Black Is Back (Quentin Black Mystery #4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

front of me.
    I came in last, closing the door and watching as Angel stopped in front of the massive bay windows that overlooked the city, gazing out over a view of the Bay Bridge all the way to Yerba Buena Island. Oakland was visible too, at least when it was clear, like today.
    I blinked out over the same view as Angel as I approached the living room.
    Blue skies shone over the city, sunlight sparkling on the surface of the Bay. I could see sailboats out there, and the sun’s rays glinted off the windows of nearby buildings even more brilliantly than they did off the surface of the water.
    I followed Angel’s eyes around the apartment as well. Black had an odd assortment of art on the walls and nestled in corners and on shelves, much of it from Asia but also some from Europe, Africa, the Middle East and even middle America, including some very old and authentic-looking Native American sand-paintings, totems and stone carvings. His décor was modern overall, but old and new blended seamlessly, with abstract art hanging next to a tablet covered in writing that might have been early Mesopotamian.
    The mishmash suited him personally somehow, both in terms of styles and time periods, realist and mythical and abstract––but it also conveyed his wealth even more concretely than the view out the forty-plus story window did.
    I hadn’t thought to look around at the apartment or out those giant bay windows in at least a few days. The last time I remembered noticing the view had been at night, while Black and I sat on the floor eating Indian food and looking out over the lit Bay Bridge.
    Glancing down, I saw the paper containers from that Indian food feast still sitting on the floor. They stank. Wrinkling my nose, I felt a flush of real embarrassment that time. When I glanced at Nick, I saw him staring at the same pile of still-pungent but mostly dried out containers, along with the other remnants of our last few weeks on the glass coffee table and the kitchen counters and in the sink. As he looked around the floor of the living room, I saw a towel along with a pair of my underwear lying there, too.
    Using my bare foot to shove the latter under the edge of the couch, I fought with the heat that now wanted to crawl over my face and neck.
    I only glanced up when Black re-entered the room, motioning to the rest of them in that graceful way of his. He aimed the gesture towards the leather furniture.
    “Sit,” he commanded.
    No one did. They all just stared at where he stood on a step halfway to his living room, his muscular arms folded over his bare chest.
    “Are you staying?” Black said, slightly more aggressively.
    “We need Miri to get dressed.” Again, Angel spoke only to him. “Then we need her to come with us for a few hours.”
    She definitely seemed to have picked up that something weird was going on with me and Black. She spoke to him soothingly, like one might to a feral animal that had been cornered and was now snarling, threatening to bite. Her words were soft enough to make me tense all over again. She might have even picked up on that because she glanced at me next.
    “Miri,” she said, her voice still gentle. “Why don’t you go take a shower?”
    I looked at Black.
    His eyes were on me, too.
    You’d better go, he sent grudgingly. I’ve been reading them. He paused, his thoughts growing more of an edge. Who was this fucking guy? This ‘ex-client’? Angel thinks he was stalking you. Was he? Why the hell didn’t you tell me about him, Miri?
    I barely heard him.
    Stay away from Angel, I sent, sharp. Don’t read her anymore, Black.
    He blinked at me in surprise.
    Then he smiled, as if unable to help himself. It almost turned into a chuckle. Sending me a hard pulse of heat, he motioned with his head towards the back rooms.
    Take a shower, Miri. I promise not to flirt with your friend.
    That’s not funny, I sent, sharper.
    His eyes locked with mine, serious. He nodded, once.
    Okay, he sent only.
    Forcing