Under the Boardwalk (Costas Sisters 1)

And you are? a voice in Quinn’s head asked. He hadn’t struggled with that internal self-doubt in years, and fought against allowing his damn insecurities to resurface now. He wasn’t that unwanted kid in foster care anymore, and damned if he’d act like it.

“Oh yes, I did,” Ari said, her eyes finally lighting up with the memory. “And then I packed my bags and left for Vermont. I transferred, finished up school there while working my way through, and then I got a job teaching at a local college.”

“Never to darken your parents’ door again until now,” he finished for her with the ending Zoe had already told him. “Why?”

She swallowed hard. “You don’t ask easy questions, do you? It must be your cop training.”

He raised one eyebrow and waited.

She rose and paced the hardwood floor in front of the sliding glass doors. “I was running away, is that what you wanted to hear?”

“I want to hear the truth,” he told her. “Besides, sometimes running isn’t so bad as long as you face what you were running from eventually.”

“Well, I had no allies at home. At least I didn’t feel like I did. Not even my twin. Zoe was just like my parents. She was always up for a good con, and I thought she was wasting her life. She thought I was an uptight prig and should loosen up, and I thought she ought to grow up and do something worthwhile.”

She inhaled deeply and Quinn could feel her pain. But he had a hunch she’d never discussed this aloud, and the only way for her to deal was to face things. She’d need to come to terms with her past before she discovered how wrong she’d been about her sister. “So you two argued?” he asked.

“Oh yes. And then I left. I just shouldn’t have stayed away.”

Gratitude for her honesty overwhelmed him and he was glad he’d opened up to her first.

“I’m sick of talking about myself,” she said.

He grinned. “Then come here.” He held out a hand toward her. “And we can do something besides talk.”

She started her walk across the room, determined and sultry in her steps, but not before turning to the glass doors once more.

He stared at the beach, seeing his backyard from Ari’s perspective. Sliding glass doors overlooked the sand, and he realized how fortunate he was to have been able to purchase this place at auction. He also recognized how much he missed living here.

“So this is your home,” Ari said, interrupting his thoughts. “I knew the hotel room didn’t reflect the real you.”

“The real me?” Quinn asked. “Just who is that?” He wanted to know how she viewed him, what she saw when she looked at him, especially now that she knew he was a cop.

She came up to him and settled close by his side, curling one leg beneath her. Finally a relaxed smile twitched at her lips. “You’re a bundle of contradictions, Quinn.”

“Men like to be as mysterious as women,” he joked.

“Well, you did a good job. And I kept asking myself, which is the real Quinn? Is it the guy who tackled me on the beach? Damon’s goon? Or Sam’s guardian angel?” Reaching out, she caressed his cheek, cupping his face in her hand. “And that sterile hotel room didn’t provide any answers. Now I know it’s because your so-called room wasn’t really yours.”

He studied this woman who seemed to want to understand him as much as he wanted to get inside her head. “Nothing at the casino is real. It’s all part of the job, which reminds me.” Though he hated to break the bonding moment between them, work called to him. “We need to talk about how things are going to be once you go back to the casino.”

“In what way?” she asked curiously.

“We don’t want Damon suspicious of me, so you’re going to need to play your part. Continue to look for information on your sister, ask the right people the right questions, but do not get into serious trouble.”

“Trouble? Me?” She shot him her most innocent look.

He rolled his eyes, laughing. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. But if you need an example, no lock picking and no snooping around Damon’s office,” he ordered her.

“I can handle that.” Despite their banter, her intent gaze indicated she understood how serious he was.

And he wasn’t finished. “And when it comes to us, as far as the employees and Damon are concerned, you still need to cozy up to me, pretend to use me to find out what happened to Zoe.”

She licked her lips and he knew something big was coming. “What did happen to my sister?” she asked, her voice tight with emotion.

Finally. She had finally asked the question Quinn knew had to be brewing inside her.