Midnight Vengeance Read Online Free Page A

anyone who said so.
    Lauren had never seen anyone respond the way he did to fine art and classical music. As if they had been designed precisely for him. He understood and reacted to art instinctively, in a way no education, however advanced, could teach.
    And though not an untoward word had been spoken, though they barely ever touched beyond a handshake, Jacko had somehow become part of her life, too.
    Well, she was going to stick with Jacko because sticking around Suzanne was dangerous. At any moment Suzanne could spill the beans over who had created the artwork on the walls and there would be a fuss, the spotlight of attention would turn to her and blood would be spilled. Hers.
    Jacko could be counted on not to say anything, simply because she’d asked him not to. Jacko wasn’t the kind of guy to accidentally spill anything.
    She swerved and walked straight to him, happy to see a friendly face.
    Well...friendly. That might be going a bit far. He wasn’t
unfriendly
around her. He was just stiff and formal. But she liked him in spite of himself and he made her feel safe.
    No one would touch her—could touch her—while Jacko Jackman was around. He didn’t do it deliberately but there was a definite
don’t mess with me
vibe around Jacko that was like a protective force field. Lauren recognized that she liked having him around partly because she relaxed in his presence. No need to be tense or worry about the outside world. He did that for her.
    As she walked toward him, she could see white all around his dark eyes. She smiled at him, placed a hand on his big arm.
    “Hi, Jacko.”
    He swallowed. “Ma’am.”
    Lauren rolled her eyes. Being with Jacko was always interesting. He was fun to tease, like pulling the tail of a dangerous tiger you knew wouldn’t bite. “
Lauren
, Jacko. Not ma’am. I’ve told you a thousand times. Unless you want me to call you sir. Do you want me to call you
sir?
”
    “No, ma’am.”
    She stepped closer and his eyes opened even wider. “Jacko, how long have we known each other?”
    “Four months, three days and seven hours. Ma’am.”
    Wow. That was actually...true. She had to think about it for a minute but he was right. “So don’t you think you could bring yourself to call me
Lauren?
Considering the fact that we’ve known each other four months, three days and seven hours?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Lauren.”
    “Lauren. Ma’am.”
    She sighed again and looked around the room. No one was paying her any attention at all, which was precisely what she wanted. Nobody was paying much attention to what was on the walls, either, which was cool. Everyone was completely taken up with the hot hors d’oeuvres making the rounds on platters and the excellent champagne an army of servers was pouring into glasses. Allegra’s music made for a gorgeous backdrop to the sounds of happy people drinking and eating and gossiping.
    She hadn’t really had a chance to see her work up on the walls. The work was hers but Suzanne had framed and hung the drawings and watercolors, and Suzanne had a wonderful eye for color and balance. Now that everyone was eating, drinking or listening to Allegra would be a good time to look at what was on those walls.
    She leaned close to Jacko and was surprised to find that he smelled really good. It wasn’t something as overt as a cologne. It didn’t have alcohol overnotes. So it must be soap. Citrusy and fresh. And his own smell. Mmm.
    “Jacko, will you walk around with me while I look at the drawings? I haven’t had a chance to see them framed and hung.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” he said and stuck his elbow out at an odd angle. She stared at it—was he going for a gun under his jacket?—and after a long moment realized he was offering her his arm.
    Such an old-fashioned gesture from such a rough man, she hadn’t even recognized it at first.
    She took it and she relaxed another infinitesimal amount. There was just something so incredibly reassuring about