Free Silken Threats by Addison Fox Page B

warming her ice-cold hands.
    Violet passed over several packets of sugar, that sweet reminder of how well her friend knew her going a long way toward calming Cassidy’s nerves. “She’s finishing up the delivery on that eightieth birthday cake she was working on earlier. I told her to text when she left the restaurant where she’s dropping it off and we could either have her swing by here or come back and meet us at the office.”
    Cassidy nodded as she doctored her coffee, the mundane action doing little to calm her nerves as she watched the large men pacing a rut in the floor, before each stopped in turn to pick up their cups. It didn’t escape her notice that Max repositioned himself at the glass doorway to the lounge, his line of sight clear to Mrs. B.’s room, as he sipped his coffee.
    The move struck her for what it was—protection detail—and the streak of fear she’d tried to fight skittered up her spine.
    What had they suddenly fallen into? And what had Mrs. Beauregard gotten herself mixed up with?
    Again, more questions, round and round like an out-of-control roller coaster. Because whatever the problem was, her sweet, doddering landlady was smack in the middle of it.
    The room was empty except for the four of them and with one last glance at the closed doors, Violet launched in, her tone all business. “So what are we dealing with here?”
    Max stopped midpace and turned the full attention of his bright blue gaze on Violet, then Cassidy in turn. “You tell us.”
    Violet kept her tone level but Cassidy didn’t miss the heat that threaded underneath the steel. “We know as much as you do. Before yesterday morning we ran a quiet business and kept to ourselves. Now we’re convinced our landlady is hiding secrets and my partner’s been cleaning up thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to her work.”
    “What Captain Subtlety over here is telling you is that we have no better idea than you do.” Tucker took a seat at a chair opposite the couch, the move a clear indication of his willingness to partner on the problem. “And it pisses us off.”
    “What I can’t understand is what’s prompted this.” Cassidy took a sip of her coffee, willing the fear to subside so she could focus on the facts. “Until I walked up to the shop yesterday morning and found it broken into, there hasn’t been a single problem. No strange phone calls. No strangers in off the street. Nothing.”
    Max took the seat opposite Tucker, his tone noticeably calmer when he spoke. “Same for you, Violet?”
    She nodded before adding, “Lilah, as well. We spoke about it earlier and she said nothing seems out of the ordinary or abnormal. We’ve all just been working our tails off to build our reputation and take Elegance and Lace to the next level.”
    “What about the men Tucker chased? What made him go after them?”
    Even as Cassidy asked the question, she knew what the answer would be. The men were suspicious and immediately aware of her and Tucker the moment the elevator doors swung open.
    Cassidy still saw the men in her mind, the memory of their dark gazes and watchful eyes sending another lance of fear skittering up and down her back.
    “I didn’t like the look of them.” Tucker shrugged, but Cassidy sensed the move was more forced than casual. “Nothing more, nothing less. But when I asked them to stop and they kept on going something popped.”
    “They peeled out of the parking lot like they had hellhounds on their tails,” Max added before two-pointing his coffee cup into a nearby wastebasket.
    “I assumed muggers broke in yesterday but the suit-and-tie routine fits.” Cassidy thought about the mystery of the alarm code and realized it fit a lot better than some thug looking for a quick score.
    “How so?” Max spoke first, but his and Tucker’s gazes were both sharp.
    “The alarm never registered yesterday.”
    Cassidy saw the moment speculation turned to something else as Max’s gaze collided with