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Eden huffed and rolled her eyes. “Wow, Isaac was right. You are being a total tyrant.” Then she clapped her hands excitedly. “Well, this should cheer you up! Guess who I just had brunch with?”
I didn’t say anything, fully anticipating she would plow on and cut me off anyway. I was right. After pausing only long enough to take a breath, she squealed, “Natalie!”
“What?” I shouted as I shot up from my chair.
Isaac swiftly stepped in front of Eden and glared at me. “Watch it, Croix. We’ve been friends since childhood, but if you yell at my wife again, I will break your jaw.”
If it were Isaac treating Natalie like that, I would do the same, so I took a step back and nodded apologetically. My temper was flaring, but I tamped it down, tapping into my limited reserves of patience. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I softened my voice and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I promised her I wouldn’t tell you we were going to meet up,” Eden said, trying to peek around her husband. She finally succeeded in getting him to move and continued on, gesturing with her hands as she talked, always exuding vitality. “I didn’t promise I wouldn’t spill the beans after though!”
“Did you find out where she’s staying?” I asked, feeling a spark of hope.
Eden grinned. “I didn’t ask because I didn’t want her to ask me not to share the information.”
I visibly deflated, dropping back into my chair. Eden laughed and I glared at her.
“However, I did lift her wallet when I hugged her.”
My brows shot up in surprise. She what?
Isaac groaned, “For the love of . . . you stole”—he stopped and shook his head with exasperation—“Never mind. Get to the point, Nancy Drew.”
“Relax, babe. I put it back when I hugged her again before we left,” she insisted, patting his arm patronizingly. He muttered under his breath and drilled her with a stare, which she ignored, focusing on me once again.
“Anyway, when she went to the bathroom, I looked through it and found a valet ticket for the Four Seasons!”
At first, I was stunned by the fact that a junior associate who lived in a studio apartment was staying at one of the most expensive hotels in Baltimore. But, I set it aside in favor of fury that my PI hadn’t figured this out sooner. How hard was it to call around and check hotel registration? That’s why we paid him an exorbitant fee, to have a large staff at our beck and call.
“Don’t blame Pete,” Eden hurried to say, clearly seeing where my mind had gone. “She isn’t checked in under her real name and when I hacked their system—”
Isaac sighed and started muttering again, earning himself a withering glare from both Eden and me. He turned abruptly and stalked to the wall of windows overlooking the bustling city.
“Anyway,” she continued, scowling over at Isaac. “I hacked into the system and found the room attached to her valet ticket. It’s being paid for with a credit card belonging to a Lawrence Spector”—she shrugged—“I didn’t know who he was—”
“He’s a hotshot lawyer in Chicago,” I snarled. Rage bubbled up inside and I felt near to exploding.
“Right. But he’s—”
“He’s old enough to be Natalie’s fucking father!” I interrupted her again, my wrath on a very short leash. “What the fuck was she doing letting this guy pay for her hotel?”
“If you’d calm the hell down and let me talk, jackass,” she snapped, “I could tell you that he’s her step-father.”
I shot to my feet again, racing around the desk to plant a kiss on Eden’s cheek, only to find myself shoved roughly towards the door. “Go put your lips on your own woman and away from mine.” Isaac’s tone was deadly, but it only made me laugh because I was suddenly one thousand pounds lighter than I had been a minute before.
“We’re even for Andrea,” I quipped with a wink before striding out to get my girl.
