Chapter 1

      “You hid a ruby in your shoe?”

      If he weren’t increasingly irritated about that fact, Detective Reed Graystone would have found it amusing. Alluring. And strangely appealing. Especially since the woman currently storing a priceless gem in her pink Crocs was one of the most fascinating people he’d ever met.

      Lilah Castle shrugged before slipping her foot back into her now-empty shoe. “I was going for diamonds but sometimes a gal’s gotta settle.”

      “I don’t believe this.” Reed fought the urge to tug at the ends of his hair and watched—oddly helpless—as she picked up the bloodred stone and set it on her gleaming stainless-steel kitchen counter.

      The ruby was roughly the size of a large summer strawberry. Red facets caught the light, the gem’s rich depths reflecting color back in a vivid display of nature’s power. A vibrant crimson reflected from the shiny surface of the counter, only adding to the ethereal glow of the piece.

      Although large for a gemstone, the ruby and its two mates were, relatively speaking, small. They could be easily hidden in any number of places. Lilah had obviously suffered minimal discomfort with this one shoved in the toe of her shoe.

      With a sharp glance around her industrial kitchen, he acknowledged she could have hidden it anywhere with no one the wiser. Sewn into the seam of her purse by her business partner, the seamstress. Effectively dropped into a file cabinet by her other partner, the wedding planner. She could have even left it in the bottom of the series of spatula containers that lined the wall of her kitchen and no one would know.

      Who knew a wedding business had so many places to hide the precious and the priceless? Then again, who knew that these particular stones had lain in the floor of an old Dallas warehouse for nearly fifty years?

      Half a freaking century.

      Reed mentally shook his head at the improbability of that. Gemstones of immeasurable value and purported to hold a curse, hidden away in an old industrial concrete floor. Of course, improbable didn’t mean impossible.

      Which brought them to today.

      This case had surprisingly few answers so far for the three frightened yet determined proprietors—Lilah Castle and her two partners, Cassidy Tate and Violet Richardson.

      Reed hated complications. He’d developed the distaste early—his childhood so full of them he’d lost count—and had determined he would avoid them like the proverbial plague of locusts when he grew up.

      So how the hell was he caught up in the middle of a major mystery revolving around jewels gifted to the British Crown during World War Two and subsequently buried in the concrete floor of a Dallas warehouse?

      It had been just over a week since Elegance and Lace had been first broken into. Five days since they’d discovered the rubies that the thieves had been after. Three since the architect, Tucker Buchanan, had saved his now-fiancée, Cassidy, from her deranged ex.

      And two since Reed had glued himself to Lilah Castle.

      Things had grown far more complicated than he ever could have imagined.

      “You do realize you can’t keep them. This one or the ones your girlfriends have stored in safe-deposit boxes. Which, I might add, is where this one should be, too.”

      “I know.” She shoved her hair behind her ear, a long pink streak twining through the blond like an invitation to touch what he instinctively knew would be silky-soft strands.

      Pushing away the fanciful thoughts, his voice was a bit harder than he intended. “You sure?”

      “Quite.”

      “Because every time I look at you looking at that rock, I see stars in your eyes.”

      “It is a priceless ruby.”

      “Not nearly as priceless as your life.” As a loud shout drifted toward the kitchen, he gestured in the direction of the sounds coming from the other half of Lilah’s business, walled off from the kitchen to meet board of health codes. “All of your lives.”

      “Which is why, until we figure out who’s behind this, we need to keep them safe.”

      A small snort escaped his lips before he reached for a plate of chocolate-covered madeleines she had set out on the counter. He’d made no secret what he thought of their plan to keep the rubies hidden, but Reed also knew he needed to maintain the proper balance between cajoling and flat-out directing.

      Their landlady owned the rubies free and clear and had put them in the care of the women for safe-keeping. Since they were hers to do with as she wished, he had no power to take the gems.

      So instead, he’d stuck close, watching and waiting while the women tried to put their business back to rights and get on with their lives.

      They might wish the problem had corrected itself but he knew whomever had struck, desperate to have the gems, was sure to have another go at it.

      Lilah gave him the eye as he reached for another of her delicious cookies, the calculation clear in those brown depths. “You don’t like what we’re doing?”

      “Hell no.” Reed eyed the madeleines, considered a third before he shoved a hand into his pocket. “The people who want those jewels mean business. And they’re not going to let anyone stand in their way.”

      “The rubies give us leverage.”

      “There is no leverage when you’re dead, Cupcake.”

      * * *

      Lilah waited for something to register—some fear at the deep, masculine voice that spoke at her, full of righteous frustration—but all she could manage was a delicious little shiver.

      Despite the danger inherent in their situation and the threat that hung over them all, she still felt safe. Protected. And, if she were honest, she also felt that sly, subtle shiver of attraction that fired the blood every time she looked into those haunting gray eyes fringed by thick, dark lashes.

      All because of the man standing opposite her.

      Reed.