Sinful Desire

“Are they still?”

Marshall shrugged. “My guys don’t know yet. All we know is Stefano asked them to keep his kid out of the way of the Sinners. He wanted his son to have a shot at a new kind of life, different from his. So his friends protected the kid for a long time, but apparently they haven’t done such a good job lately, and he’s been getting into trouble. The girlfriend’s not too happy about them breaking their promise to keep her son safe from the gang.”

Something about Marshall’s info aligned with John Winston’s questions. If the girlfriend was talking after all these years, maybe mentioning names that had been off the radar during the first investigation, it would make sense that Winston had been asking about any other people in his mother’s life. “Wait. Were these buddies involved in my dad’s murder?”

“That’s the part we don’t know. That’s the part no one knows. It’s not even my case. It’s not even at the level of a case yet, to be honest. Just an investigation. All I know is the detectives are looking into it. And you did not get this from me.”

The coach slapped the white wood of the bench, and pointed to the ice.

Ryan, Marshall and the rest of the line hopped over and went out on the rink, returning to the game. As Ryan skated, he mapped out a plan. No reason he couldn’t try to work the case, too. John Winston might be the lead detective, but Ryan could play that role on his own. It was his family, his life, and his story. He knew how to figure things out, and how to put two and two together. And he had a damn good notion of some of the people that he’d need to go see.

Later that night, he scheduled a piano lesson with a local teacher.

*

“Wish me luck,” Sophie said as she pushed back from the table after a fantastic sushi lunch with Holden and her good friend Jenna.

Holden stood first and cupped her shoulders. “I know you can do this. Everything is going to go great with Clyde. Just tell him to keep his grandson’s paws off my ex-wife,” Holden said with a wink.

“If only you’d kept your hands on me I wouldn’t be worrying about my biggest donor to the community center trying to pawn me off on his grandson,” she said and squeezed his arm. Holden swatted her rear with a light touch.

“Like that? Is that what you want?”

“No. Put some gusto into it,” Jenna said in her husky, sexy, Australian-accented voice.

Sophie waved them both off. She wasn’t sore, per se, from her spanking two nights ago, but she was keeping this patch of bodily real estate for Ryan’s possessive hands only. Actually, all of her body. True, they’d made no such promises. But after the time they’d spent together, the things they’d done, the messages they’d exchanged… Well, there was no way in hell she wanted to even dabble with anyone else.

“No gusto please,” she joked then glanced at her watch. “I’m off. Enjoy your green tea ice cream.”

“We will,” Jenna said eyeing the dessert dishes the waiter had just brought to the two of them. “Just remind Clyde how important the community center is in and of itself. And that building the new additions is not dependent on you dating or not dating his grandson.”

“Absolutely.” She gave a big thumbs-up. She knew what to do. She certainly knew how to handle herself in front of old, rich men, in front of young, rich men, and in front of nerdy, rich men. She’d handled herself just fine when she ran InCode. She’d made pitches. She’d stood up in front of groups of people. She’d asked for funding. And she’d presented on the strength of her vision.

That was what she would do with Clyde. Besides, she didn’t feel her romantic life, one way or the other, needed to be a part of her conversations with him. If she were a man, surely no one would expect her to date someone’s daughter.

She hopped into her Aston Martin and headed to Clyde’s office. He greeted her with a handshake that lasted too long, then a kiss on the cheek that left too much whiskery scratch on her skin. She wished he wasn’t so touchy, but she reminded herself the man hadn’t crossed any lines. He was simply more affectionate than she would have liked. No crime in that. Just a wee bit of discomfort.

In his office, she reviewed the final plans for the Beethoven concert benefit as well as the community center. When she was through, Clyde smacked his palm in approval on his grand oak desk. “I am delighted to be able to help fund this. It is so great to have a place for young people to be able to go and stay off of the streets and out of trouble,” he said, and she couldn’t deny that she loved his giving heart and his spirit. He reminded her in some ways of John, and his mission to help make the city safer and better. They each had their own style of going about it, but the goal was the same.

A better Las Vegas.

Clyde stroked his chin. “Say, do you know who’s here today?” There was a glint in his gray eyes.