Harlequin Romantic Suspense April 2021 by Karen Whiddon (good e books to read txt) 📗

lead them off. Carly’s mom and her aunt strolled in arm in arm. “I see we’re not the only early ones,” Fallon trilled. Meanwhile, Carly’s mom had stopped short, her gaze locking on Micha.

“So it is true,” Farrah said. “You are alive.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Micha flashed her a smile. “Luckily so.”

She moved closer, a still-beautiful woman who carried herself as if she knew it. She walked right up to Micha, ignoring her daughter. “Where were you?” she demanded. “Two whole years went by with Carly thinking you were dead. If you only knew how much she suffered.”

“Not now, Mom,” Carly protested. “We can have this discussion later.”

“It’s all right,” Micha reassured her. “I don’t mind.” Speaking quietly, he explained about being taken prisoner, the rescue mission six months later that had gone wrong, the crash, the injuries, the coma, all of it. By the time he’d finished Farrah Colton had tears in her eyes.

“Oh, you poor man,” Farrah said, hugging him. “I’m so sorry all that happened to you. Carly did mention it, but she must have glossed over the details. It sounds much more horrible coming from you.”

Not sure how to respond to that, Micha simply nodded. Carly squeezed his arm, commiserating silently with him.

The door opened again. “Everyone must have decided to come early,” Carly murmured. January and a man walked in holding hands, with Tatum and another man right behind. “The one with January is Sean,” Carly said. “And Tatum’s beau is Cruz. The two men have a lot in common since they both work for the Chicago Police Department. Sean is in Homicide and Cruz is in Narcotics.”

This info had Micha eyeing the two newcomers with renewed interest. “I wonder if they know my buddy Charlie.”

“I guess you can ask them. Though Chicago has a huge police force, you never know.”

“Are they working on the murder investigation with the FBI?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” Carly responded. “Heath is the point person on all of that. He just passes the info on to the rest of us. Though now that Simone has gotten obsessed with the case, she probably knows more than even Heath.”

“Simone...” Micha tried to remember. “Isn’t she the college professor?”

“Yep. Psychology. When she decides to investigate something, she really dives into her research.”

Micha looked around, trying to see if he could spot her.

“She’s not here yet,” Carly said. “She’s always punctual, so she should be here closer to eight.”

Rolling his shoulders, Micha gave himself a mental order to relax. Before being taken prisoner, he’d enjoyed social gatherings. He’d considered himself outgoing and got along easily with all types of people.

Since then, that part of him had changed. Though he knew he didn’t have to, the second he entered a room he made a mental note to locate the exit, as he’d done here. He constantly checked over his shoulder, tried not to let anyone come up unexpectedly behind him and held a lot more of himself in reserve.

Jones moved among his family, pointing out a fantastic spread of appetizers and samples of beer that had been arranged on the bar.

The door opened and a woman who had to be Carly’s cousin Simone arrived. Slim, with chin-length brown hair and the same piercing blue eyes as the rest of the Coltons, she carried herself with a kind of quiet dignity.

Her face lit up when she spied Carly and Micha and she made a beeline for them.

Bestowing a quick hug on Micha, she stepped back and studied him. “I’m so sorry for everything you went through,” she said quietly. “I’m so glad you found your way back to us.”

“Thank you.” He could hardly talk past the sudden ache in his throat. “I really appreciate that.”

Smiling, she dipped her chin before turning to Carly. “I heard Heath is planning to update us on the investigation into our fathers’ murders. I’ve tried my best to find out what he knows, but he isn’t telling.” She dug in her oversize tote bag and removed an old-fashioned spiral notebook. “I’ve made a lot of notes.”

Carly nodded. “Maybe we can look at them later,” she said. “Right now we all need to focus our attention on Jones and his wonderful establishment.”

“Of course.” Simone slid her notebook back into her bag. “I’ll touch base with you later.” And she headed off to greet the rest of the family.

“I just dodged a bullet,” Carly murmured. “There’s no way I care to learn everything she’s discovered about serial killers. Especially not the gory details of their methods.”

“I don’t know,” Micha teased. “It sounds interesting. You might like it.”

Shaking her head, she elbowed him in the side. He grinned at her and took another drink of his beer.

Everyone stood around, beers in hand, chatting and sampling the appetizers that Jones had put out. Though Heath moved confidently among the little groups of his family members, Micha noticed Heath spent an inordinate amount of time watching the front door.

When a slender, dark-haired woman walked through, Heath’s expression lit up. She’d barely taken a few steps inside when Heath met her halfway, sweeping her up into his arms and kissing her as if he hadn’t seen her in days.

“PDA, ugh,” Carly commented, though she was smiling. “I’ve never seen my older brother so happy. It’s amazing.”

Micha put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. “Hopefully, they’ll be saying the same thing about you,” he said, waiting for her to stiffen.

Instead, she relaxed against him. “I know I should say something sarcastic right now,” she murmured. “But you know what? I hope so, too.”

* * *

Admitting her inner hope to Micha had been a lot less scary than she’d thought it might be. Bless him, he hadn’t pressed for more. Instead, he’d simply kissed the top of her head and continued to hold her close. She liked the way she felt, sheltered against his muscular body.

Though she caught a few stray curious glances directed her way, most of her family seemed accepting. Now that everyone had arrived,