A.J’s lack of fear wasn’t a front. She genuinely was unmoved by Casper’s threats. She knew him too well. He wouldn’t hurt her, not while she still had his precious painting. He loved his art like they were his children. Correction; he loved them more than his children and would do anything to protect them. If he was smart, which he was, he’d try to negotiate with her for the piece’s safe return. If that didn’t work, then he’d try to steal it before resorting to anything that might make her sell it or attract the attention of the authorities.
An observer might ask – why not beat the whereabouts of the painting out of her?
Simple! Casper had tried that once and failed miserably. Long story short, about six years ago they’d pulled a job together. Afterwards, he’d stiffed her on her cut of their take, about one hundred thousand dollars. In retaliation, she’d stolen the diamond necklace from the person he’d sold it to then left a note telling them to ask Casper for their money back. Casper had of course tried to beat the necklace out of her. It hadn’t worked.
A.J wasn’t afraid of pain. Death? Please! It wasn’t like she had anything to live for back then anyway. All that mattered to her was sticking it to Casper. If her death meant him losing half a million dollars, then she would’ve gone to the grave smiling. How dare he try to steal from a thief! Needless to say, Casper had surrendered. She got her money, and he got his necklace back. The same thing would happen this time.
She was, however, worried about Lee. Now that he was on Casper’s radar, who knew what Casper might try. Worse, Lee had been spending more time than usual at her store. Whenever he wasn’t working, he dropped by her store. His excuse was that he wanted to see her, but she wasn’t fooled. She knew that his visits were his way of taking care of her. If Casper had someone watching her, which she was sure he did, then he should’ve already figured out that hers and Lee’s relationship went beyond friendship.
A part of her was annoyed at Lee and his misguided attempt to protect her. Here he was, standing right at danger’s doorstep, and he was worried about her? The other part of her was thrilled. No one had ever stepped up for her before. She’d been her own bodyguard and cheerleader for so long that it felt strange to have someone worrying over her. Strange in a good way.
Wednesday evening found A.J and Kelly standing outside A.J’s apartment waiting for Sin’s big reveal. The stairs leading up to A.J’s apartment had been busy all morning and afternoon with workmen carrying furniture up. Sin, who was supervising the workmen, had banned A.J from showing her face anywhere near the apartment until she was done with the decorating. Kelly had dropped by after work, eager to see the apartment.
A.J wasn’t sure if she could call her own emotion eagerness or nervousness. As much as she trusted Sin, one never knew with these things. What if she hated it? Could she tell her friend that she hated it? What if she hurt Sin’s feelings? Ugh! This is what happened when you made friends. You started to care about their feelings. Ugh!
“Okay.” Sin opened the door. “You can come in.”
As soon as A.J entered the apartment, relief flooded through her. She wouldn’t have to hurt her friend’s feeling because the apartment looked great. No, make that gorgeous.
“Wow!” Kelly gasped, voicing A.J’s feelings. “Wow! Sin.”
There were no more traces of the 1950s retro living room A.J had moved into. This looked like something straight out of an expensive interior design magazine. The light green drapes covering the large windows perfectly matched the green accent wall. The large, beige sectional was the perfect size, and the green and burnt orange decorative pillows added a dash of color to the room. As if the space wasn’t good enough, Sin had added in a unique coffee table that was also a clock and a plush sheepskin rug that gave the room a classy yet comfortable vibe.
Sin turned dancing eyes to A.J. “You like?”
“Yeah. I like. ” A.J nodded as she took it all in with wide-eyed wonder. “I like. I like. I like.”
Sin beamed. “I did good, didn’t I?”
“You did good, real good,” A.J assured her with a smile. Frankly, she was impressed. She’d hoped Sin would do a good job but this was beyond her expectations. “You did all this with the little money I gave you?”
“Psh!” Sin guffawed. “Of course not. That money couldn’t have bought all this stuff.”
A.J’s heart immediately plunged to her stomach. But it was Kelly who voiced her concern. “Please don’t tell us you conned someone.”
“No, I didn’t con anyone.” Not in the least bit offended, Sin chuckled. “I told you two, I was done with that life.”
Of the three of them, Kelly was the only one who wasn’t really a crook. Though she’d had a ‘colorful’ adolescence, she’d lived her adult life on the straight and narrow. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been enough to keep her from being falsely accused of murder and being sent to the same prison as A.J and Sin. In the end, however, Spencer, the man who’d sent her to jail in the first place and now her fiancé, had proved her innocence.
Sin, like A.J, was a bona fide crook. Though she’d been sent to prison for a string of cons related to her marriages, A.J had gotten the impression that she wasn’t ready to retire yet. That only A.J and Kelly’s hawk eyes were keeping her from doing something that would send her back to prison.
“Don’t you trust me?” Sin asked.
“No.” Both A.J and Kelly shook their heads, making Sin laugh.
“I promise no cons were involved in the redecorating of this home.” Sin reached into her purse and pulled out a credit card. “I had a little help from this bad boy over here.”
“Oh, thank God.” Kelly released a heavy breath.
A.J narrowed her eyes. “Somebody gave you a credit card?”
“I know, right?” Sin grinned as she fanned herself with the card. “Some idiot at the bank downtown actually thought it was a good idea to give me a card.”
“I assume that means you don’t plan to pay it back,” A.J asked wearily. Despite her best attempts to hide her smile, her lips lifted slightly.
“No, I’ll pay it back.” Sin waggled her eyebrows. “There’s always some old randy man with too much money on his hands.”
“Sin!” Both Kelly and A.J exclaimed.
“What?” Sin’s eyes were wide with innocence as she explained. “It’s not conning if he knows what he’s getting into exactly.”
“This woman!” A.J shook her head slowly as she stared at her friend.
“Just so you know,” Kelly threatened Sin. “If you get arrested, I’m not defending you. And I will make sure Spencer’s the one to prosecute you.”
“Wow! That’s harsh.” Sin tried to affect a hurt look but her grin ruined it.
Despite her attempt to remain grave, a smile crooked A.J’s mouth. “Don’t worry, Sin. You don’t have to go to jail or sell your soul to pay back the money you used here. Just tell me how much money you added and I’ll give it back.”
Despite Sin’s protests that she didn’t need to pay back the money, A.J wrote her a check to cover the extras. The last thing she wanted was to be the person that pushed Sin back to a life of crime.
“You’ll let me decorate the kitchen too, right?” Sin asked, eagerness shining in her eyes.
“Yeah.” A.J’s eyes narrowed. “But you have to stick to the budget this time.”
“Ugh!” Sin made a face. “You people and your budgets.”
“You know,” Kelly cut in, “Lawrence is looking for someone to update his place too. Do you want me to recommend you?”
Sin’s eyes immediately started to sparkle. “Lawrence is your rich, single, godfather-in-law, right?”
“No.” A.J hit Sin’s back. “Absolutely not.”
“What?” Sin danced away from her.
“You’re not going to hit on Spencer’s godfather,” A.J warned.
“I wasn’t going to hit on him,” Sin protested. “I just wanted more information on him.”
“Riiiiight!” A.J cut her eyes at her.
“I’m serious.” Sin turned to Kelly to reassure her, “I won’t go after Lawrence. I don’t mess around with my friends’ family.”
“I trust you.” Kelly smiled. “So should I ask him if you can do his place?”
“Yes, please!” Sin clapped.
“I think we might have found a new career for you,” Kelly said. “If you do a good job on this, he might even recommend you to some of his rich friends.”
“Rich. I like the sound of that.” Sin gleefully rubbed her hands together, earning herself laughter from her friends.
Soon the conversation turned away from Sin’s change of career and back to A.J.
“I didn’t see Mr. Tall, Dark and Sinful today,” Sin commented, mentioning the nickname they’d given Lee.
“Oh, he was in the store earlier, but he had to leave.” Kelly’s twinkling eyes settled on A.J. “So what’s really going on between you two?”
“How many times do I have to tell you nosy women that nothing’s going on between him and me?” A.J gave her friends a pointed look.
“Mm hmm.” Kelly’s amused eyes left no doubt that she didn’t believe a word. “Nothing’s going on.”
“Lies!” Sin was more passionate in her disbelief. “We’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
“He doesn’t look at me any kind of way,” A.J protested.
“Girl, please!” Kelly scoffed. “The looks between you two are so hot I have to bring my own A.C unit and a glass of icy water when I know I’ll be in the same room with you two.”
“Tell me about it.” Sin laughed. “The other day when we were painting, I felt like I was watching the opening scene of a porno.”
Were she and Lee that obvious? Embarrassed heat rushed to A.J’s face.
“Aww, look at her blushing,” Kelly pointed out with a short laugh. “That means there’s something, right?”
A.J didn’t say anything but she lowered her gaze and bit her lip. It was enough answer for her friends.
“Wooh! “Giiirl!” “Stop!” They hooted happily, making her blush even harder.
“Tell us more,” Kelly insisted.
“Have you two done the dirty yet?” Sin butted in.
Luckily, the phone rang then, saving A.J from having to answer their questions.
“A second.” A.J pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans. When she saw the name on the screen, her lips lifted in an instinctive smile.
“It’s him,” the ever observant Kelly said.
“Pick it up. Pick it up,” Sin cheered, practically bouncing on the couch. “Pick it up.”
“Hello?” A.J answered as she stood then started towards her bedroom.
“Hey, where are you going?” “Pick it up here.” Her friends’ calls echoed behind her.
She closed the bedroom door, blocking their loud voices before she turned back to her call. “Sorry about all the noise, Lee.”
“This isn’t Lee,” a strange man’s voice echoed through the line. “But I assume that’s the name of the owner of this phone.”
A.J frowned. “I’m sorry, who is this? And why do you have Lee’s phone?”
“My name’s Fabián and I own a restaurant down here in Hell’s Kitchen.” The man asked, “You know the owner of this phone, right?”
Was the guy deaf? She’d just called Lee by name, and her name was in his phonebook. Impatience thrumming in her voice, she said, “Yes, I know Lee.”
“He’s just been stabbed,” Fabián said.
A.J could’ve sworn that she felt the world tilt beneath her feet. Her breath caught in her throat and her lungs tightened in instinctive terror. “What?”
“The guy who owns this phone was stabbed a few minutes ago,” Fabián said, “but he’s refusing to go to hospital. We don’t know what to do. He keeps telling us to call you.”
“Are you stupid?” A.J’s voice rose with the fear pulsing through her. “Take him to the hospital.”
“Like I said, he’s refused,” Fabián said. “And I don’t want to get sued.”
“Sued for what?” This idiot needed to be beat upside the head.
“I don’t know. Forcing him to go to hospital?” Fabián’s blasé tone sent irritation rushing through her. “Hey, you come and handle this yourself.”
“Are you crazy?” A.J yelled. “What if he bleeds out?” What if he dies? The thought was enough to stop her blood cold in her veins.
“That won’t happen. Shit! He looks strong enough,” the man said callously.
If Fabián was standing in front of her right now, she would’ve killed him. Unfortunately, anger would only worsen this situation. She took in a deep breath to calm herself then instructed, “I’m on my way there. Is the knife still inside him?”
“No,” Fabián said. “I already got it out.”
That idiot. Real fear pulsed through A.J, but somehow she kept her cool as she said, “Then use a clean cloth to apply pressure on the wound to stanch the flow of blood and get someone to call an ambulance.”
“’Kay.” The man’s voice was surprisingly calm as he added, “But get here quick.”
“Give me your address.” Once she’d memorized the address, she turned back to Fabián, “Lee better be alive when I get there because I will kill you if he isn’t.”
Her tone must’ve hinted at the seriousness of her threat because the man audibly gulped. When he spoke again, his voice was low and shaky. “Um… okay, I’ll keep him alive.”
“You better.” As soon as she ended the call, A.J left her bedroom.
“So what did you and Lee talk about?’” Sin confronted her when she emerged in the living room.
A.J ignored Sin and turned to Kelly. “Can I borrow you car?”
Worry flashed in Kelly’s eyes. “Of course. Is something wrong?”
“Yeah.” A.J nodded but didn’t explain further. Mostly because terror had closed her throat. Even just saying “Thanks,” before she grabbed the car keys was a struggle.
Without briefing her friends on the situation, she left the apartment. Hell’s Kitchen was just a short drive away, but those minutes felt like an eternity. A.J had always thought of herself as cool under pressure but she could feel her muscles trembling and panic drumming on her nerves as she cruised down the road.
My God. What if Lee died? The thought was enough to make her step on the gas.
Why in the world had he refused to go to the hospital anyway? The truth dawned on her a second later. Maybe Lee had refused to go to hospital because he’d been attacked by Casper or one of his men. That was the only reason that made sense. Lee was probably afraid that if he went to hospital, questions would be asked and A.J might end up in trouble with the law. That fool. She would gladly deal with the police if it meant keeping him safe. She sped up.
Eighteen minutes later, she brought her car to a stop in front of La Taberna. From the outside, it was easy to tell that this was a Spanish inspired restaurant. Even as a valet rushed to open the door for her, A.J noted that there were no signs of an ambulance having been here.
Inside the restaurant, there was none of the commotion one expected to see after a stabbing. Clients sat around the numerous square tables, chatting and eating happily as servers weaved their way around them. If she was in her rational mind, she would’ve felt woefully underdressed and out of her place in her leather jacket over a white tank-top, jeans and boots. But she wasn’t. All that mattered was Lee.
Panic speeding her footstep, A.J hurried to the kitchen window.
“Hi.” The host stopped her before she got to the kitchen window. He asked, “Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Fabián.” Her eyes roved the dining room looking for any signs of Lee as she spoke to the host. “He said my friend had been stabbed.”
“You’re A.J?” The host asked. When she nodded, he smiled. “This way please.”
Had he just smiled at her? A.J wondered as the host led her past several tables. These people were acting like this was a normal night, like Lee wasn’t dying somewhere in there.
They’d just entered a hallway when a tall, olive-skinned man with curly hair met them. The host introduced, “Fabián, this is A.J.”
“A.J?” A smile lifted the man’s lips as he gave her a quick once-over.
“Yes. And you’re Fabián?’” When he nodded, she asked, “Tell me the ambulance already took him away.”
The nervous look in Fabián’s eyes sent instant terror pulsing through her because it said that he hadn’t even called the ambulance. A.J almost drop-kicked him right there. Fortunately, her worry over Lee was more overwhelming than her anger at Fabián.
Her voice tight, A.J asked, “Where is Lee?”
“This way.” Fabián led the way down the hallway.
The hallway was flanked with several alcoves that were obviously reserved for private parties. He led her to an alcove at the end of the hall and pulled back the beige curtains. “He’s here.”
A.J expected to walk into a bloody scene, Lee unconscious or holding on to his stab wound. That’s not what she found.
The space she walked into was intimate and classy. Cream walls complemented the beige couch that surrounded the already set table. Right in the middle of the table was wine cooling in a bucket flanked by two wine glasses. As for Lee? He was seated on the couch looking as right as rain. In fact he was smiling.
“Hi, A.J.” He stood at her entrance.
As far as she could tell there was no stab wound on him. There was no blood on his black jacket or the green, light pullover beneath or even on his beige khaki pants. But she still couldn’t believe that he was uninjured.
She rushed to him, grabbing his arms so she could look at him. “Are you okay? Where did they stab you?”
Lee grinned. “Nobody stabbed me. I’m okay.”
Relief like she’d never felt before pulsed through her as she took him in. “You’re okay.”
“I’m okay.” He nodded. Smiling, he explained, “I wanted to have dinner with you and knew you wouldn’t come unless I did something out of the box so…”
Was he kidding her? She stared at him unblinkingly as he spoke. Had he really just faked this? Did he know how worried she’d been?
“… so I got Fabián to call you-” Lee paused. His smile faded and was replaced by concern as he studied her. “Are you okay?”
Was she okay? Did this fool just ask if she was okay?
“You’re okay.” This time her words weren’t a statement or question. They were an accusation.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “I-”
A.J didn’t even know when she cocked her arm. One second she was glaring at him and the next she’d thrown a punch. Her fist met his jaw with a satisfying crunch.