Colton's Twin Secrets Page 21

  Again he stared at her. “When did you start thinking like a cop?”

  “Maybe since I started hanging around a really good one?” she suggested.

  He opened his mouth as if to answer, then closed it. Shook his head, but he was smiling. “Make the call,” he said softly. She nodded and called up her contact list. “And Gemma?” She looked up. “Thank you,” he said.

  “My pleasure,” she said, drawing out the word and giving him a look that made it impossible not to see she meant so much more than just a phone call.

  Chapter 29

  Once Gemma had made the call and he had only to wait and see what her sister was able to access, Dante was hit with a case of cabin fever that had him pacing the floor. He wasn’t used to staying inside for days on end.

  Finally, once the twins were up from their nap, Gemma suggested that the girls—and they—could use an outing.

  If it wasn’t for the girls, he could think of better ways to be spending their time inside. And he wouldn’t even be thinking about wanting to get out. Uninterrupted hours in bed with Gemma seemed like the best of all possible worlds.

  But uninterrupted hours and six-month-old twins appeared to be mutually exclusive.

  “Can we stay away from the park?” he suggested.

  He thought she suppressed a shiver. “Please. How about downtown?” She put on her most careless tone. “I haven’t been shopping in ages.”

  He was sure his expression reflected the instant inward cringe, because she laughed at him. To his surprise, he didn’t mind. “If you must,” he said warily.

  “Actually,” she said, “I wanted to get some things for the girls.” She looked over at the two, who were carrying on a babbling conversation that seemed perfectly intelligible to them. “And it’s never too early to instill the shopping habit.”

  Dante groaned. Why couldn’t they have been boys? He’d have an idea what to do about boys, but girls, all the different stages of girls...nope. Not a clue.

  “Mancuso?”

  He snapped out of his panicked thoughts. Why was she using his last name?

  “Teasing,” she pointed out.

  He glared at her. Or tried to. “Payback,” he threatened, utterly without heat.

  “Promise?”

  Her voice had gone all soft and husky in that way that awakened every nerve in his body and sent blood rushing to places that were, at the moment, inconvenient.

  “Oh, yeah,” he muttered.

  And so an hour later, after dropping Flash off at the K9 center to ramble under the watchful eye of Patience Colton—who seemed to be eyeing them almost as watchfully, although Gemma merely chatted cheerfully—they were walking Rattlesnake Avenue, the improbably named ritzy shopping district of Red Ridge. Dante knew it, but only because of various police cases he’d worked in the area; it was hardly his kind of place. He bought most of his clothes at the big outdoor store on the edge of town, and footwear, too, for that matter, since he rarely wore anything but boots or running shoes. Everything else... Well, that was what the internet was for.

  It struck him as they strolled—literally, with the girls in the twin stroller—past one of the upscale jewelry stores that there was no way in hell he could afford to buy Gemma the kind of things she was used to. He felt out of place even walking down this street, past stores like that, the designer boutiques and all the rest. It was clear from her clothes and jewelry that she belonged here.

  And it was clear from his clothes and lack of even a tie clip—and the fact that he owned exactly one tie in the first place—that he did not.

  She’d expect a serious rock in an engagement ring.

  He stopped in his tracks. Stood there, staring into nothing, as his thought echoed in his head repeatedly.

  “Dante?”

  “I—” He cut himself off sharply. No way in hell could he tell her what he’d just thought. “Your favorite store?” he said rather desperately, nodding toward the window full of sparkle.

  “It was, once,” she said. “But there are more important things.”

  ...now I know what it feels like to have what my heart truly wants.

  No matter how many times her words ran through his mind, the warning always followed. She doesn’t mean you, idiot.

  The door to the jewelry store opened, and a man came out. He looked vaguely familiar, and Dante automatically started running through his mental wanted list. Not that most on that list of suspects in various things would be shopping here, but it was a reflex he figured most cops had.

  But then he realized Gemma had turned to look. And gone very still.

  “Gemma,” the man said.

  Dante couldn’t read anything in his tone. But he could certainly assess the rest of the guy: the expensive suit, the French-cuffed shirt with cuff links that probably cost more than his SUV, the tie—probably one of hundreds, he thought wryly—that looked undoubtedly silk.

  It hit him in the instant before Gemma said, “Dev.”

  Of course. He should have guessed.

  He stayed silent as the other man’s gaze swept over them. The strongest emotion he saw—besides an innate sense of superiority Dante found beyond irritating—was a mild sort of curiosity. If that was all he felt at seeing Gemma with another man, she was indeed well rid of the guy. Then he glanced at the twins, and there was no reaction at all. It was as if they weren’t even there. And that made Dante edgy.

  “I’m glad we ran into you,” Gemma was saying. “I wanted to thank you.”

  Harrington’s gaze snapped back to Gemma. “What?”

  “For breaking it off.”

  The other man blinked. “What?” he repeated.

  Dante nearly laughed, feeling suddenly better. Try to keep up, rich boy.

  “It was the best thing you ever could have done for me. It changed my life.”

  Harrington was staring at her, obviously completely disconcerted. “I... It was?”

  “It was,” she said firmly. “And I understand. We couldn’t have made each other happy.”

  “No. No, we couldn’t.” He was looking a little relieved now. “I wish I could have—”

  “I hope you get your happiness, Dev,” Gemma said, no rudeness in her cutting him off, and just sincerity in her voice when she added, “With whoever she is.”

  Harrington moved then, to embrace Gemma, and for an instant Dante considered stopping him. But she’d handled this so far—in a way that gave him more hope than was probably wise—so he stayed back.

  “You too, Gemma. You deserve it. You truly do.”

  There was an odd note in the man’s voice that Dante couldn’t put a name to. Not quite regret, not quite appreciation. A sort of acknowledgment, though of what he didn’t know. Maybe simply the fact that Gemma had tried so hard to win him over. But he quickly decided he was giving the guy too much credit, because Devlin Harrington was exactly the sort of person who haunted these environs.

  When he’d gone to his car, something sleek and luxurious and with three figures to the left of the comma, no doubt, Dante glanced at Gemma, who was bent over the stroller, adjusting something on Lucia’s tiny jacket.

  He couldn’t stop himself from asking, “That’s the guy you had to prove something to? Really?” She straightened up, just looking at him, eyebrows raised. “I mean, I get that he’s rich and successful, but damn, Gemma, he’s smooth to the point of oily, and it’s all layered over with smug.”

  To his surprise, she laughed and looked in the direction Harrington had gone. “He can definitely be smug,” she agreed.

  “He was really...what you wanted?”

  “He’s what the old me wanted,” Gemma said, looking back at him. “But I’m not that person anymore. And the woman I am now wants something very different.”

  “Just like that?” he asked, afraid to trust what he thoug
ht he saw in her eyes.

  “I was floundering before. Everybody approved of Dev and me, and I thought that mattered the most.”

  “What about what you wanted?”

  “Exactly,” she said. “And I did prove what I set out to prove. Didn’t I?”

  He glanced at the twins, who were happily looking around at everything in this place they’d never been before. “Yes,” he said softly, “you did.”

  “I just didn’t expect what I proved to myself.”

  His gaze shot back to her face. “Which is?”

  “That what I felt, what I thought was love, was nothing like it. What I felt for Dev was not even close, just a pale imitation.”

  Dante stared at her. What was she saying? She couldn’t be saying what it seemed like—that had to be his imagination, fueled by this crazy sense of hope that was building in him.

  “You’re well rid of him,” he said carefully. “Now you just need to find someone else who can...afford to shop here for you.” He nodded toward the jewelry store.

  “I don’t need that,” Gemma said. “What I need is the man who makes me feel so happy I could burst, even if the only ring he can afford is a—a teething ring.”

  With that she gave the stroller a push and began to walk again. For a moment Dante couldn’t move, torn between wondering what a teething ring was and...wanting to run after her and ask if he was that man.

  * * *

  Gemma felt lighter than she could ever remember in her life. She hadn’t really realized until she was face-to-face with Dev, the man she’d thought she loved, how much had changed. Not just her life, but her heart. She truly felt like a new woman.

  She felt as if the last puzzle piece had fallen into place, and she suddenly understood why her siblings and cousins who had found this feeling seemed so...different. Because they were different. If they felt anything like she did at this moment, they were very, very different than the people they’d been before they understood what it meant to truly love someone.

  She was smiling at the twins, amending her thought to three someones before it struck her. She’d actually formed the words in her mind but never actually said them out loud. She’d hinted, implied, said it in every way...except those exact three words. And she felt a jab of doubt—why? Why hadn’t she said them? Because she was waiting for Dante to say them first? She—

  Her cell rang. She dug into the bag hanging on the handle of the stroller, thankful for the diversion. Saw it was Layla and felt a pang. She’d always felt bad about her sister being bartered off to Dev’s father, but Layla insisted she had her reasons and Gemma had had to accept that. But she couldn’t help wondering if, despite feeling sickened about the people already murdered, and her father’s fury over the delay, perhaps Layla was just a tiny bit grateful the Groom Killer had chosen now to go on his killing rampage.

  She shivered as she answered. She felt Dante come up beside her, felt his heat, his closeness, and the shiver subsided. She listened to Layla’s hurried words—there always seemed to be some sort of crisis at Colton Energy these days—agreed to her suggestion and disconnected. Then she looked up at Dante.

  “She has the list of numbers, but she has to run to a meeting. She’ll call back tonight, and you can give her your...suspect numbers and she’ll run a search.”

  “Thank you,” he said. He reached up to brush back a strand of her hair. “Are you cold?”

  So he’d seen the shiver. “No. Just...a grim thought.”

  “About?”

  “I can’t help thinking Layla’s getting railroaded into this marriage to Dev’s father. I mean, I can see he’s smitten with her, but...I don’t think she feels the same.”

  “Sound familiar?” he asked, and he had that carefully neutral tone going again.

  She tilted her head back, met his gaze. “Sounds like where I used to be, yes.”

  “Used to be? Past tense?”

  “Yes.” She held his gaze, letting him read the truth there, that because of him, she now knew what the real thing was. His expression went from doubt to hope and finally, as she kept looking at him, understanding.

  “Gemma, I—”

  This time it was his cell phone signaling a text, and for a moment she wished the reception here was bad. But she saw his face change as he read, and her heart sank.

  “Bad news?” she asked the moment he ended the connection.

  “I have to get back to the K9 center,” he said as he shoved the phone into his pocket. “Flash is hurt.”

  Gemma gasped. “Oh, no! What happened?”

  “Little tussle with one of the other dogs.”

  “We’d better hurry. If he’s hurt he needs to be with us.”

  Despite the urgency that had been in his voice, Dante gave her a long look. Then a slow smile, as if she’d confirmed something for him. “Yes,” he said softly.

  Chapter 30

  They headed back to his SUV and got the girls loaded up quickly, a much simpler process since she’d bought a set of car seats for her own vehicle so these could stay in his.

  “I remember when we put these in here,” she said, “and thinking that baby seats in a vehicle full of a police gear was kind of an anachronism. But then I realized it was a perfect symbol of what police do—protect the most helpless.”

  He looked up from strapping in Zita. He knew exactly what she was doing—trying to distract him—but it didn’t stop him from smiling despite his worry about Flash.

  “Thank you. It’s nice that some people remember that, at least.”

  They were halfway there when his phone signaled again, an incoming call this time. He glanced at the screen, saw it was the K9 center number. Safe enough to answer on the speaker system, he decided, and damn it, he wanted to know about Flash.

  “Mancuso.”

  “Dante? It’s Patience.”

  He felt a chill. “Tell me you’re not calling yourself because it’s that bad?”

  “No, no, I’m calling because I knew you’d be worried. He’ll be fine. In fact he’s in my office now and we’re spoiling him rotten.”

  He felt the pressure that had spiked ease. “What happened?”

  “A little tussle with one of the younger dogs who doesn’t know his manners yet. No bites, but a muscle strain. He’ll be glad to see you and go home and rest.”

  Dante glanced at Gemma. “Not much of that going on at home,” he said, but he was grinning. And then belatedly remembered Patience was Gemma’s sister. Tried to recover it. “Babies are a lot of work,” he said quickly.

  There was a moment’s silence before Patience answered. “Yes. Yes, they are.”

  After he ended the call, he studiously kept his eyes on the road.

  “I admire my sister,” Gemma said. “She always knew what she wanted and worked to put herself through veterinary school.”

  “She’s great with the dogs,” Dante said.

  Gemma smiled, but it was almost sad. “She told me once she wished she could trust people the way she trusts dogs.”

  His mouth twisted wryly. “A thought I’ve had a time or two myself. But they trust her, too. As does everyone in the department. She’s really down-to-earth.”

  “Unlike the rest of us Coltons?” Gemma asked archly as he stopped for a red light.

  He looked at her then. Hoped he was right that the glint in her eyes was humor. “I would have said that. Once.”

  She smiled, far more brightly than he would have thought his comment deserved. “Once,” she said, “you would have been right.”

  When they arrived at the training center, Patience was waiting for them outside. Flash was at her side, looking only faintly aggrieved. Dante saw the woman’s eyes widen slightly under her thick fringe of bangs when she saw Gemma get out of his vehicle.

  “You have the twins with you?”

&nbs
p; Gemma nodded. “Want to meet them?”

  “Absolutely,” Patience said, but Dante thought there was something...strained about her smile. She shifted her attention to him and handed him Flash’s leash. They walked around to the back of the car. “You’d better lift him in.”

  Dante grimaced. “Glad he’s not a show dog, then.” As a working dog, Flash weighed a solid eighty-five pounds, but the show ring animals were generally bigger, starting at over a hundred. He got him in the back of the SUV, Flash suffering the indignity of being picked up with a sigh.

  “Keep him moving a bit so it doesn’t stiffen up, but no more than a walk for a couple of days. He should be fine. If he’s still favoring that foreleg after that, bring him back.”

  Dante nodded. Patience glanced back to where Gemma was leaning into the back seat, keeping the girls amused, then back to him. He raised a brow at her. “Something else?” he asked quietly, recognizing the signs.

  “I saw something this morning. Remember the puppy the Larsons stole?”

  He didn’t bother to remind her there was no proof the Larson brothers had taken the animals—he knew she was convinced beyond talking her out of it. Not that he’d try, given his own feelings about them. So he said only, “Sure.”

  “I saw him. And Nico.” Dante remembered the tough, well-trained protection Malinois that had also been stolen from the training center. “And,” she added emphatically, “the guy had the Larsons’ two other dogs, the ones Bo Gage sold to them, as well.”

  Dante didn’t like the undertone that had come into her voice and tried for a joke. “A dog walker? What is this, New York City? We’re getting too civilized.”

  She didn’t laugh. “I’m going to get those dogs back, Dante.”

  The cop in him suddenly leaped to the fore. “Patience, stay away from those two. They’re really, really bad news.”

  “You think I don’t know that?” she snapped in a tone he’d never heard from her before. “I know perfectly well what the Larsons are capable of.”