Free The Family Jewels by Christine Bell

hard think and figure out where to go from here. At least the jewelry she’d gotten would pay the rent and get Clarissa home. That was something.
    She’d just gotten up to make herself a cup of tea when the cell phone she’d left charging before she’d gone out began to ring. Her heart ramped up again as she stared at it from across the room.
    Midnight calls only happened for three reasons. Booty, death or trouble. She knew it wasn’t the first and prayed it wasn’t the middle as she crossed the room to scoop up her mobile. She didn’t recognize the number, and she blew out a relieved sigh. At least it wasn’t the hospital. Her thumb hesitated over the green button for a long moment before the phone went silent.
    They’d hung up. Wrong number, maybe?
    She stared at the phone like it was a nest full of vipers, waiting to strike, but it stayed quiet in her hand. Just as her heartbeat leveled off, it chimed in her hand and a text message scrolled across the screen.
    Meet me at the restaurant. Thirty minutes, or I come to your apartment. Don’t fuck with me, Sadie Leighton. My patience is wearing thin.
    Shit and double shit.
    She glanced at her watch and leaned forward to lay her head against the wall with a groan. There was no way of knowing if he was bluffing about coming to her apartment or if he even had her address, but the fact that he knew her real last name and that he’d known she lived in an apartment at all wasn’t filling her with hope. The last thing she wanted was to deal with him right now. Her legs were still trembling from the near clusterfuck of the past two hours, but what choice did she have? Better to meet him in public and hope for the best than have him here.
    She changed into a pair of jeans and a blouse and stuffed her hair into her waitress wig before calling a cab. If she needed to make a run for it, she was better off not being tied to a vehicle.
    By the time she sat down at Roberto’s bar, she was prepared for the worst and mentally penning an apology to Clarissa for letting her down. Jake wasn’t even going to show. There were probably half a dozen uniformed officers surrounding the place. She’d just have to hope none of them had twitchy fingers.
    "Hey there, can I buy you a drink?" A youngish blond guy sat in the stool next to her and offered her his hand. "The name is Dennis."
    “Look, Dennis. I appreciate the offer but unfortunately, I-"
    "Can't accept your drink," a familiar, silky brogue finished over her shoulder. "Because she's with me. Have a great night, Dennis."
    She squeezed her eyes closed and dropped her chin to her chest, weak with relief. Okay, so no cops. Not yet, at least. She spun her leather stool around to face her nemesis.
    "Are you going to have me arrested?" she asked, trying to keep the tremor from her voice. She'd spent a lifetime playing a tough guy game, and hadn't cracked yet, so she wasn't about to start now. It was only the thought of Clarissa alone at the hospital that made her start to shake again.
    His hooded gaze was thoughtful, but surprisingly less angry than she'd expected, which wasn’t as comforting as it could have been. Maybe he was loony. Why else would he not be mad that a woman had kneed him right in the balls before running away like that? Prison was bad. Getting murdered by a psychopath was way worse.
    She eyed the door, but he shook his head once.
    "Don't even think about it." The warning in his voice had her sinking back into her seat with a sigh of resignation. It was the end of the road, and now all that remained was to find out her punishment.
    "You want that drink, Countess? No reason we can't keep it civil."
    She shrugged and when Petra, the bartender, came over, Sadie said a quick hello and ordered a Manhattan on the rocks. Jake held up two fingers, and Petra smiled before flitting off to make their drinks, but not before she turned, wide-eyed, and bit her knuckle in Sadie's direction.
    If she only knew.
    "Sadie Leighton, yeah? Is