“Do you like it?” he asked after a moment.
“I love it,” she admitted, her voice thick with emotion. Elise turned to him, cradling the box in her lap, and beamed at him. “Thank you, Lucien.”
He picked up her left hand and lifted it to his lips. “No, darlin’. Thank you.” Then he pressed a kiss to the engagement ring and she sighed.
Luc was possibly the most romantic man she’d ever met. Possibly? No, he was. It was as if he had access to her fanciful dreams and knew exactly how to make her melt with spontaneous displays of affection that spoke straight to her heart and its hopelessly romantic nature. And by this time tomorrow, they would be married. Elise smiled dreamily and sighed. Again.
Life couldn’t get much better than this.
Luc knew he was grinning like a fool as he stepped out of the shower and walked into his bedroom. The music box had worked like a charm. Phase One was a success—just as he knew it would be. It wouldn’t be long before he had Elise right where she belonged.
He chuckled and contemplated Phase Two while he changed into a clean pair of jeans and long sleeve black shirt. He stepped in front of the mirror and finger combed his hair.
He opened a velvet covered jewelry box he’d picked up after yesterday and brushed a finger over the gold anklet sparkling inside. “One more day and she’s all mine.” He turned as someone pounded on the front door, then scooped the anklet out of the box and, slipping it into his pocket, headed for the front door.
Raven and Luc’s closest friend, Benajah Raine, were looking down the hall and hadn’t noticed the door was open. If he didn’t know better he would have guessed that they were brothers. They were around the same height with the similar coloring, but Ben’s hair was shorter. And they both had the same taste in clothes—faded jeans and a black shirt.
“Think she’s taken,” Ben asked.
“God, I hope not,” Raven replied, then grinned. “I’ll go find out.”
Luc leaned out into the hallway. He smirked. A tall—over six feet tall—figure in an ultra-short miniskirt and three inch stiletto heels strolled down the hall. “You don’t want to find out.”
“I don’t?” Raven asked.
“Nope. You don’t.”
“Why not,” Ben asked, his eyes fastened on the figure at the end of the hall.
The object of Ben and Raven’s fantasies paused at the stairwell and glanced back, then winked. “Congratulations on the wedding, Luc.”
Luc chuckled as he heard Raven groan. “Thanks, Jackie. Like the new outfit.”
“Oh, thanks. You boys have fun.” Then Jackie was gone.
Luc leaned back and laughed at the looks on both men’s faces. “You don’t want to know because Jackie is a cop and a Jack.”
“A cop,” Ben asked.
“A Jack,” Raven repeated. “As in a male kind of Jack?”
“Yep.” Luc grabbed his keys then stepped out into the hall and locked the door behind him. “Who’s driving?”
“Chuck,” Raven answered. “Our friendly neighborhood cab driver.”
“Jackie is a he,” Ben muttered.
Raven snickered at Ben. “We hired Chuck’s chariot for the rest of the night.”
Luc nodded and locked up his apartment. “Did you eat dinner?”
“Nope. Chuck hasn’t either.”
“But he was so curvy,” Ben mumbled. “Feminine looking and… how could Jackie be a he?”
“Razors, blonde wig, a girdle, and drug therapy,” Luc said. “Lots of drug therapy.”
Ben trailed after Luc and Raven as they bounded down the steps to the cab.
“Luc, I found out what Moonbeam planned for Sister Elise’s entertainment.”
“Oh yeah?”
Raven nodded. “And you don’t want to know.”
Luc stopped beside the cab. “How many did she hire?”
“Hire?” Raven shook his head. “Moonbeam doesn’t have to hire them. When Moonbeam’s boys found out Elise was getting married, they volunteered.”
A fist of jealousy slammed into Luc’s gut and he willed it not to show, but he suspected Raven saw it. “How many volunteered?”
When Raven hesitated to answer, Ben said, “Twelve.”
Luc gripped the door handle. “Twelve?”
Raven nodded. “But there’s no need to worry. I know my sister and she’ll look, but she won’t touch.”
“Look?” Another fist—possessiveness—slammed into Luc’s gut.