4. Michelangelo

“Where are you staying?” Penelope asked after I walked her to her brownstone following dinner.

“K19 sprung for a hotel. Unfortunately, it’s on Times Square.”

“Ah. Two miles, yet worlds away,” she said, looking up at the five-story structure I knew also had a lower level. The other thing I knew was, like the property on Fire Island, the town house had been handed down from her father’s parents. In this case, Harold had been bypassed, and it had gone directly to his daughter. It was a shame they hadn’t done that with the beachfront compound.

“Sometimes, I think it’s ridiculous to live in a place this big when it’s only me. I couldn’t give it up, though.”

“It’s where your grandmother taught you how to play poker.”

Pen chuckled and cocked her head. “How do you remember that?”

I took a step closer and cupped her cheek. “I remember everything, Butterfly.”

Her eyes were riveted on mine. “Do you want to come in?”

I looked up at the night sky, knowing going inside was a terrible idea, since if I did, I wouldn’t want to leave. “I should get going. We have an early start tomorrow.” Over dinner, I’d convinced her to fly to California the next day.

“Right.”

The other reason I wouldn’t take her up on her offer to go inside was because I wanted to contact Doc and see what K19 could find out about Hailey Watson.

Why would someone who earned her kind of money, about to marry a man worth billions, care about a piece of property off the South Shore of Long Island? Something wasn’t adding up.

“This is an interesting development,” Pen said, glancing at her phone. “My dad sent another text. It seems Hailey isn’t as anxious for us to meet as he is.” Her eyes met mine. “Is it me, or does something seem off?”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

“What should we do?”

“We should still make the trip. After we were finished in LA, I was going to suggest we head up to Montecito to meet with Doc and Merrigan and discuss our plan. Maybe if we head up there first, it’ll give you time to talk your dad into getting together anyway.”

She sighed. “Montecito is so close to Cambria.”

The town was two hours north of where we’d be and was where Quinn and her husband, Mercer, lived full-time, and where Ava and her husband, Razor, had a vacation home. I also remembered hearing Aine and her husband, Striker, may have bought a place there too.

“If you’d like, we could head up there before we return to LA. I’d like to visit as well, especially since I understand Tara and Knox are there now, too. As you know, I haven’t seen her yet.”

“The agents asked me to schedule a meeting to inform Ava, Aine, and Quinn about the forgeries, but I’m uncomfortable waiting that long. Who knows when I’d be able to get everyone to New York, and I already feel bad enough that it’ll be five days tomorrow since I’ve known.”

“Then, we’ll make a point of it. Now, let’s get you inside,” I said when it started to sprinkle. I’d heard rumbles of thunder; the last sounded closer than the first.

I walked her up the steps to the front door and waited while she punched in her code to turn off the alarm.

“Should we meet at JFK in the morning? Would that be easier?” Pen asked.

I wrapped my arm around her waist. “A car will be waiting outside tomorrow morning at six, and I’ll be in it.”

She smiled. “Thank you, Brand, for everything.”

“My pleasure,” I said, leaning in to kiss her. Unlike earlier, I limited this one to a brush of my lips. If it were anything more, I’d lose my resolve to return to my hotel. I’d dropped my bags off when I checked in. Having to stop there tomorrow to pick them up would complicate our plans.

“You’d better go before the weather gets worse,” she said when we heard another clap of thunder.

After reiterating I’d see her in the morning, I quickly made my way west, to Park Avenue, where I knew there’d be plenty of taxis I could hail. Hail. That’s how Pen’s father referred to his soon-to-be-eighth wife. Maybe. Like Pen said, something seemed off.

Rather than wait,I placed a call to Doc as soon as I was inside the cab.

“Hey, Brand. How did it go with Penelope?”

“Slow at first, but she warmed up quickly. She said she wanted to think it over, but I predict she’ll go along with it.”

I told him she and I were catching a flight to LA the next day and filled him in on the conversation Pen had had with her father.

“I agree that what you told me about Harold’s girlfriend doesn’t add up. I’ll do some digging and let you know tomorrow if I find anything. I remember Quinn talking about the place on the island. From what she’s said, it would be a tragedy if someone tore it down or even rehabbed it.”

“I’d appreciate it very much if you’d take a look. Oh, and just so you know, I haven’t told Penelope about the second part of the plan since it doesn’t involve her.”

“Roger that, Brand.”

I thanked him again and said I’d be in touch after we landed. Knowing Doc, if there was anything to dig up on Hailey Watson, he would unearth it by then.

I slept fitfully,more because I’d periodically wake up, expecting to be in a prison cell rather than a swanky hotel room. I was also nervous about oversleeping and waking up too late for Pen and me to catch the flight.

At four, I decided to stop trying to sleep any longer, showered, and packed up the remainder of the clothes and toiletries I’d purchased yesterday when I got to the city.

By the time the car service arrived outside the hotel’s entrance, I was on my third cup of coffee.

When we pulled up to the brownstone, I jumped out and saw Penelope open the front door, wheeling a small suitcase behind her.

“Let me get that for you.” I picked it up, carried it down the steps, and put it in the open trunk. “How are you this morning?” I asked once we were both in the car and on our way to the airport.

“Honestly? Exhausted. I didn’t sleep very well.”

“No?”

“I was worried I wouldn’t hear my alarm.”

I chuckled. “Same. Around four, I finally gave up and got out of bed.”

She covered her mouth when she yawned. “Will it be rude of me if I sleep on the plane?”

“Not at all since I plan to do the same thing.”

I endedup staying awake the entirety of the five-hour flight after my Butterfly rested her head on my shoulder and fell asleep within minutes of takeoff. I’d spent endless hours imagining her curled up against me, and now that she was, I couldn’t bear to miss a single minute of it.

When the pilot announced we were about to land, she opened her eyes and stretched, exposing her bare midriff. God, how I wanted to feel her naked skin against mine. As many hours as I’d spent fantasizing about just being with her, I’d spent many more imagining what it would be like to make love to her.

“You didn’t rest at all, did you?” she asked, looking up at me.

“A little,” I fibbed.

She shook her head. “I know when you’re lying, Brand.”

I chuckled. “Is that right?”

“You raise your left eyebrow just slightly. You never do otherwise.”

“I don’t?” I attempted it, but could only raise the right one.

She laughed out loud. “See?”

“I guess I’ll never get away with trying to keep secrets from you.”

The smile left her face. “I hope you never feel as though you have to.”

“What if it’s a good secret?”

She shrugged. “I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.”

While we waitedfor the rental car, I stepped to the side and called Doc.

“How was the flight?” he asked.

“Uneventful.”

“My favorite kind. Listen, I was able to do some research on Hailey Watson. She uses an alias, which isn’t unusual for someone in her profession. However, I did find one interesting piece of information. She attended the same boarding school as my daughter, Penelope, and their other three friends—the Emma Stanley Academy in Dobbs Ferry. Even more interesting is Blair, last name Dumont, was there at the same time.”

“Same age?”

“Sure enough.”

“I take it she wasn’t friends with the tribe?”

“Unlikely. They were pretty tight-knit.”

“As you said, this is an interesting development.” I remembered Pen had used those same words after getting the message from her father saying Hailey wasn’t anxious to meet her.

“I’ll suggest Penelope get in touch with her dad before we leave LA. Maybe he’ll see her if he knows she’s in town.”

“In the meantime, I’ll check with Quinn and see if she remembers Blair.”

“Good idea. I’ll do the same with Pen.”

“Hold off on that for a bit,” he responded. “It might be better to see what their mutual reaction is when they come face-to-face.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Honestly, that didn’t seem fair to Pen. I wouldn’t want to be blindsided that way, although my unannounced visit to the gallery yesterday was no different.

“What’s the plan?” she asked when I returned.

“I think you should contact your father, let him know you’re here, and see if we can finagle a get-together.”

“Finagle? That’s an interesting word choice.”

I decided to go against Doc’s suggestion. “Does the name Blair Dumont mean anything to you?”

Her eyes opened wide. “Why?”

“She and Hailey Watson are one and the same.”

“Are you serious?”

“Doc was able to run a background check on her. Apparently, she was at boarding school at the same time you were.”

“More than that, she was Tara’s roommate for about two weeks.”

“Why only two weeks?”

“Tara got her father, err…your father too, to spring for a private room so she wouldn’t have to share with her. Blair was…unpleasant.”

“How so?”

“The reality of boarding school is that most students are there because their absentee parents sent them. Others, because they got in some kind of trouble. Blair was both, and honestly, she had anger issues. She was such a bitch from the moment we met her until the day we graduated.” Pen cocked her head. “Now that I think about it, she was originally supposed to be my roommate. I can’t remember how she ended up with Tara instead. Either way, we were both glad to have dodged that bullet.”

“I have to ask…”

“If it’s personal?”

I nodded.

“Maybe, although I don’t know why it would be against me specifically, other than the fact my dad may have been an easy mark.”

“We should try harder to arrange a meeting,” I suggested.

“I’ll call him as soon as we take care of the car.”

“Go ahead. I’ll wait in the queue.”

Penelope stepped to the side like I had. I watched from afar, not so much to decipher how the conversation went but, more, just to look at her. As a teenager, she’d been gorgeous. With age came beauty. Simply put, my Butterfly was breathtaking. When she smiled, my heart felt as though it would beat out of my chest. I’d painted countless portraits of her from memory while I was in prison. In each one, her smile looked exactly as it did now.

“Success,” she announced, bounding back over to me. “They’re having dinner at Musso and Frank’s tonight. I told him we already made plans, but we’d meet them there for an after-dinner drink.”

“Do you think he’ll forewarn her?”

Pen shook her head. “He suggested it would be best to keep it a surprise.”

My grin matched hers. “Perfect.”