BILLIONAIRE ANGEL (Point St. Claire, where true love finds a way) Read Online Free Page B

Which begged the question…
    Was it a coincidence that her mother’s death occurred so close to the break-in? Or was the connection something more sinister?
    “Have you spoken to your sister about seeing that ring on the Net?”
    “Ann’s the oldest. Back then, she felt responsible. But she’s put it all behind her now. She’s married. Has a great life. She doesn’t want to dwell on the past. You know, drag up painful memories.”
    Jax’s jaw tightened.
    Oh, yeah. He knew about them.
    “You two have a good relationship?” he asked.
    “Sure. But we’re different. She likes jazz and Tolstoy. I’m into rap and vampires. True not Diaries . When I was a kid, she seemed to have all the right answers to all the hard questions. Do you have sisters? Brothers?”
    He was looking around the room for anything that might help. “No siblings. A couple of cousins. Taylor and Leo.” When she laughed softly, he frowned across at her. “What’s funny?”
    “A light came to your eyes when you said their names. I could see you looking back and smiling at all the stuff you’d done together.”
    He wasn’t that transparent. Although he did have a stack of good memories growing up with that pair. Taylor had wanted to be a fireman, Leo a baseball star. And Jax? He’d been sharpening his detective skills even back then. There’d been The Case of the Missing Momma Cat.  The Case of the Stolen Apple Pie.
    “I feel like that, too, sometimes when I look back,” she went on. “Remembering simple stuff like ice skating or carving my name on a tree.” Her gaze sharpened. “I bet you’re the oldest, too. The bossy, I know best , one.”
    “I’m not so bossy.” More...instructional.
    “Do you still see each other?”
    “We hang out when we can.”
    “For a beer,” she surmised. “At the hockey.”
    Running a hand through his hair, Jax coughed out a laugh. “Did you pay someone to sneak a look at my file?”
    “Show me a guy who doesn’t drink beer. And, seriously, who’s not a Bears fan?”
    “You like hockey?”
    “Sure. Can’t remember the last game I went to though. College, I guess.”
    “ Wait . You went to college?”
    “Don’t look so shocked.” She buffed her nails on her shirt. “Honors in Accounting right here.”
    Accounting, huh? Maybe she could give him a few tips with The M Lodge’s books. Then again, it was hard enough to concentrate on those numbers as it was.
    He set his cup down on the counter, got his thoughts back on track. “Did you have any male friends at the time of the robbery?”
    “I was seeing a boy. Dean McPherson. Nothing serious.”
    “How serious can you get at fourteen?”
    “Ever hear of Romeo and Juliet?”
    He cocked a brow. “I’m familiar with it, yes.”
    “Teenage love can be as strong as any.” She nudged her chin at him. “You must have had a girl hanging off your every word in high school. Kicking her heels and shaking her pom-poms every time your puck slammed into a net.”
    Shaking pom-poms? Pucks in nets? Was it his dirty mind or―
    Jax squared his shoulders.
    “Belinda, we need to focus.”
    “Billy,” she said. “Friends call me Billy.”
    Studying those green eyes so full of innocence and anticipation, telltale warmth coursed through his veins. Curious. Pleasant. And for so many reasons, not happening .
    But friends?
    Sure. He could do that.
    “So, Billy , you were seeing a boy,” he went on.
    “A couple of boys.”
    Two boys? “Did they ever come over to the house?”
    “Sure.”
    “Either of them know about the ring?”
    “None of my friends knew.” She hesitated. “Except Fay.”
    His detective antennae quivered. “Did you show Fay the ring? Was she ever in any kind of trouble at home? With the police?”
    “I mentioned the ring to her once. I explained its past, how it had been handed down. I don’t think she believed me. And no. Fay was a good girl, like me.”
    “There are different shades of good. Everyone takes at least one