Read Online No Way to Kill a Lady by Nancy Martin - Free Book Online Page B

blinking device they intended to leave behind. As they packed up their tools, they studied me with sidelong glances. Perhaps they’d assumed I’d be some kind of mob moll with a pistol in my garter.
    I didn’t speak as they gathered up their equipment, swept up the broken bits of glass and tromped out of the kitchen.
    Another man materialized from the scullery, where he’d been muttering into a cell phone. I recognized him as one of the more recently hired minions who did Michael’s bidding at any hour of the day or night. He must have been summoned by Michael. His name was Bruno Something, and unlike the usual suspects in Michael’s employment, he wore a suit and tie. He had replaced Michael’s last right-­hand man, Delmar, who’d gone to jail for assault. Before that, it had been Aldo, who disappeared after being named the lead suspect in a gangland shooting. The turnover of Michael’s personnel was usually six months or so. I didn’t expect Bruno to last long.
    Bruno must have also sensed his limited employment. Either that, or he didn’t like the idea of his boss’s activities being slowed down by the presence of a woman in his life. Since our first introduction, he had pretended I was invisible. He terminated his call, then pulled two more cell phones from his pockets and laid them on the kitchen table before Michael, who gathered them up without a thank-­you.
    â€œFive o’clock and ten p.m.,” said the well-­dressed thug. “Plus seven and eleven in the morning.”
    Michael got up from the table, tall and in command, checking the screens of both phones before tucking them into his pockets. He gave a nod of dismissal, and Bruno went out of the house. The kitchen door closed quietly behind him. We could hear the engines of various vehicles start up outside.
    Emma said, “C’mon, Rawlins. I’m starving. I gotta pee again, and then you can take me out for an ice cream cone. I’m feeling low on calcium. Unless you want to go back to school?”
    â€œNo way. But—­”
    She grabbed the collar of his sweatshirt. “It’s time to clear out, kid. Four’s a crowd.”
    I said, “Before you go, grab the blunderbuss, will you?”
    â€œGotcha. We’ll go out the front door.”
    Over his shoulder, Rawlins said, “I’m glad you’re home, Mick.”
    â€œThanks, kid.”
    â€œAnd I’m really glad you thought you could call me for the house key, too. Call anytime.”
    â€œSure.”
    Emma dragged Rawlins out, and they disappeared.
    Still seated at the table, I tried to say calmly, “What’s at five o’clock?”
    â€œMass at Saint Dominic’s.”
    â€œWho’s going to mass?”
    With a warm hand, Michael pulled me to my feet. He wasn’t handsome—­his battered face had a fallen angel roughness that sometimes frightened people, and he tended to keep his thoughts secret. But a smile played at the edges of his mouth and there was a teasing light flickering in his blue eyes. He said, “I’m allowed to leave the house for church services.”
    â€œOh, Michael, you’re not going to take any chances, are you? Surely house arrest means—­”
    â€œI can’t be denied my religion.” He wrapped both arms around me. “Or dentist appointments, come to think of it. I feel a cavity coming on.”
    â€œBut—­”
    â€œDon’t worry,” he murmured. “Here with you is where I want to be.”
    He hugged me close and squeezed. His body felt delicious, but it was the sure beat of his heart against my breast that lit my fire. I put my arms around him, holding a deep breath but feeling on the brink of being swept away on a giddy surge of something I was almost afraid to call happiness. He was a man of dark depths I didn’t always understand, but he was all the man I wanted—­smart and