“Good morning. You’re up early,” I spoke as I stepped outside.
“Morning. I couldn’t sleep.”
“I hope it wasn’t the bed. I paid top dollar for that mattress.” I gave her a smirk.
“No. The bed is very comfortable.”
“May I ask how you disabled my security system?”
She glanced over at me with an arch in her brow, a smirk on her face, and didn’t say a word.
“Right.” I slowly nodded my head as I gripped my shoulder and rubbed it. “My partner Roman called to tell me that the two men you knocked out last night are in the hospital. He’s running a check on Sylvia Torres.”
“He won’t find anything on her.” She brought her cup up to her lips.
“I didn’t think so.” I let out a sigh. “I’m going to make a cup of coffee and take a shower. When I’m done, we’re going to talk. Understand?”
With the slight turn of her head, our eyes locked onto each other’s.
“I understand.”
“Good.” I reached over and gave her arm a gentle squeeze before I went inside.
Grace
I’d inhaled a sharp breath when Simon walked out onto the patio in nothing but a pair of pajama bottoms. From his well-defined upper body down to his washboard abs, and the sexy V-line that was sculpted where his lower abs and obliques met, left me breathless. I needed to tame the dirty thoughts that ran through my head.
When he went to take a shower, I walked down to the beach and nestled myself in the sand into a Sukhasana position to get in some morning meditation. Suddenly, I heard a voice next to me.
“Who are you?”
Opening one eye, I glanced over at the little girl with the long blonde hair staring at me.
“I’m Grace. Who are you?”
“Lily.”
“Good morning, Lily. It’s nice to meet you.” I gave her a warm smile.
“What happened to your head?”
“I fell yesterday.”
“Did you have a sleepover with my Uncle Simon?”
“Um…well—he was kind enough to let me stay in his guestroom.”
“He has a lot of sleepovers.”
“Is that so?” I cocked my head at her as a smile crossed my lips.
“Yeah. My Aunt Jenni is over his house a lot. They don’t think I notice, but I do.”
“Your Aunt Jenni?”
“She’s really not my aunt, but I call her that. See, my Uncle Sam is married to my Aunt Julia and my Aunt Jenni is Aunt Julia’s twin sister.”
“I see. And who is your dad?”
“Stefan. Alex is my mom. Well, my stepmom, but I consider her my real mom. She used to be my nanny and my dad fell in love with her. She got pregnant with my brother Henry and then they got married.”
“Wow. That’s great. You got a new mom and a baby brother.”
“Lily, who is your new friend?” An older man walked over.
“Hi, Grandpa. This is Grace. She had a sleepover at Uncle Simon’s.”
Oh my God. Seriously, kid.
“Is that so? Hello, Grace. I’m Henry, Simon’s father.” He extended his hand.
“It’s nice to meet you, Henry.” I lightly shook his hand.
“Lily, why don’t you run up to the house. Grandma Celeste is making a fresh batch of blueberry muffins.”
“Okay, Grandpa. Bye, Grace.” She waved.
“Bye, Lily. It was nice to meet you. We didn’t have a sleepover like you think. Your son was kind enough to let me stay in his guestroom last night. We’re working on a case together.”
“No need to explain, darling.” He put his hand up. “So, you’re a detective with the LAPD as well?”
“No. I actually work for the NYPD. I’m just here following a case.”
“I see. What happened?” He pointed to my head.
“It’s no big deal. I fell.”
“Dad, what’s going on?” A handsome man walked over with his hands tucked into his pants pockets.
“I’m just having a chat with Grace here. She’s a friend of Simon’s.”
“Yes. We’ve met. Actually, that’s why I came out here. Simon asked me to come get you. He needs to speak with you.”
“Oh. Okay.” I stood up. “It was nice to meet you, Henry.”
“It was my pleasure, darling. I hope to see you around more often.” He smiled.
As we started to walk away, he lightly placed his hand on my upper back.
“I’m Simon’s other brother, Sam. I figured you needed rescuing. My father can be quite inquisitive.”
“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you, Sam.”
He opened the sliding door and we both stepped inside.
“Hey,” Simon said as he walked into the kitchen.
“I just rescued her from Dad.”
“Oh shit. Thanks, bro.” They fist-bumped. “Good luck with the ultrasound. You better call me and let me know how it went.”
“I will.”
“You and your wife are having a baby?” I smiled at him.
“We are. Our first ultrasound is today.”
“That’s great. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. Well, I better head back. It was great to meet you, Grace. I’ll see you, bro.”
“Breakfast?” Simon asked as he took out the carton of eggs from the refrigerator.
“Sure. Thanks.” I took a seat at the island. “While I was down at the beach, I met your niece, Lily.”
“Oh yeah?” He turned and gave me a smile. “She’s a great kid.”
“Yeah. She’s adorable. She asked if we had a sleepover.”
“Shit. What did you tell her?”
“I told her you were kind enough to let me stay in your guestroom.”
“Good answer.” He cracked several eggs into a bowl.
“She told me you have a lot of sleepovers.” My lips formed a smirk.
“Did she now?” He let out a sigh, and I laughed.
“Kids see everything. Even if you don’t think they do.”
“I know. Stefan is so protective of her too. He tries to shield her from everything.”
“Well, Stefan seems like a great dad, but no matter how hard a parent tries, it’s impossible.”
CHAPTER 9
Simon
As I was making the eggs, there was a knock at the front door. Glancing over at my security screen in the kitchen, I saw it was Roman.
“Shit. That’s my partner. Just act casual.”
“Hey, Roman. Come on in. I’m making some eggs. Do you want some?”
“I’m good, bro.” He followed me into the kitchen and stopped when he saw Grace sitting there.
“Roman, this is Grace. Grace, my partner Roman.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Grace.”
“You too, Roman.” She gave him a beautiful smile.
I placed some eggs on a plate and set it down in front of her.
“Thanks. I’m going to take this outside on the patio.” She picked up her plate and got up from her stool.
“Damn, Simon. She’s fucking hot. Where did you meet her?”