Love Under Three Titans Read Online Free PDF Page B

himself not completely dense, the detective picked up the check and pocketed it without even looking at it.
    “Mr. Clarence, you have yourself a private investigator. All that remains is for you to tell me who it is you want me to…investigate.”
    Clarence sat back, making room for the waiter to deliver his pot of tea. The service at this particular bistro was what he’d come to think of as typical New York—busy, efficient, and silent.
    Once they were alone again, Conrad poured his tea, giving the task his utmost attention. A quick glance at the man across from him failed to reveal whether or not he understood that, by his mannerism, Conrad was insulting him.
    He mentally sighed. The best thing he could do, he supposed, was just deal with these people as quickly as possible and then be certain to shower afterwards.
    “His name is Richard Benedict. I’ve no idea if he has a middle name or not. He has two brothers—triplets, they are—but I believe that it’s Richard who is the brains of the lot. They used to have business headquarters here in New York but have recently gone back to Texas.” Conrad thought it very likely they found the challenge of trying to do business in as urbane a metropolis as New York too complex for them.
    “I see.”
    “Is there a problem?” Conrad couldn’t be certain whether or not the man had blinked.
    “No problem. I’ve heard of the Benedicts of Central Texas, of course. They’re quite well known, even here in New York City, and even by men such as myself.”
    “Well then, you shouldn’t need a great deal of time to complete your assignment. Should you?”
    For the first time during their encounter the man across from him smiled, and Conrad had to suppress the urge to shiver with distaste. He decided then and there that he preferred the man’s stone-cold visage to his smile.
    “No, you’ll be hearing from me very soon, Mr. Clarence .”
    He’d said his name as if doubting the veracity of it. Two could play that game, and Conrad was feeling irate enough that he returned the gesture with an air of noblesse oblige that his dear, recently departed grandmother would have found more than appropriate.
    “Excellent, Mr. Talbot . I look forward to receiving your full report, at your earliest convenience.”
     
    * * * *
     
     
    “I can’t believe it’s in such immaculate shape!” Maggie shook her head in wonder as they returned to the front parlor after touring the enormous building. She’d been expecting something far different than this stately three-story sprawling Victorian. “You said it’s been vacant for twenty years?”
    Jake Kendall grinned, and Maggie could see immediately what had attracted her niece to the man in the first place. His smile lit up his eyes so that they positively sparkled. He wore the expression of a young boy hatching the most devilish of plans. His brother Adam tended toward the dark, silent type, his expression one of patient contemplation. Adam, she’d found, didn’t smile as often as his brother. Yet when he did, that smile blossomed slow and sweet and was lined with promises of tenderness.
    Maggie figured Ginny Rose was definitely getting the best of all possible combinations with the two Kendalls who’d wooed and won her heart.
    Jake turned his gaze back to the parlor. He wandered over to the fireplace and laid his hand on the mantel. Maggie read respect for the building in his every movement. “The house was built in 1917 to serve as a convalescent home for soldiers returning from the war over in Europe.” Jake looked around, and his expression turned as serious as she’d ever seen it. “They weren’t just Texans who came here, then, to recuperate. Some of the soldiers had been gassed—they did that in the first war. The dryer Texas air, compared to, say, the northeastern part of the nation, made it easier for those men to breathe.” He shook his head. “The home was closed in 1930 and then opened again when the guns flared back