Spontaneous - Brenda Jackson [52]
“I guess.”
She lifted a brow. “You don’t sound too anxious.”
He smiled. “Well, I’d rather see a lot of blood and guts instead of a lot of kissy, kissy, bed, bed.”
She threw her head back and laughed, and the way the curls on her head went flying around her face sent sensations all through his gut. He thought at that moment she was simply beautiful.
Taking his hand, she pulled him toward the door. “We’ll see a blood and guts movie the next time. I promise.”
Duan allowed himself to be dragged out of the room. He hoped she remembered the promise she’d just made because he intended for her to keep it.
15
KIM TRIED TO KEEP BUSY while Duan talked on the phone. The call had come early Thursday morning, waking them up at seven. At first she’d thought he was talking to Landon, but after a while it became obvious a conference call was taking place and he was conversing with several people. She had showered and had taken care of her hair but he was still on the phone.
The expression on his face looked serious. She tried to remain calm and not jump to any conclusions. To kill time, she walked around the room, tidying up a little bit. Although the hotel had someone to come in and clean their room every day, there was no need for the person to think they were slobs. Although she would have to admit the only untidy spot was the bed.
Bedcovers were strewn all over the floor, the sheets were all twisted and a couple of pillows were at the foot of the bed. She didn’t have to figure out how that happened. Last night she and Duan had tried several new positions, and one required her at one end of the bed with him at the other, their heads buried between each other’s thighs. Talk about a fantasy come true. Pleasure stirred her insides just remembering it.
She turned toward him when she heard his phone flip shut and met his gaze. Immediately, she knew—for better or for worse—that he’d found out something. She inhaled deeply to prepare herself for whatever he had to say.
“Come here, Kim,” he said in that deep, throaty voice she loved so much.
She crossed the room to the wingback chair where he sat and he reached out and pulled her down into his lap. She turned to him. “Yes?”
“That was everyone,” he said, draping his hands across her thighs.
“Everyone?” she asked. “All four of them?”
“Yes, Landon, Antron, Brett and Chevis. We had a conference call since there were several updates.”
She nodded. “So what did they find out?”
When Duan hesitated she knew he was looking for the right words. “Go ahead, Duan. Tell me. Is my mother in any danger?”
Instead of answering her, he said, “Landon went to talk to Villarosas’s old girlfriend and she backed up her claim of over twenty years ago. She said Villarosas has a nasty jealous streak and that he’d threatened to get rid of her several times when he thought she was unfaithful to him. She claims she wasn’t, but had gotten sick and tired of him making false allegations and threats that she believed he would carry out, so she split.”
Kim nodded. “But that was over twenty-some years ago. Right?”
“Right. Now, Chevis went to a prison in Florida yesterday to visit Stein Green. After some intense questioning—relentless interrogation Chevis-style—Green admitted that Edward Villarosas hired him to get rid of both of his wives because they were unfaithful.”
Kim leaped out of Duan’s lap. “And that bastard thinks he’s going to marry my mother?” she said in a raised voice.
“Kim, calm down.”
“Have the police been notified? When will he be arrested? When is—”
“Kim, please let me finish,” he interrupted, standing up as well. “What we have is an allegation from a convicted killer, a man already serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for armed robbery where a police officer was gunned down. All he’s done is verify what we suspected all along, especially with Villarosas’s ironclad alibis. But we need more than just the word of a criminal. We need concrete proof and we’re working with Green to get that. No