly PD,” he said and kissed her cheek.

Sophia, the recent recipient of an unexpected promotion to chief of detectives, wore a grin that seemed to make her entire face glow.

“Thanks.” Sophia laughed, returning Rook’s tight squeeze. “But I can’t let any of these accolades go to my head, no matter how good they feel floating up there.”

The accolades were well deserved. Sophia and her team had just come leagues closer to wrapping up a complex money-laundering scheme that had implicated several members of the force. Sophia’s predecessor was among them.

Viva stepped up to draw her younger sister into a tight squeeze. “Congratulations, sweetie. Are you done for the night?” she asked once they broke from the embrace.

“Hardly,” Sophia sighed in a manner that sang with satisfaction. “I just wanted to get back. Mama went to all this trouble to put together this party for me. My people can handle the wrap-up and I’ll be back at the job in the morning.”

Sophia slid Rook another smile and squeezed his arm. “Think you can fit me in for a quick talk sometime tomorrow?”

“Sure. Might be early. I’ve got a five a.m. chat to Europe tomorrow.”

Sophia whistled, her eyes twinkling. “Good luck with that.”

“I’ll need it.” Rook smoothed a hand over his chest as though the idea pained him. “I should’ve been in bed hours ago.”

“Well, I plan to make it an early day myself,” Sophia said. “I’ll make time whenever you can drop in.”

“Count on it.” He nodded before gracing Viva’s face with his arresting gaze.

Sophia appeared as though she could read the look. “So, V, I’ll just see you inside, okay?”

“No, you stay,” Rook said. “I’m the one who needs to get going.” He gave Viva a smile. “Good seeing you. How long before you leave?”

Viva lifted her shoulders and let the move hold a few seconds before she lowered them.

“I’m not sure yet.”

“Don’t leave without saying goodbye, okay?”

“Count on it,” she returned the earlier confirmation he’d given to her sister. With effort, she kept a cool smile in place while he said good-night to Sophia and made his way from the terrace.

“He hasn’t changed.”

Sophia smiled at Viva’s remark. “Did you think he would?” she asked.

The ebony flecks in Viva’s warm chocolate stare appeared to sparkle beneath a sudden nudge of emotion. “I prayed he wouldn’t after everything that happened. Sophia, um...is he, um...is he seeing anybody?”

Sophia looked off in the direction where Rook had taken his exit. “I’d have to ask Tigo,” she said, referring to her fiancé and one of Rook’s oldest friends, Santigo Rodriguez. “Far as I know there hasn’t been anyone since you.”

Viva shot her sister a stunned expression.

“No one steady since you,” Sophia qualified.

Viva wasn’t wholly convinced of that either, but such a statement was easier to swallow than one suggesting there had been no one since her.

Rook Lourdess was a presence. He exuded a power that went beyond the obvious potency presented by the striking breadth of his physique. His massive build, combined with a jolting stare and remarkably crafted face, had a talent for unsettling women as thoroughly as it mesmerized them.

Still, it was the subtle aspect of his persona, Viva believed, that was even more alluring. Unarguably, the face and body were difficult acts to follow. The body was a well-honed six and a half feet of solid muscle sheathed in a rich caramel-toned casing that was only rivaled by the face. It was surrounded by a halo of blue-black that, despite the efforts to keep it close-cropped, remained an unruly cap of waves.

The carefully crafted face was accentuated by a heavy-lidded amber stare of such a hue, it seemed almost translucent. The nose emphasized strong, high cheekbones offset by a generous and fully kissable mouth—one Viva remembered was capable of exerting the most extreme forms of pleasure and release.

She cleared her throat, not sure if the moan she’d just given in to had been overheard by her sister or merely an echo in her own head.

“Sure you don’t want to catch up to him? He probably hasn’t gotten to his car yet.”

Viva snorted. “If I punch you, would that be considered assaulting an officer?”

Sophia gave in to a sly grin. “I’d make the charges stick.”

Viva countered with a shrug. “I’m sure I could find a lawyer to get me off.”

“Mmm... I thought you’d want Rook for that.”

A few seconds of silence followed the playfully lurid comment. Then, the sisters gave in to wild laughter that was as much about amusement as it was about happiness over the fact that they were together and that so many troubling aspects of the past were finally being laid to rest. So many...but not all.

“So did I interrupt anything here?” Sophia clasped her hands and eyed the terrace speculatively. “Anything...promising?”

Again, Viva snorted. “If you count small talk promising.”

“Ah, honey.” Sophia moved close to drop an arm around Viva’s shoulders and squeezed. “I’m sorry.”

“No need. It’s for the best.”

“I don’t think you believe that.” Sophia used her height advantage to drop a kiss to the top of her sister’s head. “Are you saying you hold absolutely no hope that you guys could have what you once did?”

“It’s been a long time.”

“And? A lot of time passed between me and Tigo too.”

Viva conceded with a smile. “Fair enough, but it still wouldn’t be a good idea, Soapy.”

“Not a good idea?” Sophia challenged once she’d chuckled over the name Viva had given her before she could correctly pronounce her little sister’s name. “You did just see the man, right? I’m surprised he walked out of here alone with all the...attention I saw him getting before I had to hustle out of here earlier.”

Viva moved to the terrace railing and looked out into the night as though she were seeing Rook there. “There’re things I don’t want him to know. Ever. Things that might hurt him and that’ll make me feel like more of an ass for leaving than I already do.”

Intrigued, Sophia’s gray eyes narrowed, all teasing elements leaving her face. “Any details you can share?” She joined Viva at the railing. “Is this about Murray?”

“This all happened near the beginning of my career.” She slid her sister a sly smile. “I promise there aren’t any moves I wish I didn’t make. At least none of the truly graphic variety. There are choices I made, though, and later wished I hadn’t. Choices I may not have made if working for Jazzy B’s hadn’t made me immune to certain signs.”

“And that’s Mom and Dad talking now.”

“Maybe,” Viva bumped her side to Sophia’s. “Parents can make a lot of sense sometimes.”

Sophia folded her arms over her chest and turned to lean back against the rail. “So are you going to let these old choices keep you from going back to the man you love?”

“Soap, it’s been six—”

“Back to the man who still loves you?” Sophia interrupted. “V, these things you mentioned... Murray was with you at the beginning. Are you sure that doesn’t have anything to do with this present mess?”

Viva was shaking her head. “This particular choice doesn’t have much to do with Murray but some of my other choices... If I hadn’t made them, you probably wouldn’t have what you need to put your case to bed.”

“Hold it, V.” Sophia took her sister’s shoulders and gave her a slight shake. “I can damn well put my case to bed without drawing you into it.”

“Maybe I want to be drawn in.” Unshakeable determination sharpened Viva’s star-quality features. “I only knew Murray a little through Rook before we started working together at my first production company. It didn’t take long for me to see that he could be a shark, but that’s a commodity in my world and I didn’t shy away from him because I wanted my career and I correctly guessed that he could give me one.”

“Hey.” Sophia gave Viva another tug. “You’re the only one responsible for your career.”

“Thanks, Soap, but Murray really is very good at what he does. He made a very successful move from security to talent representation. Over the years, I’ve come to consider him as a very good friend as well as my agent.”

“And that may make it harder for you to believe he could be involved in all the rest,” Sophia warned.

“Why’d he do it, Sophia?” Viva tugged her fingers through the light brown coils framing her face. “Why’d he risk doing something that could take away his freedom?”

“Some folks can’t resist the sparkle, no matter how much they have. A little more is always a good thing.”

“Yeah.” Viva thought of how that point had pertained to her when she’d started getting noticed—when the sparkle of real celebrity began to twinkle her way. It should’ve been enough, but Sophia was right. More always seemed better. She supposed it was the same for Murray. Too bad his quest for more sparkle had turned him into a criminal.

“I have to be part of this, Sophia.”

“All right.” Sophia nodded. “But if that’s the case, I’m going to need you to agree to any and all requests I make pertaining to your own well-being.”

Viva bit her lip before acquiescing with a hesitant nod.

“I mean it, V. Take it or leave it.”

“Okay...but only on the condition that you don’t let any of this newfound power over me go to your head.”

“I’ll try.” To Viva’s ears the words held little promise. “But give me any of that A-list actress diva attitude and I’ll put you on house arrest.”

“Such a hard-ass,” Viva accused.

“I’m worse.” Sophia waved off the insult. “I’m a bride. I’m about to start getting very anal about things being perfect. Keeping my maid of honor alive goes at the top of that list.”

Viva gave herself over to laughter. The gesture was soon being echoed by Sophia and the sisters tucked into another hug.

* * *

Rook gave a quick prayer of thanks when he pulled the Suburban into the parking spot outside his condo. The need for sleep had latched on harder and heavier the second his butt had hit the driver’s seat.

It was a blessing that he hadn’t hit anything or been pulled over for a suspected DUI considering how wiped he was. He’d been looking forward to an exceptional night of sleep, but he now feared that would be a fruitless endeavor. Finding Viva Hail on that terrace had hit him like a brick to his gut.

He’d known she was in town. He’d run into her while his team had supplied security for her sister. Not until that night had the true force of her being back really hit him. She’d always been able to read him so well and he wondered if she could see how out of it he was earlier.

Resting back on the seat, Rook reminisced on how her perception intrigued as well as annoyed him. He wasn’t a man who enjoyed having others get inside his head.

Viva Hail wasn’t just any other. No, she wasn’t just any other and how had he honored that so long ago? By giving her an ultimatum. No...it hadn’t been a blatant “take it or leave it” ultimatum, but he’d damn well known what he was doing when he gave her that bull about the decision being made for them and that her actions would put them on the path his had already set.