Hell no.I was happy with these results. That’s what my heart said. But my brain was already churning, needing to know if there were any stones I’d left unturned.
“Give me a sec,” I told him as I paced in front of the window.
An intel hub had gathered intel on my family, which led to Marcel being kidnapped. They’d been smart enough to cover their tracks. The only suspect I’d found after all this time had conveniently died just as info about him being tied to the incident appeared.
That felt like a cover-up by the real culprit. But it was something an intel hub could pull off. It was definitely something Juliet With Curves could pull off. Maybe I was looking in the wrong direction.
Money was easy to hide. If Blossom really ran an intelligence network, she wouldn't be stupid enough to have payments wired into her personal account or the flower shop's business account.
She was too smart for that. So why was I looking for money? My gaze remained fixed on the tulips. An intel hub didn't just collect payments. They collected information. And that required legwork most of the time. I was looking in the wrong place for evidence.
"Tony."
"Yeah?"
I walked toward the center table, stopping beside the tulips. I stared down at them for a long moment before speaking again.
"Forget the money. I'm looking in the wrong place. What I really need to know is whether Blossom Brooks, her employees, or anyone connected to that flower shop crossed paths with Marcel before he disappeared."
“To get accurate intel, I’ll need more info on Marcel. Where was he taken from? Where does he live? What are some of the places he liked to visit? What dates do you want me to investigate? Get me that information, and I'll see what I can find."
"I’ll have it to you by lunch tomorrow,” I drawled, that cold feeling of dread settling over me again.
“Okay. I’ll start looking into her staff, their photos, their cars and license plates, their homes, and their social media to find everything I can on them.”
“Thanks, Tony.”
“No problem.”
After ending the call, I lowered my phone and continued staring at the tulips. For a second there, hope had started to bloom again. For a second, I’d let myself believe everything would work out fine.
And now I was back to wondering if I was going to have to end the first woman I’d ever truly loved. I tossed my phone onto the couch and sat down beside it. I started to reach for my glass again.
My hand hovered over it before moving over to the flowers. I plucked one of the tulips from the vase. Holding it between my fingers, I slowly ran my thumb across one of its petals.
"So soft," I whispered. “So easily broken,” I drawled as I rubbed the petal until it began to fall apart. “You’ve lied to me about so much. How can I ever trust you? Do you even want my trust? Do you even want me? Or did you use me?” I whispered as pieces of the petal fell onto my lap and the floor. “I don’t want to hurt you,” I whispered, tears filling my eyes. “But if you... if you’re the reason Marcel...”
I closed my eyes.I’d wait.I’d wait until I had real evidence before thinking about that. Letting the flower fall to the floor, I threw back the whiskey in one swallow, welcoming the burn this time.
I set my glass down on the table, then lay down on the couch. The liquor was starting to take effect now. I closed my eyes, not wanting to stare at those damn flowers any longer. But even with my eyes closed, I could still see her.
Blossom's smile was the last thing I saw in my mind before exhaustion finally claimed me. Then I entered dreamland, whereshe awaited me, tormenting me there, pretending to love me. There was nowhere I could go to escape her.
I had a feeling the only way to truly escape her was to rip my heart out of my chest. Because that’s where she lived. And as long as it was beating, it would always beat for Blossom Brooks. My Juliet.
The next morning, I woke up with the worst hangover ever. What did I do? I took another shot of liquor.Hair-of-the-dogmethod, or whatever they called it. I somehow managed to stumble to my office and get the information over to Tony before ten a.m.
After that, I fell right back to sleep on the couch. Hours later, the ringing of my phone slowly pulled me out of a restless sleep. I frowned, blinking several times as I stared up at the ceiling, momentarily forgetting where I was.
Then my eyes drifted toward the center table. To the almost empty whiskey bottle and the vases of red tulips. Memories of yesterday came crashing back all at once. I scrubbed a hand over my face before glancing down at myself.
I was still wearing yesterday's clothes. Judging by the stiffness in my neck and lower back, I hadn’t slept comfortably. My stomach growled. Damn, when was the last time I’d eaten? The phone rang again.
I reached for it. Tony’s name flashed on the screen. Every trace of sleep vanished. I sat upright so fast the room tilted, spinning around me before righting itself again. Swiping my thumb across the screen, I immediately brought the phone to my ear.
"Did you find anything?" I asked.
"Yeah, I did."
