The Hill. Carol Ericson

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СКАЧАТЬ have three brothers, right?”

      He raised his brows but held his response as the waitress delivered their drinks and a bowl of peanuts.

      The waitress asked, “Do you want anything to eat?”

      “No, thanks.” He tipped his chin at London. “You?”

      “Not after all that rich food at the benefit.”

      He sipped the dark, malty beer through the thick head of foam and met London’s purposeful look over the rim of the glass.

      “Three brothers? I know one’s a cop in the city, and then there’s the one who was working with that writer.”

      “You seem to know a lot about my family.”

      “The Brody family is in the news almost as much as my family.” Her lips puckered and she blew on the foam in her glass.

      “For very different reasons.” He shifted his gaze away from that kissable mouth. He’d let her make all the moves.

      “While you’re all busy delivering justice, the Brecks are delivering...money.”

      “Both equally necessary. Besides, I don’t deliver justice. I just look out for pretty people and their pretty things.”

      He didn’t believe in justice—not after losing his father when he was practically a baby and then his mother to drugs and alcohol. Sean had been a great big brother, but a sibling was no substitute for a mom and dad.

      “Thank God for that.” London clinked her mug with his.

      The song on the jukebox had changed to a slow ballad all about how love hurt, and Judd took a swig of beer. Hell, love didn’t hurt, not if you dropped it in its tracks.

      London rapped her knuckles on the table between them. “You wanna dance?”

      “You’re kidding.”

      “There are some couples out there.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the postage-stamp dance floor.

      “That doesn’t mean we have to join them.”

      She tugged on his rolled-up sleeve. “Come on. I promise not to jump on the tabletop.”

      Her cool fingers brushed against his skin, causing a thudding ache in the middle of his belly. “Have you been known to do that? Jump on tabletops?”

      Her fingernails dug into his forearm. “Don’t pretend you don’t know about me, Judd Brody.”

      Busted. He jumped from the booth. If this was some weird mating ritual she had, he’d play along.

      When they hit the dance floor, he pulled her snug against his body. Who did she think she was toying with, some upper-crust rich boy? He didn’t play games. If a woman signaled interest the way London was doing, he’d take her up on the offer every time.

      Wrapping one arm around her slender waist, he reached up with his other hand to tuck her head against his shoulder. Her breath warmed his skin through the thin material of his shirt.

      He rested his cheek against her bright hair, and the golden strands stuck to the stubble of his beard. Reaching between their bodies, he opened her leather jacket and drew her close, his chest pressing against her soft breasts beneath the silvery material of her dress.

      She shifted and her soft lips touched the side of his neck.

      He gritted his teeth to suppress the shudder threatening to engulf his body. Her expensive perfume enveloped them, and for the first time in a very long time and a very long line of women, he felt on the edge of losing control.

      Then the door to the bar burst open and Theodore, bloodied and battered, staggered into the room and dropped to the floor.

Chapter Three

      London screamed at the bloody mess that was Theodore’s face and twisted out of the comfort of Judd’s embrace, pitching forward. Judd curled one muscular arm around her waist to steady her.

      He tucked her behind his large frame and strode toward Theodore, who had collapsed in a heap.

      She made a grab for Judd’s belt and hooked two fingers through the loop, following him as people cleared a path to Theodore’s inert form.

      Judd yelled over his shoulder at the bartender, “Call nine-one-one. Now!”

      He crouched beside Theodore, feeling for his pulse. “Towels, I need some clean towels to stop this bleeding.”

      “I-is he still alive? Has he been shot?” London had never seen so much blood. She unbuttoned Theodore’s shirt at the neck.

      “He’s still breathing, and I don’t see any bullet wounds.”

      The waitress who had served them earlier rushed from behind the bar with a stack of white towels. “Is he okay?”

      “He’s lost consciousness.”

      One of the bartenders knelt beside Judd with a pitcher of water. “Ambulance is on the way. Do you need this?”

      London dipped one of the towels in the water and dabbed Theodore’s split lip as Judd pressed another against the gaping wound on his head.

      Taking Theodore’s big hand in hers, London squeezed it and whispered, “You’re going to be okay.”

      The wailing sirens scattered the crowd of people hovering over Theodore. When the EMTs rushed in, Judd talked to them as they worked on their patient.

      Once the EMTs bundled Theodore into the ambulance, a police officer approached Judd. “Do you know the victim?”

      Judd turned to London. “He’s her driver.”

      “Black limo? License number—” the officer flipped open a notepad “—BGE21?”

      London’s heart fluttered in her chest. “That’s right. What happened to Theodore? Where’s the car?”

      The officer tapped the pad of paper against his chin. “The car’s registered to Spencer Breck and Breck Global Enterprises.”

      “That’s me.” London waved her hand. “I’m Breck Global Enterprises.”

      The cop’s eyes widened for a second and then shifted to the diamond necklace around her throat. “Of course, Ms. Breck. The car—your car—was found idling at the curb by the park. The driver’s-side door was open and it looks as if the car had rolled partially into the street and then was hit by another car.”

      Judd’s head shot up. “Was there blood near the car? On the seat?”

      “Exactly. It appears that someone pulled the driver from the car and beat him on the street. His plans to steal the car were probably thwarted when it rolled into the street and got hit.” The officer’s eyebrows met over his nose. “And you are?”

      “Judd СКАЧАТЬ