Sexy Silent Nights

“That was a nasty piece of business out there on the street,” the man said.

Cilla remembered that he’d been one of the customers outside earlier. He was about Jonah’s height, darkhaired with gray at his temples. He reminded Cilla of a well-aging James Bond. She saw both concern and worry in the steel-colored eyes when they met hers. “Nice work.” Then he turned back to Jonah. “What can I do to help?”

“Got it covered,” Jonah assured him. “Cilla Michaels, I’d like you to meet Carl Rockwell. Not only is he a regular here at Pleasures, but he was one of my original backers when I opened the club. He believed in me when I was an unknown quantity.”

“And I still do,” Carl said.

Jonah smiled at him. “He’s invested in all my clubs, and now he’s a partner in a new place we’re opening in San Diego.”

Cilla held out a hand and found it firmly grasped.

“Cilla heads up G.W. Securities here in the city,” Jonah continued, “and I seem to be her newest client.”

“Good.” Carl stared directly into Cilla’s eyes. “Don’t let anyone hurt him, and let me know if you can use some backup.”

“He’s not kidding,” Jonah said. “Before he retired, Carl worked in the security business.”

“Virgil can let me know if you need me,” Carl said, nodding at the two of them before he returned to the bar.

Jonah led her to an empty booth at the far end of the room. Virgil managed to reach it just as they did.

He beamed a smile at them, then spoke in a low voice. “Does that little sideshow the two of you put on in the street have anything to do with the green box that was delivered here yesterday?”

“Jury’s out on that,” Jonah murmured. “I received another box in Denver this morning.”

“Shit,” Virgil breathed. “What can I do?”

“Exactly what you’re doing. Run Pleasures.”

Cilla studied the two men as Jonah laid a hand on Virgil’s arm and reassured him with the same information he’d given to Carl Rockwell. But he didn’t tell either man that he was definitely her client. “I seem to be” just didn’t make the cut.

She guessed that Virgil had about a decade on Jonah, and from the easy way they talked, she figured their relationship was personal as well as professional. Plus, Virgil was sharp. He’d already tried to connect the dots between the little Christmas gift Jonah had received and the attack.

Virgil turned to her. “If you work for Gabe Wilder, I have to assume you’re the best. What you did out on the street was impressive. But keep it up. Don’t let anything happen to Jonah.” Then he turned and moved back to the bar.

“Well, I’ve been well and duly threatened,” Cilla said as she slid into the back of the booth. “You have some very concerned friends. Does anyone else here know about the green boxes?”

Jonah shook his head. “Just Virgil. I asked him to keep an eye out in case another was delivered here.”

From her position at the back of the booth, Cilla had a view of the entire room. The crowd had thinned a bit so it was the first time that she was able to get a good look at the decor. And since a table now separated her from Jonah, she could give her surroundings more attention than she had on her tour.

The rich combination of dark mahogany and gleaming brass on the bar itself was repeated in the furniture and in the wood panels and sconces that lined the walls. The booths were red leather and the candle flickered in an old-fashioned hurricane lamp.

“What do you think?” Jonah asked.

“Sumptuous. It reminds me of another era where life moved more slowly, before airplanes, when people had the time to travel on a luxury liner to Europe. I got the same impression earlier when I looked up at the second-story windows. It makes me think of the times F. Scott Fitzgerald or Henry James captured in their novels.”

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