Two Weddings and a Fugitive (The Chanel Series Book 4) Read Online Free

walked into the lounge. The Opera House greeted us through the floor-to-ceiling glass. I sank into one of the two leather lounges while I admired the view.
    ‘Coffee?’ Mum stood in the kitchen but her eyes were on Harry.
    I sighed. So it was going to be like that.
    ‘Sure,’ I said, more to annoy her than anything. While she was making me coffee, she wasn’t touching Harry.
    ‘Latte or cappuccino?’ Her new coffee machine had turned up the day before.
    ‘Do you have the chocolate sprinkle?’
    ‘Of course.’
    ‘Cappuccino.’ As far as I could tell the chocolate was the only difference between the two of them.
    ‘I’ll have a latte thanks.’ Billy sat on the lounge facing me.
    I couldn’t believe he was here. In Sydney. It seemed so surreal.
    ‘What have you two kids been up to?’ Harry said as he walked into the kitchen. He reached into one of the cupboards and handed Mum the coffee mugs. She gave him a smirk as she took them.
    ‘Billy sprung me from work,’ I said.
    ‘Chanel’s going to help us on a case.’ Billy stretched back into the lounge, crossing his ankles and placing his hands behind his head.
    I jerked my eyes away from his abdominals and back to the kitchen.
    Mum paused in the act of pouring milk into a jug and gave Billy a similar look to the one Ramy had given him. Geez, even my own Mum thought I was a joke.
    ‘Can you talk about the details?’ Harry crossed back to the lounge and sat beside me.
    ‘Do you remember Kingy from Las Vegas?’
    ‘Matt King?’ Mum said. ‘The hunky reporter?’
    ‘That’s the one.’ Billy gave me a look as if he thought I was going to say something. For once, I kept my mouth shut. ‘We have reason to believe that his life may be under threat.’
    So Matt was the minor celebrity getting married. I wonder who was after him. I mean from what I knew of him, he was very good at writing expose articles on dangerous criminals. The one in the paper the week before had been the most recent in a long line.
    ‘And you want Chanel to help you do what?’
    ‘She’s going to be a part of the bridal party, help keep an eye on the bride.’
    ‘Lucky me.’ Weddings and I weren’t getting on so well at the moment.
    There was silence while we waited for Billy to say more, but apparently he had shared all the information he was going to.
    Mum swayed from the kitchen and placed our drinks on the coffee table. Then she sat close enough to Harry that she was almost on his lap.
    ‘So where’s the wedding being held?’
    ‘Hamilton Island.’
    ‘Really?’ Had I heard him right? Hamilton Island was way up there on my list of places to go.
    He nodded. ‘We fly out tomorrow.’
    ‘Oh.’ Mum clutched at Harry’s arm. ‘Hamilton Island. We should go too.’
    ‘That’s a great idea Tess.’ Harry turned to her. ‘We could have a real family holiday.’
    ‘Ahhh, hello. Working.’ I waved a hand between Billy and me.
    ‘Oh yes, but surely you’ll have some down time. I mean you can’t work twenty-four hours a day.’ Mum clapped her hands together as if it was a done deal that they were coming.
    ‘Well, when you’re working for the FBI you don’t get any down time.’ I looked over at Billy. ‘I think.’
    His lips pressed together and his eyes creased at the corners. ‘Not much down time,’ he agreed. ‘But you guys should come anyway.’
    ‘What?’ I had been watching Mum and Harry staring gooingly into each other’s eyes. Now I whipped my head around to stare at Billy. ‘Really?’
    ‘Sure.’ His smile was reassuring. ‘We can spend some quality time with them. As a family.’
    That was the last thing I had expected him to say. ‘Well if you think. I mean, you’re the boss.’
    His smile stretched wider. ‘And don’t you forget it.’
     
    ***
     
    I drained the contents of my drink and glanced at my watch.
    ‘It’s five seconds later than the last time you looked.’ Bruce shook a cocktail mixer as if it were a castanet, cracked it on