Melissa Bourbon Ramirez - Lola Cruz 01 - Living the Vida Lola Read Online Free PDF Page A

little less vapory and I tended to hang around. But I got the job done. I headed for the conference table to eat my lunch and peruse Emily Diggs’s notebook to see what clues I could find. And to put off calling Jack. “How’s it going?” I asked Reilly.
    She spun her chair around, draped her arm across the back, and notched her chin down. “
El bosso
is in a foul mood, Lola. Something’s up.”
    I looked around in case
el bosso
, aka Manny, was here and Reilly had lost her mind.
    She read my thoughts. “He’s out front somewhere. Stormed out in a serious huff.”
    I sat down and lowered my voice. “Why?”
    She snapped her eyes from left to right before looking at me again. “I don’t know,” she whispered.
    Gossip was number one on Reilly’s agenda, but it looked like she’d drawn a blank this time. “Okay.” I opened my box of tofu, inhaling the delicious steam that wafted out. “Let me know when you have the scoop.”
    She did her sneaky glance around again. “I’m activelyinvestigating. Something about his—” She paused and looked around again. “—ex.”
    I did a silent gasp. His ex? As in wife?
Muy interesante.
I’d always been curious as hell to see what kind of woman Manny had married—and later divorced. “How do you know?”
    She narrowed her eyes at me. “He was talking to her on the phone, and I think he was e-mailing her, too.”
    I arched a brow back at her. “But how do you
know
it was his ex-wife?”
    “I eavesdropped. They were talking about their divided assets, and he told her that if she did what she was threatening to do, he’d take her to court and finish her.”
    Didn’t sound amicable.
    “Get this.” Reilly lowered her voice to a harsh whisper and looked conspiratorial. “He came in with a woman earlier today. Gorgeous. Very
Tomb Raider,
if you catch my meaning.”
    “No!” I’d never known Manny to mix business with pleasure. And he’d certainly never brought a woman to the office. I waited for more.
    She nodded. “Tall. Gorgeous. Perfect hair, perfect body, perfect lips, perfect everything.” She stuck out her tongue and slapped her thighs. “Makes the rest of us look frumpy. It’s so unfair.”
    “Hey.”
    Reilly gave a sheepish grin. “Sorry.” She looked me over. “You’re not a frump.”
    “Thank you. And neither are you. No one does rainbow hair better than you. And rainbow hair is
not
frumpy.” I tried to fluff my own flat hair. Pointless. “I wonder why he brought her here.”
    Reilly’s eyes turned to saucers, and she opened her mouth to dish—but snapped it closed again when the alarm beeped. Three seconds later, Manny came around the corner into the main conference room.
    He looked from me to Reilly and peered at us as if he knew exactly what we’d been talking about. Ex-wives and girlfriends—well, what did he expect? Whatever the 411 was, Reilly would get the scoop and then she’d share it. Surely Mr. Superstar PI knew that about his office assistant.
    He passed us by and went straight into his office, but damn it if he didn’t end our
chisme
session by leaving the door wide open.
    I looked back at Reilly and whispered, “Drinks later?”
    She nodded, whispering back, “You got it.” She blocked her mouth with the back of her hand and tilted her head toward me. “Oh, and watch out for Sadie. She’s on a rampage today. Blasted me for having coffee near the precious computer.”
    I’d always suspected Sadie harbored secret lust for Manny. An ex-wife and
Tomb Raider
girl—all in one day—would definitely cramp her style.
    I thanked Reilly for the heads-up and began flipping through Emily’s notebook until I found Jack’s card. A few moments later I was scarfing food and lost in my own thoughts. What was I going to say when I called him?
    A hand came down on my shoulder.
    Shit!
I jumped, inhaling a soft glob of tofu. Slamming my palm against my chest, I coughed until my throat was clear and then gulped down more than half my