Authors: Kathleen Brooks
Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Suspense, #Contemporary, #Romantic Comedy
“Fatima Ali Rahman. I am so looking forward to having you in the family. Emir, isn’t there something you would like to say to your daughter?”
Everyone turned and stared at him. “I must beg your forgiveness at my rude assumptions from the other day. I hold Tony’s friendship close to my heart and nothing will give me greater joy than to make us family.”
“Thank you. You apology is accepted. Now, I am dying to know how my father knows you and why he failed to mention it until now.”
“I was wondering the same thing. Dear?” Dani's mother turned to her father and gave him ‘the look’.
“Well, Emir fell in love with our wine. We met at his request after he bought some of the 1997 bottles. We’ve been friends ever since,” her father explained. “As for not saying anything, I thought the fact I didn’t kill Mo when he put his hands on you was enough of an acknowledgment of who he was and who his father was. After all, I gave him my consent to marry you that day, even after the way we met.”
Emir laughed and put his arm around Tony. “We need a toast. To family, friends, and my new daughter!”
Chapter Seventeen
Dani awoke to the feel of a hand sliding between her legs. “Mmm”. She rolled over and didn’t bother pulling up the covers over her naked body. She had decided sheets like Mo’s were made for sleeping naked. His mouth closed on one of her nipples and thoughts of sheets and everything else fell away.
“I have to go, love.” She watched as Mo disentangled himself from her and the sheets. “I have meetings with my father this morning. They should last most of the day. What is your schedule like?”
“Kenna is going to be back at the office and we have court this morning. I will be going with her to help out on some of the issues since she’s been gone.” She stretched and felt the happy afterglow left only by great sex. “How about we ditch them both and just stay in bed all day?”
“If only. Unfortunately, the United States and Canada will have officials at this meeting. I already postponed it once and I don’t want to lose out on this contract.”
“Kenna will be lost in court today if I’m not there. And I have to see if she’ll be my matron of honor! I can’t wait to tell the girls!” She jumped out of bed and ran to the shower.
“What kind of fiancé would I be if I didn’t help you get ready for work?” Mo said as he stepped into the shower behind her.
“Ahmed, can’t you go any faster?”
“No.”
“Come on. Let me drive then.”
“No.”
“Ahmed, when I marry Mo, will I be your boss?”
“No.”
“You’re full of conversation today. You want to talk about it?”
“No.”
Dani blew a piece of hair out of her eye and smiled at the purple Pradas Kenna had given her.
“But, I do owe you congratulations. I am very happy to have the privilege of being the head of your security as well.”
“Thanks, Ahmed. I am more excited about having you as a friend than as an employee.” Finally, Ahmed smiled. She wondered what put him in such a snit. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about whatever it is that is bothering you. Is it a girl?” By the blush and the non-answer, Dani guessed she had hit the mark. “No way! You have a girlfriend?”
“No.”
“Ugh! Can’t you say anything else?” Ahmed just smiled and pulled up to the law office.
“Have a good day.”
Dani shook her head, got out of the silver Mercedes, and headed inside. The front door hadn’t even closed when Tammy jumped out of her seat.
“Oh my God, you’re engaged! Look at that rock!”
Dani heard footsteps in the hallway as Kenna and Henry ran to the lobby.
“What did I hear? You’re engaged and you didn’t tell me!” Kenna grabbed her hand and examined the ring. “Nice! Congratulations!” Kenna hugged her tight. “I missed you.”
“Sure you did. I am guessing I was the last thing you were thinking about on your honeymoon.” She gave Kenna a wink before Tammy threw herself at her for a hug.
“You haven’t married him yet. I still have a chance.” Henry said as he moved in for a congratulatory hug.
“Henry.”
“Yes?”
“Get your hands off my ass.”
“You women are no fun once you get engaged.” He pouted and then walked back to his office.
“I have to call Paige. We’ll have lunch after court to celebrate and I want every single detail! Nice shoes by the way.” With a smile Kenna ran back to her office to call Paige.
Dani stopped by her office and picked up the printouts of all the case law she had done. The police had been there and a professional cleaner had put in new carpet. Everything was back to where it belonged. It was like it had never happened. She stared at the floor where Chad’s dead body had fallen just days ago.
“I am so sorry, Dani. I should have thought about how hard this would be for you. I got carried away with your good news and nearly forgot about all that happened.” Kenna slipped her arm around Dani and joined in staring at the blank floor.
“How are you doing?”
“Okay.”
“No, really. How are you doing?”
“Not so hot now. I was okay at home. Now, standing here, I just can’t stop reliving it.”
“Let’s get you a new office then. For now let’s just get to court and spread the gossip about the world’s most eligible bachelor being engaged.”
“Sounds good.” She walked around the far side of the desk not to avoid where the fight took place and opened her drawer. She pulled out her notes, stuffed them into her bag, and headed for the door, never taking a second glance at the place she had killed a man.
“There are my heroes.” Dani grabbed Dinky and placed a big kiss right on his lips. She watched his face turn the same color red as the lipstick stain she left. She turned and kissed Noodle as well. “Is my case closed or are you going to be arresting me?”
“No, Ma’am. We wouldn’t do that. We closed it out on Friday. Self-defense. Everyone is right happy about it too. It must be a big relief for you both.”
“I hate that Dani had to go through it alone, but I must admit it does feel good knowing that bastard is dead.” Kenna walked with Dani and Noodle up to the table before the bench and started laying out folders for the hearings.
“Welcome back, Kenna. I hope you...oh my gosh! Is that an engagement ring?” Martha all but shouted. Heads turned and Noodle blatantly stared as Martha picked up Dani’s left hand. “Holy smokes. The Sheik gave this to you?” Not waiting for an answer she continued, “I bet that is going to be one heck of a wedding. I better call my daughter. She’ll be crushed. She tried to catch his eye a couple of times, but I guess he was already focused on you. Congratulations!” Martha headed out the courtroom telling every person she saw about the engagement.
“I give it three minutes until every phone line in the county is busy spreading this news. So, what have we got today?”
Dani sat in the chair at the table and handed Kenna the files with a little note on the ones that were more complex. She enjoyed seeing her research pay off when someone who really deserved a second chance got one. Or, subsequently, someone who had been handed third and forth chances got what they deserved. Dani sat back in her chair and watched the wheels of justice turn. The court was packed today after many of the cases from last week had been passed to this week so Kenna could try them.
She listened to the lawyers trying to strike deals with Kenna in last ditch efforts to keep their clients from jail. She watched Noodle and Dinky trade off bailiff duties and the clerks entering all the information into the computers. She watched the Judge work his way through the docket. And she watched the pile of files in front of Kenna dwindle. Finally, the last case was before the judge. She knew it couldn’t be good when Kenna rolled her eyes.
“Case Number 11-C-532, State vs. Tony Chapman. All parties wanting to be heard please come forward.” Dinky yelled into the crowded courtroom.
Dani watched as a geeky looking man with light red hair in his mid-twenties came forward. Behind him, a very stern looking woman with a simple brown dress followed. His attorney, a tall, slick looking man, met his client up at the podium.
“Mr. Chapman. Good to see you again. Who’d you expose yourself to this time?” Kenna asked.
Dani looked around the courtroom and found a kid, no more than eighteen or so, in the standard khaki pants and polo shirt with a bank logo on it walk toward Kenna.
“Go ahead, Miss Mason.” Judge Cooper already looked like he was trying to stop laughing.
“Mr. Chapman, it looks like you’ve engaged in public masturbation again. Why don’t you just tell us what happened at the bank on June 24, 2011?”
“Well, I was in the drive-thru line at the bank to deposit a check and got bored. I didn’t think anyone could see me.”
“Mr. Chapman, are you aware there are cameras at every station?”
“No. I thought I could finally not get caught. Ever since the last time we were here, my wife has stopped wearing colors and won’t even let me kiss her. On top of that, she makes me see Father James twice a week for sex addiction. How can I have a sex addiction if she won’t even let me have sex?”
“Mr. Chapman, your sex life, or lack thereof, is not a legal defense for exposing yourself in public, again,” Kenna explained to him. Dani had a hard time not laughing, but at the same time one look at the wife and she felt sorry for him.
“Your Honor, my client is willing to spend a week in jail and will promise to move out of the marital home,” Mr. Chapman’s attorney said.
“And what does him promising to move out mean in terms of his sentence?” Kenna asked. Judge Cooper was thinking the same thing by the way his bushy eyebrows shot up.
“With Mr. Chapman maintaining a separate residence from his wife, he will have the freedom to masturbate in the confines of his home and will have no more need to do so in public places.”
Dani watched as both Kenna and Judge Cooper nodded their heads in agreement. Kenna talked to the attorney for a couple more minutes, apparently hammering out the details.
“Your Honor, the State will agree to these terms.”
“Okay. Mr. Chapman. If I find you in this Court again, you will become a sex offender. So make sure you keep it in your pants outside of your home. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“The bailiff will take you into custody now. Say your goodbyes. You’ll be out in a week. Okay, that’s lunch.” Judge Cooper pounded his gavel and everyone stood up.
Kenna hurried over as Dani slipped some files into her brief case. “Come on, let’s go see Paige and get a seat before everyone else gets over there. I can’t wait to hear all about what has been going on. I can’t believe I leave for one week and come back to find you engaged to the most eligible bachelor in the world! By the way, did I mention those are great shoes,” Kenna winked at her.
“Thank you. I just had to wear them today. I have never been happier, but it started off pretty bumpy. His father definitely thought I was a gold digger until he discovered I was one of his friend’s daughters. His face was priceless!”
“Have you made any plans yet?”
“Not yet. We don’t want to wait long though. My parents are here for the remainder of the month. I never knew such happiness was possible. I feel like a giddy school girl,” she laughed as she pushed open the double glass doors and walked out into the parking lot.
“This is so great! I can’t wait to talk wedding details!” Kenna slung her arm around Dani’s shoulder and pulled her near as they started across the parking lot. “Look! There’s Paige.” Dani looked to where Kenna pointed and waved when she saw Paige.
Before she could put her hand down, two loud bangs reverberated off the old brick buildings. Dani looked to Kenna and saw her lying on the ground. She saw that Kenna was not moving as blood quickly spread across her chest. She tried to scream Kenna’s name, but she couldn’t make her mouth open.
She tried to scream again, but she couldn’t breathe. It felt like a hot poker had stabbed her and sucked out all of the air. She looked down at her hand pressed against the side of her chest. She felt nothing as she saw the red blood pouring from between her fingers. She pulled her hand back to see what was wrong, but could only see her hand covered in her blood. She tried one more time to scream her fears, but was engulfed in blackness.
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Want to know what happens next? Pick up Dead Heat, now available as an e-book in all outlets and IN paperback at
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Dead Heat
In the third book of the Bluegrass Series, Paige Davies finds her world turned upside down as she becomes involved in her best friends' nightmare. The strong-willed Paige doesn't know which is worse: someone trying to kill her, or losing her dog to the man she loves to hate.
FBI Agent Cole Parker can't decide whether he should strangle or kiss this infuriating woman of his dreams. As he works the case of his career, he finds that love can be tougher than bringing down some of the most powerful men in America.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kathleen Brooks has garnered attention for her debut novel, Bluegrass State of Mind, as a new voice in romance with a warm Southern feel. Her books feature quirky small town characters you’ll feel like you’ve known forever, romance, humor, and mystery all mixed into one perfect glass of sweet tea.
Kathleen is an animal lover who supports rescue organizations and other non-profit organizations whose goals are to protect and save our four-legged family members.