Her Billionaire's Murder Mystery - Stephanie Fowers Page 0,44
to their true owner.”
Veronica rolled her eyes. “Are we through here yet? Obviously she has places to go. Let’s not keep her waiting.”
Well, that was past all rudeness. Without thinking, Charlize drew forward. “I’d like to buy a necklace.” Wait. No. Those things would be worth a fortune. Her cheeks burned. “I mean, since mine was stolen, I thought maybe I could find a very simple design.” Like the least expensive one in the collection. As it was, Charlize had probably just burned through her life savings. She gulped. “Or maybe I could just rent it out for the party.”
Autumn smiled brightly and searched carefully through her box, taking out an elegant necklace glistening with blue sapphires. “You absolutely are under no obligation to buy, but... this will go perfectly with those eyes of yours. Charlize, is it?”
Charly nodded, feeling suddenly tongue tied at seeing something so expensive in front of her. She was almost afraid to wear the necklace; fake jewel thief on the loose or not, she didn’t trust herself with it at all. Autumn glanced over at Aaron with an easy smile. “You should wear the matching cufflinks and tiepin.”
“We don’t need to match,” Charly said quickly.
“Of course we do,” Aaron said. “We’re getting fake married today. We’ve got to play the part.” Wait. Did he know that for sure? Under Darcy’s upset gaze, he took the necklace from Autumn and held it up against Charlize’s neck. His eyes lit up. “You know, Autumn, I think we will buy this one.”
Autumn laughed. “Let Aaron treat you.” She winked. “I’m sure Aaron owes you for dragging you into this Murder Mystery. He tends to get a little carried away.”
Out of all of Aaron’s female friends, Charlize liked this one the most, though the two acted more like siblings than exes. No way did these two date. Darcy was just trying to get under her skin insinuating there was something “special” between them.
Holding the sapphire necklace up to her neck, Aaron tucked up Charly’s hair, his hand brushing against her as he attached the gold hooks against her skin. His eyes were on her the entire time. “You look gorgeous.”
Dominic snorted. “It looks like you scored yourself another necklace, sweetheart. How do you do it?”
“Not so fast. I object!” The door flew open on its hinges and Mikey stood outside of it, surrounded by cameras and what looked to be the whole wedding party. “Your brother is dead, Charly. You don’t have to marry that man!”
CHAPTER TWELVE
What was Mikey doing now? He started to hand out new scripts. Every day a new script. Aaron hadn’t suspected that Mikey was going to try to marry him off until he’d seen how the Atrium was decorated and what Charly was wearing, but after the initial anxiety had worn off, he felt a little disappointed that it was ending so soon.
Autumn quickly excused herself with a wink. She wasn’t about to let him drag her into one of his scrapes like they’d done during their childhood in Dallas. “Enjoy the... er... wedding.” Chortling, she hurried out as the wedding party shuffled in to take their seats around the aisle. They whispered amongst themselves, snickering and making notes in their suspect books. Aaron doubted that even Mikey knew who the murderer was going to be at the end of all this.
“Which man?” Charly asked. “Which man do I not have to marry?”
“Read the script, honey,” Mikey said in his thickest gangster accent yet.
She did, her brow furrowing as she infused emotion into her voice. “My brother is dead? No, no! I don’t believe it. I just got a call from him this morning.”
“That was someone impersonating him,” Mikey cut in. “The coppers found his body in the alley last night. Twenty bullet holes. While you were playing billiards with Mr. Mills, someone was offing your brother.”
Charlize’s lips quirked up, and she quickly covered her reaction by sinking down into a chair. “I don’t believe it.”
“Believe it, sister.” Mikey reveled in his new role of gangster working with the police. “Now you tell me what your brother did to make you want to marry that lowlife Dominic.”
Aaron’s revulsion was immediately mirrored in her face. Dominic chortled and glanced down at his lines. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mikey. I’m in love with Charlize and we’re about to make it official, see?” The sleaze dripped from him. No acting was required.