Shadows At Sunset Read Free

snake? It seemed accurate. He was pretty, indeed, though he lacked the feminine softness that usually went with such extraordinary good looks. She couldn’t tell whether he was gay or not, and she didn’t particularly want to know. Either way, he was strictly off-limits. Anyone connected with her father was.
    Still, he was astonishingly easy on the eyes. Everything about him was perfect: the slightly shaggy, sun-bleached hair, the Armani suit, the Egyptian cotton shirt unbuttoned at the collar, exposing his tanned neck. He had a long, strong-looking body, like a runner. His eyes were hooded, watching her, so she couldn’t see either their color or their expression, but she had little doubt they were bright blue and frankly acquisitive.
    She bent down and shoved her feet into her shoes, no longer caring that he was watching her, no longer caring that her silk shell probably showed too much cleavage. He wouldn’t be the type to be excited by cleavage. “I appreciate that you finally got around to me,” she said, “but it’s my father I wanted to see, not one of his minions.”
    â€œI haven’t been called a minion in years,” he said with a drawl.
    She straightened to her full height. Still a lot shorter than he was, but her high-heeled shoes made her feel less vulnerable. “Where is he?”
    â€œGone, I’m afraid.”
    â€œThen I’ll just have to go over to the Bel Air house….”
    â€œOut of the country. He and Melba left for a short vacation in Mexico. I’m sorry but I have no way of getting in touch with him.”
    â€œI can see you’re devastated,” Jilly muttered, not caring if she sounded rude.
    He didn’t seem to care, either. His smile was cool, unnerving. “Look, I’m here to help. If you’ve got some sort of legal problem I’ll be happy to look into it. A traffic ticket? Some problem with your ex-husband? The legal department can take care of things….”
    â€œCan the legal department get rid of an interloper who stole my brother’s job?”
    His eyes opened at that, and she got a shock. They weren’t blue at all, they were a dazzling emerald green. So green she figured he was probably wearing tinted contact lenses. And they weren’t acquisitive. They were calmly assessing.
    â€œIs that what your brother told you? That I stole his job?” The idea seemed to amuse him, and Jilly’s anger burned even brighter.
    â€œNot just his job. His father,” she said in a voice as cool as his.
    â€œHis father? Not yours? Jackson Meyer isn’t a sentimental man. I don’t think he gives a good goddamn about me or your brother. He just wants the job done well. I do it for him.”
    â€œDo you?” she said in a silken voice. “And what else do you do for him?”
    â€œCold-blooded murder, hiding the bodies, anything he asks,” Coltrane responded offhandedly. “What are you doing for dinner?”
    â€œI believe it,” Jilly muttered, and then his question sank in. “What did you say?”
    â€œI said, what are you doing for dinner? It’s after seven and I’m hungry, and you look like you have at least another hour left in you of berating me for ruining your baby brother’s life. Let me take you to dinner and you can rip me apart in comfort.”
    She was speechless at the sheer gall of the man. “I don’t want to go out to dinner with you,” she said, flustered.
    â€œWe can order something in, then. Your father keeps a caterer on call twenty-four hours a day.”
    â€œAnd he’s not my baby brother. He’s only two years younger than I am,” she added inconsequentially.
    â€œTrust me,” Coltrane said, “he’s definitely your baby brother.” There was no missing the faintly mocking admiration in his voice, but it only made Jilly angrier. She’d failed, her father was out of reach. As