Clearly, the priest approved of her dress and her serious, beautiful face and whatever it was she said to him, because he bowed and held on to her hand. With the contact between them, his emotional grid shifted to love, pure, undiluted, chaste love.
That was why the statue stood out, Xhex realized. Marie-Terese looked exactly like the robed female. Weird.
“Nice service, huh.”
She turned and looked at Detective de la Cruz. “Seemed fine. I wouldn’t really know.”
“You’re not Catholic, then.”
“Nope.” Xhex waved at Trez and iAm as the crowd dispersed. The boys were taking everyone out to lunch before they all headed into work, as one more way of honoring Chrissy.
“Grady didn’t come,” the detective said.
“Nope.”
De la Cruz smiled. “You know, you talk like you decorate.”
“I like to keep things simple.”
“‘Just the facts, ma’am’? I thought that was my line.” He glanced at the backs of the people walking off toward the three cars parked together in the lane. One by one, Rehv’s Bentley, a Honda mini-van, and Marie-Terese’s five- year-old Camry pulled out.
“So, where’s your boss?” de la Cruz murmured. “I expected to see him here.”
“He’s a night owl.”
“Ah.”
“Look, Detective, I’m going to take off.”
“Really?” He swept his arm around. “In what? Or do you like walking in this kind of weather.”
“I parked somewhere else.”
“Did you? You weren’t thinking of sticking around? You know, seeing if there were any late arrivals.”
“Now, why would I do that.”
“Why, indeed.”
Long, long, long pause, during which Xhex stared at the statue that reminded her of Marie-Terese. “You want to give me a ride to my car, Detective?”
“Yeah, sure.”
The unmarked sedan was as serviceable as the detective’s wardrobe, but like the guy’s heavy coat, it was warm, and like what was in the detective’s clothes, it was powerful, the engine growling like something you’d find under the hood of a Corvette.
De la Cruz looked over as he gunned it. “Where am I going?”
“To the club, if you don’t mind.”
“That’s where you left your car?”
“I got a ride here.”
“Ah.”
As de la Cruz drove them along the winding road, she stared out at the headstones and for a brief moment thought of the number of bodies she’d walked away from.
Including John Matthew’s.
She’d done her best not to think about what they’d done and the way she’d left that big, hard body of his sprawled all over her bed. His eyes as he’d watched her go out the door had been full of a heartbreak she couldn’t allow herself to internalize. It wasn’t that she didn’t give a shit; she cared too much.
That was why she’d had to leave, and why she couldn’t afford to be caught alone with him again. She’d been down that road before, and the results had been beyond tragic.
“You okay?” de la Cruz asked.
“I’m just fine, Detective. You?”
“Good. Just fine. Thanks for asking.”
The gates of the cemetery loomed up ahead, the iron latticeworks split and pulled to either side of the lane.
“I’m going to be coming back here,” de la Cruz said as they braked and then surged forward onto the street beyond. “Because I think Grady will show up eventually. He’s going to have to.”
“Well, you won’t be seeing me.”
“No?”
“Nope. Count on it.” She was just too good at being hidden.
When Ehlena’s phone made a beep in her ear, she had to take it away from her head. “What the-Oh. Battery’s going dead. Hold on.”
Rehvenge’s deep laughter had her pausing while she reached for the cord, just so she could hear every last rumble of the sound.
“Okay, I’m plugged in.” She resettled against her pillows. “Now, where were we-oh, yeah. So I’m curious, exactly what kind of businessman are you?”
“A successful one.”
“Which explains the wardrobe.”
He laughed again. “No, my good taste explains the wardrobe.”
“Then the successful part is how you pay for it.”
“Well, my family’s fortunate. We’ll just leave it at that.”
She deliberately focused on her duvet cover so she wouldn’t be reminded of the low-ceilinged, ratty room she was in. Better yet…Ehlena reached up and clicked off the light that sat on the milk crates she had stacked next to her bed.
“What was that?” he asked.
“The light. I, ah, I just turned it off.”
“Oh, man, I’ve kept you on way too long.”
“No, I just…wanted it dark, is all.”
Rehv’s voice dropped so low she could barely hear it. “Why.”
Yeah, like she was going to tell him it was because she didn’t want to think about where she stayed. “I… wanted to get even more comfortable.”
“Ehlena.” Need suffused his tone, changing the tenor of the conversation from flirtatious chitchat to…something very sexual. And in an instant, she was back on his bed in that penthouse, naked, his mouth on her skin.
“Ehlena…”
“What,” she said hoarsely.
“Are you still in your uniform? The one I took off of you?”
“Yes.” The word was more breath than anything else, and it went so much further than just an answer to the question he’d asked. She knew what he wanted, and she wanted it, too.
“The buttons on the front of it,” he murmured. “Undo one for me?”
“Yes.”
As she popped the first of them free, he said, “And another.”
“Yes.”
They kept at it until her uniform was open down the front, and she was really glad the lights were off-not because she would have been embarrassed, but because it made him seem right there with her.
Rehvenge groaned, and she heard him lick his lips. “If I were there, you know what I would be doing? I’d be running my fingertips down to your breasts. I’d find a nipple and I’d draw circles around it so it was ready.”
She did as he described and gasped when she touched herself. Then she realized…“Ready for what?”
He laughed long and low. “You want to hear me say it, don’t you.”
“I do.”
“Ready for my mouth, Ehlena. Do you remember what that felt like? Because I remember exactly what you taste like. Leave your bra on and pinch yourself for me…as if I’m sucking on you though those pretty white lace cups of yours.”
Ehlena squeezed her thumb and forefinger together, trapping her nipple in between the two. The effect was
