Kat didn’t respond, he glanced her way and was pretty sure he could see steam coming out of her ears.
Definitely not happy. Well, that made two of them. Bringing her here wasn’t his first choice either, but they were out of options as far as he could see.
Maria’s housekeeper answered the page, and Pete announced himself. Two seconds later the elevator began moving. “We’ll only be a few minutes. Long enough to get the pendant and go.”
“You could have left me in the car,” Kat said through clenched teeth. “I didn’t need to come up here.”
“And leave you out there alone? Between you ditching me and guns going off, I don’t think so.”
The look she shot him said she’d rather take her chance with a loaded gun over him any day.
Okay, definitely ticked. And why the hell did that bug him so bad?
The elevator opened, and they both stepped out into the vestibule. Since Maria’s penthouse occupied the entire floor, there was only one double door directly ahead. Kat tensed. Pete moved forward and knocked.
A young woman Pete didn’t recognize but who had to be Maria’s new housekeeper opened the door.
He waited for Kat to step in first, then followed. Maria appeared on the curved staircase that led to the second floor. Dark hair flowed down around her shoulders. She wore loose-fitting black silk pants and a long-sleeved charcoal tunic, looking just as perfect as she always did, even in lounging attire.
“You’re later than I expected, Peter,” she said as she descended the last few steps. Her black mules clicked on the marble floor when she reached the first level, and her eyes ran over him from head to toe. “And you look like hell.”
From the corner of his eye, Pete watched Kat’s shoulders stiffen, but to her credit, she didn’t cross her arms or scowl or show any other outward sign she was upset. Pete had to hand it to her. If the roles were reversed and she’d brought him to see Slade, he’d have already decked the guy.
“Weather’s pretty nasty outside. Took us longer than we expected.”
“Hm.” Maria shifted her gaze to Kat and extended her hand. “I’m Maria Gotsi.”
Kat hesitated, then took Maria’s offered hand. “Katherine Meyer.”
“She’s an old friend,” Pete interjected.
“Hm,” Maria said again as her eyes narrowed on Kat.
Tension swirled in the room between the two women. The scene in the limo the night of the auction flashed in Pete’s brain. At that moment, a fifty-foot drop into a boiling ocean looked more appealing than being trapped between these two.
He opened his mouth to ease the tension, but Maria cut him off.
“I recognize you from the auction,” she said, dropping Kat’s hand. “Black washes out your coloring.” She transferred her attention back to Pete. “Now, what exactly did you want from me, Peter, that couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”
Same old Maria. Blunt and to the point, especially when a situation wasn’t in her control. The barb didn’t go unnoticed by Kat. From the corner of his eye, Pete watched a muscle in Kat’s jaw twitch, but she still didn’t utter a sound, and she didn’t once take her eyes off Maria.
“We came to get the necklace I gave you a few weeks ago,” Pete said. “The gold crouching pharaoh.”
Maria looked between them. “Why, exactly, do you need it back?”
Pete glanced toward Kat and lifted his brow. This was her deal, really. He figured whatever she wanted to share with Maria was up to her.
Kat lifted her chin. “Because he didn’t have the right to give it to you. It’s mine.”
Silence.
“I see,” Maria finally said, brushing a finger down her neck. “However, we’re in America. And possession is nine-tenths of the law in this country. So why don’t you both stop dancing around the facts and tell me just what’s so important about this necklace that has you both running here when it’s very obvious my home is the last place either of you wants to be?”
Kat looked his way, and he saw the indecision in her chocolate eyes. He nodded, silently telling her unless they cooperated, they probably weren’t getting diddly squat from Maria.
Kat shifted back toward Maria, and in her eyes Pete saw strength and certainty and a woman who would do just about anything to get what she wanted. Something familiar turned over in his chest. She wasn’t the timid girl he’d fallen in love with all those years before. She was a thousand times sexier and a million times more intriguing. And so