Page 165 of Smoke Screen
Stepping back, he held up two hands. “We’ll need to hit pause on this before my pants get really uncomfortable.”
Maddy’s gaze shot straight to his crotch, and they both cracked up.
“To be continued?” she asked.
“Without a doubt. Let’s find my brothers so we can get the hell out of here.”
On Tuesday evening,freshly showered after spending the night before with her family and staying over, she strolled into the Friary’s kitchen, where the rich scent of spices lingered in the air.
As he’d promised, Phin had scooped her up at Mom’s and sat through the equivalent of an FBI interrogation. Phin, bless him, patiently answered every question until Maddy put an end to the entire thing and hustled him out of the house just before lunchtime.
They’d returned to the Blackwell estate, where they spent the afternoon cruising around the property in a jeep that was apparently Phin’s. Still so much to learn.
And, yes, he’d treated her to a picnic with sandwiches thick as bricks and the best potato salad Maddy may have ever tasted.
The day had been nothing short of stunning and now she’d been invited to a Blackwell family dinner.
How lucky was she?
Pretty darned lucky. Even her stomach knew it because it let out a roar. Whatever Lynette had simmering, her body wanted it.
She loved spending time with Phin, but tonight she’d go back to her apartment. She had to. Phin had promised to change the locks and, as grateful as she was to his family for giving her shelter, she wanted to reclaim her space.
And her life.
The Blackwell men—including Ash—sat at the island with Grams while Lynette busied herself with several pots on the stove.
“There she is,” Phin said. “There’s Maddy.”
A round of hellos came from everyone, and Phin slid off his stool, gesturing her toward it. “Sit.”
He grabbed a glass from a cabinet, poured her what looked like sweet tea from a pitcher on the island and placed it in front of the stool he’d just vacated.
“Thank you,” she said, waving him back to the stool while she stood beside it at the end of the island. “You sit. I’ll stand. Maybe your mom will let me help her.”
“Not in this lifetime,” Lynette said. “You’re our guest. Stand if you like, but you’re not working. Besides, you’ve had a rough week. You deserve a rest.”
Rest, she’d had. “I slepttwelvehours last night. Can you believe it?”
“I can. You must’ve needed it.”
Lynette went back to stirring the contents of one of the pots, and Zeke held up a hand from his spot at the opposite end of the island. “Since everyone is here, I’ll update y’all. I heard from Thompson earlier.”
Oh, now this would be interesting.
“He said,” Zeke continued, “Louis is cooperating fully. The Veras are going down in huge numbers. The feds used Louis’s phone records to locate one guy involved in the heist. He’s singing like a second soprano. Storage facilities, organization hierarchy, all of it. The feds raided three warehouses today, including the one we hit yesterday. It’s a literal gold mine. Thompson said it’s one of the biggest recoveries the FBI art crime team has done.”
“Good,” Phin said. “What about the guy we met with? He hasn’t contacted me about the reward/ransom yet.”
“Don’t know. They haven’t found him. I’m guessing he heard Louis got pinched and he ran.”
Maddy held up her glass. “All of this is thanks to BARS.”
“And to you.” Returning the gesture, Cruz held up his glass. “To BARS, to Maddy, and to family. Cheers.”
They all clinked their glasses, their voices ringing out in hearty cheers and the swish in Maddy’s belly went haywire, tickling the underside of her flesh and bringing a burst of joy up into her chest.
This family. So good.
