The Diamond Affair Read Free Page B

contained for too
long and needed release. "Blood relatives can be as different as...you and
I."
    "I didn't
steal the Florentine. You have my word and at this point my word is all I can
offer. It'll have to be enough."
    He shrugged and
with that movement, he became still again, relaxed but watchful. "It doesn't
matter. You're paying me to do a job. Whether you're innocent or not, it makes
no difference. I just like to know everything up front. No surprises. Got it?"
    Instead of
answering him, she said, "Not a great believer in ethics then." She
couldn't keep the sneer out of her voice.
    "If you've
seen what I've seen, done what I've done, you'd know that ethics don't mean a
damn thing. Now, the only reason I'm asking is because we need to find out who
really stole it. Then we can hand the thief over to Beauvoir and you'll be off
his hit list."
    "You make it
sound so easy."
    He stood abruptly.
"Let's go," he said and walked off.
    "Where to?"
Ruby followed him, trying to keep up with his long strides.
    "Check you
into a hotel. We can talk some more on the way."
    "Right. A
hotel. Good." She couldn't go home. Fat Frankie or one of his off-siders
would be waiting for her there. But staying at a hotel didn't seem like the safest
option either.
    Jake held the
door open for her and she slipped past him. She breathed deeply to draw the
warm evening air into her lungs and inadvertently caught the scent of him. The
combination of subtle cologne blended with raw masculinity caught her off
guard. She breathed in again and looked up at him, at the skin beneath his ear
where he would have splashed on that cologne before coming to meet her.
    "What?"
He glared at her, breaking the spell.
    She tried to
think what she'd been going to say before his smell—his smell for crying out
loud!—made her forget. "You said check me into a hotel. What about
you? Where will you be?"
    "Home."
    Snug in bed
sleeping like a baby, no doubt. Or a giant in Jake's case. Now that she stood
beside him, she realized how big he was. She only came up to the middle of his chest.
"How will you protect me from there?"
    "You won't
need protecting because Beauvoir and his men won't be able to find you. You'll
use an assumed name, pay with cash and won't talk to anyone. Got that?"
    It all sounded
completely logical. But still... "I'm paying you to protect me as of now,
not starting tomorrow morning. I'll feel much safer if you're sleeping in the next
room rather than...wherever the hell your cave is."
    "My cave is just around the corner from the hotel. You have my number. Feel free to call
me if you get nightmares."
    She was pretty
sure that was his attempt at a joke. "It's not the nightmares I'm worried
about."
    They'd stopped at
her car, or rather Evie's car. Jake placed his hands on her shoulders and her
heart leapt a notch. The man had a presence that affected her, that was for
sure. But she couldn't work out whether that presence was a scary one or
something else, something baser.
    "You'll be
fine," he said calmly. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to
you. Matt would kill me if I did." By the light of the street lamp she
could see a ghost of a smile.
    "Then take
the room next to mine," she pleaded. "I'm paying remember."
    He removed his
hands to run them through his hair and her heartbeat returned to normal instead
of trying to break out of her ribcage. Good thing too because she needed her
wits about her right now and she couldn't stay focused if her body parts went
crazy when he got too close.
    "Please,"
she whispered. When he looked away, breathing heavily, she knew she had to say
more to sway him. He was close but not quite there yet. "I'm scared, Jake.
I just need to know that you're not far away. Otherwise I might as well sit in
the car all night because I won't be getting any sleep anyway and it'll be
cheaper." The scared little sister act had always worked on Matt whenever
she wanted him to pick her up from the train station at night. It seemed the
same