The Royal Spy's Redemption. Addison Fox

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      Again he was conscious of the weight against his thigh, and if he focused on the gems he could feel their hard edges. Each was roughly the size of a strawberry—small in the scheme of things, yet massive in the gemology world—and he knew from their history many had killed to possess them.

      The ringing of her cell broke the moment, and Gabby eyed the device. On a small sigh, she flipped the safety and shoved the gun back in the drawer she’d pulled it from, then answered the call.

      “I’m good.”

      Although Knox only got half the conversation, it wasn’t hard to piece together what was being said.

      “I’m working late, that’s all. Mama wants enchiladas for the party tomorrow, and I couldn’t get to them earlier.” She paused a moment before quickly talking over whatever was being said on the other end of the line. “There’s no need to stop by on rounds. I’m almost done and trying to get out of here.”

      Knox watched, fascinated, as she worked her way around the kitchen. She was a full participant in the conversation with her brother, but she managed to multitask her way through the conversation, pulling a large metal bowl from the fridge, then hip-bumping it closed.

      She added several quick comments—barbs, really—in Spanish and it was hard to miss the small layer of frustration beneath.

      “I’m fine, Ricardo. And I already made you an extra batch, so you can quit bugging me already. Good night. I love you, too.”

      She shoved the phone in her back jeans pocket and walked toward a stacked set of trays on the far wall. The trays settled onto a base that rolled, and she dragged the entire set back to the counters along with the bowl.

      “Your brother?”

      “Who else?”

      “Does he always call you this late?”

      “When he’s on rounds and he sees my lights he does.” Gabby looked up from where she carefully pulled light towels off the top of a tray of fresh tortillas. “You’re lucky he didn’t just show up.”

      “Why didn’t he?”

      “He was called to an accident during his earlier drive-by. Something going on downtown in the park. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

      “No.”

      As the lie tripped off his tongue, Knox was suddenly glad Gabby had put the gun away.

      * * *

      “No?”

      “It’s the same answer you’d give your brother if he asked you what’s going on here.”

      “I don’t lie to my family.”

      “You sure about that?”

      Something small ticked behind her eye, and Gabby focused on uncovering the chicken mixture she’d prepared earlier for the first batch of enchiladas. She snatched a fresh tortilla from her tray, muttering a low curse when the soft disc tore down the middle. “I don’t lie.”

      “Would you prefer omission, then?” He extended a finger toward the bowl of meat she’d drained off, but she was quicker, smacking the back of his hand.

      “You were bleeding over the floor an hour ago. Don’t touch.”

      “I cleaned up.”

      “You’re still not sticking your fingers in my food. Grab a plate and a fork if you’d like some. Third cabinet from the sink. Forks are in the drawer below.”

      He followed her directions and snagged a large spoon, as well.

      “That’s more like it. Take as much as you want.”

      He tucked into the food, and she was pleased to see he ate well—rushed even—before catching herself. How, where or what he ate was none of her business. Nor was the increasing color in his cheeks any of her business, either.

      “This is good.”

      She added a few tortillas to his plate. “Those’ll make it even better.”

      His words still rattled around in her brain with increasing discomfort. She wasn’t a liar, but the sin of omission had increasingly become her friend of late, and she wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. Her family hadn’t given her a choice, their increasing pressure on her personal life like a vise, squeezing out all the air.

      So she filled tortillas like her grandmother taught her and lined them up neatly in a greased pan. She’d save the sauce for tomorrow before she headed out for the party, keeping the tortillas as fresh as possible.

      “You’re fast.”

      “I’ve been making these since I was seven.”

      “Impressive.”

      “My grandmother saw I had an interest, and she both indulged me and taught me.”

      “You miss her.”

      “I do. I still see her fairly often, but it’s not the same as every day.”

      “She’s the one you tell the truth to, isn’t she?” That quiet voice was silky, weaving its way through her thoughts like wispy puffs of smoke.

      His understanding struck her as an almost absurd counterpoint to his earlier statement. “I thought you said I lie to my family.”

      “Omit.” When she only raised an eyebrow at him, he continued, “To the rest of them, but not to your grandmother.”

      How did he know that? Lucky guess? Or was it something more?

      Gabby had never believed herself to be a sensitive sort. She respected the talents of others—and believed in the things she couldn’t see—but she didn’t have any personal skill for sensing the supernatural.

      Knox struck her as possessing a strong streak of practicality, in no way prone to the psychic, so how did he know that about her family? Or, more specifically, about her grandmother?

      Even without a sensitive bone in her body, she couldn’t deny the stones had wrought major changes since their discovery. Was it really possible there was something deeper at play?

      Ever since Cassidy, Lilah and Violet found the Renaissance Stones buried in the floor of their business, nothing had been the same. Yes, each had found love—Cassidy with Tucker Buchanan, Lilah with Reed and Violet with Max Baldwin.

      Each woman had narrowly escaped danger, too.

      Was it all because of the mysterious rubies?

      While none of them could deny the danger that had come as a result of finding the stones, she wanted to believe her friends had found men they truly loved. Their loves weren’t simply heat-of-the-moment flings. No, they had something real.

      Something permanent.

      Gabby glanced СКАЧАТЬ