Butterface (The Hartigans #1)(70)

“Tell her I love her.” That was all he had so far when it came to having a working plan.

The old lady gave him a look that screamed try again. “Pretty words are cheap.”

If he clamped his jaw closed any harder, he was going to lose his back molars. Taking a deep breath—or at least as much of one as he could through his nostrils—he looked over the old lady’s head to the ballroom beyond. The lights were dimmed, but he could see people dancing, a wedding party up at the front, and a DJ in front of a huge movie screen. That was it. Everything had started with that Kiss Cam. Maybe that would fix everything, too.

“Ma’am,” he said, his voice louder than he meant for it to be, but volume control had gone out the window the second time she’d gotten him with her cane. “I’m gonna do whatever it takes to get her back.”

The old woman gave him an assessing look, then snapped, “So what are you doing standing out here?”

What the hell? After all that, she was just going to act like he was the one delaying everything? It had to be the wedding. People lost their minds at weddings. Not willing to waste another second on trying to unravel that mystery, he rushed inside the ballroom.

Gina wasn’t near the DJ booth. She wasn’t near the catering stations. She wasn’t by the bridal party dais. He was getting ready to breach the dance floor, when light spilled out from the swinging door leading to the staff area. There was no mistaking that brown, wavy hair with its tendency to frizz. He’d found her.

He rushed over to that side of the ballroom and through the staff doors into a makeshift kitchen in full go mode. There were waiters and guys in tall chef hats and dishwashers carrying heavy tubs filled with cutlery and mini plates rushing around the room. And there, in the back by a woman in one of the hotel’s signature black blazers, stood Gina. She was wearing that green dress again from the first night they’d met. It had made him stop and take notice. Now that he knew the woman in the dress, he appreciated how beautiful she looked in it even more.

His mouth was open to call out to her before he knew it, but he clamped his jaw shut. He’d spent the past week giving her words. That wasn’t going to be enough. He needed to show her this time, and for the first time since she’d walked out of his parents’ house, he knew exactly what to do.

And sadly, it wasn’t going to be as easy as just getting her on a Kiss Cam again.

…

The wedding had gone off without a hitch and the reception finished early, and Gina was so glad that at least one thing in her world was turning out the way she’d hoped. She walked into her house and swept up the mail scattered on the floor under the postal slot in her front door.

The daily paper was on the top, with a huge front-page spread about how the Waterbury Police Department had stopped a shipment of heroin and arrested ten people associated with the Esposito crime family. After that it was bills, junk mail, and one blue envelope with a foreign stamp. She was about to dump it all on the foyer table when the return address on one envelope caught her attention.

George Ainsley





510 Luca Street


Nassau, Bahamas

Her fingers shook as she ripped open the envelope. After they’d taken a cruise a few years ago and had discovered Luca Street, her brothers had told way too many lame jokes about how awesome it would be to live on a street with their name. It had to be from them.

Ms. Luca,

Thank you for your interest in renting the home on Luca Street. Unfortunately, it has been occupied by new buyers. They were alerted to the real estate investment opportunity by a mutual friend you share who gave them an early heads-up about how their former circumstances were not tenable. The current owners have no plans at the moment to sell the property but should the situation in your location change, they will reconsider.

Sincerely,

George Ainsley, Esq.

Gina didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. She’d recognize Paul’s ridiculous sense of humor anywhere. He probably thought using the name of their old next-door neighbor and writing in code to let her know they were okay was hilarious. Chuckling despite her frustration that her brothers had gone all cloak-and-dagger on her, she relaxed for the first time in days. And once that weight was off her shoulders, something else landed in its place as she looked down at the newspaper laying on the table.

Ford hadn’t just tried to help. He actually had. He’d gotten her brothers to leave before an Esposito-related drug bust went down. He’d tried to tell her, and she wouldn’t listen. She wouldn’t give him a chance. Even after he’d broken one of his precious rules for her by giving a heads-up to her brothers. Her lungs tightened, and she crumpled the letter in her hand. After years of not trusting people and building her walls, she hadn’t given Ford the chance that he’d given her. Instead, she’d spent their time together just waiting for him to show his real self. What she hadn’t realized was that he had been doing exactly that the entire time. And her? She’d been too scared to let herself believe what had been there in front of her all along.

But could she ever really trust him?

And that’s when she heard the unmistakable sound of a hammer hitting wood coming from the other side of her front door. Discombobulated, confused, and really pissed off at herself, she yanked open the door and stopped dead.

…

“What in the hell are you doing?” Gina’s question cut across the porch as sharp as the blade on a hockey skate.