The PI Seth was a heartbeat away from hiring to do some digging on Neil Garrett was . . . normal.
Tommy was slightly taller than average and had the broad, bulky frame of a man who liked his carbs but tried to combat that affection with plenty of time at the gym. There was no bad suit or Hawaiian shirt in sight, just a black sweater, dark jeans, and loafers. With his dark blond hair, blue eyes, and even features, the PI had the type of face that was attractive enough to be pleasant but not so attractive you’d remember him.
In other words, exactly the sort of person who could blend into the crowd, asking questions that wouldn’t get a second look.
“Thanks for coming,” Seth said, extending a hand toward the guest chair and inviting Tommy to sit.
“Not a problem,” the other man said affably, sitting down. “Lots of fakers out there. Always happy to give my clients whatever validation they need to feel comfortable.”
Seth had contacted the PI by email a few weeks earlier, but had held back on actually making the move. Hell, even now he still wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do, but he was losing sleep over the thought of his sister marrying this asshole, and he didn’t know what else to do.
Still, comfortable was a bit of a stretch.
Seth wasn’t sure any man would feel comfortable with the fact that he was about to hire someone to spy on his sister. Well, not his sister so much as the man she’d decided on.
But wasn’t that just as bad?
Hell, maybe even worse. It was flat-out saying that he didn’t trust Maya’s judgment.
Or Brooke’s, for that matter.
Which on paper made Seth a complete asshole.
And yet, no matter how hard he tried, and Seth had tried, he couldn’t shake the pervading sense low and dark in his gut that Neil Garrett was not the right man for his sister.
There were plenty of areas in life where his sister bested him. Charm. Wit. Likability. She was better at tennis, golf, and chess. She was a better cook and could negotiate like nobody’s business.
But when it came to reading people, Maya was too trusting. Giving people the benefit of the doubt they didn’t deserve. That was where he came in.
“So your email said your sister’s gotten in with a bad guy,” Tommy said as both men settled in their respective seats and studied each other.
Seth gave a curt nod. He’d gotten Tommy’s name from Dennis, an old college buddy, who’d hired the man to follow a cheating now ex-wife. Cliché, yes, but then the twenty-two-year-old ex had been a bit of a cliché, too, carrying on with a half dozen of Dennis’s wealthier friends, likely to hedge her bets when he eventually dumped her.
Which he had.
Point was, Dennis had trusted Tommy, and Seth trusted Dennis.
“You mind if I take notes?” Tommy asked, pulling an iPad out of his briefcase.
Seth waved his permission.
“So this boyfriend—”
“Fiancé,” Seth corrected curtly.
Tommy nodded and tapped something. “Name?”
“Neil Garrett.”
“And you don’t like him.”
“I do not.”
Tommy continued to tap. “Gut reaction? Or something specific?”
“Gut reaction,” Seth said, grateful that he didn’t have to explain it. Grateful that he didn’t have to say out loud that he was having his sister’s choices researched without so much as a shred of evidence that the man she was marrying was anything less than smitten with her.
“The gut often knows best,” Tommy said with a nod. “How long’s Garrett been in the picture?”
“They got engaged after dating for three months. Casually, apparently, as I wasn’t even aware of the guy. They’ve been engaged for about a month now. So, four months altogether,” Seth said.
Saying aloud that Neil and Maya had been engaged for a month made Seth realize that he’d only known Brooke for a little under a month.
Which seemed strange.
Strange, because she’d managed to wiggle more determinedly into his life and under his skin in the span of thirty days than Nadia had in three years.
The realization was unsettling, although not entirely unwelcome.
“Your sister is wealthy?” Tommy said, his tone matter-of-fact.
Seth nodded once.
“And Garrett. Employed?”
Seth shrugged. “Apparently he’s starting up his own business. But whenever I’ve pressed for details, I can’t get so much as a name, much less a sense of when he starts to plan making money from it.”
“ ‘Investment mode’?” Tommy said with a little smile, making air quotes around the words.
Seth snorted. “Exactly.”
“Anything else I need to know?” Tommy asked. “Where