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“Just arrived. May we come in?”
“Of course.” He stepped back and they entered the room. The large suite featured a living room and a bedroom. The place was neat except for papers strewn over the coffee table in front of the fireplace as well as the desk in the corner. The bedroom on the left looked tidy but there was evidence that someone had laid on the duvet.
“I understand Vanessa was in your room uninvited.”
Davenport nodded. “Yes, and a page is missing from something I’ve been working on.”
“What was Vanessa wearing if I may ask?”
“What does that matter?” Davenport ran a hand through his hair. “She could be wearing a paper sack but it doesn’t change the fact that she was in here uninvited.”
“True, but humor me, please,” Archer pressed.
Cash knew where this was going. He tried to do a discreet sweep of the room from where he was, but it looked super neat and tidy. Almost too neat except for the papers. How Davenport knew anything was missing in that mess was a mystery.
“She had on a red silk negligee.”
“And would I be correct in assuming that Vanessa has been in this room before with you as an invited guest?” Archer asked.
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Davenport’s eyes narrowed.
“I’m just saying that it is possible that Vanessa thought perhaps you would be picking up where you left off previously. She’s been a member for years. Hard to imagine she doesn’t know the penalty for stealing from another guest.” Davenport appeared ready to argue but Archer waved him off. “I’m assuming you can get another copy of the document that’s missing?”
“Yes, but that’s not the point. It’s proprietary information. I can’t have it out in the world.”
“Understood.” Archer glanced at Cash. “I’ll have Cash conduct a search and see if he can turn up anything. In the meantime, is there anything I can have sent up to make this whole unpleasantness more palatable?”
“No, I’m fine,” he said through clenched teeth. Davenport was still pissed off, but he was smart enough to understand that Archer wasn’t going to go for any kind of histrionics.
“In that case, I hope you sleep well.” Cash opened the door and followed Archer through it, closing it after them.
“Get the lock fixed,” Archer commanded as they headed down the stairs.
“Do you want me to talk to Vanessa?”
“No point,” Archer groused. “She’d just claim she was there to fuck Davenport. We have no proof so she’s unlikely to confess to something that could get her in very big trouble.”
“Okay, I’ll get the guys to start looking for the missing paper.”
Archer snorted. They were standing in front of the kitchen door. “How the hell he knows a page is missing in all that mess is beyond me. Just do your best to fix it. We need this meeting to happen and then everyone to leave here in one piece.”
“Got it,” Cash nodded.
“And Cash, find that fucking bible.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Riss glanced at the clock beside the bed as she came out of the bathroom. Midnight. It seemed like she’d been awake for days. There was a mug of something hot with steam rising off it next to her bed. Dominick must have brought it. Maybe Cash requested it for her. God knew she could use a hot drink to settle her nerves. She was starting to process what happened today and her anxiety over everything was rapidly escalating.
She pulled on her deep purple silk nightgown and sighed. Bringing it to Venice had been a bad idea, much like the cape she’d lost in the canal. What had seemed like an adventure when she’d packed had devolved to a crisis of epic proportions.
She’d had a long hot shower after Cash left, hoping to scrub away the aroused state he’d left her in. Probably should’ve been a cold one. He made her feel things that she didn’t want to feel. She damned herself for a stupid fool. He’d threatened to kill her earlier in the day and she couldn’t get him into bed fast enough not twelve hours later. What the hell was wrong with her?
He was sexy as hell was the problem, that, and the fact that since he’d decided he didn’t have to kill her, she knew he wasn’t going to let anyone else do it either. He made her feel safe and she needed that so desperately at the moment that her common sense had fled.
Riss crawled into bed and leaned against the headboard, sipping the fragrant tea. It tasted divine if a little sweet. She mused about what her next move would be. She’d have to finish her search of the bookshelves tomorrow. She needed to find that cookbook. She wasn’t risking it now. The last thing she wanted to do was bang into Davenport tonight. Or anyone else for that matter.
Closing her eyes, she started to relax and then remembered the scene with Vanessa. She set down the mug on the nightstand, threw her covers back, and got out of bed. She made sure her door was locked and then crawled back into bed.
