Under the Boardwalk (Costas Sisters 1)

Damon narrowed his gaze, clearly contemplating his options. “How long was she in here alone? Better yet, why was she in here alone?”

“Stupidity,” Quinn said again.

“Lipstick,” Ari said in a hoarse voice. “I dropped my purse earlier when I came to see Quinn. You see, I missed him and wanted . . . a quickie.”

Quinn winced at her attempt to explain her actions.

“He told me it had to wait,” Ari rambled on. “But not before I tried to distract him.” Her voice grew more sultry, more confident as she tried to convince Damon she’d attempted to seduce Quinn earlier. “But he said not while he was working.” She forced a pretty pout.

Quinn couldn’t help but watch and listen in amusement.

“I’d given it my best shot though, and so I still needed to fix my lipstick before I went back out to the customers. I dropped my bag and the lipstick must have rolled out. See?” She held up the tube of gloss for Damon to see.

“Convenient,” he murmured, rubbing a hand over his clean-shaven face. “But I’m not taking any chances. Not with her and not with you,” he said, turning to Quinn.

Catching Quinn by surprise, he reached into his jacket and pulled a gun and trained it on Ari.

A startled cry escaped her throat, but Quinn didn’t take his gaze from Damon.

Under his breath, Quinn muttered a curse. His gun was in his holster at his side, but reaching for it now would give Damon a chance to fire fast. “Two sisters can’t disappear from here without drawing suspicion. You’d be the likely culprit,” Quinn said, trying to slow Damon down and make him think.

Warning bells went off in Quinn’s head, instead. Reality clicked into place. Damon’s surprise return, his lack of shock at federal interest, his sudden distrust of Quinn, and the careless order to take care of Ari told Quinn one thing—someone had tipped off Damon to trouble and now he was running scared, reacting without thinking things through.

Still, Damon obviously didn’t know who in his organization was working against him or he’d have put a bullet through Quinn’s head by now. The thought provided some comfort. The other man was testing him instead, giving him needed time.

With the gun still pointed at Ari, Damon propped a foot on the desk and withdrew a handgun from a hidden holster. “The entire time I was with Cynthia, something was bothering me and I finally figured out what it was.” He leveled the other gun at Quinn. “I violated my cardinal rule.”

“What’s that?”

“I put you in charge of keeping this beautiful lady busy and you were too happy to oblige. But the more I thought about you and Zoe’s twin, the more I thought about Zoe. And I realized I never saw her body. That was my mistake. I trusted you, Donovan, and a smart man trusts no one.”

Quinn remained silent.

“It’s time for some action. Prove yourself.” Without warning, Damon tossed the first gun to Quinn. “Get rid of her.”

A small squeak sounded from Ari’s corner of the room.

“Get rid of her,” Damon said again. “Or I’ll do it for you.”

Until now Quinn’s best bet had been to stall and talk Damon through this, all the while hoping Ari remained calm while Quinn waited for the opportunity to overpower the other man. There was always the slim hope that someone on the floor would get wind of Damon’s return and head on back here to check things out. But Quinn wasn’t counting on it.

He needed another plan and he needed one fast, especially since he was now Damon’s target.

Ari glanced from Damon to Quinn, unable to believe this was happening. She let her gaze settle on Quinn, who hadn’t broken a sweat, but who also now had a gun pointed directly at her heart.

“I don’t think you want a blood trail in your office,” Quinn said coolly to Damon.

“What’s the difference to me?” Damon asked. “You’ll be the one pulling the trigger. You can call it a lover’s quarrel, or the three of us can take a ride somewhere and you can do the job there. It’s all the same to me, but either way, I’m going to see this one’s dead body.” Damon’s voice dropped an octave and turned as cold as his words. “Or you’ll be the one on ice.”

And Ari had no doubt he meant what he said.

Quinn wasn’t going to like what she did next, but to her way of thinking they were out of options. She glanced from Quinn’s gun pointed at her, to Damon’s gun pointed at Quinn, and she knew she had to take Damon by surprise.

“All I wanted to do was find my sister,” Ari said, and both men turned her way. “Or at least I wanted to find out what happened to my sister. But I’m a schoolteacher, not an investigator, and now I’ve gotten myself into a heap of trouble, haven’t I?” she asked, deliberately rambling.