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Eager hands tugged at the waistband of her pants as she reached for Brandon’s. Impatience was contagious, and the more he touched her, the more she wanted to be connected, discovered, pleasured, and come undone. And do all those things with the giant of a man. Would he moan too? And gasp? How would he taste?
In the middle of the battle with lust, fate’s wicked and twisted sense of humor broke the moment via an annoying ring from Brandon’s phone.
“You can’t be serious. Fuck!”
Noelle just had time to grab the edge of the cabinet for balance when Brandon let her go to rush to the living room, one hand holding his pants up. The situation would have made her laugh if she wasn’t wound so tight and about to self-combust.
When Brandon returned, Noelle had her shirt on, knowing from experience, a phone call so late was rarely about nothing,and when she saw Brandon’s face she knew she’d made the right decision as they weren’t about to resume what they both craved.
“Good, you’re dressed. That was a call from Callan.”
“Another murder?”
Brandon shook his head. “No, unrelated. Dominique’s shop is on fire.”
CHAPTER 12
Brandon stood far enough back to observe the team taking care of the scene. Not that he wasn’t curious to look for himself, but this wasn’t a murder investigation, so he let them do their work.
The little shop had taken a beating, with its front door turned into fragments, and the front window shattered. However, the unmistakable smell of gasoline told him it was more severe than a break-in. Whoever did this wanted to destroy the shop. It was a blessing the fire didn’t catch hold, and from what he could see, apart from minor repairs, the place could reopen without delay.
As soon as they’d arrived, Dominique had appeared, and Noelle hugged her friend fiercely. The older woman hadn’t been on the premises at the time which was another blessing.
With Noelle there, Dominique could finally assess the damage. “There’s nothing missing. Drawers were tossed, but it’s only a big mess to clean up. I think I was lucky. Apart from a few commissioned artworks, I don’t have anything valuable inside the store. I’d say it was a failed endeavor for whoever broke in.”
“They turned over drawers? What was in them?”
Dominique smiled at him, a twinkle that he was starting to recognize in her eyes. “Knick knacks, pendants, amulets, crystals, herbs, chicken heads.”
It took an extra second for that last item to sink it, and when it did, his horror must have shown on his face as Noelle and Dominique burst out laughing.
Dominique patted his hand. “I’m not into that sort of Voodoo, so you don’t have to call animal protection on me. Thank you for coming to the rescue. Both of you.”
Noelle wrapped her arm around her delicate shoulders. “There’s no way I’d let you face this alone. Do you need help to clean the place up? I can call the girls and we’ll have it straightened out in no time.”
“No need, ma belle amie. There’s a team who will come in a few minutes to board up the door and window. It will be secured for the night and tomorrow will be soon enough for clean-up. My nephew is picking me up. It seems you aren’t the only ones worried about my safety for no reason.”
“For no reason?” Brandon couldn’t believe what she was saying. “It may only be someone damaging your property, maybe trying to make quick money, but you can’t be sure until we find the culprit. What if they thought you were inside and were ready to harm you? And are willing to take another shot at you?”
Noelle pushed in the same direction. “I agree with Brandon. Don’t take chances. I know you’re sure about everything, but what if something has slipped by you? I wouldn’t forgive myself if anything happened to you.”
“Oh, my Noelle. Your heart is so precious. But I will be very well cared for.”
Once more, Dominique turned to Brandon. “You take care of my Noelle, and most importantly, of you. You already know that,don’t you? That’s why you came here, although your colleagues had everything under control. You feel it. The invisible links you can’t yet connect and the growing threat. Don’t worry. It’s no longer lurking around me. What a coincidence that I decided to close early, isn’t it?”
With a kiss on Noelle’s cheek, she walked to her nephew, who had pulled up to the curb.
“I’m not certain what just happened here.”
It was Noelle’s turn to pat his hand. “That’s the mystery of Dominique, but it’s one I’ve learned to take seriously. Although this is the first time it’s involved a deadly threat.”
Brandon didn’t like mysteries, and the more people referred to them, the more frustrated he became. He wanted hard evidence—faces, names, fingerprints. Not fucking fantasies and magic spells!
“Hey! Are you okay? You look as if you’re about to grind your teeth to powder.”
It took a few deep breaths to bring his state back to civilized. “I’ll feel better when we have something to go on.”
“I know it’s late, but I can check the status of what’s been running so far. Maybe there’ll be something to work on right away.”
