Dangerous Dalliances (Maxwell Investigations) Read Free

her
home?”
    Barry
smiled at his building’s efficiency. The young woman behind the front desk
always had a good eye. “Please. Thank you, April.”
    “Any time, Barry.”
    When
he hung up the phone, he looked around his living room. There was no question
that his family was going to be pissed with him. What he hadn’t counted on was
Lily’s anger. She was genuinely hurt by his actions and that made him feel even
worse than he thought possible. As he turned to return to his bedroom, he saw
Lily’s forgotten bra on the floor. His eyes softened at the black satin fabric.
She had been everything that he had thought she would be, and now she was gone
out of his life.
    The
ringing of his phone caught his attention. Barry quickly picked up the
receiver. “Hello.”
    “You
couldn’t keep it in your pants, could you?” a familiar voice accused.
    Barry
rubbed his eyes as he moved to his sofa. “Good morning to you too, Sloane,” he
sighed. The last thing he wanted was to deal with his brother’s husband. Especially when Eric was still in a coma. “I take it Lily
called you.”
    “She
wanted to make sure I was here to let her in. She lost her keys thanks to you.”
    Barry
knew exactly where her keys were. Everything was still in the front seat of his
car. “I’ll bring them by your place later. I have her purse too.”
    “You
can leave them all at my office. Lily doesn’t want to be near you, and I sure
as hell want you to stay away from her.” Barry heard something slam on the
other side of the phone and jumped. It was rare for Sloane to get angry with
anyone. “Was it too much to ask to stay away from one person? You know Eric
thought of her like a little sister. Now you do this.”
    “I’m
not going to defend myself to you,” Barry said hotly. Hearing accusations from
Lily was one thing, but being raked over the coals by Sloane was something else
altogether. “Lily and I were both consenting adults.”
    Sloane
snorted. “Lily is a Succubus that needed to feed. You saw someone you wanted
and took the first chance you had to have her. What you did was nothing short
of slipping her a ruffie and taking her home.”
    Barry
jumped to his feet. “Are you saying that I raped her?” he asked incredulously.
    “You’re
a cop. You do the investigation,” Sloane countered before hanging up the phone.
    Barry
threw the phone across the room. He knew he had done the right thing. If his
family didn’t want to see that, fine. What happened between him and Lily had
nothing to do with them. If she never forgave him, he would have to find a way
to deal with it.
    As
for his family, they would just have to get over it.
     
 
 
 
 
 

Chapter 1

 
    Lily
smiled as she and Sloane walked into the ballroom of the Solomon Estate. The
previous times she had been here, the walls were a comforting champagne color
that accented the cherry wood floor. Now it was covered in festive fabrics and
balloons. Streamers and banners were spread across the room while a number of
children played in various costumes. “Lacey went all out, didn’t she?” Lily
asked as she adjusted her hold on the gift bag in her hand.
    Sloane
chuckled. “She wanted a cosplay party, Dylan and
Crispin gave her one,” he said with a shrug. His own costume was a bright red
suit of samurai armor. He also made a breastplate with matching arm, leg, and
hip guards for Lily. “It also helped that they’re also anime freaks and jumped
on the idea.”
    A
soft laugh escaped Lily. Dylan and Crispin always made sure Lacey didn’t want
for anything. So when the young girl asked for a costume birthday party, they
allowed it. It also helped that Lacey practiced her magical skills by making
most of the costumes. “And you conveniently had two sets of armor lying around
for no reason?” she teased.
    The
metal worker had the decency to blush. “I went to a few conventions with Dylan
and Madison. These were my best work, so I kept them.”
    “Aunt
Lily! Uncle