LITMIR.BIZ

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an heirloom necklace from the Blackstone Rose diamonds, though I’m not sure if that’s for public consumption just yet.”

      “I can’t believe it! What’s he like? Tell me everything!”

      “Nice.” At least, she had thought so, thought they clicked, but that was now coloured by the conversation she’d overheard. “Really nice.”

      “You don’t sound convinced,” her mother said dubiously.

      “Oh, I am, it’s just that Quinn was there and they were talking business.”

      The doorbell rang downstairs and Sonya’s face fell. “Not now.” She grimaced at Dani, obviously wanting to hear more about her nephew. “That’ll be Ryan.”

      “Don’t tell him about Matt,” Dani whispered.

      Ryan looked pleased to see her and they spent a couple of minutes discussing the wedding plans. She was thrilled to see how utterly happy he looked. He and Jessica were expecting twins in a few months. Jessica was blooming, Ryan told her, but worried she’d already outgrown her wedding dress.

      “What brings you to Sydney?” Ryan asked.

      “I needed special shoes for my dress,” she explained.

      He rolled his eyes at Sonya. “God help us….”

      Dani’s fashion sense for these big occasions was legendary. “Don’t be mean,” she grumbled. “I’ve gone to a lot of trouble for this wedding. Keeping it quiet has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Moving into Quinn’s house, his bedroom, exploring his body, welcoming his touch … and all just to keep their wedding under wraps.

      Dani smiled, suddenly feeling quite kindly disposed to Ryan Blackstone. “Quinn was coming down for a funeral so I tagged along.”

      Ryan’s brows rose. “Sonya told me you’re doing a job for him. I was surprised, given your history.”

      She shrugged away a pang of hurt. “Client’s request.”

      “Jessica knows Quinn slightly, likes him, I think.” His face lapsed into a smile she had never seen on him before. “Still, she likes everyone these days.”

      Dani’s eyes nearly misted over as she witnessed Ryan’s happiness. He’d always been a troubled soul. His brother’s abduction and mother’s suicide were enough of a burden. Add to that the offhand way Howard treated both him and Kimberley, consistently choosing Ric Perrini over Ryan when it came to Blackstone Diamonds. She crossed her fingers under the table and silently wished Ryan all the happiness in the world.

      “Who died?” Ryan selected an olive and a slice of cheese from the table. “Quinn’s funeral?”

      “Jake Vance’s mother.”

      “I’d heard Everard and Vance were chummy. Has Quinn said anything about Matt Hammond sniffing around?”

      Dani shook her head, not looking at Sonya.

      “Apparently Hammond was in town last week seeing Vance. The rumour doing the rounds is that Hammond and Vance are out to set up a corporate takeover of Blackstone. Seems Matt’s been polling all the shareholders for support.”

      Sonya opened her mouth. Dani shot her foot out and connected with her mother’s ankle. What good would it do for him to know Matt had been in Port talking business with Quinn, too? He’d turned him down.

      Sonya prudently said nothing, and she and Ryan dropped Dani at the bus stop for the central city and headed off to their real estate appointment. But even the prospect of shoe shopping did little to quell a growing disquiet. Should she warn the Blackstones about the Jake-Matt-Quinn connection? Was she being disloyal to the family who had provided for her all her life?

      She let herself in to Quinn’s apartment using the key he had given her. Her feet ached and all she could think about was his large Japanese bath, so it was an unwelcome surprise when the sound of loud voices greeted her.

      Four people stood around the island in Quinn’s kitchen. A pretty woman with long, tied-back greying hair, looked up first. A tall, lean man stood beside her with one arm draped loosely around her shoulders. Quinn, too, had his arm around someone’s shoulders. Someone beautiful, in a lilac suit, with a chic blond bob and striking eyes.

      Dani couldn’t really take in much more than that.

      But then Quinn’s eyes beat a path to her face and she felt the energy as if he’d shone an intense spotlight onto her.

      “I—I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I didn’t mean to intrude.” God, what must they think? She had his key. “I thought you’d still be out.”

      Then Quinn dropped his arm from the blonde’s shoulders and walked toward her. His eyes shone as he drew her into the circle. There was no mistaking the warmth in his voice as he said, “This is Dani,” as if he’d been waiting for her to come, dying to introduce her.

      As it turned out, this was much better than her anticipated bath. She shook hands with his parents, Gwen and Joseph, and with Lucy, his foster sister, who had the most beautiful, sad violet eyes.

      They were ribald and rowdy, and so close, they finished one another’s sentences. It was incredible to see Quinn in this light. Outside of the bedroom, his reserve set him apart from everyone; he seemed untouchable. His parents were nothing like that, and when he was with them, neither was he. There was so much warmth, humour and concern for one another in this kitchen. She loved her mother dearly but she’d never stood around a kitchen counter with her family members, drinking, joking and sharing memories.

      Yes, it was a sad day for the Everards, but as often happens with funerals, the relief of getting through it sometimes manifests itself in a need to drink. “Especially when you’re Irish!” Joseph intoned, holding out his glass for a top-up, while Quinn shook his head at her, mouthing, “He’s not Irish.”

      Dani thought back to the tensions that had accompanied Howard’s funeral; the reserve, the constant media crush, everyone watching one another to make sure they didn’t fall apart, or wondering who knew what about Howard’s eventful life.

      That all seemed a million miles away. Corporate takeovers, too, seemed a million miles away. She swapped blueberry muffin recipes with Gwen, had an eye-popping dance with Joseph to a Leonard Cohen song, and Lucy confided she had discovered Dani’s knickers under the couch.

      “Must be his other girlfriend,” Dani told her. “I never wear them.”

      “I don’t think so.” Lucy laughed. “Quinn never invites a woman to stay over here.”

      Everyone left a couple of hours later and Quinn ordered in pasta, which they ate in his tub. She lay across from him as he struggled to keep his eyes open, and cautioned herself to guard her heart. Her expectations of people were too high. A throwaway remark by Lucy, the warmth in his eyes when she crashed their party … there was danger in allowing herself to hope she could ever be admitted to the circle of love she had just glimpsed.

      Her fingers swirled the water in front of her, making a whirlpool, and Dani recognised she was in an uncontrolled spiral. She was falling in love, and not only with Quinn, but with the idea of his family, too.

      Quinn came into his living room to see Dani standing in front of the window looking out at Sydney’s skyline, her bag by her feet.

      Yes, he thought. He’d wanted her here, to see what she looked like, see if she’d fit. And if that hadn’t prompted him to take a swan dive off the balcony, then he was going to try her out on his parents. Only they had preempted that by inviting themselves over last night.

      And hadn’t that gone well?

      The polite tension of the past few days in Port Douglas had made him miserable. Being relegated from lover to boss shouldn’t have bothered a man who, since Laura’s death, hadn’t considered forever. At thirty-four years old, Quinn had never wondered till now whether he was missing out

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