Hot and Heavy - Erika Wilde Page 0,2
the file on his desk and scanned the information he’d jotted down earlier that morning. “My client, Elena Russell, owns a shop in Pacific Heights which deals primarily in selling antique jewelry and rare collectibles she’s acquired from collectors and estate sales.”
“Pacific Heights?” Noah interrupted, then followed that up with a long, low whistle. “That’s a ritzy part of town. What’s a rich girl like her doing hiring a middle-income agency like ours?” he joked.
Cole had asked Elena the same thing, albeit a bit more tactfully. “She wanted someone outside of her social set to make sure her request for investigative services was kept as private as possible.”
“Did you tell her that’s why we’re called private investigators?” Noah drawled with amusement.
Cole rolled his eyes. “I figure if she wants to throw her money our way, who am I to question her reasons?”
“Point taken. What’s the name of the shop?” Noah asked, his own PI instincts kicking into gear.
“Heritage Estate Sales. Considering where the business is located, Elena has built quite an elite, wealthy client base over the years and has earned a reputation for the quality of the antiques and collectibles she sells, and for being fair, reliable, and honest…until now.”
“I take it someone is trying to smear her reputation?”
Cole nodded. “Yes. That would be her ex-lover, Jerry Thornton, a real estate magnate. According to Elena, during their one-year affair Jerry gave her an antique, five-carat European diamond ring that was appraised at over twenty thousand dollars. When the relationship ended, he asked for the ring back. She’s holding on to the trinket claiming it was a gift, but Jerry is saying that she stole it from his collection of vintage jewelry, and he’s just filed a lawsuit to that effect. He’s been very public and vocal about his accusation, which has affected Elena’s business and her reputation.”
Noah rubbed a hand along his stubbled jaw as he mulled over the information he’d been given. “Maybe she did steal the ring.”
“Maybe,” Cole agreed, not discounting anything. “Except Elena says there’s a personal letter that Jerry wrote to her that says he gave her the ring as a gift, and states that it’s hers to keep forever as a token of the love they shared.”
A deep chuckle escaped Noah. “A real romantic, eh?”
“Romance didn’t even come close to what the two obviously indulged in. Apparently, Jerry and Elena were fond of writing explicit love letters to each other, and it was in one of these erotic exchanges that he promised her the ring.”
“No doubt, in the heat of the moment,” his brother commented with sexual humor, which gained a small grin from Cole. “I take it she doesn’t have the letter on hand.”
“No, and she needs it to prove she’s innocent and clear her name.” From the corner of his eye, Cole watched as Melodie closed the cabinet drawer, then headed toward his desk with a stack of papers in her hand.
He absently flipped through the notes in the Russell file as she stopped beside his chair, sorting out the credit reports, invoices, and contracts that needed to be reviewed and signed. She shifted and reached, and Cole caught a whiff of a soft, floral scent that wrapped around his senses and wreaked havoc with his concentration—and restraint. Her hip brushed his arm, inciting another damnable rush of heated desire he was hard-pressed to ignore.
He clenched his jaw and continued where he’d left off. “Elena claims the letter is at Thornton’s hilltop mansion, tucked safely away in a monogrammed leather box she gave him for his birthday. The last she saw of the box, it was in his library.”
“And she wants you to break into Thornton’s house and find it?” Noah asked incredulously.
“No, she doesn’t want me to break in,” he shot back, his tone more irritable than was warranted. He inhaled deeply, which did little to soothe the racing pulse that Melodie’s nearness had incited. “Two weeks from this weekend, Thornton is hosting a charity auction at his place for the rich and richer, and she managed to get ahold of two tickets to the formal affair. Since Thornton wouldn’t appreciate her attending the event in his house, it gives me the perfect cover to get in and find that letter.”
Noah shrugged. “Sounds easy enough.”
Yes, at least that part of the case was uncomplicated, Cole thought. Unfortunately, Elena’s other request wasn’t as simple.
Finally, Melodie slowly moved away from him and headed for the door. He breathed a sigh of relief. “This