Passionate Investigations (3 page)

Frankly Zahra had always believed they kept Rob simply
because they couldn’t afford for him to work with anyone else. He was that
good. Despite that and his devil-may-care attitude, she’d always known he was
never disrespectful toward witches, and never would cross the line if it weren’t
begged for. When it mattered, and where it counted, he was truly a gentleman.

Reaching out, she stroked her fingers along his cheek, her
thanks silent and heartfelt.

“Go,” he said roughly, his voice thick.

“Thank you,” she replied softly.

Before they both broke down and did something they might
regret, she turned and half ran back up the garden toward her father’s study.
Pausing at the patio with her hands on the door, she turned and scanned the
garden.

Neither Miles nor his brunette lover was in sight. Looking
carefully, she could just make out the shadow she assumed was Rob, near where
they had hidden deep behind the trees. A tiny smile hitched up at the corner of
her mouth, though she dared not wave in case it was someone else stealing away
some time in the truly beautiful gardens.

Opening the French doors, she reentered the house once
again, the loud sounds of the party hitting her as she closed the doors behind
her. Composing herself, she mentally ran through the inevitable discussion she
would have later that evening with Miles.

A part of her truly mourned the relationship, but another
part secretly couldn’t help but wonder what might lie in store for her and Rob.

Six months later

Zahra glanced guiltily over her shoulder to check she hadn’t
been discovered as she stepped out of her low-heeled black pumps. She craved
getting out of the matching black pants and black silk shirt—the funeral outfit
she had hastily bought the previous afternoon—but she hadn’t thought to bring a
change of clothes with her.

She hadn’t thought of so many things. Never in her wildest
dreams would she imagine she’d have to prepare for Tanya’s funeral. It hadn’t
even been a remote possibility in her mind.

The coast clear, Zahra swallowed the sobs that threatened to
wash over her and she sprinted full tilt out into the sanctuary of the garden
once again. Unable to control herself any longer, she cried, letting the tears
fall unreservedly down her cheeks as she ran and ran until she could only cling
to the nearest tree and unleash all her bottled emotions.

Tanya and she had never been the storybook, perfect sisters.
But they had loved one another, shared a wonderful childhood and supported each
other wherever possible. Zahra could hardly believe her sister was dead.
Nothing made sense, nothing at all in the last six months.

Wincing at where her thoughts had turned for seemingly the
millionth time, Zahra pulled a handkerchief from the pocket of her pants.
Calming herself down, she tried to focus on anything except her thoughts of
Rob.

“You are such a fool,” she spoke softly to herself. “How you
can—” Breaking off as she heard someone approach, Zahra looked up, completely
stunned to see the dark form of Rob coming slowly toward her.

Shocked, she could only stare at him until her eyes
narrowed.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked.

Although her tone was angry, she was far more annoyed with
the leap of her heart than his trespassing. Somehow he managed to read something
in her eyes, for he stared somberly at her instead of flinching or turning
around and leaving as a part of her had hoped.

“I’m sorry for the pain you must be feeling,” he said,
sounding genuinely respectful.

Zahra’s lower lip trembled, but she refused to give in to
the strong desire to simply fall into his arms.

“Thank you,” she replied cordially. “If that’s all…”

The corner of Rob’s mouth tilted up into a wicked grin.
Zahra had to remind herself of the two weeks she’d tried and tried to get into
contact with him, the embarrassing number of messages she had left. She refused
to join him in his smile.

“I know I deserve every imaginable torture you’re evidently
thinking of,” he assured her. “And I know you should throw me out on my ear
right now. But will you listen to me?”

Zahra pressed her lips together and gave the tiniest of
nods, not willing to let herself speak for fear she’d further humiliate
herself. Rob waved a hand at the lush grass beneath the tree, indicating
silently they should sit. After a moment’s thought she sat cross-legged on the
grass. Used to working in any number of gardens the potential for stains didn’t
bother her, particularly since she frequently had dirt in her cuticles no
matter how vigorously she scrubbed her hands.

Mess had never bothered her—she wasn’t going to let it start
now.

“When I was…well, demoted, I should have returned your
calls,” he started, seeming to search for the right words. “I went on a bender
to start with, I drank more alcohol than any sane wizard could possibly hold.
The hangover alone was more than enough of a fitting punishment. After that,
however, I should have reached out to the few friends I had remaining, yourself
included. Instead I tried to bury myself. I pushed you and everyone else far
away. I want to sincerely apologize for that.”

Zahra nodded stiffly. Inside, she craved to wrap her arms
around him and assure him she forgave him. Pain held her back. Feeling rejected
as a witch was bad enough, but she had honestly believed she and Rob also had a
friendship, sexual chemistry aside. The loss of that belief had caused more
grief than even the loss of the potential relationship she felt had been
started six months earlier.

“It was wrong of me,” he continued. “I realized that months
ago. But time had passed, and so many words had been said by then—not just
between you and me, but between your father, the company, Tanya and me. I didn’t
feel as if I had the right to approach you, particularly not if it would drive
a wedge between you and your family.”

Zahra thought about that for a moment. She still had a few
questions, but before she decided to try to rebuild their friendship one thing
burned inside her more than the rest.

“What’s changed? Why now, today of all days?”

For a long minute Rob merely stared at her, seeming once
again to try to read something in her mind or her gaze. The intent, hungry way
he looked at her seared through her blood. The look itself was not inherently
sexual, but nevertheless she felt her body reacting. Her nipples tightened, her
pussy grew slick with the yearning to be filled by him.

Zahra wondered if she’d ever learn.

“Tell me, sunshine,” Rob finally spoke, the tender way he
spoke the familiar pet name striking something deep within her soul. “Do you
truly believe Tanya’s death was an accident?”

Zahra stared at him, dumbfounded.

The moment the words were out of Rob’s mouth he could have
kicked his own ass. The shock in those warm blue eyes was undeniable, the pain
as clear as the sun slowly setting on the horizon.

Way to go
, he thought wryly.
That’s sure to
impress the witch, why not whack her between the eyes with a baseball bat while
you’re at it.

For months now he’d been struggling to come up with a way to
rebuild the bridge he’d so carelessly burned between himself and Zahra. The
petite, curvy witch had bedazzled and ensnared him from the moment of their
first meeting. Rob had spent far more nights than he cared to consider
fantasizing about her and the million-and-one things he wanted to do to her,
with her and for her.

Those straw-blonde curls along could drive him wild, the
sassy winks from those perfect blue eyes and the way her body moved with such
unconscious grace, each lush curve feminine in the extreme had him hard as hell
every single time. The single kiss they had shared still had him close to
coming in his pants whenever he recalled it vividly. The thought of how she
could work those full, pouting lips and the skill inherent in those hands—hands
she cupped, stroked and tended to every plant imaginable—had him weak in the
knees.

Secretly, he’d watched her work a time or two in the garden,
bringing back to life even the most callously treated plant. A man couldn’t
help but wonder what
else
she might be able to resurrect with that magic
and skill.

It was enough to drive him insane.

And like a bungling schoolboy, he’d blurted something like
that out when she was at her most venerable.

“What the hell do you mean? Rob, how could you possibly—”

Desperate to make amends for his idiocy, Rob pressed two
fingers to those full lips. The instant frisson that sang between them was
undeniable and spoke clearly for him. Their chemistry was still electric,
potent and barely simmering beneath the surface, despite his unthinking
behavior a few months ago and regardless of Zahra’s genuine and understandably
anger right now.

“All those months ago,” he spoke quickly, needing to explain
himself, “when the allegations against me were first made, I told
you—truthfully—that it was a load of bull. I have never betrayed our people,
never sold information to the detriment of the Council or the Tribunal. Nor
have I ever knowingly assisted
anyone
with treason or shared secrets of
any kind.”

“I know,” Zahra replied, her blue gaze clearly puzzled. “I
believed you then and I still believe you now.”

Heat suffused through his chest. Even though he had been
condemned of the traitorous charges, regardless of the fact they’d later been
dismissed due to lack of supporting evidence, the vast majority of witches and
wizards believed him guilty by association.

Rob knew he had precious few friends remaining, even less so
after his self-destructive actions in the weeks and months following his trial.
The sure knowledge Zahra counted herself amongst his believers meant more than
he could ever express. She might be angry at him—and rightfully so—she might be
sick with grief over the tragic loss of her sister, but she didn’t believe him
a traitor.

It was a place to start rebuilding what they could have had
months ago if his head hadn’t been stuck up his ass.

“You have no idea how much that means to me, sunshine,” he
confessed.

Instantly the guards were back up in her eyes and he plowed
ahead before she could cut him off at the knees again.

“As I’m sure you can guess after the trial before the
Tribunal my name was mud. Your father and Tanya in particular seemed positive I’d
scraped out of trouble and there had been a tragic miscarriage of justice. It’s
ironic now to think I was convinced your sister had framed me, set me up and
then got away with treason herself. I fell into a well of self-pity and only a
very good friend literally beating my door down to haul my sorry ass back out
into the land of the living once more managed to save me.”

Zahra no longer tried to speak over him, instead she
appeared to be listening intently.

“I started doing some contract work for an independent
consultancy. It was still investigative work, though nickel-and-dime stuff to
be honest, just while I got myself back on my feet. Once I was coherent enough
and working properly it was about eight weeks ago and—I believed at least—too
late. I tried to call you once back then, but…well…” Rob trailed off. He didn’t
blame Zahra in the least for not returning his call. He could hardly believe
the slightly sheepish look she gave him.

“I was so mad,” she said in a low voice. “I deleted the
message and said some very choice words at the machine. I’m sorry I—”

“No, no don’t, Zahra,” he insisted, cutting her off. “I can’t
and don’t hold that against you at all. I understand perfectly, as I did back
then. I won’t lie and say a part of me didn’t hope you’d come around to shout,
cuss or even throw things at me. I’d have welcomed any contact from you at all,
but I decided the best way to try and start again was to clear my name. No
witch deserves to live under a cloud like the one hovering over me.”

“And so you finally began to Investigate,” she finished.

Rob nodded, pleased she was thinking logically and
rationally, no longer blinded by either anger or grief.

“Exactly. I figured if I could clear my name, work out who
had framed me and set these wheels in motion I would not only mend my broken
reputation, but hopefully also be able to reconnect with you.”

“Okay,” Zahra agreed with another small frown. “But how does
this relate to Tanya? You said she might have been murdered. The Enforcers
insisted the car crash was an accident.”

“My investigation in the last eight weeks had pretty much
been going nowhere fast,” he explained. “Understandably, no one at the company
would give me the time of day, let alone return my calls. No matter which
markers I tried to call in there was nothing but a brick wall of silence over
there. Slowly I began to form a new network of connections. I knew it would
take time—far more than I had initially assumed—but I was positive with enough
determination I would be able to breach it and start getting answers.”

“So who did you get in contact with?” she asked, seeming
hooked on the story.

“No one, it was someone who finally contacted me,” Rob
replied, bemused despite the seriousness of the situation. He held on to the
name for one more second, loving the deeply curious look to Zahra’s gaze, he
relished the attention far more than was sensible.

“Your sister called me, Thursday last week.”

“Tanya?” Zahra replied, clearly stunned. It took only a
moment for her brain to latch on to the other piece of information he had given
her. “Thursday? Did you say she called you on
Thursday
?”

“Yep. She told me she’d heard I was searching for answers
and she wanted to meet and talk. It surprised me, as well. It struck me as a
complete about-face on her behalf. After all, she’d been the one to initially
lay the charges.”

“Did you speak with her?” Rob heard the decided wobble in
Zahra’s voice and he couldn’t blame her in the least.

A thin sheen of tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but
she somehow held them in.

Moving closer to her, he took one of her small, delicate,
pale hands in his. Her fingers closed around his, looking slender and tiny
compared to his much larger, thicker digits and palm.

“No, sunshine, I only left a message. I told her I would
happily meet her as long as we could share information. I told her to get back
to me, that she should suggest a time and place that suited her and I would be
there. She sent me an email from work the following morning, clearly paranoid
and not wanting to be caught speaking on the phone to me.”

Rob paused, let Zahra gulp another breath. When she nodded
for him to continue, he did so.

“She said she no longer believed I was responsible for the
leak, but she needed help proving her new conclusions. She wanted to meet
Friday night at a human bar, on the seedier side of Chicago where there was no
chance we’d be followed or discovered. I waited at that bar until five Saturday
morning, when it closed and I was practically thrown out. I didn’t know it at
the time, but it’s obvious why she never turned up.”

“The Enforcers told us she crashed her car a bit after nine
on Friday evening.”

“I need to know, Zahra, did Tanya give you any indication
she had discovered new evidence? That she had a new theory on who leaked that
information?”