Lucky Break Read Online Free PDF Page A

arm, sloshing a bit of my Champagne.   After counting to ten, twice, I gave him my full attention.
    Even though spit-and-polished in a slim-cut dark suit and Hermès tie, his sandy hair cut and combed, even his recalcitrant cowlick bending to propriety, he looked a little ragged around the edges.   His blue eyes dark, his smile absent, a frown puckering the skin between his eyes, he looked at me as a friend, which doused that warmth I’d been enjoying.
    This was personal.
    Brandy, my assistant and his girl, squeezed his arm.   Her eyes big as saucers, she remained mute.   Not good.
    As I disengaged from my chef, handing him my glass of Champagne, I gave him a reassuring smile.   This was his party, his time to shine, and whatever it was Romeo was dragging me into, I’d keep it to myself.
    Yeah, I’m a dreamer.
    Weaving through the crowd, I noticed security was guarding the exits.   At this point, I doubted anyone wanted to leave as the party was just getting started, so the fact that they couldn’t hadn’t yet caused any alarm.  
    “Lucky.   Come on.”   Romeo, one hand on the kitchen door, motioned to me with the other.  
    I joined him.   “What’s going on?”  
    “You are not going to like this.”
    “You always say that.” I followed him into the kitchen.
    Two steps inside, I stopped in my tracks.   “And you’re always right.”
      Holt Box lay on the floor, a red stain spreading across his chest, soaking his chef’s whites.   His face, slack.   His eyes, sightless.   His skin losing the ruddy flush of oxygenated blood.
    Teddie stood over the body, holding a knife.
    My father pressed to his side, blood on his hands.

CHAPTER TWO

    F OR a moment time stopped.   My heart, too.   I tried to process the scene in front of me. Two of Romeo’s off-duty guys working security for the party bracketed Teddie and my father and kept else everyone back.   Not hard to do, since the kitchen had come to a standstill.   Waiters, cooks, and prep staff stood rooted, open-mouthed.
    Something burned on the stove.   Water bubbled in a large pot, billowing steam.   I thought I caught the hiss of butter in a hot pan.   The roar of a party reaching a crescendo filtered around the swinging doors as they opened and swung back behind me, then opened again, repeating the cycle.
    “I’m assuming he’s dead?” I asked Romeo, my voice a squeak of its normal timbre.   A stupid question, really, but, with me, hope was the last thing extinguished by reality.
    Romeo didn’t bother to answer.   Instead he started barking orders to the officers who had filled in the tight space behind us, explaining the opening and shutting of the door.   Movement restarted; so did my heart, pounding against my chest.   My father gave me a tight look and a shrug, which I couldn’t interpret.   Teddie avoided my eyes, which spoke volumes.
    Brandy moved in next to me—a vision in a white sheath, her face needing only the lightest touch of makeup to enhance her natural beauty, her long dark hair pulled back, her face tight, her eyes big.
    I leaned down and spoke softly.   “Go back to the party; work damage control.   Get Miss P onboard.   You two know what to do.   Tell Jeremy to meet me at the office later.   I’m sure he’ll be there anyway.   This is going to be a shit-storm of epic proportions.”   Just the thought made me want to run and hide.
    A presence loomed behind me emitting a low, feral growl.   The hairs stood on the back of my neck.   I turned barely in time to catch his coattail as Jean-Charles hurtled by me.   “Whoa.   Whoa.”   Digging in my heels, I hung onto him with all I had, using my weight as leverage to stop his considerable momentum.   “That’s a crime scene.   You really don’t want to go adding your DNA do you?”
    That stopped him, but I held on, unsure as to whether he’d stay stopped.   He raked a hand through his hair as he worked for control.   A man in whom emotions